Back Down South

Drink This – The Baxter

TheBaxter

TheBaxter

The Drink: While preparing the menu for this Takeover, we decided it would be fun to Tweet and ask for drink ideas. Andy Baxter, lead singer of Penny and Sparrow, replied “Any chance we can see some Irish Mule or ginger/bourbon goodness?!” Bourbon and ginger? Oh, absolutely.

This worked perfectly with an ingredient that both Jamie and I have recently purchased – Branca Menta. Jamie got it a few months ago and mentioned a few recipes to me, but not until my Italy trip did I finally try and buy a bottle. An amaro with mint flavor? Perfection.

So we discussed how to use the bourbon, ginger and Menta, and Jamie convinced me that they’d all work together. He made the cocktail for Andy the next day since he happened to be stopping in Nashville on a tour stop. Jamie asked Andy if he’d prefer it with less Menta and more ginger, since Menta can easily overpower a drink. Andy looked at Jamie, looked at the drink, took another sip and said “Brother, that’s perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Since it was Andy’s desire for us to post a bourbon and ginger drink, and since it was Penny and Sparrow’s Atlanta stop that brought Jamie to Georgia in the first place, we decided that naming this cocktail after him was the best decision we could make. Cheers, Mr. Baxter, and also to you, world.

  • 2 oz bourbon – we used Temptation
  • 1/4 oz Branca Menta
  • 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz ginger syrup

Put all ingredients in a shaker with ice.
Shake and strain into a pretty glass of choice.

The Glass: Another great find in Statesboro at 67 Antique Mall.

 

Drink This – Boulvardier

Boulvardier

Boulvardier

The Drink: There is no need to adjust this “cousin” of a Negroni. This delicious classic first appeared in Harry McElhone’s 1927 bar guide, Barflies and Cocktails, and it’s one of Caroline’s favorite cocktails of all time.

Put all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir well.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Zest with orange peel, or flame orange peel, to release the oils.

The Glass: From The Boston Shaker.

Drink This – Pumpkin Old Fashioned

PumpkinOldFashioned

PumpkinOldFashioned

The Drink: Adapted from Saveur’s recipe, which was a bit too sweet for us. This is still a tad sweet, but we think a Pumpkin Old Fashioned should be for dessert drinkin’ anyways.

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice.
Shake it, double strain into a rocks glass.
Garnish with an orange twist.

The Glass: Caroline found this beauty in Statesboro at 67 Antique Mall.

 

Drink This – The Hound Dog

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Jamie Clayton and I teamed up again, this time in Atlanta, to bring y’all Drink This Takeover: Part 3!

We brought our ingredients together, set up in Jess Graves‘ house, and had one heck of a Wednesday. Today through Friday, five more cocktails are coming your way…so let’s go. Oh, and we’ve added GIF’s!

HoundDog

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The Drink: Jamie was in Memphis late one night at a bar whose name he cant remember (typical). He ordered this drink and loved it so much that he awkwardly stalked the bartender to get every single step and measurement down in how he made it. Then, he went home and added more bourbon and voila, The Hound Dog you see today.

  • Mint leaves
  • 2 oz bourbon – we used Bulleit.
  • 1/4 oz fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz ginger syrup
  • 1 oz peach syrup
    • Cut up about 4 peaches and put in blender (Jamie used a Vitamix) with 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1/2 oz lemon juice, and 1/2 cup water.
    • Start slow and slowly move to level 10 to purée the peaches.
    • Once you have peach purée, create syrup on stove with water using 1:1 ratio.

Slap 3 sprigs of mint and drop in a cocktail shaker.
Add bourbon, lemon juice, and syrups.
Add ice, shake it, strain it.
Garnish with a bunch of mint leaves and thin peach slices.

The Glass: Mason jar from Nashville flea market.

Cody, Part IV

CodyPhotographed in Nashville, TN by Jamie Clayton
Mamiya 645, Portra 400 

Raised in:
Knoxville, Tennessee

Lives in:
Knoxville, Tennessee

Most played country album:
This might be a cheap shot, but my most played country album of all time has to be George Strait’s 50 Number Ones. Why mess with a classic, right? Also, a few years ago my Dad passed down his record collection to me, and I am now a proud owner of Willie Nelson’s box set. It has 9 Willie records in it and is frequently played at our house!

Now would ya look at that:
Cody is a familiar face here because we think has he killer style and is an all around great guy. He also happens to be a great photographer, and we’re excited to announce that he’ll now be a contributing photographer for Back Down South!

Foot Cardigan

FootCardigan

You know what? We are really into socks. Going sockless is great and all, we do it all summer and yeah, we love it, but why everyone be hatin’ on socks? With the Fall weather creeping in, all of our awesome socks are dancing their way out of our drawers and onto our feet…where they get to dance even more…

When we found out about Foot Cardigan, who delivers one random pair of crazy socks to your mailbox every month, we were in. For $9 a month, a pair of socks with an unknown design arrives, ready for you to rock. Mark’s first pair is pictured above; mine had dogs wearing glasses on them. We were both happy, and already looking forward to our next pair. To see some other designs they’ve sent out into the world, check out the #sockstagram feed on Instagram.

So how about some socks?

The fine folks at Foot Cardigan want to offer one of you a 6-month subscription! To enter this month’s giveaway, just leave a comment on this post letting us know your favorite thing about October.

We’ll pick a winner by random on Thursday, October 24th around cocktail hour.

*THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED! CONGRATULATIONS TO ANDREA KENDALL FOR WINNING*

Take Me Home – Hull’s House

Welcome to our newest series, Take Me Home.

Mark likes HGTV almost as much as ESPN, and I like watching him turn tree trunks into side tables, pallets into TV stands, and pipes into bookshelves. This series was his vision, and one that I loved the minute he pitched it. We love houses, old and new. We love antiques, repurposed items, and shiny new things. We love decorating. We love stories. And we love how all of these things together encompass home. To be honest, it wasn’t until we moved to Georgia that I fell hard for this word. When we moved here, we became home owners, visited my first antique store, and everything changed. I thank the South for a lot of things, and among the frontrunners is my fascination with home – as a noun and a verb.

So here we go…

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Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Built in: 1909
Owner: Andrew Hull
Purchased in: May 2009 – on it’s 100th anniversary.
Decor inspiration: My decor, for lack of a better word, is very eclectic. I love Victorian furniture and design and Art Nouveau paintings and detail. I am very interested in the history of Americana, primarily the American South, but have many eastern influences as well. My chandeliers are hand punched bronze fixtures from Cairo (purchased from eBay). I have always been a massive fan of chandeliers so I knew I would want to include them from the off. I find inspiration by visiting the websites of lots of popular lighting companies who sell different chandelier styles (find out more here). My backsplash in the kitchen is Mexican tile, and I have many fabrics and textiles from India, Pakistan, China, and Africa. Most all of these originated from my Aunt, Susan Hull Walker, who is an artist, weaver, traveler, collector, and all-around mystic guru. She weaved the four pieces hanging in the dining room. I found some gorgeous peel and stick wallpaper to go in my bedroom then I chose to paint the living room and bathrooms. When I first decorated it, I was so pleased with how it looks. I still feel exactly the same now!!
Describe your home: I’m not sure how I would describe my house. Immediately I loved it because it felt like me. I have never been one to describe art, my own or others’, and that’s exactly what I think it is, a piece of art. I read an article recently that said that when a home is finished, it is dead. So, I guess that is how I would describe it. It is a working piece of art, maybe an artful piece of work, that I have the pleasure and privilege of enjoying and trying to improve for the future.
Improvements in any house are needed, we need to be aware that a house can’t survive hundreds and hundreds of years without some renovation. So, if you’re renovating your bathroom shower, don’t compromise on glass quality, if you are renovating your living room, make sure your wooden flooring is treated beforehand, etc. Be aware! No matter what renovations you are doing to your home, from the top to the bottom, there will be a lot of mess and debris that will need to be taken away and disposed of properly. You may want to call a Junk removal Melbourne service or a service closer to where you are, so that you aren’t making multiple trips in the process.
What we love most about this house: The fact that everything we said “I love that” to had an epic story, the family photo wall (covered with his immediate and extended family dating back to the turn of the century), and his sweet dog.

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The 20′ American flag was purchased at What’s On Second in downtown Birmingham.

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MII_2153The pillow on the chair below was made by Andrew’s Aunt from fabrics she brought back from Afghanistan. Her company, Illominata, sells both her own creations as well as those of native artisans from around the world.

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Andrew built this table from a window he removed from the kitchen during renovation, with antique columns for legs. Everything under the window on display are things that he collected on a 2 month visit to Europe (a collection of beer coasters, stickers, patches, museum tickets).

MII_2182MII_2190Untitled-4MII_2172MII_2192The “Hulls House” sign was made by Andrew’s grandfather. He made it for his grandparents when he was 14.

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A huge thank you to Andrew for letting us into his home and telling us great stories.
A second thank you to Nick Barnes for introducing us to Andrew.

Rainer

Rainer-01Photographed in Atlanta, GA

Raised in:
Fayetteville, Georgia

Lives in:
San Francisco, California

What you miss most about living in the South:
Definitely the people; in particular their friendliness and approachability. The first time I started a conversation with a random person at the grocery store in San Francisco, I’m pretty sure they thought I was a creep. Back home, it would have been natural. I also really miss boiled peanuts. I’m able to make my own sweet tea and can get a country music fix almost anywhere, but boiled peanuts are nearly impossible to find.

Favorite Chubbies collection (so far):
I have a place in my heart for our Classics (The Legends, The Three Commas, etc.) and the ‘Mericas because that’s what got us started, however so far, I’ve been most proud of our Swim Collection (currently $15 off!). Honestly, you can’t find anything of that quality for under $75-$100 anywhere in the market and we made them, domestically, for $49-$59.50. It’s crazy. The first taste of our Fall Collection is coming out next week and I’m beyond stoked on the wide wale corduroys we’re making. They’re incredible colors, mimic an old blazer with suede patches and leather buttons and we custom designed a paisley print in the interior that gives a nod to an old smoking jacket. They’re really fun and I can’t wait to see what people think of them.

Now would ya look at that:
Meet Rainer Castillo, one of the four founders of Chubbies, liberating thighs one man at a time. In 2012, he wore pants for a total of four hours.

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