my kitchen the beverage cart travel

anyone for tennis?

May 2, 2012

Twice upon a time in the valley of the tears
The auctioneer is bidding for a box of fading years
And the elephants are dancing on the graves of squealing mice
Anyone for tennis wouldn’t that be nice?

– Eric Clapton/Cream

Ah yes another Sunday. Nine of us headed to the tennis courts in sunny and blustery Boston, MA. A new pair of beautiful courts were recently built in the heart of Jamaica Plain so we opted for fresh clay vs. a few other courts near by.

When we arrived we had both courts to ourselves… until… a couple shows up with their two four-year-olds. This is the weirdest shit. The kids are on little zip scooters and they start circling both courts while the parents just park themselves in a corner.

While none of us are professional tennis players we are still playing fairly rigorous tennis replete with bombastic back-swings and hard hitting serves. Meanwhile, these small children are zipping around us with absolutely no regard to their surroundings while their shit-head parents just watch. Who in their right mind would do this? Seriously, who would see nine adults playing tennis and decide that it would be totally safe to have their wee ones on a scooter coasting behind flying tennis rackets?

One of the courts had a basketball hoop at the back of the baseline. A teenage girl shows up, amidst the dizzying and terrifying scooter melée, and decides to try and play basketball. Imagine one side of a doubles tennis match with someone on the court throwing up a basketball.

I am all about sense and sensibility and courtesy and fair use–but what fucking insanity!

Just as we were departing the family decided to leave. UN. BAH. LEE. VA. BLE.

Good thing I had a bloody mary bar set up when we returned! A few people opted for Kir Royales. Seeing as my friend blessed us with Veuve Clicqout I had to imbibe on both.

 

There are various recipes out there along with various methodologies. Our Kir Royale’s were approximately 1 part Chambord and 2 parts champagne with a lemon twist. We made them a few different ways, adding the Chambord before the bubbles and vise-versa.

And… the Bloody Mary’s. As I may have mentioned in a previous post we like our Mary’s to be a meal using a variety of both traditional and non-traditional ingredients. (And as my old college roommate Sarah pointed out–Guinness is a great addition.)

The Tornado Bloody Mary

  • some vodka (sorry, as I may have mentioned, I rarely measure) I used Ketel Citroen
  • some Trader Joe’s Garden Patch veggie juice
  • fresh horse radish
  • fresh squeezed juice from 1/2 lemon
  • a few dashes of Sriracha
  • a few dashes of Habanero hot sauce (or whatever hot sauce you may have on hand)
  • Angustura bitters
  • I used some left-over pickled jalapeño juice, but pickle juice works also
  • fresh cracked pepper, garlic powder
  • and finally fruit = olives, lemon wedge, bell pepper
  • and finally, finally… a drizzle of balsamic reduction!

By the end of the evening I realized I needed sustenance that wasn’t laced with hooch. Nothing is quicker and more satisfying than a grilled cheese.

I sautéed some jalapeños, bell peppers (left over from the Mary’s) and some sweet onions. My choice of bread = Tuscan Pane. And the glue the held it all together? Jarlsberg, Gruyere and Bleu cheese.

AND! And, I grilled these on my new Le Creuset. So… a pretty nice Sunday (followed by a fairly lousy Monday morning).

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