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by Emily

Endless Road Trip Marfa: Padre’s Bar & Grill

If you haven’t heard of Marfa, Texas, I can’t blame you. I didn’t know much about it until I moved to Austin a couple years back, but then I learned quickly enough: Marfa is a little town in the West Texas desert which has turned into an art enclave in the past few decades. It has some glimmers of weirdness because it was the setting of an old James Dean movie way back in the day, and it’s also home to the Marfa Lights, a mysterious phenomenon in the sky… basically, if you are looking for a scenic, artsy, and perhaps slightly creepy wild west desert roadtrip, West Texas (and specifically Marfa) is the place for YOU!

And the place for ME. I loved our trip so much. It’s funny because Marfa really is a teensy town, but I felt like there was way too much to do in the short amount of time we spent in the town (2 days out of the 4 we were in West TX). And by “do” I mean “eat” obviously, because Marfa actually has a great (albeit small, I mean come on, it’s like a 4-street town) food scene! So many cute food trucks and hole-in-the-wall spots only open for breakfast or lunch. There are like three “fancy”-ish restaurants and three bars as well. At least five days’ worth of solid eating and drinking, is what I’m saying.

Cocktail O'Clock: Breakfast Edition

With St. Patrick”s Day just around the corner, you”ll be seeing lots of green beer and Shamrock shakes this week, but here”s one that really takes the cake: IRISH CEREAL MILK. This drink comes from Lexington Brass in New York and combines the childhood glory of sugary online casinos leftover cereal milk with the adulthood glory of…Whiskey.

Irish Cereal Milk

2oz Jameson Whiskey
1/2 oz Simple syrup
2 oz. Cinnamon Toast Crunch milk

Make Cinnamon Toast Crunch milk (soaking the cereal in milk for 30 min. and then straining out the cereal).

Fill Rocks glass with ice, pour Jameson and simple syrup in. Fill glass with Cinnamon Toast Crunch milk.

Garnish with Cinnamon Toast Crunch Pieces (fresh crunchy ones, not soggy).

in Breakfast / Drinks / Holiday / Recipe 0 comments

by Emily

Ultimate White Chocolate Peepmallow Reese’s Peanut Butter Easter Treats

When I think of Easter foods, I think of marshmallows, pastels, egg-shaped candies, white chocolate bunnies, PEEPS, the usual. Okay, by “foods” I totally meant “sugar-loaded junk foods” but I think we can all get behind that. Hallelujah. If you want to bring a sweet something to an Easter brunch or potluck but don’t want to have to bake or take more than 15 minutes of time, then this is the (adorbs!) recipe for you.

Everyone knows Rice Krispies Treats are delicious, but these are even better because they incorporate melted white chocolate (in the form of a bunny, duh) as well as two types of peanut butter (normal PB melted in with the marshmallows, plus Reeses Pieces Eggs stirred in at the end). Speaking of the marshmallows, I used a combination of regular ones and pink Peeps. He has risen! (In this case, the word “he” means “my blood sugar”).

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Easter Treats

Endless Cocktails: The Huggie Bomb

Did anyone know that Little Hug Fruit Barrels are still around? I don’t think I ever drank these as a child; or if I did, it was always at friend’s house, or school, or whoever was paying to give their kids sugary artificially flavored water. I generally remember the boys in school bringing these in their lunches, then having those red juice rings on their lips. But adults drinking these? Yes, it’s happening. Because fermenting juice wasn’t enough, now bars are turning these childhood treats into alcoholic drinks.

The method:

1) Choose “flavor” (I chose red, duh. When given color options instead of flavor options, always choose red)

2) Bartender stabs open the foil covering and pours about a shot of the “juice” down the drain

3) Bartender pours vodka straight into plastic juice barrel

4) Consume

I ordered one of these solely because we couldn’t seem to get our bar bill past the $10 credit card minimum (75 cent Miller High Lifes make for a good night), but I was kind of impressed. If I ever become a parent, I might pretend to buy these for my kids so I can sip away on a Huggie Bomb at the playground. I don’t think I could figure out how to funnel vodka into a Capri Sun.

in Drinks 1 comments

by BS

Cocktail O’Clock: Just Beet It

ES called beets in cocktails the next big thing way back in 2010, and sure ‘nough we are seeing them show up on drink lists coast to coast.

This one, from Poste Moderne Brasserie in Washington, DC, mixes up beets for martini lovers.

Just Beet it

1/2 oz. Grey Goose vodka
1/4 oz. lemon juice
1/4 oz. beet juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup

Shake with ice and strain into a martini glass with a beet salt garnish.

(Photo: Jason Wiles)

Find dozens more creative cocktail recipes in Endless Cocktails.

in Drinks / Endless Cocktails / Recipe / Trends / Veggie 6 comments

by Russell Warnick

ES Event: D.C. Food Blogger Happy Hour

Attention all food bloggers and food blog groupies: If you’re in the D.C. area on Wednesday, March 2, get to American Ice Co. for a chance to drink alongside ES in-person.

American Ice Co. is a new bar in D.C.’s U Street Neighborhood, serving craft beers in mason jars and pulled pork sandwiches on paper plates. Pretty awesome if you ask me.

If you can make it, RSVP here.

in Drinks 0 comments

by BS

Winter Cocktails Gone Wild

One of our favorite things about the temperature dropping is the thought of popping into a cozy tavern for some warming winter cocktails. But let’s face it — seasonal drinks like hot toddies and hot buttered rum are more appealing in theory than in practice. (Mmm…whiskey and water. Yeah, not really.) So we asked five of our favorite bartenders to share their most creative updates of classic winter drinks.

1. Hot Peanut Buttered Rum

POV in Washington, D.C. puts a modern spin on every pirate’s favorite cocktail by infusing Cruzan rum with peanut butter, then mixing it with Cinnamon tea, butter and fresh whipped cream.

2. Tea-quila Toddy

The hot toddy gets a second look at Las Perlas in downtown L.A., where hot hibiscus tea is spiked with Cabo Wabo blanco tequila and gets an extra kick from agave nectar, cinnamon and orange.