Geekologie – "Flavor tripping" revolves around the "miracle fruit" (synsepalum dulcificum), a little red berry that, after eaten, changes the perceived taste of things eaten afterwards. "The cause of the reaction is a protein called miraculin, which binds with the taste buds and acts as a sweetness inducer when it comes in contact with acids." Neato. People are even starting to throw "flavor tripping parties."

Oh, you wacky kids, and the wacky things you do.

I'm pretty sure that you can do that sort of thing with good old-fashioned tripping, too. Or, umm, so I've heard.

Say… anyone else wondering what happens if you try to infuse these things into vodka? Let's see, according to an article in the New York Times (A Tiny Fruit That Tricks the Tongue):

Highly perishable. Damn. According to the Miracle Fruit Man (now really, who would want to call themselves that?):

Well, since vodka infusions are usually created (and stored) in the freezer, this is still a possibility… I are intrigued.

Bradwinkle – Will appeal to the people who want an historic First Token; and if all else fails, we can go for "third time's a charm" in 2012. Bradwinkle has also promised me "For the record, I would never secretly kill you or otherwise have you assassinated in order to rise to power myself. Nor would I have you replaced by an impersonator and secretly control your replacement, ala any Dave-esque type scenario." I don't know how important this pledge is to the voters, but it certainly makes me feel better.

GWIII – If you know what's good for you. GWIII would have a strong hand in shaping the foreign policy of my administration, and would probably do so almost entirely at random (except for France). I plan to stand by him during the inevitable Monkeygate scandals.

Q – She would be my First Lady and my Vice President (and, as an actual elected official, would have more clout than an unelected First Lady like Hillary Clinton had when she tried to mold policy). This would mean that I was both the President and Second Gentlemen – which would save the government money because the secret service would have less people to protect and the two of us could travel on a smaller, more energy-efficient plane than Air Force One. Also, none of our children are pregnant, which would save us from at least one baseless moronic media frenzy.

The Scienticians (Duct Tape Avenger and Techempage) – A co-vice presidency who will expand and improve American health care by infusing any and all medications into vodka for those who want an alternate method of intake besides pills and capsules – and if my administration can expand upon the drugs which are legal for medicinal use, well, imagine the vodka that would result then! Also among the obvious advantages of having two VPs is that one can be the "Designated Official" while the rest of us are drunk/hungover.

Before I left for work yesterday morning, Q told me she'd stolen a couple of bucks from me to buy eggs (since she was out and we were out). She said she was planning to make something I like. (She's been having fun trying out new things¹ recently.) She asked me if I had any guesses when I got home, but I hadn't really thought about it too much – yesterday was a busy day at work, and I just generally don't like playing guessing games. I wouldn't have guessed it anyway.

Ravioli.

I love ravioli, but I've never had homemade ravioli before. This was really good, and also rather different from any ravioli I'd ever had before. First of all, the only flour we had at home was whole wheat flour, so that's what the pasta was made of. (She apologized if that made it taste weird, but I happen to like whole wheat; plus, this way I could convince myself that it was healthy and that I was therefore entitled to a second helping.) She used the bread machine to knead the dough, before rolling it out flat to put in the filling (she was just finishing off the last of them when I arrived; she was making and boiling them about half a dozen at a time). The filling was chicken, garlic, and parmesan cheese (puréed in a blender).

All told, it was yummy, and I have an awesome wife who's already trying to decide what to do differently the next time she tries making some…

¹And speaking of "trying out new things", the spearmint Q planted last year is growing like crazy; I'll have to pick a bunch of leaves and try a vodka infusion with them soon.

blargblarg just posted in his journal some of his suggestions for infusions, based on his experiences in the mid-90s. I'm copying them here, with some comments, for those who are interested in the process. ( I'm putting them behind a cut tag, for those who aren't interested. )

Friday night, the last of the chocolate vodka was consumed.¹ I had some with the new Caramel Cream Diet Pepsi Jazz, and Katy had some mixed with banana-flavoured² Cruzan rum. Both mixtures were extremely good; although I made the mistake of adding the soda to the vodka instead of the other way around, so I got a lot of chocolaty foam at the top of my drink. When I poured out the last of the vodka, I saw that there were half a dozen or so lumps of chocolate at the bottom of the jar – apparently, some of the chocolates (I'd put in more than that) didn't dissolve all of the way (even after all of this time). Rather than waste them, I poured the last of the banana rum into the jar and shook it up, in the hopes of dissolving the rest and having another yummy chocolate/banana drink later.

¹References: Creation, First Test, and Separation.
²The extra "u" is there to make her boyfriend happy. Although it sounds like he already is…

After my last sampling of the chocolate vodka suspension, which involved shaking the jar to keep the particles of chocolate mixed in with the vodka, Travis suggested that I "Let the particles drop out of solution and try it then, just to see if it works as an infusion. I'm sure something got extracted out of the chocolate."

I did as he suggested. For two weeks, the jar of chocolate vodka sat in the freezer undisturbed, allowing the chocolate in the vodka to settle. As you can see in the picture below, that left about half of the vodka clear on top, and the other half thick with chocolate on the bottom. However, you can see that the vodka in the top half of the jar is still brown even after the chocolate settled out, so some infusion seems to have occurred:

I extracted most of the top layer of vodka, using a turkey baster, and it was sampled by both Travis and myself. We tasted it straight first, and it was definitely stronger that the last time – but still with a smooth, sweet, creamy chocolate taste underneath. After sampling it straight, we added Canfield's Diet Swiss Creme soda to make a sweeter, less harsh, and more bubbly drink. Definitely a tasty mixture (I had bought that soda specifically to try it with the chocolate vodka).

Oh, and the rest of the chocolate vodka in the jar? Well, naturally, once I extracted the strong layer of vodka from the top of the jar, what I was left with was a concoction with an even higher ratio of chocolate to vodka than the original. Sweeter, creamier, and more chocolatey. That bottom layer was really smooth; both straight, and mixed with Irish Creme liqueur. Yum!

And there's still some left. Maybe later I'll have a breastful of coffee with chocolate vodka added…

Nobody came over Friday night, due to the snow, sleet, and freezing rain; so I put off (again) further experimentation with the chocolate vodka. Instead, I decided to finish off the small amount of pineapple vodka that was left over. When it took it out of the freezer, it was partially frozen – apparently, there was enough juice in the vodka (remember, the coffee filter only takes out the solid chunks) for it to freeze. It hadn't frozen originally, before we drank most of it, which makes me assume that what we drank before was mostly vodka, and the juice had settled to the bottom. The solution¹ remaining (once I let it thaw) was definitely higher in juice and lower in vodka than the samples tasted previously. I drank some of it straight, and the rest mixed with Diet Coke (which was quite good).

¹Pardon me while I stick my tongue out at sethcohen.

As I said I would, last night I tried out the caramel vodka. I left it overnight in the freezer, and then let it breathe for a bit. First, I gave it the smell test¹ to make sure there was no harsh, turpentine-like smell which I've observed in previous experiments. It seemed safe for human consumption (which meant that it was certainly safe for me). Then (after shaking), I poured some out into a glass and tasted it. The first thing that hit me was the strong taste of the vodka. That was immediately replaced by the smooth, sweet taste of the caramel, which felt like it was lightly coating my throat on the way down. Then, the vodka returned, with the usual burning sensation that you get after doing a shot of vodka. The burn, however, did not completely overpower the taste of the caramel; so that even though each element hit me separately when the shot went down, the aftertaste I was left with was a mingling of the two. Sweet and creamy, but burning at the same time. Probably would be really good for sipping if you cold.

I've declared this one to be my first success; I believe that opinion was shared by phil_g, the second (and thus far only other) person to give it a try. He thought that it was creamy, and downed the entire glass that I gave him. (I was actually standing ready with some Saint Brendan's Irish Cream to add to it once he'd taken an initial taste, as I had tasted mine both straight and with Irish Cream added. The cordial increased the sweet creaminess while decreasing the burn, which would be good for people not accustomed to drinking their vodka straight and preferring less of a burn.)

As for my previous experiments… as you may recall, the garlic was a mixed bag and the bacon was a definite failure. Last night I finally got around to disposing of the rest of those two samples: most of the bacon vodka was still left over, as only a little had been tasted; but the majority of the garlic vodka was gone. It hadn't worked so well as a drink,² but I had ended up using some of it to marinate some steaks.

As for my other two current experiments (pineapple and banana)… I had planned to open them up and filter out the solids last night (and then toss them in the freezer for testing either today or tomorrow), but I had forgotten that I was out of coffee filters. I need to bring home more before I can test those. I did look at them again last night; some (but not all) of the banana slices have turned a bit brown (the way a banana after a while once you've cut it).

¹The "smell test" involves me trying to smell it first, and then bringing it to someone else (like my wife) who actually has a fully functional sense of smell to get their opinion.
²I did eventually buy some Bloody Mary mix, and Q and I both tried some garlic vodka Bloody Maries. We both agreed that they tasted like shrimp cocktail sauce, and lamented having no shrimp to go with them. Not being Bloody Mary drinkers, we don't know if they were supposed to taste that way; but to us, cocktail sauce is not something one normally drinks. Not our thang.

Brendan just reminded me that I forgot to write the closing chapter in my first round of vodka infusions – the result of the bacon infusion. Sadly, I've had to declare this one a failure (and I am unanimous in this … because no one else was willing to try this one with me). The time in the freezer definitely made the bacon vodka smooth and drinkable (i.e. no longer emitting toxic fumes), but the flavor was disappointing. Even though I had previously filtered it before putting it into the freezer, there was still a ring of fat around the inside of the jar at the top of the vodka. The vodka also tasted greasy, with only slight undertones of bacon – it seems that the fatty part of the bacon was more readily infused with the vodka than the tastier bits. So, while I may yet finish the garlic vodka as a marinade¹ and/or with another box of pizza rolls, I'll be disposing of the bacon vodka (once I file the appropriate paperwork with the EPA).

¹There was a second occasion where we prepared garlic-vodka-marinated steaks, which I don't believe was mentioned previously. deathquaker joined in on that meal, and also gave it a thumbs-up.