BONUS: The Christmas Mule
No, this isn’t a charming children’s book about a lesser known nativity manager resident. It’s a Christmas cocktail review…in August. And that’s because I’m reviewing The Christmas Movie Cookbook by Julia Rutland. Each and every recipe is inspired by a movie set during the holiday. And luckily, the cookbook includes a short description of each film in case you haven’t seen it.
In the case of the Christmas mule, I am not familiar with the movie that inspired it, Remember the Night. The book describes this 1940 film as “a heartwarming romance. Starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck as an attorney and a thief, respectively, whose opposites attract relationship deepens when each character is willing to change their ways for the other. Tender and sincere, it’s sure to fill you with the joy of the season.”
I really wanted to make the Linzer Star Cookies inspired by Die Hard, but I just don’t think it’s going to be cool enough to turn on my oven before this book comes out on September 6th. So I’ve gone with the Christmas Mule because a mule works for all seasons. (But isn’t it cool that this book has everything from classic films to 80’s action movies?)
I have to admit, I struggled with this (and no, it’s not because of the recipe, which was easy to follow and lovely). I first tried making this when the northeast was still in the nasty grips of an awful heatwave. And I don’t think my brain was working properly.
(Attempt number one. Spoiler alert, this attempt failed.) To be fair, I’m not really a cocktail drinker so this was not second nature to me. And I started off a little like Diane trying to make a Bloody Mary. But also I couldn’t get my hands on all the ingredients. This mule calls for Blood Orange Liqueur, which the liquor store in my neighborhood did not have. It also calls for vodka and orange bitters, which were easy enough to acquire.
Also, I had received a Bundaberg ginger beer sample in my Hello Fresh months ago and never tried it out, so this felt like kismet!
All that was missing was the Blood Orange Liqueur, so I set about trying to find a suitable replacement. I figured I would just use blood orange juice and call it a day. When my grocery store had neither blood orange juice nor fresh blood oranges. I settled on Blood Orange Hibiscus Polar Seltzer. (This was a poor choice.)
Determined to soldier on, I filled my glass with equal parts Blood Orange Hibiscus Polar Seltzer and vodka. I added half a glass of ginger beer and then it was time for the dash of bitters. I struggled with the plastic wrap on the bitters and as soon as I finally removed it from the lid, I spilled bitters all over my hands. This led me to wonder…did I loosen the cap or was the cap ever even tightly on? Can bitters go bad?
(This led to a phone call with my dad — no he did not know if bitters could go bad— who told me a not very pleasant story about bad pickles — which he didn’t think could go bad but evidently can. The bad pickles were somewhat relevant because they also arrived with a loose lid.)
Did I go back to the store the next day to ask the experts? No, of course not. I resolved to probably never use these bitters but also not throw them out because I am a fan of kicking the can down the road. (Incidentally, if you are reading this and you know whether or not it’s important to have a tight lid on bitters for freshness, please respond in the comment.)
I figured, whatever, who needs a dash of bitters? I’ve already made this drink wrong anyway. Let’s continue to soldier on. I did have a lime, but sadly, I did forget to include the fresh lime juice (see note about heatwave brain fog). And up until yesterday, I was actually going to attempt to write a review based on the debacle above. But that wasn’t the assignment. And luckily, the heatwave broke. So I walked to a different neighborhood where I was able to finally find blood orange liqueur.
(Attempt number two. Success!)
The clerks at the liquor store in the other neighborhood advised me not to use bitters because this blood orange liqueur (Matchbook Blood Orange Aperitivo #2) has a bitter after taste. (No, I didn’t ask them about my specific bitters and whether or not they were still usable. Yes, I realize now that this was a missed opportunity.) Regardless, the bitter issue was now, thankfully, moot.
All that I had do to do now was purchase new ginger beer. My grocery store didn’t have Bundaberg, so I used San Pellegrino. And this is actually the one part of attempt number two that I’m sad about. That Bundaberg ginger beer was phenomenal and I’m sad I wasted it by mixing it with seltzer. For the record though, I drank what was left in the can (since the mule recipe only called for half a glass) and THIS is the ginger beer you want for your mule if you can get your hands on it.
With the reprieve from the heatwave, my brain finally worked again! I juiced my lime, I poured out my liquor with confidence (not Diane style any longer, see link above), and that blood orange liqueur was delicious.
This drink was smooth! It definitely makes me want to try out the others in the drink section, which I think is a real value add. Yes, this book has all the appetizers, entrees, and desserts you crave — but how often do you get a whole entire cocktail, eggnog, and cocoa section? You could truly plan a holiday dinner from A to Z with this thing.