By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

I sat at the bar at Palomino last week and ended up taking a journey down memory lane, nudged along by a drink at the downtown restaurant.

It was a Green Apple Drop, a fruity variation of a martini. One sip, and I was carried back to my childhood - when I used to pluck green apples from a tree at my Grandma Ruby's home. Her backyard in College Hill also had a cherry tree and a strawberry patch. As a young girl, I used to sit at the picnic table on Sunday afternoons and indulge in the luscious fruit.

Palomino's Green Apple Drop ($6.95) is made with green apple puree, apple schnapps, lemon sour and vodka. The cocktail's aroma hinted of what was to come, but I was amazed at how each sip was like taking a bite of crisp green apple. An adult indulgence.

Too bad Palomino doesn't share drink recipes. But Kathy Casey, a Seattle chef and cookbook author, created one that comes close. Here's our adapted version.

Green Apple Drop

1/3 cup chopped and crushed Granny Smith apple

11/2 ounces premium vodka

11/2 ounces homemade lemon sour*

1 ounce DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker Schnapps

1 thin slice Granny Smith

Place chopped apple in pint cocktail shaker. Fill shaker with ice. Add vodka, lemon sour and apple schnapps. Shake vigorously. Coat rim of chilled martini glass with sugar and strain apple drop into glass. Garnish with apple slice. Makes 1 drink.

* To make lemon sour, make simple syrup by dissolving 1 cup of sugar in 1 cup of boiling water. Cool and mix 1 cup syrup with 1 cup fresh lemon juice. Refrigerate leftover lemon sour.

E-mail sips@enquirer.com