Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Robotic Edition)

I think I may have hit the awesome, nerd, Christmas present jackpot.  Well to be honest, I didn't hit it.  Gabe and Etta did.  They are a couple of funny people who cohabitate.  We know them.  They have a dog, an awesome logo and they just made a movie.  Yeah, you could say, we have a lot in common (except, for the logo part I should work on that one).  Gabe and Etta (Diani and Devine) pitched a little project on Kickstarter that went... how shall we say...fuckng crazy.  Here is thier original pitch...

It went so well that their project was funded many times over and now it's DONE.  As a matter of fact, the books are showing up tomorrow morning.  Hard copy, illustrated versions of Huckleberry Finn, except Jim... is a robot.  Here's a peek....


You can buy the robotic edition of Huckleberry Finn here. 

You're welcome.

Tom Kha Gai Martini

Yes, like the Thai soup, but only vaguely. Tom Kha Gai is such a yummy awesome savory soup whose prominent flavors are coconut milk, lemongrass and Kaffir lime leaves.  Sounds like a drink to me.
I came up with this martini last year as a way to deal with all the amazing citrus that I scored on the ranch. The Kaffir limes were especially intriguing to me with their wrinkly skin, all puckered and slick.  And they smell uh-mazing.
I have since seen them at Whole Foods for a few bucks a pop. I would say that the flavor of these Kaffir limes are so distinct and fresh that they are totally worth it in these martinis. The first thing I did was I infused a bottle of vodka with a stalk of lemon grass. Nothing fancy, I basically just put a bunch of beat up lemongrass (if you smash it, the oils come out) into a bottle and let it infuse on a shelf for about a month.
I had this in my freezer all ready to go when the Kaffir limes came my way, so everything was fresh.  Not sure if the Kaffir limes will be around in January still, so I'm sure you can infuse the vodka in a week if you want to try this asap just stick some more lemon grass in there.

Then I made an infused simple syrup.

Kaffir Lime Simple Syrup
The Rind of 2 Small Kaffir Limes
2 Cups of Sugar
1Cup of Water

I took the rind of two small Kaffir limes and placed them in a sauce pan with 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water. I brought it to a boil and let it cool and stew a little. Once the syrup cooled on the stove top, I strained out the rind pieces and transferred the liquid to a squeeze bottle.

Here's what you need...

Tom Kha Gai Martini
1/4 Cup Lemongrass Infused Vodka
1/4 Cup Coconut Water (optional dash of Coco Loco if you like creamy drinks)
1 Tablespoon Kaffir Lime Syrup
Juice of 1/2 a Key Lime (or regular limes)

In a shaker filled with ice, combine the ingredients and shake it up.  Put it into a sugar rimmed martini glass and party.  It's perfect for holiday cocktail time.  Beware though... they are strong and taste like wonderful.