Today's drink: Long Island Iced Tea

Today's ingredients: everything but the kitchen sink (we talked about this before)

This is what happens when you start to amass a collection of spirits and mixers and so on. It's not a bad thing. You can quit whenever you want. Repeat that sentence five times.

I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to make for this post, but I knew I didn't want to go buy anything else, which brings us to casserole. No, really, casserole.

Being less discerning of my food intake than my liquid intake--I tend to eat for numbers rather than experience--casserole was a culinary staple from when I had my first kitchen up until... well... when I got married (previous live-in relationships still had me as the primary cook, and not that it was bad or anything, but it could get repetitive, and it sure wasn't anything to brag about). When I would have a fruitful garden, vegetable stir-fry was a close second to casserole in terms of frequency and satiation.

So, what is it about casserole that I like so much? Well, as long as you get the time and temperature within a certain range, you can throw any number of things into a Pyrex dish, pile some cheese on top, set a timer, and come out on the other side of less than an hour with a single-dish yet fully-satisfying supper (yes, it's supper). Seasoning is minimal, maybe just some salt and pepper, but if you're using, say, bacon--and really, why wouldn't you--even that isn't needed. Meat, veggie, maybe a pasta or grain (in a previous life), and cheese. Boom, done.

Not only is casserole generally simple to make, it's also great for cleaning out the fridge and cabinets if you need some space or need to spare your wallet for a few more days. Every now and then, you might need a "casserole night" for your liquor shelf, and as you can see here, it's about that time for me, so in the spirit of the humble, utilitarian, and forever awesome casserole, let's get to cleaning off the liquor shelf.

Long Island Iced Tea

This is a fairly popular and ubiquitous cocktail with all sorts of possible twists and turns, but the IBA lists the following official recipe:

• 1.5cl / 0.5oz tequila
• 1.5cl / 0.5oz vodka
• 1.5cl / 0.5oz light rum
• 1.5cl / 0.5oz triple sec
• 1.5cl / 0.5oz gin
• 2.5cl / 0.83oz lemon juice
• 3.0cl / 1oz Gomme syrup
• dash of Coke*
• Add all ingredients into highball glass filled with ice. Stir gently. Garnish with lemon spiral. Serve with straw.

Yay, we have all this stuff! Well, except for Gomme syrup, which is basically a 2:1 sugar-to-water simple syrup with gum arabic/acacia added. This adds both sweetness and body to the drink, especially given its amount relative to the other ingredients. Feel free to throw some of this together if you like (recipes are everywhere). You WILL want this stuff if you use as much lemon juice as is prescribed above. I tried the official recipe without the syrup, and it turned out to be just this side of dirty brown lemonade. Even a couple tablespoons of Truvia didn't help, so I re-made it with no syrup (again), filled with Coke*, and just a drop of lemon juice, which worked out pretty well. Alternatively, if you still have some agave syrup lying around, that could stand in as the syrup as well, though the tequila flavors will be more prominent, so you might think about adding some sugar to taste if you find the drink a little bland. I like the less-sweet versions, especially if the weather is hot, which of course it isn't right now, but we're mixing for a purpose here. Just think of warmer, sunnier days--I know I was as the family was making summer beach trip plans and the Panthers were closing out a surprising playoff run.

With all the stuff going in here, I won't get into the exact brands and shades of spirits I used--this type of cocktail doesn't really lend itself to study. Also, if you're preparing this in front of an audience, it looks really impressive, much like the Blue Motorcycle, with lots of ingredients lined up and you looking like a mad scientist (and let's face it: we ALL want to look like a mad scientist at least once in our lives). It's just, ya know, a lot of stuff. Just invite some people over for a cabinet cleanout and ask everyone to bring a dish of some sort. If all goes well, maybe each person will reciprocate down the road. If not, well, at least you have some shelf space to fill up again.

*Coke = any kind of "Coke" you prefer :) In this case, it was Diet Dr. Pepper.