Thursday, December 27, 2012

A Pink Squirrel for Christmas

When I was around eight years old, my mother and I met our neighbor and her adult daughter at a restaurant on north Michigan Avenue in Chicago. It was connected to me going to the foot doctor and a harrowing walk over the bridge above the Chicago River. Let’s say, I was terrified by the wind and being able to see down through the bridge and how it shook. I can even tell you the name of the restaurant - the Normandy Inn. It was a very big treat for me to go out to dinner that way. Our neighbor’s daughter ordered a drink called a pink squirrel. Actually, at first I thought it was some kind of food and tried to order it as well, which made everyone laugh.

The pink squirrel arrived in a cocktail glass, looking all creamy and pink. I was offered a taste of it and it was delicious, like a milk shake. I didn’t know the predominant flavor was almond, but I thought it was fantastic. Fantastic enough that I always remembered it.

When I got old enough to drink, I would occasional try to order one, but I just got weird stares in response. Once at a party in a club in Las Vegas, the bartender tried to make a semblance of the drink. It wasn’t pink or creamy, though it did taste of almond.

Meanwhile I had found out the ingredients of a pink squirrel - creme de noyaux, white creme de cacao and cream, along with some ice. The thing was I could never find creme de noyaux, which is what makes the drink pink (it’s red) and gives it just the right amount of almond flavor. I didn’t look that hard, but if I happened into someplace that sold liquors, I always checked.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I happened to be in a liquor superstore shopping for holiday presents. I have been in that store lots of times and each time I would look for creme de noyaux. They had creme de everything else, along with every weird liquor you could think of, but no creme de noyaux. So, I did my cursory look over the liquors and laughing to myself that if I found it, I would buy it. And then what should my eye land on, but a bottle of the elusive, apparently not very popular red almond flavored liquor.

I had to buy it. I could still taste that sip of pink squirrel from the Normandy Inn and I wondered how true my memory was. Now, thanks to the Internet you can find out about anything. I found out that pink squirrel was invented at a bar in Milwaukee and they made it with ice cream. I also found a number of recipes online. They were all pretty much the same, just slight differences in the proportions.

I forgot to mention something else. I am not much of a drinker. Well, more like not a drinker at all. I can’t even finish a half a glass of wine. But I decided I was going to celebrate Christmas by making a pink squirrel. I took the quick way and just mixed together the three ingredients in a wine glass. It was a little closer to red than I remembered and not as frothy, but close enough. I took a sip. And instantly I went back over the years to that first sip. I remembered the Normandy Inn. How the lights were low and we sat by the window. I remembered the cocktail glass with the pretty drink. The taste was the same. How often does that happen that something lives up to its memory? Something else was the same, too. A sip was all I wanted. Like I said, I am not a drinker. At this rate, the bottle of creme de noyaux is going to last an awfully long time.

10 comments:

Planner said...

It's amazing that your memory matched your current experience. When you a have a free moment, you might want to look up creme de noyaux on Wikipedia. It has been used as a murder weapon in fiction writing! How appropriate for you!

Betty Hechtman said...

Planner, I looked up pink squirrel on Wikipedia. That's where I found out about the bar in Milwaukee. There were some references to pink squirrels in fiction. I'll have to look again and I'll be sure to check out creme de noyaux. Sounds like it could be in a future book.

Katreader said...

How great that you were able to replicate that great memory. I've heard of the pink squirrel, but have never had one (although I have had a grasshopper). I love browsing through liquor stores...and I am a bit of a drinker, but I've never heard of creme de noyaux!

Tricia said...

This is my all-time favorite cocktail! My husband and I found it just by perusing our bartender book. We always used a substitute for creme de noyeaux. Last spring he found it on the internet and ordered it for me. So much better!

Betty Hechtman said...

Katreader, I think a grasshopper is from era as pink squirrels. I like looking at liquor stores, too. I'm always curious about all the liquors.

Betty Hechtman said...

Tricia, how cool to find another pink squirrel fan. I do think the creme de noyaux does make a difference.

Monica Ferris said...

I've never had a pink squirrel, but I have had a grasshopper - my parents used to make them as a Christmas or New Year's Eve treat, and like you, I got a sip one year and never forgot the creamy mint taste of it. Couldn't wait to grow up and get more than a sip.

Kate said...

I am reminded of the end of my first year in university, when my floormates and I went out for dinner, to celebrate the end of our first grownup year away from home. We had Golden Cadillacs, and I remember them as being wonderful. I have never had one again, and I am sure it wouldn't be a delicious as that, enjoyed with good friends.
I am glad your Pink Squirrel lived up to your memories.

Betty Hechtman said...

Monica, we used to spend New Year's Eve with the same people I tasted the pink squirrel with. They served grasshopper to the adults, too.

Betty Hechtman said...

Kate, a Golden Cadillac? What a cool name for a drink. What was in it?