hangover, shmangover

I was not hungover when I read about ‘The Hangover’ cocktail in last Saturday’s Globe and Mail.  Fact is – I was quite the opposite.  I was stone cold sober.

That edition of the Globe came during a weekend that was fraught with me spending way too much time in the minivan o’ fun.  My daughter was dancing in the Ballet Jorgen’s production of The Nutcracker and of course the competitive hockey schedule continued full-speed ahead.  We were also trying to knock off the last of the Christmas shopping, still had groceries to do etc etc.  So it was one of those ‘behind the wheel’ weekends of driving all over god’s creation in pursuit of Christmas spirit and leisure time activity.

So I pulled the recipe for cocktail out of the paper and set it aside for future consideration.  After all, I knew that this cocktail juuust might be relevant to me my readers during the next week or so.

Now.  We’ve all spoken before about my impeccable timing for dental appointments (like, hello?  Who schedules an appointment the day after Hallowe’en?), but why oh-why did I think that scheduling dental surgery (less than) a week before Christmas was a good idea?

True, the Christmas season prep managed to bring out the ‘let’s get ‘er done’ spirit in all facets of my life (probably a good thing), and there was the added advantage of being able to straddle my dental benefits.  A surgery over and done with this year would be fully reimbursed, meaning less out of pocket for me next year when it’s time for the next procedure.

Aw, Jesus.  We’re talking about my dental woes.  Like right here on the blog.  Back to the cocktail.

Sooooo when I pulled that cocktail recipe out of the paper, I was thinking to myself ’hangover-shmangover’.  I was thinking about how this cocktail could help me with a speedy ‘recovery’.  I smugly declined the sedation offered with my dental surgery confident that there was a cocktail coming to me a little later in the day.  After all, dental surgery has got to be at least as uncomfortable as a hangover, right?

This plan was going along swimmingly until I read this on my post-operative instruction sheet:

“Smoking and alcohol seriously retard the healing process in the mouth.  Please do not smoke or consume any alcohol for the first 48 hours.”

God Damn.  And I turned down the sedation for this?!   Good friend Sarah emailed me to say that she had been researching  post-operative cocktails for me, and found information consistent with that on my instruction sheet.  Sweet Jesus.  I mean, I wasn’t going to go out and have a keg party, but I was looking forward to testing this one out.  For you guys.  So here it is:

The Mix – The Hangover (Source)

• 2 ounces Gin
• 2 ounces freshly squeezed ruby grapefruit juice
• Splash of Orangina
• Splash of soda

Pour the gin and grapefruit juice in a tall glass filled with ice and top with Italian sparkling orange soda – I used Orangina – and a splash of plain soda. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.

By Wednesday night, the mandatory 48 hour waiting period was over.  And I gave it a try – for you guys.  If you look closely at the recipe, you’ll noticed one important thing (besides the gin):  yup, antioxidants!  Surely those will help with a speedy ‘recovery’!

I totally agree with the article that this could definitely be a ‘morning after’ cocktail for when you guys are hungover, or need a variation from a mimosa to serve at brunch.  The other bonus about this cocktail is that it’s easy to make, and you probably have all the stuff on hand to mix it up.

Here is a picture of ‘The Hangover’ in case you were wondering.  But honestly, the picture on the website is waaaay better.

Happy holidays from martinis for breakfast!