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| Facade of EZO365, our Niseko villa |
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| Now you see it, now you don't. |
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| My reflection on the window, whose view is completely blocked by snow. |
It's so snowy in Niseko, skiers and boarders never really need to "Pray for Snow." It just happens, anyway. Everyday. All day. For almost a third of the entire year.
It snows so much, peculiar things happen. Like, I start making martinis.
OK, that was false reporting of the true progression of events.
The real reason I was inspired to make martinis was, speaking with Hasashi and Ionna of Gyu+ inspired me so. The snowy-ness merely created the perfect excuse for us to stay home one night, hence, I had a captive audience for my meager attempt at mixology.
Our pantry contained only breakfast items such as egg, cereal, bread, etc. There were lots of chocolate and gummy candy from Marks & Spencer, but I hardly had the equipment to turn them into usable ingredients for a cocktail. Luckily we had a tray of fresh strawberries, a whole bottle of vodka and an ice maker.
I decided to make fresh strawberry martinis for everyone. Here's how it happened:
- I used a table spoon and a water glass to muddle the juicy berries
- I added vodka (lots of it) and sugar
- I muddled everything again like a sociopathic madman until the berries were completely... mashed
- I threw in some tubes of ice, covered the mouth of the glass with a saucer, and started shaking like crazy - all the while keeping a palm tightly capped on the saucer to ensure that not a drop of my precious cocktail would spill. I was shaking so hard, I was practically convulsing. "This is how it must feel," I thought, "to have an epileptic seizure."
- I finally used a noodle strainer (the only kind we had) to take the ice out of the mixture.
- The result was a thick, pulpy, shake-y martini that I'd like to call "FRESH SNOWBERRY MARTINI."
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| Hyperactive's Fresh Snowberry Martini |
It was hardly a conventional martini, considering we didn't have gin or vermouth or strawberry syrup. But who cares about outdated martinis, anyway, when even James Bond likes "Shaken, not stirred" ?!? My crazy, desperate improvisation resulted in a cloudy, princessy-pink cocktail devoid of artificial colouring, with just enough sweetness and texture to tickle the tongue.
It was almost pure vodka, of course, which made us nice and loose and ready for a happening night out at the onsen, after all - snowstorm notwithstanding.
But that's another story, for another day.
It was almost pure vodka, of course, which made us nice and loose and ready for a happening night out at the onsen, after all - snowstorm notwithstanding.
But that's another story, for another day.
