quinn's place

this old fashioned knows we're almost through the winter.

i have an insatiable hankering for old fashioneds during the winter. a really goooood old fashioned, though. and to sit in a dark cozy bar. one that's not so loud i have to scream at my friends. and not seated next to the door where people keep letting the cold in. preferably with a fireplace. and a big fluffy dog next to it. and then a smaller cute dog for my lap. is that sew much tew ask??

they just warm yer soul right up and come in a fun glass with fun tastes and fun stuff inside!

i'm not much of a mixologist at home - i leave that to bartenders out in the world and usually don't even think to make a cocktail at home because i am clueless on the cocktail front. but when i think of something sounds good and i don't think it generally exists in the world - i make it mahself!

i love this old fashioned with equal parts black cherry juice to whiskey or bourbon. the tartness of the black cherry juice balances out that sharp zing from the whiskey and the fresh orange zest adds SO much aroma and flavor. if you prefer a boozier cocktail, just alter the ratio of whiskey to black cherry juice.

this drank is cozy & heartwarming to enjoy during the bitter end of february, but it's also refreshing & juicy with signs of springtimes ahead. yaaaaas.

also, happy valentine's day!!!!!!!!!!!

Black Cherry Old Fashioned

Makes 1 Cocktail, easily multiplied

Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

1 tsp. agave nectar (or simple syrup or a sugar cube)
3-4 dashes of angostura bitters
1 1/2 ounces rye whiskey or bourbon
1 1/2 ounces 100% black cherry juice (I used R.W. Knudsen brand)
orange zest
orange twist and/or cherry garnish

Instructions-

Lightly stir or muddle the agave/sugar and bitters in the bottom of your glass. Add the whiskey or bourbon and black cherry juice and stir. Add a cocktail ice cube, grate some fresh orange zest over the top, and add a cherry and/or orange peel twist for garnish & flavor. Serve immediately!

ello!

i have so many photos to share from our short 2 day stop in london! i actually thought i could consolidate allllllllll of the photos from our entire europe trip into one post, but LOLz nope that's a crock. i figure, what's the point of taking all these photos if i don't share them. even if nobody looks at this...it's very cathartic for my brain to release these photo dumps out into the wild.

i'll also be sharing photos from ireland, amsterdam, cologne and nyc! eventually :)

^ i feel like lots of big attractions are under construction when i travel. there's big ben up there, which i did not even notice it because of the construction junkola. same happened in athens when i saw the parthenon.. womp womp.

one of my favorite things we did was go to borough market! this was 3 days before christmas, so it was super festive. there were sooo many amazing eats & treats and vendors and all the mulled wine. it is located under the london bridge which feels so cool and london-y.

i don't think i took a photo of the big filled donuts we got from bread ahead, but they were scrumptious. everything was so beautiful and delicious looking.

there was an a cappella group here singing a mix of christmas songs and beatles songs. loved that. good vibes while enjoying a spicy mulled wine.

so many fresh juices. wowzah i want em all.

^ not a bad happy hour view of the tower bridge. nobody was even at this bar... wha??

^ my favorite travel buddy.

^ we rode the cutie double decker bus to shoreditch to have dinner at dishoom. it was really delicious indian food. our waiter told us that people usually order 3 dishes each, which i thought sounded like a lot but maybe they were small portions? maybe he was tricking us? oh my g we had to eat so much. it was so good, but whoa we did not need to order three items, each! 3 total dishes would have done the trick. i don't think i got a photo of all the food we ordered. luckily our airbnb hosts wanted our leftovers, haha.

we had such fun bopping around to different pubs on this night. there are SO many adorable & cozy pubs around every corner. it's the best.

we were staying at an airbnb pretty far outside of london - a 40 minute train ride - so this day we had explored london from like 9am until after midnight when we left the pubs. it was a long long day and we walked 10 miles and 28,000 steps according to my phone.

^ crazy cool sand castle christmas village!

^ delicious savory pies from pieminister. with gravy & red cabbage slaw. yummmmz.

^ our CUTE ASS airbnb in weybridge! even though weybridge was a substantial train ride from london, we also enjoyed this little town a lot, too. and the train was easy to navigate into the city to the big waterloo station.

^ this coffee shop was so funny to me. all of their cups and sugars and things had goofy sarcastic comments on them. it was just silly and unexpected.