Love & Hate – Tiramisu Martini

Your belly is full, but there’s always room for dessert. We finish off my likes and dislikes of a full meal with some of the sweets the Sip Advisor loves:

Cheesecake

Even as a kid who refused to have any type of cheese, I made an exception for cheesecake. A memorable serving was the massive piece Mrs. Sip and I took back to our hotel room from New York City’s famous Carnegie Deli, following a very late night meal.

Cookies

I’ve made it very clear that I f*ckin’ love cookies. Me and Cookie Monster could have practically been separated at birth and I may look better if I was blue and fuzzy and had googly eyes. My passion for all things cookie has been inherited by the Sipplings, who often go hunting for the treats without permission.

Cheesecake

Ice Cream/Ice Cream Sandwich

While I don’t eat ice cream regularly, the odd serving is appreciated, particularly if it’s topped with all sorts of other goodies. A future Love & Hate article will delve into just which toppings are on the Sip Advisor’s preferred list. Given my love of cookies, I’m also quite fond of ice cream sandwiches.

Donuts

Another dessert I don’t abide in as often as I did as a youngster. Still, I enjoy donuts, both in simple (glazed) and advanced forms (covered with all sorts of different toppings). Donut Holes can also offer a nice little treat, without having to spend as many calories as you would on the bigger pastries.

Pie

There are a number of pie flavours that I really enjoy: apple, cherry, strawberry-rhubarb, etc. This may be the best way to get your daily dose of fruit, while still enjoying a sweet treat. Pie is on my list of the best things eaten cold that aren’t traditionally served that way.

Ice Cream Sandwich

Milkshake

When I was a teenager, Pa Sip used to make milkshakes regularly. Mrs. Sip even made me a couple in the early days of us dating when I think she was trying to fatten me up. How did that plan work out!?

Chocolate/Chocolate Bars

A top notch sweet is anything chocolate. I prefer milk chocolate most, but have dabbled in the darker depths of the cocoa world on occasion. Among my favourite chocolate bars to indulge in are Snickers, Twix, Oh Henry, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and Wunderbar.

Milkshake

That ended up being a fairly long list. I also recently tried a Kouign Amann (think the most decadent croissant ever) that rocked my world! Do I hate as many desserts as I like? Let’s take a look:

Tiramisu

I don’t get the appeal of this cake. Worse yet, it’s everywhere, like some kind of infestation. For the annual Dine Out Vancouver, the dessert is on almost every place’s menu in some fashion. I also attended a birthday once that offered two Tiramisu cakes and no other options.

Crème Brûlée

Mrs. Sip loves her some crème brûlée. The Sip Advisor, being undisputably the wiser of our couple, doesn’t at all. I guess I’ve never really been one for custards. While it’s neat how they achieve the hardened sugar topping, using a mini blow torch, I’m still unwilling to eat the dessert.

Creme Brulee

Flan

This menu item doesn’t even have a tantalizing name. Whoever invented it knew it was incredibly boring, so gave it an equally lame name. Much like I’m not into custards, very few puddings turn my crank.

Rice Pudding

This is like the worst version of rice, with rice crackers being a possible exception. I won’t fully describe what Rice Pudding resembles to me, but given that connection, I find it very hard to stomach a serving. Although, I’ll giggle like a youngster as Mrs. Sip eats it.

Fortune Cookie

As a kid, I liked fortune cookies. As an adult, I find them to be totally lackluster, so I’m happy to let the Sipplings have my servings. And what’s with those little notes inside… they don’t taste very good at all! 🙂

Fortune Cookie

Fruit Plate

Fruit is not a dessert. Full stop!

Jell-O

I get why kids like Jell-O, with all the neat colours and that they can kind of play with their food. Jell-O shots are awful too, as they’re hard to consume. We used to go to an all-you-can-eat sushi place that only offered Jell-O as a dessert option. I’ll just take the cheque, please!

Baklava

I guess I’m not really into international desserts. I find baklava to be dry, boring and uninspiring. Sure, the pastry has an incredible history, but that’s not enough to convince the Sip Advisor to steer away from the cookies and cakes of the world.

Love & Hate: Tiramisu Martini

Tiramisu Martini

  • Rim glass with Chocolate Syrup
  • 2 oz Vanilla Vodka
  • 1 oz Amaretto
  • 1 oz Kahlua
  • Splash of Half and Half
  • Sprinkle with Cocoa Powder

I wondered if drinking a Tiramisu would be any better than eating it. I did like this martini, but I also cheated a bit with the ingredients, using my Stoli Salted Karamel Vodka and Kahlua Vanilla to make it for my tastes. Well, that completes our full meal. I hope you enjoyed the feast!

May 17 – PB&J Martini

Peanut Butter Jelly Time

After yesterday’s debacle of a cocktail, I’m happy to follow it up with this treat. Like a professional athlete in need of a bounce back effort, here I am scoring the game winning goal, destroying the walk-off homerun, hitting the buzzer beater… you get my drift. While I’m a big fan of liquid lunches, I have to say that my heart flutters for sandwiches, as well. Here are some of the best ones:

Grilled Cheese

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not the biggest fan of cheese. That said, I’m bizarrely a fan of grilled cheese sandwiches, providing they’re made with a white cheese like mozzarella or swiss and not the processed American cheddar slices that are synonymous with the meal. With a side of potato chips and a dollop of ketchup to dip your sandwich into, I’m in kid-like heaven.

grilled-cheese

BLT & Club

When I was younger, I was a picky eater. A BLT, though, was a favourite of mine and a regular order at restaurants. As my tastes evolved, the club sandwich largely replaced the BLT for me and it doesn’t matter whether that extra meat is turkey, chicken, ham, or all three… they’re all going to the same wasteland known as my stomach! You have to remember, my little sippers, bacon is an essential item on nearly every sandwich, so don’t be stingy with it.

PB&J

The classic that I make better than most everyone else on the planet (if I don’t say so myself)! Now that I’ve also conquered the liquid form of this marrying of peanut butter and jelly, you might even say that I’ve become a god among men. There aren’t many tag teams out there that can compare with peanut butter and jelly. Ham and pineapple gave them a run for their money once, but it was an uphill battle.

Ice Cream

The first draft of this blog did not include the scrumptious ice cream sandwich. For that, I have repented my sins and after considering whether or not my best days were behind me and it was time to retire from the writing game, I have decided to carry on and work at redeeming myself. The best ice cream sandwich I’ve ever had is the Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie one, which used to be infinitely better before meddlesome folks began their crusade against junk foods.

ice-cream-sandwiches

Beef Dip

Not a lot beats a nice soft roll, stuffed with thin slices of roast beef and a delicious hot au jus to dip the sandwich into. Flavouring a meat in its own drippings seems cannibalistic, but nobody’s on trial here, so go ahead and do your worst. Destroy that sandwich with the ferocity of a natural predator and don’t feel a moment of remorse. If you are not of the carnivoristic variety, then go on your merry way with your *chortle* salad.

Pulled Pork

I love barbecued meats, especially pulled pork. I could eat this stuff on the reg and never get sick of the deliciously shredded substance. If you throw a little creamy coleslaw down on that sammy, brother, your head will be spinning into orbit. You don’t trust the Sip Advisor? You know, I’m not a one dimensional cocktail jockey… I hate other skills to go along with my liquor awesomosity.

pulled-pork-pancake

Now that is a beautiful sandwich!

Philly Cheesesteak

I had never really tried a cheesesteak sandwich until an American Cheesesteak restaurant opened up close to my home. I have to say, that I was completely blown away. My order of choice is The Cowboy, which includes shaved prime rib, crispy onion straws, barbecue sauce, bacon mayo and aged white cheddar (which by now, you know is disqualified from my order). It’s a delicious meal that I don’t indulge in often enough.

Meatball Sub

Make sure to have your pens and paper ready because I’m about to reveal to the world my typical Subway order, now famously referred to as ‘The Advisor’. I start with a 12-inch meatball sandwich on Italian herb and cheese bread (yeah, I oddly like cheese in my bread, but not on my sandwich). I elect to not have it toasted and then I add the following condiments: lettuce, tomato, pickles, black olives, green olives (if I’m at one of the rare Subway’s that carries this delicious addition) and topped with mayo. My order is rarely modified because consistency is an art form.

Drink #137: PB&J Martini

May 17 P&J Martini

  • Rim glass with Peanut Butter and Jelly
  • 1.5 oz Chambord
  • 1.5 oz Frangelico
  • Top with Milk

I bet after reading this, every single one of you are hungry for a good sandwich! In writing this post, I realized that I’ve never really had a true Sloppy Joe before. I will have to give this a try and see if it cracks the list above. My money is on it making the list… anyone else care to enter a wager!?

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (4 Sips out of 5):
A tasty drink made all the more better with a very fun rim job. You can also turn the ingredients into a shooter, if you remove the milk proportion. I’ve wanted to try this drink for some time and I was finally able to put it all together. It actually tastes like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, minus the bread and with a little more booze flavour than the lunch has. You won’t be disappointed if you try it yourself.