Gin Me Hendricks

God save me for that pun… the worst puns are the ones that aren’t funny.

While this review was fun to do, the purpose was really more about editing video than getting drunk.  A few years ago, I bought a Canon HV20 High Def Camcorder.  One of the highlight features was that it could shoot “24p,” that is “24 progressive frames per second.” 

There are a couple of reasons why someone might want this, but suffice it to say, 24p footage has a different characteristic to it.  It’s less “fluid,” but some say it gives your end result a more “cinema-like” result.  I’m not kidding myself, nothing I’m shooting is going to garner an Academy Award – if anything, my stuff looks along the lines of The Office.  To me, non-24p high def stuff looks “hyper-real” and almost “too smooth.”

So why am I still talking about this?  Well, it turns out the “highlight feature” was a bit misleading.  You don’t really care, but the 24p footage is actually wrapped in a 60i (60 interlaced frames per second) “wrapper” in order to make it more compliant with the HDV standard (I guess…).  This is don’t through a process called “telecine” or sometimes “pulldown.”  You’ve lost interest at this point, but the bottom line is that I finally figured out the Gordian Knot of 24p footage from the HV20.  So this was my first full test.

For reference, here’s some non-24p stuff (though, I think these aren’t the best examples):

P.S. Melanie is JOKING! It’s her imaginary, horrible alter ego.

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Lemonhead Martini

We’re heading into Summertime, so I thought I’d publish the recipe for Meg’s favorite refreshing martini.  I cobbled this together for her one day when she said she wanted a “lemondrop.”  She was pleasantly surprised with the outcome, and we began “beta-testing” it on our friends.  The results were universally positive, and typically the tasting ended with requests for the recipe.

We’ve been struggling for a name for it.  The recipe differs enough from a lemondrop that I think it needs its own name.  The x-factor is the limoncello, so I was thinking “cellodrop” for a while…  Though, the flavor mostly reminds me of a Lemonhead, so I’ve settled on that for now.

Without further ado, I give you the recipe.  I should warn you though – Meg is often disappointed now with restaurant lemondrop martinis.

2 parts FRESH lemon juice

~1 Tbsp sugar

1 part orange liquor – there isn’t really any discernable difference here; Cointreau, Grand Marnier, triple sec, blue Curacao (Meg prefers the blue-green result from using the latter).

1 part limoncello – We’ve tried Caravella and Pallini.  Meg prefers the Caravella due to the higher alcohol content.  It’s a little more alcohol-y, but Meg says when she’s drinking, she wants to know… I prefer Pallini – it creates such a smooth drink, you could almost mistake it for straight lemonade.

1 part vodka

 

“ReaLemon” is not an adequate substitute!  If you don’t have fresh lemon juice, don’t bother.  I’m not saying that to be snobby, I just don’t want you to waste your alcohol…

Rolling your lemons before slicing will loosen up the juices (I guess…)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cut along the equator for best results.

 

 

 

 

 

First things first – rim the martini glass with the cut side of the lemon.  The lemon juice will cause the sugar to stick better than simply using water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Invert the glass and dip into sugar; amount of coverage is up to your preference.  It’s important to do this up front so we can get the martini glass chilling in the freezer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Proceed to juice your lemons.  We prefer this style of juicer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pour the lemon juice into the shaker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Follow that with the sugar.  Superfine will make things easier; simple syrup better still.  But plain old granules will suffice and it commonly what we use.

 

 

 

 

Give that a good shake to dissolve the sugar into the lemon juice.  Next, add your ice – about 3/4 full on your shaker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, add your liquors and spirits.  I typically go from more viscous to less, i.e. orange-to-limoncello-to-vodka.  I feel like this leaves less remaining in the measurer.

 

Give it about 40 good shakes.  More or less could be fine… I’m not sure.  Someone once told me 40 was a good general purpose number, and I’ve followed that blindly.  Pour into your frosty glass.

 

 

Garnish with a lemon twist if you’re feelin’ fancy.

 

 

 

 

Well, I hope that wasn’t too complicated – Enjoy!

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