Memphis Nosh: Dishcrawl Cocktail Wars! and Dyer's Burgers

Sorry it's been so long!

I took some much needed time away from the world over the holidays, and then got the flu, and then had to prep for classes.

But I'm back!

Right before break, on December 12th, I got to participate in one of the most exciting, entertaining, and just FUN events I've attended in Memphis - Cocktail Wars!

Even better, Kim, who runs Dishcrawl in Memphis, asked me to be a judge!

*At Alfred's, one of my favorite spots.

*I got number signs and everything! Very official. 

Basically, people bought tickets to come watch local bartenders make signature drinks using a variety of sponsor liquors, like Bulleit Bourbon. The judges made comments, asked questions, and, along with the mixologists and our amazing MC, Big Sue, entertained the crowd. Our scores were combined with the attendees to name the best cocktail, hottest bartender, best presentation, most creative, and best taste. 

And there were delicious cocktails to drink. 

Hence the huge amount of people there:

*This is about 15 minutes before the start. It was even more crowded during the event. 

I was sitting sort of behind the mixing table, so all my shots are from the back, but it was super fun to watch.

*AK Metzger of Aldo's making the Thai'd Down with Tito's Vodka.

*The Thai'd Down. Yeah, she broke out the blowtorch to toast that pineapple. So good!

*An unfortunately fuzzy pic of Big Sue doing her thing. 

*Evan Potts from The Cove making the Black Walnut, with George Dickel Rye. 

*This was so good. One of my favorites - strong but not just liquor.

*Caitlin Moore from Rum Boogie making the New Fashioned. 

*We were all starting to think we were really funny by about drink 3. And we were pretty hilarious if I do say so myself. There's Trey Paul, Joelle Pittman, and Phillip Ashley Rix! Hey other judges!

*Here is Andy Walker, from The Green Beetle. His cocktail was super good, and had Coldcock Herbal Whiskey, which is one of my faves.

Just to show how many drinks we had actually had at this point, when it was my turn to comment on his drink, rather than really talking about the drink, I referenced when Big Sue asked him how to get a bartender's attention. He said cash. I said...wow I've been doing it wrong this whole time.

I referenced my boobs on stage.

While being filmed.

Oh my.

And finally, although somehow I managed to not get a picture of her making it (hooray booze!), Athena Kalafat made this beautiful creature:

*The Sweet Chi Chi. Also known as Going to the Drunk Spa, because it has coconut water! Healthy!

Then it was time to vote!

*Too many decisions.

While we were finishing up voting, it was time for some selfies!

*With Michael Hughes of Joe's Wine and Liquor. 

*With Bill Courtney, a really inspirational (check out "Undefeated") and pretty hilarious guy. 

**Also, I feel like I look way more drunk than I was. Tipsy is an accurate description. I don't know why my eye gets so droopy when I have like 1 drink.

*With Joelle Pittman, the Memphis Yelp Community Manager. Who is AWESOME.

*With Trey Paul, from Fox 13. I've heard his show is great. But it's really early in the morning, so I'll just say he's great and assume the show is too.

**Also I'm very sad that I don't have a pic with Phillip Ashley. I guess I'll have to go to his shop and take one!

***Not in a stalkery way. Weirdos.

*Also, Dishcrawl HQ was there, and I got to meet Dishcrawl founder and CEO Tracy Lee! We've been instagram friends for awhile, and it was great to meet her finally! Her entrepreneurship and business model are huge inspirations to me, so I was a little starstruck!

While we were waiting for the results, Joelle and I got a couple of Sweet Chi Chis (because we definitely needed more booze...) and hung out with the crowd.  

And we got a performance by the Memphis Queens!

Check out the winners here!

After the competition, Joelle, Trey and I decided carbs were just the ticket. Good thing we were right next door to Dyer's Burgers: 

*Via www.thestylebox.com.

101 year old grease, y'all. 

Seriously though, this place is insane. 

*The single with cheese. And fries. Best tipsy food ever. 

Cocktail Wars was super fun, the grease and carbs after were great, and I got to hang out with some of my favorite Memphis people. 

The best. 

My Holiday Wish List

So the holidays, for me, are complicated.

I have a lot of extended family, some by blood, some not, and a lot of obligations.

And, like this article discuss, Christmas is really a secular, cultural "hooray lights and love and family" thing for me.

But I love the season.

The lights. And the weather. And the food. And just the general feeling of "we should be nice to people" that we SHOULD have all year, but hey, I'll take what I can get.

I also love giving, and of course getting, gifts.

No one hates getting presents.

I really love giving gifts - I make a lot of my gifts, and I pride myself on putting a lot of thought into the presents I buy for people.

But every year, people ask me what I want, a question that has gotten more complicated since I've gotten older and more independent.

No one really wants the honest answer, which is money. Being a grad student is not lucrative, y'all.

So here's my list of things I like, things I'd like to have, and things that would make great gifts for any adult-ish, 28 year old, kind of bookish girls.

Mary Poppins: 50th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy)

*A classic for a reason. $29.99 on Amazon

The Southerner's Handbook: A Guide to Living the Good Life

*With a chapter on Southern food by John T. Edge, this looks like a great conversation piece and a nice coffee table book. $16.79 on Amazon. 

The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel

*Neil Gaiman is kind of my literary spirit animal. $15.59 on Amazon. 

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, 50th Anniversary Edition

*Yeah, I bizarrely don't own this. Also, I clearly think that books are the best gifts ever. $26.58 on Amazon.

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

*Yum. $23.78 on Amazon. 

Selling the Tudor Monarchy

*I'm a nerd. But this book is expensive and I need it for my dissertation. $46.33

Fitbit Flex Wireless Activity Band

*I have a friend who has one, and loves it. I'd really like to keep track of how much activity I'm actually doing, both at the gym and just running around. $99.95 at Walmart, Target, etc. 

Benefit Cosmetics Gimme Brow 

*I'm in the market for a new brow gel/pencil - I have really thick brows, but I had a cyst taken off one of them a few years ago and now they're kind of uneven. I've heard this is great, and I'd love to try it. $22 at Sephora.

Victoria's Secret PINK Coffee Tumbler

*Um, this is adorable. $19 at Victoria's Secret.

**Also I like glitter. 

***A lot. 

Bulleit Bourbon

*I had this for the first time at Cocktail Wars last week (post coming soon - spoiler alert: it was AWESOME) and loved it. So for anyone who wants to get someone (or me!) a good sipping bourbon, this is the way to go. Prices vary, but it's available at most Memphis liquor stores.

Clay Matthews Jersey

*SO EXPENSIVE. But I want it. Because I love him. $135 at Dick's Sporting Goods. 

There honestly isn't that much that I need. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Target gift cards are always appreciated - yeah, it's lazy, but don't we all have enough trinkets sitting around given to us by people who don't know us quite well enough to get something really meaningful? 

Also, homemade gifts, lunch dates, home-cooked dinners, and time are great gifts. Because, really, as much as we all like stuff, the gift of someone's time is the most important one. 

Happy Holidays!

Recipe: French Onion Soup

When it gets cold out, all I want to do is make soup.

And watch Netflix and lounge around in my pjs.

Don't worry boys, I'm still single.

But if all of this is lazy and sloth-like and has a lot of calories, well, at least it's delicious.

Because this soup is so good.

It's loosely adapted from The Pioneer Woman's French Onion Soup.

*Seriously - if I need a recipe I always check to see if she has it first. She's funny and really talented, and nothing is too difficult. I'm a pretty good cook, but this is really for all levels. 

Basically I adore her.

I make my soup a little differently, although I follow most of the same steps. This, to me, tastes a little more like the French Onion soup I had in France, particularly in this tiny restaurant right by Notre Dame. I started with soup, then had Steak au Poive and frites, and had a wonderful coffee for dessert.

(This might have been at Aux Tours Notre Dame - it's clearly been too long since I've been to Paris.)

OMG PARIS.

*Maybe the reason I'm still single isn't the Netflix and mismatched pjs - maybe it's because I already gave my heart away to a place. This place. 

Anyway. So I ate a lot of amazing stuff in Paris (the crepes! the macarons! that sandwich that was the best sandwich I've ever eaten!) but this soup was perfect. Warm, cheesy, complex, and the perfect thing to warm up a tired traveler who was, for all intents and purposes, alone in one of the biggest cities on earth on her first trip out of the country. 

Making it is a several hour process but it's so, so incredibly worth it. 

What you'll need: 

1ish sticks of butter (I say 1ish, because if you only have "Almost" a stick of butter, that's okay, or if you like more butter, that's okay too.)

4-6 medium yellow onions - this is not a scientific measurement in any way. I like a lot of onions in my soup and less broth, so I did about 6-7.

2 cups white wine (dry is best - I think I used a chardonnay, but whatever you have)

1/2 - 1 cup red wine, if you have it

2 cups chicken broth

2-3 cups beef broth

4 cloves minced garlic (I like things garlicky - if you don't, obvs don't put as much in)

Worcestershire sauce (a good 5-6 shakes)

Salt

Pepper

Crusty French bread or, like I use, challah

So I definitely add more wine than PW, but this is a basic "how to" on French Onion soup. Really, as long as you do the basic steps, it's really difficult to mess up.

Preheat your oven to about 400 degrees. Mine is a little finicky, so I did 425, but anywhere between 375 and 425 and you're in the right place.

Start chopping your onions. This takes forever. But they should look like this: 

*Like half moons. You want them to be pretty thin.

Melt your butter in a large Dutch oven or other pan that can be covered and put in the oven. I use this guy: 

*This was a gift from my parents for christmas a few years ago, and I use it constantly.

*She's a melting!

When the butter gets melted, toss in your onions, give them a toss, and cook them, covered, stirring occasionally, for about 25-30 minutes. Of course, if you're using fewer onions, you want to cook them for less time and vice versa, but they should look something like this when they're ready for the next step: 

*Oh hello.

Now take them off the stove, put them in the oven, with the lid just a little bit open, for about an hour. I checked on mine about 30 minutes in, gave them a stir, and then left them for the rest of the time. Until this happened: 

*Come here often? 

Basically you want them to get really carmelized and soft, but not to stick or get goopy.

Next, time to add some liquids!

Put the pan back on the stove, take the lid off, and turn the heat on medium or so. Scrap the bottom for all the good stuff, and then turn the heat off and add the wine. 

If you don't have red, it's fine. I just like about half a cup of red in addition to the white. 

Stir that around, turn the heat back up to medium, and let the wine cook for about 10 minutes. 

When it's reduced some (and smells fantastic!), add your chicken and beef broth. 

*This is the wine I used - I'm pretty sure someone left it at my house at the Halloween party. 

*Yum. This is with the wine reduced and maybe some of the broth added. I'm bad at things. 

Add the Worcestershire, the garlic, and salt and pepper to taste, and let it simmer on medium-low for about 20 minutes. 

While it's simmering, grab some bread. 

You can do either crusty French bread, which is great, or, my own twist, challah. 

Challah rolls to be specific. 

*From Ricki's Cookie Corner, the best kosher bakery/best roll makers ever. 

*Tear a roll in half, and slather it with butter. 

Then, you can either put it in the broiler, or, if you have an oven that's seen a couple centuries, put it in a cast iron skillet and brown it up. I don't like much bread in my soup, since I like to dip it, but it's a personal preference. 

While that's going and your soup is bubbling away, grab some gruyere and shred it up.

*Yeah it's expensive. But wrap it up after you grate some off and it will last forever. And this is really the cheese you need. I add a little mozzarella too, but this is where it's at.

*Plus you get a fancy rind!

*I love cheese.

Now the soup is done. It looks like this: 

*Yep. I'm gonna marry this soup.

Things could get all fancy here. 

You could put this in little ramekins and put the bread on top and the cheese and broil it. 

You could do a lot of things. 

But I did this: 

*No but really.

Yeah, I plunked it in a bowl, put some of the toasted pieces of challah in, sprinkled (a lot of) gruyere on top, and sat down to pure happiness. I also used a roll for dunking on the side. 

Food in Paris is such an amazing thing, and this makes me feel a little like I'm back there.

Il n’y a que deux endroits au monde où l’on puisse vivre heureux:  chez soi et à Paris.