Governor John Evans’s “Slush”
We don’t do a lot of drinks here at Cookin’ with Congress, mostly because politicians have tended to steer clear of the hard stuff for fear of being labeled a drunkard. Well, at least elected officials, which is strange because we’ve had Obama making honey ale in the White House, Gerald Ford slamming mid-day martinis and Warren G. Harding throwing whiskey parties.
Most of the drinks I’ve found in old cookbooks have been non-alcoholic and this one is no exception. It is, in fact, a punch! A punch from the 1980s, but it feels right at home in the midcentury as well, thanks to Governr John Evans, not to be confused to Governor John Evans, who was very dead by this point.
Governor John Evans
Democratic Governor from Idaho
Favorite Food/Homespun Recipe: Recipe
Notable:
being a Democrat in Idaho; telling his daughter in 1965 she could become a lawyer
As always, I followed the recipe word for word, no alterations:
INGREDIENTS
6 cups water
4 cups sugar
46oz pineapple juice
1 lg can frozen lemonade concentrate
1 lg can frozen orange juice concentrate
5 mashed bananas
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Make syrup and cool 2 minutes.
Thankfully, I know what this step means, even though it doesn’t direct you as to what ingredients make syrup. Here’s how you make syrup: heat sugar and water on medium heat, stirring as needed until all the sugar dissolves. And hey, you can use this for making cocktails, too! It’s rich simple syrup, technically, since it’s not 1:1, but it beats the hell out of buying simple syrup from a store for $13.
2. Freeze until ready to use.
Where are the other steps? The governor clearly felt we could figure it out on our own. So, I mixed everything together (except the ginger ale), stirring it until all those mashed bananas were practically invisible. Well, sort of. Without a blender, those bananas aren’t going anywhere, are they? No, they will be floating in this slush, a textural turnoff waiting to happen. I was ready to use immediately, but I let it freeze for 4 hours anyway.
3. Add 2 quarts ginger ale. Serve when slushy.
It got slushy pretty quickly, so I served myself immediately into the prettiest glass I could find.
Voila! If you want to actually watch me attempt to drink it, go to the Cookin’ with Congress Instagram or TikTok OR…YouTube! You may not know this about me, but I spent six years working at a distillery and several more being an amateur bartender at home. I built a cocktail program, led 450 in-person cocktail classes, invented drinks, and just generally had a fantastic time.
Now I make meat Jello!
All this to say, I know a decent bit about balanced drinks, non-alcoholic or not. Looking at this Slush with its banana sediment, what could this little mocktail taste like?
Verdict:
This needs rum.