Holiday Refreshments
Today, while the floor gets painted, storage units get built, and electricity gets extended, I’m researching holiday cocktails. Church Alley is hosting its first holiday party on December 13 for the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. I’m looking to feature two different specials. A Hot Apple Cider with Jameson and something cold (I mean we aren’t exactly in cold weather down here),
also since red wine will also be served.
I liked the candied lemons rinds that I made, but I want to see what else I can do with citrus rinds. I want to see how I can pair preserved citrus with espresso drinks and chocolate accompaniments. (Because in New Orleans we use musical vocabulary to describe everything) So I’m trying some preserving. Today I’m preserving lemons for the first time. I’m pretty sure these will also be my holiday gifts. I’m purchasing a bunch of citrus from the Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper this weekend. I’ll make a few things from that buy. (1) Peppery and (2) Cozy Preserved tangerines and oranges (3) Pompelmocello (grapefruit lemoncello without the lemons) I hoping these will work well in the bar and bring attention to the good work of the LMRK.
Louisiana Mississippi Riverkeeper is an organization based in Baton Rouge and an arm of Louisiana Environmental Action Network. I had the great fortune of working with them after the BP oil disaster. A family of environmental warriors putting their bodies and their minds on the forefront of the environmental problems facing the people and land of Louisiana. Not an easy task! Each time someone purchases some of LMRK’s citrus my customers will be supporting this great organization.
This type of partnership is essential to success of Church Alley. My business is entrenched in helping build community and solve our collective challenges together. Starting with Gary and Elizabeth who own the building and offer donation based yoga and meditation classes each day upstairs and in their homes near the coffee bar to the coffee and snacks we offer.
