Everything’s Coming Up Rose’s Lime Gimlet

This past Sunday was the premiere of Mad Men, so clearly Samir and I had to celebrate in some way. Thankfully, The Recipe Club had the perfect addition for our night – gimlets!

We started watching Mad Men after the third season ended. In less then two months, we caught up on all three seasons and patiently waited for the fourth to start. Everything about the show is brilliant, from its dead-on dialogue, to its subtle progressions. I adore the period attire and quite frankly want to be Joan. Having worked in marketing before, the plot lines are really interesting to me, and – for some unfathomable reason – I’m completely in love with Don Draper. Really, who isn’t?

So I was pleased to see the recipe for Everything’s Coming Up Rose’s Lime Gimlet. We bought the ingredients earlier that day and waited patiently for the premier.

I was especially excited about the recipe due to the name – a reference to the song “Everything’s Coming Up Rose” from the musical Gypsy. Back in high school, Gypsy was the first musical I ever performed in. I loved not only the experience, but also the play; I was utterly fascinated with Gypsy Rose Lee (the stripper who defined the “strip tease”).

While just an ensemble actor during the play, I actually received a callback for the role of Young Louise. It wasn’t until later that I realized it was primarily due to my lack of singing and dancing ability. Whoops! Still, I made some of my best friends during that show, and was introduced to the high school drama world.

And to think that was almost 10 years ago…

Back to the drink – gimlets are incredibly easy to make. We don’t have a cocktail shaker (for shame!), so we substituted it with two glasses held together. That…kind of worked. I garnished each cup with a lime wedge for extra appeal.

They came out alright. A bit sour and strong for my taste, but Samir and his friend really enjoyed them. Next time I think I’m going to try it with lemon instead of lime.

Still – they were a great addition for our Mad Men night. I felt like I was in the ad room working alongside Peggy and Pete (awkward!). Next week? We’re totally dressing up.

Experimental Egg Creams

Since this blog was inspired by The Recipe Club, I thought it only fitting to start with recipes from there.

I started simple with one of my favorite things in the world – egg creams. How excited was I to see it listed in the book?

Growing up on Long Island, (where they’re much better known) my dad and I would always make them on Sunday nights. Never using a recipe, we’d mix the three ingredients delicately, always adding in more chocolate than necessary. I found it odd that, upon moving to Florida, no one had heard of them. And so, as if subconsciously merging into our new surroundings, we slowly stopped making them. Or maybe I was just growing up.

Anyway, after reuniting with them in New York almost exactly a year ago, I’ve decided to bring the delicious treat back.

Plus, it’s a great way to start a cooking blog (mostly because there was no way I was messing them up.)

Thankfully, we had all of the ingredients in the house already (chocolate syrup, milk, seltzer)*.

Samir voiced his concerns: “Why are they called ‘egg creams’ anyway? There’s no egg or cream involved. They should just be called hamburger pizzas.”**

Right.

I honestly never thought there WAS an actual recipe, so I was keen to see if using measurements would improve the drink. It didn’t, really, but it was still delicious, so I didn’t mind at all.

Voila, Experimental Egg Creams!

(If making these, make sure your selzer water isn’t flat. If it is, you’ll just end up with watery chocolate milk. It’s the fizz that makes it great. Sadly, ours was a bit off.)

Samir enjoyed it too.

Yum!

And so, the first recipe was a delicious success. Now, on to bigger and better things!

*Due to copyrights, I’m not printing any of the actual recipes gathered from the novels. Those three ingredients, however, are quite obvious, so I found no harm in listing them. Here is a similar recipe, in case you’re interested.

** Because at one time there WAS egg involved! See more of the egg cream’s history here and here.