Donna Noble

A few months ago I was headed out to the bar to meet up with a friend. Another friend had wished me a good night and suggested I try a drink, "Crown Royal and Ginger". I tried it. Not a bad drink, but I didn't fall in love with it. A week or so later I remembered I had some unopened vermouth and was looking to use the newly bought ginger-ale. So I thought, what the hell!

On the rocks with a twist or straight-up, Vermouth is probably my preferred drink of choice and has been since my University French Professor first introduced me to it. She was a great woman. Anyway, I made it sans wedge o' lime the first time and said, "Damn, this is the shyt! This will be even better when I put a lime in it. Vermouth is always better with lime or lemon.

A few weeks go by and I thought to myself, I should really give this drink a name. So I thought about its creation and ingredients and history, and couldn't come up with anything classy. I was a little bummed because I wanted to name it. I haven't found the drink in any listings yet for a name, and I am not going to spend more time looking, but it seems to fall under the "highball" drink category.

But I did come up with a name. I'm calling it a "Donna Noble", named after the character in Doctor Who played by Cathering Tate. "Donna Noble" can translate into "Noble Lady". The drink is fun, bubbly, exciting, "ginger", chill, smooth and delicious; all qualities that Donna Noble has. So I thought, well, for my drink, this is perfect.


Ingredients

• 1 eight oz can of ginger ale
• 1 wedge of lime or lemon
• 1-2 shots vermouth
• ice

Directions

1. In a 10-12 ounce highball glass or tumbler put in some ice (however much you want).
2. I like to squeeze some of the lime juice on the ice so it mixes well with the drink.
3. Pour on your Vermouth (truthfully I pour until the count of five is over).
4. Fill glass with ginger ale and stir gently.
   

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Orange Yogurt Mousse

Yahoo! Food does have some good recipes. I found this one a few weeks ago. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks like a tasty and refreshing dessert. It's a Martha Stewart recipe.

Orange Yogurt Mousse

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup navel orange juice
• 1 navel orange, zested
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 (.25 ounce) envelope unflavored gelatin
• 1 (32 ounce) container plain low-fat yogurt
• 1/4 cup shelled pistachios, chopped
• Additional navel orange zest for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. In a saucepan, combine orange zest, 1/2 cup cream, sugar, and salt over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep 20 minutes.
   
   
2. Pour orange juice into a medium bowl; sprinkle with gelatin and let soften, 5 minutes. Bring cream and sugar mixture to a simmer again; pour through a fine-mesh sieve onto gelatin, pressing on zest to extract flavor. Discard zest. Whisk until gelatin has dissolved, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in yogurt. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes, or use quick-chill method (see note, below).
   
   
3. In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer, beat remaining 1 cup cream until soft peaks form. Fold gently into yogurt mixture. Divide among 6 glasses, and cover each with plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. To serve, sprinkle with pistachios and, if desired, orange zest.

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