Irish Whiskey Night

Sanders County Sippers celebrated St. Patrick's Day a day late at the Mannings'.  On Thursday, March 18, 12 of us gathered to sample and learn about Irish Whiskeys.  We featured:

Jameson

Bushmills

Redbreast

Powers

They finished in this order of popularity:.

1. Redbreast (smooth and rich, long finish)
2.  Jameson (good, but not as good or expensive as Redbreast)
3.  Powers (VERY comparable to Jameson and several $$ cheaper!)
4. Bushmills (tasted like colored water compared to everything else)

As accompaniments we had corned beef on home-made biscuits, plus Irish Butter Shortbread Cookies (pictured above, in Waterford crystal, compliments of Christina Ashbaugh!  Thanks, Christina, we proudly use it all the time!!!)

We finished the evening with a classic Irish Coffee....

• Pour strong, hot coffee into mug
• Dissolve 2 tsp. cane sugar in coffee
• Add 1 oz. Jameson
• Top with frothy floating cream, gently poured over the back of a spoon.

To prepare cream, shake heavy cream just until it is barely "pourable."  Add a dash of Licor 43 (Mexican vanilla liqueor) for flavor and sweetener.  I had no Licor 43, but used Kahlua instead, and it was sensational.

I'm not a big fan of Irish whiskey, but this Irish Coffee recipe is an absolutely decadent treat at evening's end!

One downside to this spirits education we're giving ourselves:  we really, unfortunately, CAN tell the difference between the good stuff and the cheap stuff, and will never be quite satisfied with bottom-shelf again.  However, consider that a bottle of really good spirits will be sipped and savored over a year or two, rather than masked and quickly guzzled in mixed drinks.   It's worth paying $10-$15 more for a bottle of great product.  Life is short, after all...too short to waste on inferior anything!

A Hot Time in Trout Creek!

Don is now a "roady."  I am now a"performer." Amazing the new roles we have begun learning in the past two years here!

Last Saturday night we took part in the Trout Creek Gala Event of the Year...the fund-raising comedy show to benefit the local animal shelter.  This was the fourth year for the event, which we've attended annually, but this was the first time I actually performed as part of the cast.  About 16 local folks, all with varied comedic and theatrical talents, got together to produce a splendidly entertaining show.  The room at the Lakeside Resort was set up to hold 160, but nearly 250 bodies scrunched into the standing-room-only show.

Each eight-minute act was a take-off on a TV show.   Our audience got to watch "Dragnet," "All in the Family," "The Honeymooners," PBS opera, "Trout Creek Gots Talent," and (my act) "Hee Haw."  Dave Oliver, our good friend and professional entertainer extraordinaire, paired up with me for a Buck Owens/Roy Clark skit.  In true Hee Haw form we sang "Where, where are you tonight," (complete with spitting in each other's faces at the end of the song), we told cornfield jokes, I sang and yodeled my creation of "Into the Dog Pen" (to the tune of "Under the Boardwalk,") and we ended our set with a wild fiddle hoedown.  Dave accompanied me on his guitar.

After the show, the cast retired to the Naughty Pine Saloon next door and closed down the joint.  What a hoot!

And Don's role in all this?  First, he helped write "Into the Dog Pen," he coached Dave and me in practice, he spent half a day moving and setting up stage, lighting and sound equipment, endured a dress rehearsal, and spent the "morning after" tearing down and packing up the stage.

Oh yes, and he also drove me home after the cast party....good thing, because I never would have made it out the door without him!