Muskoka Maple Leaf

Canada Day is tomorrow and so here's a drink that's made with two ingredients from our great country. It's also a brilliant scarlet colour in keeping with the national holiday, and unlike our first three drinks, is carbonated, which makes it a refreshing choice now that hotter weather is here.

Though Canadians living in B.C.'s lower mainland, the foothills of the Rockies, the picturesque villages of ancien Québec, or the seacoast communities of Atlantic Canada may disagree (and they'd be perfectly correct), for Canadians living in the urban centres of Ontario, the Muskoka region of Central Ontario evokes all that is quintessential in the Canadian landscape: the primordial granite of the Shield, the icy lakes carved by mile-high glaciers, the immense silence of the forest.

And it's Muskoka, particularly Bala, that's home to the cranberry, this week's featured fruit. The annual Bala Cranberry Festival, held the weekend following Thanksgiving (that's Canadian Thanksgiving, the second Monday in October), is billed as the third largest festival in Ontario.

We'll come back to cranberries in a moment, but first…

Canadian whisky (without the "e") is often called rye. These days that's a misnomer, since most Canadian whiskies are primarily distilled from corn. Alberta Premium is one whisky that is still 100% rye. You can try a small 200 mL bottle available at the LCBO for $7.25 if you'd like to taste your grandpa's whisky.

Regardless of which whisky you have in the back of your liquor cabinet or kitchen cupboard, pour about 1½ ounces over several ice cubes in a tall glass and add ½ ounce of freshly-squeezed lime juice.

Now here's where you have some choice. The one I prefer, though it does violate my principle of using real fruit or juices, is to top up your glass with President's Choice Cranberry sparkling soda. It's available at any store that sells President's Choice products, such as Loblaw's, Super Centre, No Frills, Zehrs, or Your Independent Grocer.

Your other option is to fill your glass with a half and half mixture of cranberry juice and club soda.

Sit back in your Muskoka chair and enjoy the fireworks. Happy Canada Day.

Mango-rita

The Margarita is one of the world's most popular drinks and a summertime favourite. In fact, that's where I began last summer's series of cocktail posts, and that's where you should start if you want to try this week's variation on the classic. Just click here to go there. It'll tell you all you need to know about how to make the best Margarita you've ever tasted. Guaranteed, or double your money back.

Once you've mastered the basic Margarita, you'll need to make a trip to your local supermarket that sells President Choice products. In the refrigerated juice section, look for President's Choice 100% Purée & Juice Mango Orange Blend.

To make one Mango-rita, combine ½ ounce triple sec, 1½ ounces tequila, 1½ ounces PC Mango Orange juice, and 2 ounces Margarita mix. For a frozen Margarita, blend with a cup of crushed ice and serve in a coupe-shaped Margarita glass, or serve over ice in a large wine glass and sip through a straw.

Here are links to some more of last summer's cocktails:

• Sangria
  
• Aprodite (a pineapple drink)
  
• Long Island Iced Tea
  
• Frugal Cocktails
  
• Mojito
  
• Mint Julep
  
• Peach Daiquiri
  

Just mouse over the name of the cocktail and click on it to go to the post. Click on your browser's back button to return to this post.

Cheers!

Summer 2011 Travel and Points Deals

Summer's finally here and I thought I'd present a round-up of the best travel and points offers available for July and August.

Choice Hotels has numerous low-cost locations across Canada and the U.S., often in small centres where other chains have no presence. Until August 11, if you stay twice, you can earn enough points for a free night in many of their hotels. Here's where to register and get all the details.

Best Western is another chain with many small town locations across North America, making it another excellent road trip option. Through August 14, you'll earn a bonus of 750 Aeroplan miles (in addition to the usual 250) for every stay. You must register through this link prior to your first stay and have your earnings preference (in your profile) set to earn Aeroplan miles.

You can also register to earn 1,500 Aeroplan miles for every $100 Best Western travel card you purchase before August 31. Combine these two offers for a five-night road trip at $100 per night and you'll earn 12,500 Aeroplan miles, halfway to a flight anywhere in North America. If you make your purchase with a credit card that gives you Aeroplan miles, you'll earn a minimum of another 500 miles.

If you'd rather have US Airways Dividend miles, Best Western has a less lucrative offer of 500 miles for each $100 card purchase. Register and purchase here. Make sure your earnings preference is set to US Airways Dividend Miles.

If you're staying at a Marriott before August 31, you can earn quadruple US Airways miles with each stay, starting with the second. Registration and full T&C's are here.

And, until June 30, you'll receive a 100% bonus when you buy US Airways miles, effectively making them half-price. Usually buying miles is not a good idea, but if you've ever wanted to fly to Europe or Asia in First or Business class, this can be a bargain way of doing it.

Hertz is not always the cheapest option when you're looking to rent a car, but I have used them on several occasions and have found their service to be better than some other companies (which I won't name here). Here's an offer for a 40% discount and a big bunch of Delta SkyMiles. Check it out to see if it's worth it for you.

Here's a site that I'm in the process of test driving for an upcoming trip. Several travel bloggers whose advice I trust have recommended it: AutoSlash. Basically, you enter the location and dates you wish to rent a car and AutoSlash gives you a list of vehicles available from various companies. If you make a booking, AutoSlash will continue to monitor rates and if they drop will notify you. If you wish to take advantage of the lower rate, you tell them. They'll cancel the previous reservation and make you a new one. There's no obligation on your part: unlike a hotel reservation, you don't provide your credit card. Here's what The Points Guy had to say about his recent experience with AutoSlash.

And finally, Great Canadian Hotels is offering a coupon for a free night if you stay two nights before September 5. Plus, if you book by June 30, they'll give you a $25 hotel credit. All the details are here.

Peony

Mrs. 500 Words frequently refers to peonies as "last day of school flowers" because, when she was a schoolgirl, she noticed the peonies in her parents' garden would finally open on the day school let out for summer holidays.

Living where we live, in Southern Ontario, we often remark on how the end of June means not only the end of the school year, but truly seems to represent the end of another year, more so than does December 31. Clubs, organizations, and activities all take a two month break, and the day after Labour Day, when the new school year begins and normal routines resume, seems to be the "real" New Year's Day.

All of which is to say, we should mark the occasion with a drink. And this week's drink is a sweet-tart, deep-pink concoction named in honour of the "last day of school flower", the peony.

Start by adding about a cup of ice to your trusty cocktail shaker, and then pour in 1½ ounces of white rum, ½ ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice, and 1½ ounces of frozen raspberry juice concentrate. I prefer the brand made by Welchs, but Minute Maid makes one too. If you let it thaw in the fridge beforehand, it'll be easier to measure.

Shake vigourously for 30 seconds and let settle for a minute or two. You want some dilution to occur. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a few fresh raspberries on a small skewer, if you wish. Since this recipe requires you to add only 3½ ounces of liquid to your shaker, you can easily double it for sharing.

My original version was made with white rum, a sort of raspberry daiquiri, but in a recent blind tasting at our house, the version made with gin was deemed a winner. You could also use vodka.

In case you'd like to try any of last summer's cocktails, here are links to those posts:

• Margarita
  
• Sangria
  
• Aprodite (a pineapple drink)
  
• Long Island Iced Tea
  
• Frugal Cocktails
  
• Mojito
  
• Mint Julep
  
• Peach Daiquiri
  

Just mouse over the name of the cocktail and click on it to go to the post. Click on your browser's back button to return to this post.

Cheers!

Strawberry Lemonade

Although it's been a cool, rainy spring here in Southern Ontario, strawberry season will soon be upon us. What better way to start off our series of fruit-themed cocktails than with a taste of the first fruit of summer?

You'll need to start by adding about a cup of ice to your cocktail shaker. Then toss in a couple of strawberries (frozen are fine; just let them thaw first). Cutting them up into several pieces will help purée them when you start shaking.

Next, measure three ounces of lemonade and pour that into the shaker. About the lemonade: you can always make your own of course, and if you do, I salute you. But there's no shame in using a good quality substitute. Most refrigerated lemonades from the supermarket have additions such as citric acid and cellulose gum. You want to avoid them. But Minute Maid Lemonade frozen concentrate is free of additives, and that's what I used.

Another advantage of using frozen concentrated lemonade is that, instead of following the instructions on the container and adding four cans of water when reconstituting it, I added only two. This gave me a much stronger mix, so that when my lemonade was diluted by the ice in the shaker, and again by the melting ice in the glass, it didn't taste weak.

This recipe is based on one which appeared in an LCBO advertising insert in the weekend paper a while back, and it called for an ounce and a half of vodka. I also tried the drink with gin and with white rum. I preferred the gin version, but feel free to use whichever you prefer or have on hand.

Add the liquor to the shaker and shake vigourously for about 30 seconds. Strain into a Collins glass that's half filled with ice (a Collins glass is a tall glass that holds about 12 ounces). Put your feet up, sip through a straw, and sigh with contentment.

In case you'd like to try any of last summer's cocktails, here are links to those posts:

• Margarita
  
• Sangria
  
• Aprodite (a pineapple drink)
  
• Long Island Iced Tea
  
• Frugal Cocktails
  
• Mojito
  
• Mint Julep
  
• Peach Daiquiri
  

Just mouse over the name of the cocktail and click on it to go to the post. Click on your browser's back button to return to this post.

Cheers!

Summer Cocktail Season is Here!

Victoria Day is behind us, June is here, and that means (most) serious thought is hereby suspended until after Labour Day. And though it's really, really tempting to take a few cheap shots at Tim "Bits" Hudak, instead, just like last year, I'm going to use my blog over the summer mainly to post drink recipes.

My goal this year is to provide you with a new cocktail recipe each Thursday, so you'll be all set to kick back on the following weekend. And each week's drink will highlight a different fruit flavour: orange, pineapple, lemon, lime… twelve fruits in all, one for each of the next twelve weeks.

There are a lot of flavoured liquors out there, particularly flavoured vodkas and rums (gin is the original flavoured vodka), and there's nothing wrong with them. It's just that if I took that approach, you'd end up with a cabinet full of bottles and an empty wallet.

So instead, our recipes will rely on basic liquors like vodka, gin, rum, and tequila, and fresh or frozen fruits and juices.

Also, each cocktail will contain no more than four ingredients (not counting ice) so you can spend less time mixing and more time sipping.

Our first recipe's coming up next Thursday, but I thought I'd take this opportunity to direct you to some of last summer's posts, partly because there are some good drinks there that you might like to try, but also because, in those posts, I shared what I'd learned over the last few years about ingredients, techniques, and barware that will help you make better cocktails.

• Margarita. Using real fruit juices versus powdered mixes.
  
• Sangria. My own recipe.
  
• Aprodite. (a pineapple drink). Good quality ice and the cocktail shaker.
  
• Long Island Iced Tea. Making your own sour mix.
  
• Frugal Cocktails. More than a dozen cocktails you can make with a few basic bar ingredients.
  
• Mojito. Simple syrup.
  
• Mint Julep. Bourbon basics.
  
• Peach Daiquiri. Plus a peach sorbet recipe.
  

Just mouse over the name of the cocktail and click on it to go to the post. Click on your browser's back button to return to this post.

Cheers!