Updates, Events & More

Well, despite the lack of posting here, we've been meeting each month since January. Unfortunately, one of our ladies signed up to blog about the last few month's activities, and then promptly took on a huge project at work and hasn't gotten to it. Hopefully she will, but in the meantime here's a quick recap:

February 2009 - Obscure Cocktail Ingredients
We gathered at my house, and tasted through a series of cocktails using obscure cocktail ingredients. We focused on Creme de Violette, Old Tom Gin and Genever, and tasted and discussed the following drinks: Violet Fizz, Arsenic & Old Lace, Martinez, Improved Holland Cocktail, and Amsterdam Cocktail. All were interesting, and the Martinez was the favorite.

The food menu included a couple of things with unusual ingredients, and some regular snacks. The most popular food recipe was the Mango Pomegranate Guacamole from Epicurious.

March 2009 - All Things Alaska
Our event coincided with the start of the Iditarod, and our lovely hostess, Shelley Temple, is a frequent visitor to Alaska. So we enjoyed the Damn the Weather and the Alaska Cocktail, along with some smoked salmon and other delicious snacks.

April 2009 - Modern Interpretations
Unfortunately, I missed this event at Boka, but heard it was a lot of fun. Hopefully one of the other ladies will blog about what happened!

May 2009 - Classic Cocktail Hour
Since we have only nine members, now and then we decide to meet up for an informal cocktail hour. Originally, Ginny Tonic was going to host a lavish affair at her place, but unfortunately her A/C went out, so we had to change our plans. We met up at Otom in the west loop of Chicago, and had some great drinks and snacks. My favorite drink was the Absinthe Flip that Gregory made for me, mostly because I'd never had an absinthe-based flip before, but all of the drinks were fantastic.

Our next gathering is next Thursday, June 25, at Stone Manhattan's place. Can't wait to see what she comes up with!

Latest News & Updates

January's Chills
This month, one of our members had some major surgery, so we planned our event around a visit to her in the hospital. We gathered at Northwestern Memorial and hung out with our recovering member for awhile, and then headed to the nearby C-View lounge for cocktails.

C-View is a beautiful space, and has a wonderful view of the city - it's on the 29th floor of the Affinia Hotel. The drinks were a bit pricier than we realized (e.g., Manhattans were $16), but they were tasty. We had a lot of fun and were sorry that those who weren't there had missed it.

No photos from this one, I'm afraid - I neglected to bring my camera.

Repeal Day Recap
I am pleased to announce that we raised $350 for the Greenhouse Shelter at our Repeal Day soirees and with additional donations from a few of our members. I've collected all the funds as of today, and will be sending them a check shortly.

Thanks again to everyone who came out and joined us, and thanks to our friends at the Clark Street Ale House and the Drawing Room.

February Plans
I am hosting February's gathering at my house on the 15th, and am planning to serve classic cocktails with obscure ingredients. Still trying to decide on the exact menu, but am having fun opening and using those esoteric liqueurs in my liquor cabinet. More on that next month!

Stay warm out there, everybody.

Welcome Sun Times Readers!

For anyone coming to see us after reading about us in today's Chicago Sun Times, welcome!

Here's a link to the article, for anyone who hasn't yet seen it. Thanks to Chuck Sudo and the Sun Times for writing about us!

Repeal Day Redux

It's time for a long overdue recap of our adventures on Repeal Day. Apologies for taking so long for the recap, December is by far the busiest month of the year in my world, so I didn't do any blogging last month.

Round I
We started out at the Clark Street Ale House, where we nibbled on snacks and enjoyed some great pre-Prohibition cocktails. All of the lovely ladies of LUPEC Chicago were present except one (who had a family emergency). In the picture above are (from left to right): Stone Manhattan, Delilah, Little Audrey, Shelley Temple, Morning Delight, Kiki Royale, Ginny Tonic and Eight is Enough.

I started the night with a Martini (as I do every Friday night), and then slowed down a bit by having a Monkey Gland. We had a special menu of cocktail options that evening, and many new drinks were tried. Both of mine were delicious - Erin definitely knows how to make a great drink (and it was a bonus that we had a woman bartender)! Thanks to Adam and everyone at the Ale House, and also to everyone who came out to celebrate with us - we were joined by several old and new friends. Unfortunately, my camera conked out and I don't have any pictures from there - the above came from someone else. I have a new camera now, so watch out!

Round II
We headed over to The Drawing Room, where the entire staff was dressed in period attire, and we had fantastic music from the Ron Mills Orchestra. We had a special menu of period drinks, including several of the namesake drinks for our members.

Collectively, we had many Stone Manhattans, Little Audreys, and Delilahs, as well as some other fantastic creations from the mixologists at the DR (from left, DJ Love, Charles Joly and Tim Lacey).

Much to our delight, many attendees dressed in period attire as well, and we really did get to party like it was 1933.

A great time was had by all, and a big THANK YOU to our friends at the Drawing Room, as well as all the great people who came out to celebrate with us.

We're looking forward to next year's celebration already, and are thinking up ways to top ourselves.

Talking Tiki

We had our November meeting this week, and it was a great one. Too bad some of the ladies couldn't make it, but that just meant more for those of us who did. Shelley Temple, Eight is Enough, our gracious hostess Delilah, and yours truly were present.

The theme this month was Tiki Drinks 101 and Delilah lined up a guest speaker to join us. James Teitelbaum is the author of Tiki Road Trip and a man of many talents. This was the first time a member of the male persuasion has attended one of our meetings, so we eyed him with suspicion initially. But as the night wore on, he won us over enough to let him stay for the evening.

Many in attendance didn't realize that there were good sipping rums, and had their eyes opened to new possibilities with rum. Thanks James!

The Drinks
James started our evening with the Test Pilot, a cocktail invented by Donn Beach, and a discussion of the beginnings of the Tiki movement. Next up was the classic Mai Tai and a discussion of Trader Vic. We finished the evening with the classic Dark 'n Stormy, made with Gosling's Black Seal Rum and Barritt's Ginger Beer. The Gosling's people would be most proud of us for respecting their trademark on this occasion.

The Eats
The food accompaniments included Cuban sandwiches, homemade tropical salsa and Ahi tuna skewers with a ginger-maple glaze. All were delicious. Of course we also had goldfish.

Here were the two favorite recipes, determined by a vote of the members in attendance:

Test Pilot
1.5 oz Dark Rum
.75 oz Light Rum
.5 oz Fresh Lime Juice
.5 oz Velvet Falernum
3 teaspoons Cointreau
Dash Angostura bitters
1/8 teaspoon Pernod
Blend with 1 cup crushed ice, garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Polynesian Glaze
3/4 cup Pure Maple Syrup
1 cup water
1 3/4 tbsp. Fresh Grated Ginger
4 cloves Garlic finely chopped
1 1/2 tbsp. prepared Horseradish
1 tsp. salt
Combine all ingredients in a pan and heat until boiling. Simmer for 15 minutes (or until reduced by half). Enjoy over your favorite fish. Delilah served this over ahi tuna skewered with granny smith apples and green peppers.
Note: can be made ahead - glaze will keep in fridge for several days.

Now everyone go off and Tiki!

Edit: I forgot to add in this month's Rye Confession, which comes from Shelley Temple. She advised that she is often carded when out with her husband, even though he is not. This occasionally makes him quite upset, and encourages her to call him "papa" for fun.

Party Like its 1933 - Repeal Day in Chicago!

The lovely ladies of LUPEC Chicago are excited to announce our first event, first two events, actually. We're hosting two celebrations of Repeal Day on Friday, December 5th. It's the 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition, which took effect on December 5, 1933. We hope you'll join us at one or both of our celebrations!

As a further encouragement for your cocktailing with us, a portion of the proceeds from all purchases of food & drink at these events will be donated to the Greenhouse Shelter in Chicago.

Here are the details - mark your calendars now!

Act I: Clark Street Ale House - Informal Happy Hour
742 N. Clark, Chicago
6.00-9.00 PM, Friday Dec 5th
Join us for a cocktail or three and toast the occasion. Just buy your own drinks and you won’t get into trouble.

Act II: The Drawing Room - Come Party Like it’s 1933
937 N. Rush, Chicago
10.00 pm on, Fri Dec 5th
Try the $33 Prefix Dinner & Drink Pairing Menu, or sip on a Prohibition-era cocktail from our special menu, all while listening to 1930’s tunes by the Ron Mills Orchestra.

October and the Shushing (sp?)

We had a mini-meeting in October, with just three of us in attendance (Shelley Temple, Stone Manhattan and yours truly). We met at Weegee's Lounge for cocktails and conversation, knowing we could get a great cocktail there. Unfortunately, we ended up being there on the night of the last Presidential debate, and no one warned us of the serious debate watching party that would take place. We were actually "shushed" and asked to be quiet! In a bar! As a result, we closed our meeting early, after finishing our cocktails.

We did have some great cocktails, including a classic Martini (made with my favorite gin), as well as a nice Alice, Mine and a Manhattan.

November brings our Rum Escape, with all things Tiki. Sounds perfect given how cold it is out there today - I'm all for pretending we're somewhere tropical. More on that one soon!