Everyone is welcome. This savory dish will be the talk of your dinner party, the unforeseen star of the show, the recipe that everyone will ask for.
The bacon grease slipping the sides of the pears, the savory coating of the salt and pepper, the tangy cut of the vinegar and mustard is, well, chef’s kiss.
ENJOY!
Summer is coming to a close and I’m trying to not get too depressed amongst crazy life things (did anyone else get the blues or have the world fall out from under them after turning 30? Asking for a friend).
While navigating a new season have turned out to be way more reactionary and survival mode than I anticipated, there have been some super sweet moments along the way that has kept me sane.
While planning a last minute surprise party for a dear friend, I realized that I didn’t want the typical bottle containers for wine, and don’t even show me a plastic cooler. I wanted texture, Italian vibes, effortless summer….so cue some MacGyvering and that Can-Do attitude that keeps my life afloat most days.
The trick? I wanted to use some baskets that I have, but how do you make it work? The other trick? Keeping leftover materials from past shoots to come in clutch. Using clear plastic, I cut pieces large enough to fill the bottom of the basket and the sides. Cut the piece longer than you need, then add bottles and fill with ice, trim the extra and voila!
Now, go hurry and have some friends over for the last of summer Rosé :)
Cheers!
-Kat
It is hot. Blazing. Scorching. It feels like some of the only physical touch I get these days is from the constant bead of sweat sliding its way down from my clavicle to my belly button, never mind the rivulets that stream down my legs. No jeans are safe. Pit stains are a fashion statement. The humidity is simultaneously laughing at us while being at 1000% and so thick it feels like we’re drowning.
So we’re tired. Hot and tired. Which means we need something easy, refreshing, and light.
This is a slight take on the Ranch Water Cocktail, I’m not reinventing the wheel because at this point in time I simply cannot, but hopefully this does the trick for ya.
Part of Wild Wednesdays is the permission to try something new and guess what, you don’t even have to be good at it.
I’ve never made any kind of spring roll or egg roll, until I go through the process it can seem intimidating and then once the steps are strode though I usually wonder where it has been all my life (remember how LONG it took me to even try making a martini because the simplicity of it was mountainous in trepidation?!)
These Summer Flower Rolls are insanely easy, if you don’t have access to edible flower, ask around! Just make you know if they have been sprayed or not. For this recipe I used pansies, bachelor buttons and yarrow, with some garnish of the little white daisy ones that I wouldn’t recommend only because they are super bitter!
And, as you can see by the lack of my skills, they don’t have to be perfect or show worthy, they just have to make it from the plate to your mouth. Feel free to substitute with other things that you might have in your fridge or want to try!
Just do it.
If you have deduced anything about me, one of things is the propensity to take things too far, deep cut through the layers (usually, hopefully in the best way).
I started messing around with these flavors partially inspired by Ann Patchett’s book, “State of Wonder”, and my friend and amazing business coach Tiffany Napper asking me to be a part of her first JOY Session. Something a little wild, full of flavor, steeped in wonder….
So, while I can get all existential and in my feels and ruminate on literally everything in the Universe, I will keep those thoughts to myself and give you this amazing drink for the hot weekend we’re about to have. And pro tip? Use the Rose Aleppo Salt from Sip’n Bite for your glasses because it is * chef’s kiss * a game changer.
Cheers!
It’s hot, it’s muggy, everything and everyone is sweating. So much so that I feel like I’ve sweat past lives out onto the sidewalk while trudging to my destination in hopes of some cool relief.
Since we’re already going to be throwing ice into any drink we can, why not make it pretty?!
Find some edible flowers (ask friends/neighbors/etc if you don’t have any!), also use an app to identify and make sure you have the right ones, some varieties have sub species that are so similar but one is edible and one is not!
Buy some silicone ice trays - W+P Design has some good ones, Amazon of course, just follow your heart.
Fill the trays halfway with water. Add the flowers, let freeze for at least two hours, then take out and fill with ice cold water to the top. This way the flowers stay in the middle for that dramatic effect you want and won’t float to the top!
Et voilá! Spice up your 7th glass of water, your 5 o’clock cocktail or your kid’s lemonade.
I really cannot take credit for this, because until our group text received a message from my friend Kate that stated, “I put a container outside to catch the sleet for sno cones, you can thank me later,” I really had no idea.
So, thank you, Kate.
So that afternoon, post sleeting, now with a bucket about a quarter of the way full of the most tiny, perfect spheres of ice, I braved the cold and it was time to play. Kitty’s Cigar + Cocktail Lounge was open for business, even if just for myself since my roommate and boyfriend refused to come outside. I decided to go three different ways with this, to touch on a few different flavor profiles, I would just recommend to make sure all liquids are as cold as you can get them before pouring over so that the ice doesn’t melt as much.
We’ve got Chocolate + Bourbon, Pineapple Honey + Tequila, and a touch of the warmer weather with Banana Cream Rum.
So, bundle up yourself (and the kids, if you must) and head outside to enjoy. Pro tip, wear gloves. Recipes are at the bottom.
Don’t slip.
The latest version of bar hopping is traveling from the kitchen table to the wine rack on the other side of the fridge, and deciding what you want from a menu is staring at your supplies and deciphering what ingredients you have to make something and the exasperation and exhilaration of yelling above the din of strangers and music to a bartender who you contemplate slipping your number to at the end of the night has now been exchanged to barking an order at your roommate or partner for a Gin + Tonic, heavy on the gin because the Zoom calls today…
The rise of the at-home bartender is at an all time high. Covid has taken away ease of accessibility of our favorite bars and restaurants (but if they’re still open, go order something from them right now). Maybe it’s instilled a sense of curiosity or given you the courage to tackle the seemingly tall task of conquering a cocktail. I get messages from friends or followers who are at the store and staring at the never ending aisles wondering what to buy, so I decided to give this very ambiguous overview for a starting point.
First of all, let that intimidation fall away. There are so. Many. Options. It’s ok if you didn’t buy the same top shelf bourbon as your friend or you can’t tell the differences between gins yet. You’ll get there and by experimenting will develop your palate and begin to notice those subtle differences. And trust me, friends will be delighted that you asked them over to make them anything and spend time with you, so don’t worry if it’s the very best, masterful drink they’ve ever had, the company makes it perfect.
Cocktail wise? I suggest learning 1-3 drinks. Enough to give you a little range and once you have those under your belt and feel like you really own them, go forth and play. Experiment, mess up, play with variations, give yourself permission to annihilate ingredients! I’ve made some of my best cocktails when I let curiosity guide me and also knowing that you can adjust levels of ingredients doesn’t mean it was bad, improvements take time.
Liquor. Recommending at least one clear and one dark liquor will give you at least two different profiles to educate on and that means you can also satisfy drinks for friends on either side. Some people will drink anything that tastes like kerosene and up, others won’t touch it if it isn’t vodka. If you have an offer of both you have a chance of catching both sides (and if you have a friend who hates everything, suggest they pick a bottle of wine or you can make them the H20 Cocktail with an extra lime wedge).
Kitty’s Picks:
Bourbon
Gin
Tequila
BOURBON/WHISKEY
Old Fashioned
Whiskey sour
Neat
Manhattan
Hot Toddy
GIN
Gin + Tonic
Dirty Martini
Gin Fizz
French 75
Bijou
VODKA
Moscow Mule
Marinti
Vodka Tonic/Soda
Bloody Mary
TEQUILA
Makes me crazy (not a drink, just fact)
Margarita
Paloma
Tequila Soda
St - Rita
MEZCAL
Mezcal Negroni
Neat
French Intervention
Mezcal Margarita
RUM
Daiquiri
Cuba Libre
Mai Tai
Dark & Stormy
Liquers/Digestifs/Apertifs. When I started filming the short little intro I began to realize I had SO much more to say about literally everything, so maybe at one point I’ll do some fun facts about each liquor and its sisters or derivatives?
It got me really going on the Digestifs and Apertifs part, there are so very many to choose from, different levels of alcohols, flavors, etc, so, just gonna say. Try them. And don’t be afraid of starting with a pick from the bottom shelf *gasp* I know, but this way if you start with Triple Sec and find out you like the cocktails you’ve made with it, then you can graduate into using Cointreau or Grand Marnier or Dry Curacao and up your game even more. Amaros are a game all of their own with the Rabarbaros, Melettis, Braulios, Avernas, then the Fernets, Chartreuses, Aperols, the list goes on. Tasting profiles range from a cola-esque profile to pine and mint, so, once again, if you don’t like one, move onto the next because there is a flavor for everyone.
Kitty’s Picks:
Dry Curacao
Aperol
Campari
Meletti
Averna
Bitters. Something you don’t know why you need it but the Old Fashioned Recipe calls for it and you bought it and the same bottle has been sitting on the shelf for four years. Ironically, bitters and amaros are very similar, they are sort of the same thing in different concentrations. Both are botanicals and herbs mixed with clear liquor at highly concentrated alcohol contents, the different is that bitters have a 35-45% alcohol level and you only use a few drops at a time, which is technically why are they are considered non alcoholic.
Adding a few drops is meant to enhance the flavors of the liquor in your cocktail, not to overpower them, which is why you only use a small amount. There are many kinds of bitters, but starting off I recommend the Angostura Aromatic Bitters and Orange Bitters. With those two you will be able to start making more variety of drinks and can expand from there into chocolate bitter, rhubarb, mint, etc.
Kitty’s picks:
Angostura
Orange
Simple Syrups. So easy to make it’s not even funny. Literally just a type of sugar and water, meant enhance and potentially change a flavor profile. These can be made using white sugar, honey or agave, and equal parts water. That is a basic simple, and from there you can add fruit, herbs, etc for your cocktails.
Kitty’s Picks;
Basic
Pineapple
Honey
I’ve always got limes and lemons on hand and the citrus is needed to cut through and give way to other flavors in drinks, but be careful that they don’t overpower. Also, drink water. Throw that citrus shiz in that glass with some ice and your body will be giving you pray hands emojis.
Kitty’s Picks:
Lemons
Limes
Orange
Have fun, enjoy responsibly, and let me know what you’re making.
The time has come.
Bathtub Bon Appetit. What is one of my favorite and ultimate ways to relax and what appears to be everyone’s less than secret obsession, is here. It’s kind of extra, self-indulgent, and pretty incredible. I feel like I should have my friends who have no gone on to try it for themselves to write reviews to show that it lives up to its hype. I’ve been doing it so long I don’t really remember when it started, only that at the first time I did it was because there was no other thing I needed most than to eat a McDonald’s burger in the bath. Fairytale beginning, amiright.
Now it’s moved onto cooking complicated dishes (or doing a fun game of what can I make from the pantry), sipping on a cocktail that fits the food and r-e-l-a-x-i-n-g.
It’s a combination of all the self care. Amazing food, tasty cocktail, bath, oils, crystals, reading or watching. Music and cooking. A time to decompress and stop time. The cooking begins the art of the slow down, the bath running, music playing, beginning to let the day go.
Soak a minimum of 20-30 minutes. You’re welcome.
I love summer when everything is blooming and in season and lush. Winter makes me sad with the lack of green and leaves, but I feel less bad when I’m able to use my abundance of herbs and flowers from summer because I threw them up on this drying rack.
It’s super easy. Simply go outside and find a stick (not all sticks are created equal, when you find the right one, you’ll know). Buy leather cord from from a craft store and these great brass hooks from Amazon (click link here). Then put it all together and voila!
Then tell me what you’ll be drying!
Welcome to the first official episode of Wild Wednesdays! Happy Hour feat. “Shaken, Not Stirred.” Throughout this episode I’ll go through a little bit of history of the cocktail, liquor, creation of it and the supplies, intermixed with a narrative. Extra? Probably. Hilarious? Definitely.
“Shaken, not stirred,” the infamous quote from James Bond that transcends borders of land, time and space. For all of my love of cocktails and trying new things I have always been intimidated by the martini. I love ordering Dirty Martinis at the bar (the dirtier the better) but making them at home scared me, they seemed so classy, so refined and elegant, so….not me.
But then the pandemic hit, and I had less time with friends and more time to get annoyed at the fact that I was intimidated by them. So. Here we are. Turns out they’re super easy and now one of my favorite things.
Tune in below. Recipes are at the end of the page. Narratives are fun but when you’re basically working with a low-key professional actor (um, hey friend, next time give a girl a heads up) it makes you think twice about yourself acting in front of the camera ;)
Videography/editing: Angell Foster
Creative Direction/Still Photography: Ashtin Paige
Talent: John Pritchard
Location: Studio Nous
A series of videos by a curious Kat. Mixed parts of tutorials, recipes, tips n’ tricks and folklore advice. How to make a solid martini, ask someone those burning existential questions, and change a tire. I know a little about a lot, am not an expert, am a forever student and also kind of everyone’s dad. I will probably get many things wrong, misspeak and potentially do things out of order (cuz we’re keeping this irl, also thank you sudden onset adult dyslexia).
So, these will be what they are. Fun, somewhat informative and will hopefully make you laugh. Self started, community created. Let’s have fun with it, I can’t wait to see how/what/when we’ll do things. So here’s the trailer to get you excited and get things rolling.
Let’s do something.
Shot by Angell Foster and Ashtin Paige. Edited by Angell Foster. Created by Kat Wolle, Wild Artifact.
Holidays are obviously full of gift giving, food devouring, drink swilling and lots of family time, with some those ensuing more-so around family than usual.
If you’re friends with me then it’s fair to say at some point I’ll either make you a gift or food object at some point. I’ll be honest, sometimes it is me trying to save money but other times it’s because I tried something awesome and I want to share it with everyone. Literally.
So, infusing gin. I love gin as a base for cocktails because you can do a lot with it and it’s easy to play around with. I got the idea to do an infusion when I wanted to add some flavor to fin but couldn’t find the right type of liqueur or bitters to do it and thought there had to be a way to infuse it into the gin. Turns out there is.
For my gin infusions I tried to think of my friends and what their personalities evoked when I thought of them/what flavors they like and what ones would work well with gin. My synopsis? Lemon, grapefruit, chamomile and ginger.
And it’s SUPER easy. Almost way too easy.
Pick your poison. Then pick your infusion.
Chamomile:
1 mason jar of gin
2 tea bags
=
Let steep for 1 day and take out tea bags. Keep in jar or transfer to resalable , airtight container. Store in a cool, dry place.
Lemon/Grapefruit/Ginger
1 mason jar of gin
Peel rind of one lemon
Juice lemon and pour into jar
=
Let sit for 1-2 days, then take out rind, strain gin with a fine mesh strainer (I used a fine cotton cloth) and transfer gin back to jar or reseal-able airtight container. Store in a cool, dry place.
CHEERS.
Enjoy Responsibly.
