Go-Go Mojo

The Pittsburgh Penguins finally won their first game at the Consol Energy Center last night!

Really, that's the important thing. Alex Goligoski's game-winning goal in overtime broke the Consol Curse, *and* he did it in the cursed blue uniform! On the power play, even! That's some powerful mojo on Goligoski's part right there. Of course, the reason last night's game against the New York Islanders was tied in the first place is because the referees screwed up. They called a clean shoulder-to-shoulder hit by Kris Letang on Blake Comeau (who has a future in Hollywood) an illegal head shot, giving Letang a major and a game misconduct. Since the Islanders actually aim for the net when they have a power play, they scored two goals fairly quickly. Comeau "healed" enough to assist on the second. I'm hoping the referee's smart enough to feel incredibly stupid today.

Last night, I made Mexican-style hot chocolate. This is the kind with the solid bars, not the powdered mixes. I added espresso-flavored vodka. When the Penguins couldn't seal the deal in the 6 minutes of power play Nino Niederreiter handed them, I added a bit more! I made the chocolate super-thick because the vodka thinned it out a bit. This isn't going to be an every-game thing for me simply because it's very rich and I don't want my super-loose jersey to fit perfectly again, but it's good for one night.

The measurements are weird for a reason. I want to stress that this will make 2 servings. A tablet of Mexican chocolate usually makes 4. I mixed in 2 ounces espresso-flavored vodka, but as I said, I added more a bit more and ended up with 3 ounces. My wife doesn't drink; she combined her hot chocolate with coffee and liked that lots.

Go-Go Mojo

1/2 tablet Mexican-style chocolate
2 cups milk
1 or 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash cayenne pepper
3 ounces espresso-flavored vodka per mug of hot chocolate

Heat 2 cups milk and 1/2 tablet chocolate in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Keep mixing with a wire whisk until mixture is frothy and starts to boil. Remove from heat; add sugar and spices. Pour into 2 mugs. Let it cool just a little, then stir 3 ounces espresso-flavored vodka into each mug.

Think of Engelland

The Penguins have had 4 regular-season games so far, but I haven't really felt like celebrating any team member's accomplishments. The fact that only one game has resulted in a win--against the badly mismanaged New Jersey Devils--is part of it. We're experiencing an early season Injuryfest again, with Staal, Orpik, Michalek, and Asham out. Frankly, I've been seeing a lot of lackluster play. The first few minutes of last night's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs (3-4 Penguins) pissed me off. Should've been watching the last miners come out of the Chilean mine anyway...

That doesn't mean there weren't a few enjoyable moments. The best by far was this fight between AHL call-up Deryk Engelland and the Leafs' goon Colton Orr. Orr got knocked the hell out, and that doesn't happen very often!

orpikEYES, a fan of the Penguins (duh) and cocktails, suggested naming a blood orange mimosa after Eric Godard, who's usually our designated goon. But I've already named this wasabi-spiced Bloody Mary after him. So, since Engelland took Godard's role by fighting Orr, he gets this named after him instead. It's simple but effective, like the Penguins' power play should be. Brunch is served, bitches!

Think of Engelland

Blood orange
Champagne

Slice blood orange in half. Squeeze the juice from it, using whichever method is available to you. Strain out any seeds or pulp.

Pour champagne into a flute, filling it about halfway. Fill glass the rest of the way with blood orange juice, and stir gently.

Note on ingredients: Don't waste really expensive champagne on this. Also, if you don't want to squeeze an orange or can't find one, 2 ounces of bottled blood orange juice will work.

Staal-Healing Rum

I wasn't going to post this here. Sometimes I get complicated, and that doesn't seem right for this blog. Things like the lavender limoncello I made this summer are So Not Hockey. But when I mentioned that I'd made rum infused with pumpkin and spices on my Twitter account, a couple of my Penguins fan tweeps were very interested. So I'm posting the recipe here.

You can use this rum in many ways. I combined it with cream soda last night, which made the Penguins' first pre-season loss more bearable. Actually, I think my eyes rolled back, it was so good.

It won't be ready for the start of the season. You need at least 5 days to let the flavors really get into the rum; I let it go a week. You'll have quite a bit of the pie pumpkin left, so this is good if you're also planning to make something else with pumpkin.

One of those Penguins-fan tweeps suggested naming this after something else that's going to be worth waiting for--the healing of Jordan Staal's foot! I know I'm looking forward to that, as much as I looked forward to drinking this all week. This may not actually have curative properties, but you won't care.

Staal-Healing Rum

Small pie pumpkin
1 vanilla bean
2 cinnamon sticks
About 5 whole cloves
1 750 ml/quart bottle dark rum

Cut the pie pumpkin into pieces and remove seeds. Use a vegetable peeler to shave several thin ribbons, about 5 inches long, off a piece of pumpkin. Break the cinnamon sticks and vanilla bean in half.

Place pumpkin ribbons, cinnamon sticks, vanilla beans, and cloves in a 1 1/2 quart glass container. (Pitcher, jar, etc.) Seal tightly. Put it in the fridge or not, but do not touch for at least 5 days! Use as you want (straining out pumpkin and spices, of course) after that.

If you use vodka instead of rum, the flavor's a bit different, but it makes awesome martinis for Halloween.