Spirited Characters

Two parts cocktail and mocktail crafting; one part fandom. Garnish with commentary.

[spiritedcharacters]

Not dead, just resting!

SC got this question in the inbox recently, and it’s a good question, so I’m returning briefly from dumpster-fire-inspired hiatus to respond! The question was: “Hi I was just wondering how much is a ‘pony’ is that like an ounce?” A ‘pony’ is an old term for the smaller half of the bar measure that looks like an hour glass--the smaller top half is the ‘pony’ and the larger bottom half is the ‘jigger.’  Traditionally, this meant one ounce for a pony and two ounces for a jigger, but a lot of modern measures have a 0.75 to 1.5 ounce ratio so that it’s easier to pour drinks that call for 3 ounces of something. The My Little Pony recipes on this blog are all written relative to each other as ‘ponies,’ both because I couldn’t resist the pun and because this means don’t need a specific measure ounce measure; you just need to keep the ratio consistent! :)

[girls-to-avoid]

everyone always talks about the wendys twitter, but

let’s talk about moonpie’s twitter

[helthehatter]

Moon pie is so nice and responsible

[girls-to-avoid]

He’s a very good boy

[queen-of-dirt]

Ohhh my God

[spiritedcharacters]

Mason “Dipper” Pines:  PITT COLA

(peach nectar, cola, grenadine)

You know I actually tried to find Pitt Cola in stores after we got home?  But nobody here sells it.  I guess it must be a Gravity Falls thing.

But I figured out I could make my own, and I think it’s pretty close!  It’s just four and a half ounces of peach nectar and four and a half ounces of cola.  Oh, and a teaspoon of grenadine.  I don’t add a peach pit, though.  Cause that would be weird.

[misserahmar]

If you find Crystal Pepsi, it works the best, and all you need is some red coloring. It’s delish.

[spiritedcharacters]

Rebageling this commentary because Crystal Pepsi, though hard to find, is an EXCELLENT idea for this recipe!

[spiritedcharacters]

How about overwatch?

It’s funny you should ask that--right now, I’m working with @culinarycosplay to create a whole host of Overwatch cocktails!  We’re making awesome progress, and I’m really excited to show you all what we’ve been doing in the near future. :D

[wwfandomw]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvXMRM9TjwQ)

[spiritedcharacters]

Happy (Disney) Halloween, y’all!

[spiritedcharacters]

Ello! So I've wanted to try Mixing with a Killer Robot (post/131319343244), but is there a way to replace the schnapps and vodka, or can they be left out entirely?

Oh, what an interesting question!  Are you trying to make a mocktail version of the drink?  

(It definitely won’t be the same drink without the cake vodka, which adds a different sweet note to the drink than the cinnamon simple syrup, though you can probably replace the schnapps with more simple syrup and some cinnamon extract.  In terms of how to get the cake flavor in, your best bet is likely cake-flavored ice cream.  It will become a shake rather than a straight drink, but as long as you're okay with that I think it's a decent substitute. :)

[spiritedcharacters]

Recap – Gravity Falls (Weird Mixology)

Last week was a pretty good return, all things considered!  Life is still beyond chaotic, but at least now I can have seven double shots of Mabel Juice to help prop me up. ;) 

 Anyway, here’s what happened last week: 

Sunday: Pitt Cola (Dipper) - peach cola  Monday: Mabel Juice (Mabel) - cherry coffee monstrosity Tuesday: No Refunds (Stan) - old fashioned variant Wednesday: Straight Blanchin’ (Soos) - clarified milk punch Thursday: Corduroy Drink (Wendy) - peach maple punch Friday: Summerween Punch (Candy and Grenda) - watermelon punch

That’s all for Gravity Falls, at least for now, though I’m sad to see it go.  Stay tuned, though, because Over the Garden Wall drinks are next on the horizon!

[spiritedcharacters]

Saturday Grab Bag: Gonna Drink Like a Person! Edition

So, as can be expected, there are a bazillion Mabel juice recipes.  But there’s also a charming series put out by renyrenee, including a Dipper Tipper, a Drunkle Stan, a Fuzzy Mabel, a Soos Driver, a Wendy Cordujoy, and a Gideon Oblivion.  I think the Dipper recipe looks particularly delicious, though they are all interesting!  I also found an interesting list put out by stanford-pines, which includes (among other things) another Mabel Juice, an apple-based drink for Wendy, and another fruit-based drink for Dipper--apparently that’s a popular choice.  So there are a fair number of tasty Gravity Falls drink options!  Drink ‘em like a person!

I also found, of all things, a bartender AU fanfiction on AO3 with Bill as a bartender.  Um, I would not drink anything he handed me, but maybe that’s just me.

And, of course, there are about a million drinking games.

And that’s it for Gravity Falls for now, but I would love to find an excuse to return to this show, because it’s a lot of fun.  Stay tuned for the recap sometime next week, and for more media in the near future--I’m hoping to tackle Over the Garden Wall next!

[spiritedcharacters]

Candy Chiu and Grenda Grendinator:  SUMMERWEEN PUNCH

(watermelon, ice, fruit punch)

“Would you like some delicious Summerween punch?”

“Maybe.  What’s in it?”

“It’s Summerween punch, Dipper, jeez!  It’s watermelon chunks and ice, what else would it be?”

"Thirty-two ounces of each.  And this one also has ten ounces of delicious fruit punch!  There was a sale on Tuesday.”

“Watermelon, huh?  Oh, because you made jack-o-melons!  So you had extra watermelon.  Clever.”

“Summerween punch always has watermelon!  Mabel, your brother is so weird.”

[spiritedcharacters]

Jesus “Soos” Ramirez:  STRAIGHT BLANCHIN’

(dark rum, lemon rind, lemon juice, whole milk, cinnamon, sugar, simple syrup, fine mesh strainer)

Dudes, you gotta try this cool new drink from Lil Bigg Dawgg’s new video.  It takes a little while to make, but it’s so worth it–it’s the perfect drink to have when you’re listening to the catchiest song of the summer!  Let me go get his book, it says how to make a whole bunch of it.

Okay dudes, he says in his book, you gotta start by zesting a couple lemons.  I guess that means you grate the skins?  Anyway, you muddle that with this super-fine sugar, like two tablespoons, and I add like a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon too. The book doesn’t say to do that part, but I figure you dudes deserve to know.   Then you cover that stuff and let it sit, for like a while.  Three hours or more.  But don’t put it where Mr. Pines will see it, cause one time I did that, and he threw it away and said it looked like cat pee.  Not cool, dudes.

Anyway, so when you’re ready, then you heat up a pint of whole milk. And you take that off the heat and mix it with your stuff from before.  And you add a cup and a half of dark rum, and like two and a half ounces of lemon juice.  It says two-point-seven-five ounces, so maybe do that actually. And five ounces of simple syrup.  When you add the stuff to the other stuff, your pot’s gonna curdle, but you’re okay, dawg, that’s why you need the strainer!  You strain out all the solid stuff, and you siphon the clear stuff into a tall glass, and then you blanchin’!  It’s way better than eating your own pants.

- - - -

[OOC note:  Much like Soos himself, this drink works best if left to do its thing–though you can strain aggressively and serve fairly immediately after mixing, it will be easier to strain and also taste better if you let the mixture chill out in the fridge for a while first.  Also, sorry Wendy, but if you make this recipe, you blanchin’]

[johnbodyheat]

[spiritedcharacters]

(gif borrowed from yahoo1027)

[spiritedcharacters]

Wendy Corduroy:  CORDUROY DRINK

(peach nectar, maple water, ginger syrup)

Nah, I’m not gonna be around this weekend, cause my dad makes us all do this big survival wilderness training thing one weekend a summer.  It’s beyond dumb, but at least we always make a big pitcher of Corduroy Drink!  It’s just a cup of peach nectar and two cups of maple water and a half ounce of ginger syrup per person.  I usually get stuck boiling the peaches down to nectar on the first night, and it totally takes forever, but could be worse!  He makes whoever taps the maples tap, like, ten trees.  From different forests.

[spiritedcharacters]

Jesus “Soos” Ramirez:  STRAIGHT BLANCHIN’

(dark rum, lemon rind, lemon juice, whole milk, cinnamon, sugar, simple syrup, fine mesh strainer)

Dudes, you gotta try this cool new drink from Lil Bigg Dawgg’s new video.  It takes a little while to make, but it’s so worth it--it’s the perfect drink to have when you’re listening to the catchiest song of the summer!  Let me go get his book, it says how to make a whole bunch of it.

Okay dudes, he says in his book, you gotta start by zesting a couple lemons.  I guess that means you grate the skins?  Anyway, you muddle that with this super-fine sugar, like two tablespoons, and I add like a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon too. The book doesn’t say to do that part, but I figure you dudes deserve to know.   Then you cover that stuff and let it sit, for like a while.  Three hours or more.  But don’t put it where Mr. Pines will see it, cause one time I did that, and he threw it away and said it looked like cat pee.  Not cool, dudes.

Anyway, so when you’re ready, then you heat up a pint of whole milk. And you take that off the heat and mix it with your stuff from before.  And you add a cup and a half of dark rum, and like two and a half ounces of lemon juice.  It says two-point-seven-five ounces, so maybe do that actually. And five ounces of simple syrup.  When you add the stuff to the other stuff, your pot’s gonna curdle, but you’re okay, dawg, that’s why you need the strainer!  You strain out all the solid stuff, and you siphon the clear stuff into a tall glass, and then you blanchin’!  It’s way better than eating your own pants.

- - - -

[OOC note:  Much like Soos himself, this drink works best if left to do its thing--though you can strain aggressively and serve fairly immediately after mixing, it will be easier to strain and also taste better if you let the mixture chill out in the fridge for a while first.  Also, sorry Wendy, but if you make this recipe, you blanchin’]

[spiritedcharacters]

“Grunkle” Stan Pines:  NO REFUNDS

(superfine sugar, Angostura bitters, bourbon, Cynar, lemon wheel)

Ugh, you kids today, your drinks taste like crap.  Me, I like a good old fashioned Pines Old Fashioned.  Teaspoon superfine sugar, muddled in a dash of Angostura bitters.  Ounce and a half of bourbon.  Half ounce of Cynar.  Garnish with lemon. It’s good stuff.

But don’t tell your parents I gave you the recipe, cause it’s “bad to give kids booze.”  Plus they think it tastes like crap.

[spiritedcharacters]

Mabel Pines:  MABEL JUICE

(coffee, Amp energy drink, seltzer water, grenadine, maple syrup, Kool-aid, ice, edible glitter, gumballs, gummy dinosaurs)

Aww, c’mon, you don’t really wanna know what’s in a Mabel Juice, do you? The experience is best if it contains a bit of mystery.  Plus it’s different every time!  You aren’t gonna make me structure your experience, are you, Dipper?

...okay, fine, this one’s two cups of coffee, two cups of seltzer water, a tablespoon of grenadine, a tablespoon of maple syrup, six ounces of the cherry kind of Amp energy drink, ten ounces of the cherry Kool-Aid Mom bought a week ago, three gumballs, and a teaspoon of edible glitter.  Oh, and some gummy dinosaurs, cause Dad kept saying I was gonna choke on the plastic ones.

[spiritedcharacters]

Mason “Dipper” Pines:  PITT COLA

(peach nectar, cola, grenadine)

You know I actually tried to find Pitt Cola in stores after we got home?  But nobody here sells it.  I guess it must be a Gravity Falls thing.

But I figured out I could make my own, and I think it’s pretty close!  It’s just four and a half ounces of peach nectar and four and a half ounces of cola.  Oh, and a teaspoon of grenadine.  I don’t add a peach pit, though.  Cause that would be weird.

[spiritedcharacters]

Okay, I'm officially suggesting it so that it gets into the cue: A Chorus Line. My picks for characters (although obviously it's up to you!) would be Mike, Diana, Val, either Sheila or Maggie (or do all three At The Ballet "girls" in one), Paul, and Richie. But, another way to do it is group everyone who has a solo or small-group song (and add Zach to Cassie's song). I don't know if you've ever done drinks for a small group of characters, though.

At this rate, I really should have a Theater section on the fandom index!  But yes, it would be interesting figuring out which characters make the most sense--I think more than six characters get selected, or I would pick that way.  Hmm.  What do folks think?

[spiritedcharacters]

Morning Announcements (actual morning edition)

Hello to you all from beyond the grave!

Well, not really, because this blog was only on unofficial hiatus; it was never dead.  But I certainly didn’t mean to take a hiatus that lasted all summer!  

It’s been a crazy year for me personally between a new job, an illness in the family, a hastily-accelerated wedding due to said family illness, and about a million other things.  And, despite the amount of content in these archives, this blog is run by one person--that would be me--with occasional sprinklings of much-appreciated guest weeks.

BUT things are starting to quiet down, and I really miss creating new content for y’all!  And believe it or not, the queue somehow continued to grow during the hiatus.  And things are getting quieter on the other fronts.  So I feel ready to return.  *cue confetti*

In an effort to make that stick, I’m informing y’all now that I’m going to run a Gravity Falls week starting Sunday, as Part II of the Steven Falls Over set that was inevitably requested by multiple people.  (If I can get my act together, Over the Garden Wall will be the next thing I do, but I’m still trying to figure out how to get my hands on a copy of the show to review).

Hopefully now that I have said that to a thousand people, it will get my carcass in gear to follow through.  If not, feel free to send me pestering asks until content appears.  At this point, it’s probably fair. XD