There are more than just bananas in there...
Laura had the fire going when I got home and that got me to thinking about cooking out, eating under the stars and this unusual cocktail. It’s a bit of a weird one, to be sure and I don’t know if it is going to work, but just because we may crash and burn, well that’s not gonna stop me from trying. So join me now, as we stand and make the BBB-Q Cookout.
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First things first, this drink is not particularly good. It is not terrible, but it just isn’t anything special. What is worse is I kind of threw it together. It has been a shit day and it’s raining and I don’t even want a drink, but we don’t always get what we want and even when things suck and you aren’t sure how you are going to go on or if you even want to, there is still the work to be done. So, lose sight of your troubles for a moment as we stand and make, The Bishop.
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I realized after I posted last night, that the centennial post did have an unintentional sort of farewell sound to it. That got me to thinking, I could just call it a good run and hang up the tins and my daily essays. For a moment I had a sense of relief. I wouldn’t have to think about this stuff anymore, I wouldn’t have to budget time for the writing, I could just make a drink because I wanted to, not because I felt I had to. So, rather than clarifying, I decided to sleep on it. This morning, while driving in to the office, I was super frustrated trying to process some of the policies our county has announced for the coming school year. I wanted to scream at the futility of it all, at the difference between a plan that truly tries to solve a problem and a plan that effectively covers the greatest number of school board butts and protects votes from the most vocal people who piled into the room to demand minimal action. I know a lot of folks aren’t affected by this, but to me it is very personal. To escape, I cranked up the radio, opened the sunroof and tried to let the frustrations slide away. As I intentionally distracted myself, my mind drifted into flavor profiles, shaking techniques, what drinks I wanted to explore in the next few weeks, what kind of ingredients and tools I should invest in next. I realized that making drinks for others and sharing them is something I have become passionate about. Without even realizing that I had made a decision, I began planning tonight’s drink, Otis Redding popped up on satellite radio roulette to remind me that “A Change is Gonna Come”, but not just yet. For now, we are gonna keep on, keeping on.
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This is it. The one we’ve been waiting for, the victory anthem, 100 days of cocktails. I have been looking forward to this milestone for a while now and we are celebrating with a drink I love and a swanky new vessel ready to make its debut. This is a quintessential tiki drink, lots of ingredients working in conjunction toward a common flavorful goal. The way things ought to be, in the glass and in the world. So, join me now as we stand and make the classic, Three Dots and a Dash.
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I don’t drink a lot of beer, never have. Sure, I would have one if it was offered, just wasn’t my thing. I could appreciate it but for the most part I just couldn’t get into them and it made me jealous. People who liked beer, really loved it. I wanted that. I wanted to be a part of that club, to enjoy something so accessible on such a deep level. I wanted to see 99 bottles of beer on the wall and get excited as I sang along. But it was not to be. Over the years, I have learned to appreciate many beers and to truly love a few, but I am not a “let’s grab a beer” guy. Maybe I never will be. Still, I had a hankering today, so join me as we stand and make the Notorious BHB.
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We did brunch with the family today and since I’m always running my mouth about cocktails, I was put in charge of the bar program. It is a great honor, they said, to be able to provide the drinks. So, I grabbed a couple of bottles of Prosecco and cleared my station to make all the bubbly things. I hope you’ll join me now as we stand and make the classic Mimosa.
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I have found that when you get up early the day is interminably long. Starting the day around 10 is way more civilized and helps it all to go by faster. So, the last few days of getting up around 6 AM like a normal person have been challenging. Today, I have already been to the farmers market to stock up, walked a few miles with the boy and the dog, picked some wildflowers, played some video games and worked in the garden and that doesn’t even count the things I’ve procrastinated; and it is not even noon. So, regardless of yard arms and their position relative to the sun, I’m having a drink, join me now as we stand and make the classic Corn and Oil.
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“The time has come, the Walrus said, to talk of many things. Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings.” It goes on, but you get the gist. I always loved that poem, obviously I did not learn the original from Lewis Carroll, but had Walt Disney interpret it for me in his adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Now, there is a head screw of a story, whether animated or in the written form. Your world suddenly turned upside down, where nothing makes sense, where you cannot tell who to trust and where the inhabitants often delight in being confounding, even when it is to their own detriment. Let’s dig into that as we stand and make, The Red Queen.
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A couple of weeks ago we made a Midori Sour. I did not care for it. I lamented that I had never enjoyed a Midori forward cocktail and asked for suggestions. Well, I got one. Tonight’s drink came to me in the form of a picture of a worn index card with a hand-written recipe on it, from an unexpected source, my mother-in-law. I mention that this is odd, for two reasons. Although, I have shared wine and the occasional raspberry lambic with her, I do not think of her as a drinker. The second is the name written at the top of the card. So join me as we stand and make, the Leg Spreader.
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There is not a lot of process here. Sure there is a format, but mostly it is off the cuff and I don’t really have any idea where we are going with these drinks and commentary. Hell, I am often as surprised as you are when we take one of these hard turns halfway through. That is a big part of the fun for me, to do some research, make a cocktail and then just riff for awhile. My intent is to do a bit of a “behind the scenes” thing today, but I often start with good intentions, we will just have to see where we end up. So, join me now as we stand and make, the To Hell With Spain.
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