How To: Shop at an Outlet Mall

We will start with a tragic story...



It is 10:30 pm on Thanksgiving, my family is laying around various sofa's trying to let our digestive system do its thing, while I was looking for some good sales on the famous Black Friday. I came across a Midnight Madness Outlet shopping in NY state, the next semester I was going to be working full time  at an internship which required a category of clothing I had none of, professional suits. What a perfect time to get a deal! They boasted 50%-75% off at hundreds of stores all located in one outdoor mall.



My mother was up for the adventure, ensuring me I would not have to worry about receiving any christmas gifts that year. Oh boy, we did not know what we were getting ourselves into...

Standing in line; to raid stores like Guess and Calvin Klein. Don't get me wrong, we had a blast, and I still use some of the items I purchased that night/morning. We went berserk, suits, sweaters, button down shirts, shoes, for both my mother and myself; presents for family, my sister some new shirts. 

You will never truly understand the term "Shop till you Drop" unless you non-stop shop from midnight until 10am. This was the wrong way to go to am Outlet Mall....

Now for the To Do List:

 - Before you get to the mall, make a list of things you need so you don't get enchanted by the big discounts on something you might wear based on the discounted amount... 75% off of $600 skirt is a good deal but it is still more money than you would normally spend on a skirt.

- Try to fill your list with things that out of season a.k.a. in the summer shop for coats and boots.

- Before you get to the mall leave most of your credit cards at home. You can get shop drunk and not even realize, and once the receipt hangover sets in, you have used your backup credit card as well as your backup-only-emergency credit card too.

- When you do get to the mall, make a game plan.  Put the places where you will spend the most money at the top, maybe after the first sticker shock it might slow down your ambition to pull the trigger on something you don't like as much later on your shopping adventure.

- Come to terms that you are going to spend more than you plan on. It's not like a regular mall that you have set prices, this place is going to make your eyes bounce like a cartoon coyote, where else are you going to find 90% off of Coach bags. There is going to be at least one point that you are going to buy something you know you will regret years later that you did not purchase. Really, I mean haunt your nightmares.

Example of creature in its natural habitat. I went to return a pair of broken pants and left with this. But its ok because I learned these lessons I can pass of to you and I like Rammen.

The making of the HeatBeet... Infusion and all round dazzling but earthy cocktail.

A contest is always something enjoyable to participate in, a cocktail competition is something that made me excited and invigorated, the project was to make an original liqour infusion and then a complimenting cocktail.

I drew my inspiration from a new passion at the time, a cordial called Pimm's #1.

Pimm's #1 is originally from London was first sold as a tonic in 1851 made from herbs and spices meant to aid digestion. It later became part of the official cocktail, Pimm's Cup, during British polo matches as well as the Wimbelton tennis tournament. 

Pimm's is predominantly derived from Gin with Orange peel and spices. My infusion also started with gin but then took a 180 degree turn around from the formality and distinguished part to British history into an American unpretentious trendsetting cocktail.

Ingredients for infusion included:

- roasted beets

- orange peel

- cilantro

- star anise

- lemon basil

- coriander

I scientifically tested at least five different batches between variations between different amounts of spices and herbs, beet preparation, and gin bases. The best outcome I got was a medium juniper flavored gin with home roasted beets.

Not that I want this to turn into a cooking post; canned sliced beets worked for beet infusion. Per herbs, minced beets left too little of the original beet dimensions, earthy and candy quality. The best were beets I rubbed in salt and wrapped in tin foil and baked. Then hand peeled to get the pieces of beet that had different dimensions of flavors.

Bleeding with color and flavor I layered beet, orange peel, spices, beet, orange peel, spices; ect. until I filled the entire jar. Next unloaded a 750ml of gin on my final balanced ingredients.

I left this jar covered in foil for a week, and every couple of days I stirred the mixture (like a Yoo-hoo). After filtering I uncovered a beautiful blood red gin (which I neglected to take a picture of).

The final product was a martini called the Heartbeet (pun-intended):

- 3 ounces beet gin infusion

- large splash of fresh lemon juice

- shake vigorously

- rim martini glass with brown sugar and sea salt

- Pour in gin shaken

- top with splash sprite

Other competitors I remember had Cognac infused with hazelnuts, Gin infused with lychee, Bourbon with brown sugar. The judges were inspired enough to deem my cocktail the winner. And it was requested often at my bar.