Episode 22: “I would lift those turkeys”

Sorry to disappoint, but there’s no boozing this week. Kelly’s under the weather and drinking tea, which leads to a Yogi Tea love-fest. What is your favorite tea to drink when you’re sick?

Grumpycat does the Harlem Shake. You’re welcome.

Autumn is non-boozing in solidarity and drinking cherry juice leftover from her adventures in DIY Homemade Sour Patch Kids.

(The recipe is from Casey Barber’s new book Classic Snacks Made From Scratch featuring tasty treats like Nutter Butters, animal crackers, Klondike bars and yes, even Doritos! Seriously, if you don’t own this book, you need to change that!)

The Sour Patch-making process leads to a discussion about gelatin and booze. Flat beer can work in marshmallows, but too much and things start to get kind of slimy. How much booze is overkill when working with gelatin? Bakers, chemists, marshmallows: weigh in using the comments section below! (then hopefully we can get to work on those whiskey sour patch kids…)

And speaking of marshmallows, for those of you in the know, does acid have the same effect on gelatin as alcohol? We talk about our experiences making lemon marshmallows: Autumn’s take incorporates the zest while Kelly’s uses a larger amount of juice.

The Maker’s Mark Controversy: What’s your take? Does 3% alcohol really make a difference in flavor? Is it worse to make customers wait for a product or to change the time-honored bourbon recipe?

A passive aggressive good time.

Autumn gets strategic when talking about Strand bookstore… which seems like skills you’d also need for being a contestant on this show:

We ponder burnt foods and what it is that makes us love that carbony taste so much. Where do you stand? Do you like the juxtaposition of burnt bits and not-burnt parts of your food? Or are you in the “the more burnt, the better” camp? 

And on that note, it’s a funky time of year for local produce. The farmers markets are lacking in colorful produce; how do you keep things exciting in the kitchen with a limited variety of veggies? We want to hear about it!

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Click play below to listen to Episode 22