Hello, candy corn-infused vodka...

it's me, SoCo. Guess what? Success! I had to trek about a mile from my office to Walgreens, but I found some appropriate candy.

As any sugar/corn syrup aficionado will notice this is not Candy Corn, but another Brach's product called Indian Corn. The top of real Candy Corn is yellow. The top of a piece of Indian Corn is brown.

But I think this will do to induce my sugary sweet vodka buzz on Saturday night. Indian Corn is made with cocoa (or so claims the bag), so perhaps this is a healthier version. That's the way I see it.

Either way, I'm looking forward to mixing a batch of this for Halloween night. I'm thinking though that I might pull back on the 1/2 cup of Corn to mix with 1 1/2 cups of vodka. I don't want the drinks to be too sickeningly sweet. I'm guessing more like 1/3 cup. I mean who wants to get sick on sweets 0n Halloween night, right? OK, now repeat with an eye roll.

I'll report next week on the results of the drink and how many trick or treaters end up doing Candy (or Indian) Corn cordial shots with us. Now beware of EVIL homes.

Three Days and Counting ++ Halloween drink recipe

Halloween will be upon us in three short days. So I hope you have hit Safeway before they run out of treats. I stopped by last night and they had some good deals going -- some 2 for $5! For starters, I picked up Raisinets, Milk Duds (spousal request), Twizzlers, Twix and some Hershey’s.

Also for old-time sake I grabbed a pack of Good & Plenty. Wasn’t sure if those were still made. I’m guessing there won’t be many requests for those. Too bad! Little brats should be grateful they’re getting anything. I mean, what have they done for me lately. And another thing – oops, I’m going off a bit here.

And check out this old G&P commercial from days gone by. Pretty cool. Maybe I’ll be Choo Choo Charlie this year? I just hope all his costumes are not sold out already.



Look for me on my porch with other tipsy friends passing out candy and trying to lay off the ghoulish cocktails I plan on concocting. I'll also pimp out my yard some with carved pumpkins, other misc decorations (one recent purchase is to the right) and scary music as the backdrop. Maybe Bauhaus? I've pulled out Throbbing Gristle in the past too. Not sure about this year yet.

And by the way, here's one drink recipe I'm definitely gonna try on Halloween night:

Candy Corn Cordial

Infused vodka: 1/2 cup candy corn and 1 1/2 cups vodka
Cordials: 2 ounces orange liqueur (or triple sec if you want to go cheap), juice of 1/2 lemon,1 large egg white, and then candy corn for garnish.

You'll need to infuse the vodka with the candy corns in an airtight container for a few hours and then strain. To make the cordials you'll need to add 4 ounces of the candy corn vodka, the orange liqueur/triple sec, lemon juice and egg white to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously for at least 30 seconds. Strain into 2 chilled martini glasses and garnish with candy corn.

I'll obviously need to triple this recipe since I'm expecting some real boozies on Saturday night. OK, be careful out there.

A couple updates - 8407 and Pacci's

Got an update from Nancy Mola last week at the SS Farmer's Market on 8407. Nancy and Pedro were working the crowd and cooking up some lavender chicken - in addition to dishing up a fabulous little apple, endive and blue cheese salad. Here she is hard at work.

And by the way, these were serious local dishes. The chicken came straight from Evensong Farm, the lavender from Welsh Gardens, the apples from Quaker Valley Orchards and the blue cheese from Firefly Farms. I think that is great.

According to Nancy, they are hoping to open the doors at 8407 some time next month. If you have walked by the restaurant you have undoubtedly seen all the new windows that have been installed on both the top and bottom floor. The place is really coming around. I am sure there are a lot of folks looking forward to getting Pedro back in the kitchen on a full-time basis. Here he is last Saturday preparing the lavender chicken - which by the way I did NOT get to try.

So much for customer service! I don't know why they couldn't work around my schedule, right?

Here's hoping 8407 throws its doors open in November. Lord knows the old Nicaro has yet to live up to the high bar that Pedro previously established.

Update number two. Got a text on Thursday from Spiro at Pacci's - the new wood-fired pizza place opening next to the World Building on Georgia Ave. He received the necessary permits on Wednesday and they are moving at "full speed" to get the place ready to go.

It should be an exciting couple of months in the 'hood. Get your discretionary income ready!

Hold on, pizza is on the way -- Pacci's

For all those who’ve moaned and groaned about not having anywhere to turn for really good thin crust pizza in the ‘hood (although I still think Vicino bakes a good pie – ask for it extra crispy), it appears your prayers will be answered soon. You’ll no longer have to trek into town to 2 Amy’s or RedRocks, you’ll now have Pacci’s.

As I wrote back in July on the blog, Pacci’s will open up shop at 8113 Georgia Ave, just south of the World Building. Anyone who walks/drives by at the moment certainly won’t see a place that’s ready to throw open its doors, but I have been told that as soon as the necessary approvals are secured from the County (and that may be this week), then you’ll begin to see some serious work taking place.

Pacci’s will be run by Spiro Gioldasis, currently the GM at Mrs. K’s Toll House. The longtime establishment at the corner of Dale Drive and Colesville Rd. Spiro is hopeful to begin serving pizza as early as mid-November. Pretty exciting, huh?

And although mid-November is not that far away, I think we can be confident that the place will be up and running shortly since all the furniture and equipment they need has already been purchased and is being warehoused close by for quick delivery and installation. This is not to say there’s not a fair amount of exterior (and interior work) that will be need to be completed beyond furniture and equipment. But, I am holding out hope they have a good contractor lined up to do this work.

Besides wood-fired brick oven pizza, Spiro says they’ll also be doing salads, appetizers and, I hope you’re sitting down, gelati. If I can get maybe some good cured meats or perhaps some marinated veggies to start, then a nice funghi pizza and to end a pistachio gelato and of course an espresso, I may never leave. And for us drinkers, we’ll also be able to quaff beer and wine (no hard stuff yet). I'm hoping that Spiro serves some decent Chianti and Montelpuciano D’Abruzzo.

It’s also worth noting that Pacci’s plans to have an outdoor patio - by the looks of it on the north side of the building. It will seat 60-80 people. This seems pretty big to me. It’s likely they’ll need this since it doesn’t look terribly roomy on the inside – although the place is quite deep. Not sure what the plans are for the south side of the property with the huge awning. Maybe that goes? What else, turned into a drive through window?

And while Spiro did not mention any local vendors in particular, he did inform me that he will try to support our local farmers. This is certainly good news in my book. So I am hopeful we’ll see cheeses, veggies and meats from around the area. That’s not to say I’ll turn down a fine Italian cheese, but we’ve got some kick-ass cheese producers locally. Has anyone tried Blue Ridge Dairy’s fresh mozzarella or ricotta? Both are excellent. Let’s hope these make it on the menu.

OK, I’m ready to order.

South SS Block Party - this Saturday

Just wanted to spread the word about this Saturday's (Oct. 3) South SS Block Party. It will be held in Bethesda - just kidding. The festivities will be happening on Newell St, right off East-West Hwy and close to the intersection of Kennett St. You can go to the South SS block party web site for a map.

Head on over after you finish buying your grub at the Farmer's market and the Fenton Street Market. You'll need some lunch after all that, right?

In addition to good beer from Hook & Ladder, local restaurants will also be serving up their fare. They include Ghar-E-Kabab, Mamma Lucia, and Taste of Jerusalem. The party will be running from 1:00-6:00 pm. Hope you can make it and support the community.