*clever subject line needs 10 more minutes in the oven*

[torino10154]

*takes off the housecoat and puts on the party shoes*

As it seems some of our guests have begun to arrive, we decided to open up a little early!

Welcome to the 'Sleepy Hollow' edition of firewhiskeyfic! We, your Mods - sdk and torino10154, are so glad you could make it. We love everyone today. Feel free to friend us on DW. We promise not to stalk you... much. :D

Your challenges for this month are:

Nearly Headless Nick

Godric's Hollow

Jack-o'-lantern

Graveyard

Harvest Party

Bewitch

Quick clarification for newbies: you don't have to use all the prompts--though that does make for a fun fic!--but since one of the categories for voting is "Best Use of Prompt" we do recommend using at least one. We try to have a few prompts each round that are not HP-specific.

As you know, this is the Official Discussion Post. If you feel like chatting, and we hope you do, pop in here and let us know how it's going. Please do not discuss your fic/art. You can discuss ideas, drinks, how wasted you are, your favorite actors or musicians, the state of the world (a nice, safe topic LOL), or whatever floats your boat. Just don't discuss your fic/art. This is an anonymous fest until after the reveal, and we don't want hints being given as to what you're writing about. :)

And just so we're clear, you don't have to write pr0n, though it definitely makes for interesting reading when characters change right in the middle of shagging because you're too drunk to remember who you're writing about. ;) You can write for any fandom (including original), but though we're getting more diversity, we're still fairly HP-focused. Anything goes!

Once you are semi-conscious, send your UNBETA'D UNCORRECTED fic to this email: fwfdrunkmods@gmail.com Trust me, we can tell if you've messed with it, so don't do it, okay?

You will receive an email from us confirming that we got it. If you don't get an email, we didn't get it. Your fics/art will be due by midnight on Monday, October 3rd. Voting will begin on October 4th and last until Saturday, October 8th.

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(please fill this out to the best of your ability. If you're unable, we will try to complete it for you)

<b>Title:</b> <b>Author:</b> <b>I am of legal drinking age in my region:</b> (yes/no) <b>Pairing(s)/Characters/Fandom:</b> <b>Challenge/Prompts used:</b> <b>Summary:</b> <b>Rating/Warnings:</b> <b>Word count:</b> <b>Author's Notes (if any):</b>


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Your mods will be in and out for a bit as we have a few more things to take care of before we can begin drinking in earnest!

Let's get our drunk on!

Comments

[a_belladonna]

G&Ts are always nice! When I went to a music festival some years ago (of the sort where you camp next to the concert area), I found out that G&T is the one drink that works even when the ingredients only are as cold as they can get from lying on the ground underneath your tent during the night. :)

[corvidology]

They're a really easy going drink all round.

I usually make cocktails or drink wine for this event but my stomach is saying "nope, G & Ts it is tonight!"

Now to select which of my 20+ gins to use. :D

[ride_4ever]

You have that many types of gin in your home? Yowza!

[corvidology]

Our most extensive collection of one type of liquor is Single Malt Scotch, heavy on the Islays which belongs to MG and about 90% of it is gifts from me. I never developed a taste for it myself.

Next up is my collection of gins. :D I'm very keen on the ones that are very distinct because of their botanical selections and have no interest in things like Aviation Gin that just tastes... 'pure' and had no specific flavour.

[ride_4ever]

Me, I am more of a Single Malt Scotch and heavy on the Islays type. My favorite (and favorite memory) is the Ardbeg Single Malt Islay that I bought in Norwich, England when I was there visiting my fanpair for three weeks.

[corvidology]

I just went to do a very quick 'head count' of the Ardbeg in his collection although I might have undercounted - 12, including Ardcore (punk release) and Arrrrrrrdbeg (pirate release).

[ride_4ever]

What is his usual source? Online ordering or local brick-and-mortar liquor store?

And how many gins do you have?

[corvidology]

His usual source is my awesome present buying powers! :D

I have connections at all the local ABC stores and then buy some online.

While I was downstairs I counted and could find 23 of them although my Gray Whale at least isn't there so...

[ride_4ever]

Is "downstairs" a home bar or is it cellar storage like a wine cellar?

[corvidology]

Nothing that fancy. We live in a two storey house and my study is one of the bedrooms upstairs. The booze is in the liquor cabinet downstairs.

[ride_4ever]

Ah. We have a basement wine cellar for wine and beer, a liquor cabinet in the dining-room for "the better whiskeys," and a place in the kitchen pantry for the "average" hard liquors.

[a_belladonna]

20+ gins?! I'm envious! I only have three - a pink one with Black Forest fruits, a Norwegian one ("Harahorn") and a blood orange one.

I do, however, have quite a few home made snaps (you know, where you infuse berries or herbs in vodka or similar, neutral spirits).

[ride_4ever]

I do a lot of home-made vodka infusions -- never heard them called "snaps" before -- I assume that's a Scandinavian moniker.

[a_belladonna]

It probably is. :) We call them "kryddersnaps". Probably because traditionally they were made more using spices, making the spirits spiced ("krydret"). But nowadays people use fruits, berries, leaves...you name it, it can probably be infused in spirit. ;)
My favourite traditional version is probably the one made on bog myrtle/sweet gale. It's such a unique taste and smell.
But I'm also partial to one made on sour cherries - it's such a beautiful deep purplish-red and has a very aromatic taste of berries.

[ride_4ever]

Oooh, I especially <3 purple drinks and blue drinks! How do you get the purple with the sour cherries? (I.e., request for recipe.)

[a_belladonna]

Oh, it's not purple as in "violet/blueish purple", it's much more in a reddish shade. The cherries I use look a lot like these.

It's quite simple, actually. You pick the darkest, most ripe cherries. Remove the stems and rinse them, then let them dry/carefully pat them dry with a paper towel (you don't want the water to dilute the spirit, after all!)

For the infusion-part, I prefer to use glass jar with a wide opening, such as these, as that makes it easier to remove the berries if I feel like that.
You can either put the berries in whole or remove the stone, it's entirely up to you. Keeping the stones will lend the infusion a hint of almond with time, and isn't dangerous.
Add vodka and let the infusion draw for at least a couple of months.
It's optional whether or not you want to remove the berries from the infusion. If left in, they'll slowly fall apart with time (we're talking years!) and might make the infusion cloudy.

This infusion will be fairly concentrated, so it'll have to be diluted with a bit of vodka (or neutral-tasting akvavit, such as Brøndums Klar) when served.

You pour half a shot glass of the infusion (more or less) and top it off with the neutral alcohol. It's really good as a companion to milder cheese on rye-bread at the end of a lunch. (While there's a lot of rituals around the consumption of snaps, such as whether or not you're allowed to slowly sip it or if it has to be drunk in one go, it's never taken like shots, but always in connection with food in all of Scandinavia.)

[ride_4ever]

Thank you kindly for sharing this!

[corvidology]

I have some standard type ones for cocktail making, like Bombay Sapphire but my collection has been built from trying local gins on my travels and acquiring a bottle of a particular favourite here and there.

[torino10154]

My random G&T story. They are my BFF's drink of choice and when she and I lived further apart than we do now, we met up to attend a baseball game together for my birthday. Anyway, we got double G&Ts at the stadium and wow, they were strong but soooo good. Only needed the one to get the job done. LOL Still one of the best birthdays I've ever had.

[corvidology]

I always recommend them to people who don't want to drink a cocktail designed to negate the taste of the liquor - I'm looking at you Pina Colada & co. - but who also don't enjoy straight-up liquor. Most pubs/bars have at least a reasonable selection and you can add the tonic according to your own taste.