The Daily Buckets of Crazy

Oh, hey there. No, I’m not crazy, and I’m not a bucket. Well ok, I lied about the not being crazy bit. And maybe I’m a little bucket-ish, but hey, that’s why I have a personal trainer.

Anyway, there is a point to this somewhere… Oh, right, got it. Although I have my very own sorry excuse for a blog, I’ve been asked to blog here once in a while. Having found myself in a while this week, I’m getting down to takin’ care of business, BTO-stylee.

So here we go. Had a birthday last week, coinciding with the usual pub quiz, and Mr Barman (we liiiiiiike) was gracious enough to have a Purple Nurple ready for me on entry to his establishment (you can see why we like him, right?).

Now, I did have to introduce him to said refresherment a while back. He’s done well keepin’ ‘em coming over time. Only, this time, he was apologising profusely cos he’d run out of sweet n’ sour mix.

Never one to slap before finding out how bad it is (so as I know which side of my hand to use), I tried his variation on a theme. And yay, it were good! Seems he’d substituted the sweet n’ sour mix for cranberry juice.

And this, dearly poached readers, is why barmen – and especially Mr Barman at The Winchester, Lockhart Road (diggin’ the name, ain’t you?) – are to be trusted and treasured like your closest friends. And why I am presenting my three recipes for Purple Nurples right here. Cos you never know when you might have to remind your friendly barman of the right amounts.

Purple Nurples (#1)

1oz Malibu Coconut Rum

1 oz Triple Sec

1/2 oz Blue Curacao Liqueur

2 oz Cranberry Juice

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with Ice. Shake and strain into a glass.

Purple Nurples (#2)

1/4 oz Blue Curacao liqueur

1/4 oz vodka

1/4 oz apple schnapps

1/4 oz sweet and sour mix

1/4 oz grenadine syrup

Pour all ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake, strain into a shot glass, and serve.

Purple Nurples (#3)

1/4 oz Blue Curacao liqueur

1/4 oz vodka

1/4 oz apple schnapps

1/4 oz cranberry juice

1/4 oz grenadine syrup

Pour all ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake, strain into a shot glass, and serve.

And just in case that doesn’t set you off on a good night of shots, shots and more shots – or the barman can’t get his arse in gear and stretch to the proper PN – then how about that old faithful:

Hurricane

1 oz vodka

1/4 oz grenadine syrup

1 oz gin

1 oz light rum

1/2 oz Bacardi® 151 rum

1 oz amaretto almond liqueur

1 oz triple sec

grapefruit juice

pineapple juice

Pour all but the juices, in order listed, into a hurricane glass three-quarters filled with ice. Fill with equal parts of grapefruit and pineapple juice, and serve.

Or if, like me, you have an allergy (or just a plain ol’ aversion) to coconut in all its forms, then the alternative is for you:

Hurricane (#2)

1 oz vodka

1 oz gin

1 oz light rum

1/2 oz 151 proof rum

1 oz amaretto almond liqueur

1 oz triple sec

grapefruit juice

pineapple juice

grenadine syrup

Pour gin, rums, amaretto, and triple sec into a hurricane glass with ice. Add equal amounts of grapefruit juice and pineapple juice until almost full. Top with grenadine to taste.

And that’s all the stuff that’s fit to print right now. I’m sure we’ll all be back with you very soon, so until then, take care, sleep tight, keep the rocksalt on your window ledge and set your DVD-Rs to the CW for Thursday night.

Oh, and if you’re using any shots or similarly alcoholic beverages for your drinking games (“…every time Sam days ‘Dean’… “every time Dean pulls a model face…”) PLEASE make sure your designated Sammy is driving you back. DO NOT attempt to drive your baby home – you’ll only wrap her round a tree, and none of us wants that. We like trees. (I was going to say, ‘they have Grace’, but I won’t. Cos that would be a cheap poke. [Pause.] Never stopped Dean…)

Be seein’ you.