Christmas time is fast approaching and the restaurant business starts bustling. Days become weeks this time of year, but oddly I feel almost the opposite. This year feels packed but slow. I feel like 4 months went by during the month of November because of how many things we had been up to. Relentless this holiday season has been.
During this chaos, Angie and I received a message from one of our fellow cocktail-making acquaintances we met through one of the connections we had made while making Aviary cocktails this year. As it turns out, this acquaintance, the wonderful Clint of Gayviary, had a personal connection to us — he is the brother-in-law of the GM at our main liquor hub in town, many states away from where he lived. He reached out to us because, lo and behold, he would be near Cedar Falls for Christmas and he had a brilliant idea. Why not collaborate on a cocktail? We couldn’t possibly decline. It sounded like a blast and we couldn’t have been more excited.
The Gayviary team is comprised of three main people: Clint, Joey, and Abe. Joey couldn’t make it out to Iowa, but Clint and his husband, Abe, would be our guests and collaborators. To keep Joey involved, they also made a batch of the cocktail at home. We’ve decided that one day, Ang and I will make it out to Denver to meet the final member of Gayviary to finish the circle of friends.
Messages began ricocheting back and forth between us as we narrowed down a date, time, cocktail, and plan. We got to know each other a little bit better and soon we found our mark. Surveilling two Big, Beautiful Books, we picked a cocktail worthy of kicking off a new Christmas friendship. Enter: Two Turtle Doves.
Since acquiring liquor in Iowa tends to suck, Clint and Abe agreed to bring the booze and help with the handy work. They had access to everything they needed to make the magic happen. Angie and I would contribute the cooking, venue, and photography.
The road leading up to this collaboration was long, and honestly a bit arduous. The cocktail and prep involved was not by any means overwhelming, but Ang and I agreed to take on a few too many projects that all ended up with the same week as the deadline. We rearranged the house to accommodate the future crib (have I mentioned that I am SO excited to have a baby? *Insert squealing*). We rearranged the bird cages and gave them some new toys for the holidays. We deep cleaned the office (which used to be our bedroom) since we had removed all the furniture from it, so it felt like good timing. We decided to batch off several bottles of Prize Inside to give as holiday gifts to some close friends and relatives. Ang had a teachers potluck for which she made a bunch of appetizers. I had a tasting for winter cocktail ideas for the bar next door. We needed to pack to go home for Christmas with our family. Then, Angie made a charcuterie platter for her coworkers on the last day of the semester (separate from the pot luck). And finally, we needed to make the Two Turtle Doves prep.
This was our laundry list of things to do this past week. It was killer, but I’m relieved to have survived it. Speaking of survival, Clint and Abe were happy to meet us and find out we were real people, not crazy murderers. We were relieved all the same. I feel like my primary method of murder would be punning someone into oblivion. Making them just hate bad humor so much that they go to sleep and never wake up.
It was so refreshing to put faces to these people we’ve been chatting with for the past year or so. Clint and Abe were very nice, fun, and intelligent fellas. They enjoyed the company of our crazy birds. Hansen was unsure of them because they were much taller than the humans he’s used to. I’m a pretty average height of about 5’11”. If I had to guess, I’d say Abe is about 6’5″.
Prior to their arrival, Ang and I toasted macadamia nuts and ground some into macadamia powder, then zested and dehydrated orange peels for orange powder. We set up our sous vide and readied white chocolate orange milk and macadamia milk for an hour of infusion. The milk went into the sous vide right when our guests arrived, so we just chatted while we waited, mixing a few drinks and sharing a few stories. Angie, being pregnant and all, did some photography while we cocktailed to share the experience.
The intensity of protective wrapping was an entertaining party puzzle as Clint gradually unveiled each bottle of liquor. I appreciate his meticulous nature. Clint and Abe also provided the intricate and beautiful crystal glasses that would be used in our photo-op. Apparently crystal shows as black when going through airport x-ray security, though, and Clint got flagged on his way. Luckily, he had a pleasant experience with the security staff when they checked the glassware. Upon arrival, they found a humorously ripped open and taped back together bubble wrap job by the TSA security. Tape all over the place — hopefully they got a sample shot for all the effort on that one.
Once the milk was done, we had to add liquor, sugar, salt, and guar gum to the infused milk in a blender on low speed. This was when we discovered just how much of a pain this is to do when you have the world’s smallest, cheapest blender. It’s one of those blenders with a 16 fl. oz. capacity for making single serving milkshakes and no speed settings. We couldn’t add ingredients mid-cycle either, so we had to start and stop a thousand times as not to add all the dry ingredients at once and cause clumps. This was so tedious, but I’m grateful for the patience and good company from Clint and Abe.
At one point, Abe ventured off to see the Cedar river (we live less than a block from it). He was happy to report that he didn’t get hit by any cars or get picked up by any mafia or gangs. In fact, he gained supreme authority over the local gangs and would soon be in control of the entire Midwest as his territory. We look forward to staying on his good side.
After the tedious work was done, the rest was simple. Once chilled, pour the batched cocktails in the glasses. Top with orange powder and macadamia powder respectively, and serve. At this point, we prepared our photography station for the final stage of the cocktail.
This year, Angie and I had our own little Christmas early. She got me a new phone (which I desperately needed), and I got her new photography equipment (which I wanted her to have for this big collab). This was the first photo session we did with a large-scale studio setup with great lighting… outside of the lightbox! Add a new “nifty fifty” lens to her camera, and man, this was just a thrill.
To truly capture the moment like Allen, we found a pine tree and snapped a couple branch ends from it, then gathered some pine cones a few days earlier. As luck would have it, or not have it, we didn’t get any snow this week, so we couldn’t replicate Allen’s photo process. I’m glad it turned out this way because we discovered the joys of dehydrated fake snow. The fake snow spray cans didn’t look the way we wanted, but this play snow that we found in the toy aisle of Walmart was perfect! I think Angie, Clint, Abe, and I had a little too much fun playing with it.
For the final shot, we decided to have Clint and Abe stand behind the backdrop and drop snow behind the cocktails, meanwhile I dropped Hansen’s feathers in front of the cocktails, creating three layers of effect. Foreground of “dove feathers” with background of snowfall really gave the photo depth. I’m extremely happy with the final product.
At long last, we poured a few extra of each drink and made a toast to a new bond of friendship. Clint and Abe were so sweet, and such a joy to work and converse with. They gave us a gift — friendship doves. They kept one to hang, and we kept the other. Without a doubt, their hearts are made of gold, and they are welcome to our little family any time.
We finished our evening by going out to dinner with Clint’s sister and brother-in-law (who I mentioned earlier). We all had a blast and we got to know our liquor rep better now that we were in company off-the-clock. We discovered that night that his wife actually worked with my own sister for a year, who we heard about previously because she bought a bird and received some taming and raising advice from my sister, a fellow bird nerd. Definitely one of those “it’s a small world” moments.
So, cheers to the Gayviary team, cheers to friends, family, love, and the Aviary. I’m grateful for the world of mixology and the wonderful people we’ve met in it. Also, I’m happy to announce that Angie and I had the opportunity to introduce Clint and Abe to the tradition of the Boomerang, and with none other than Brovo Boomerang liqueur. And yes, the Two Turtle Doves were very delicious. Merry Christmas!
