This is just stupid. Seriously, this is what happens when you read too many books, learn about techniques you have never practiced and stay up too late watching videos. Next thing you know you are out buying doughnuts, upgrading your pourover game and curdling milk on purpose. It was so over the top, I just had to try it, no matter that it was kind of complicated and silly. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and do the thing, which is exactly what we are going to do now. So, please open your minds and join me as we stand and make the Chocolate Doughnut Old-Fashioned.
I get excited about things. That is one way to put it. Maybe it is more accurate to say I get infatuated and obsess about things. That’s cool. It happens. I am constantly amazed at just how many of the classics I still have not tried out in the world or at least have not tried to make here in my, once again shrinking world. So much to experience, so little time, as they say. In the interest of cramming as much life in to the allotted time as possible, won’t you let me introduce you to my latest obsession as we stand and make the classic Aperol Spritz.
This is quite the conundrum isn’t it? Is it a drink? Is it a dessert? Are those things mutually exclusive? Do we need a spoon, a straw or is this a dive right in experience? So many questions, so little information floating around in this old monkey head. Bob Seger used to sing about “workin’ on mysteries without any clues” but maybe if we poke around a bit, we can get to the bottom of things. So, with that in mind, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Southern Scotsman.
Old habits die hard. They just keep coming back, no matter how hard you try to leave them in the past. It’s not like I don’t know better. I have been there before, done that, got the t-shirt and other scars to prove it. I know the score, but like Pacino says, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!” To be fair, I am at least partly to blame. I was feeling tired, kinda down, so when I piled up on the sofa and hit Netflix, I was already in a less than ideal state. I guess that is why , when I saw the “new episodes” tag, I clicked on it and, in spite of knowing better, and began watching the most recent season of The Walking Dead. So, with a nod to giving in to guilty pleasures, even when you know better, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Corpse Reviver #2.
One of the dangers of getting old is the tendency to repeat yourself, allegedly. I like to chalk it up to experience. At some point you have done so much that it all just sort of jumbles together and it’s easy too forget that this has all happened before. The upside is, you get to rediscover new things that you forgot you enjoy or hate , depending on your particular point of view. So, with a nod to a little memory remix, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Raspberry Donn Day Afternoon.
Evolution is a funny thing. The idea is that things grow and adapt in order to become better suited to their environment, but that is not always the case. Speaking objectively, some things get better and some things get worse, that’s just the way that it is, the way that it goes. Evolution is defined as “the gradual development of something, especially from a simple to a more complex form.” Of course, that’s just a broad standard that won’t get folks all twisted up. Not to worry, we aren’t going to talk about those great apes gradually developing into our questionably superior form as homo sapiens, nope we are just talking about drinks and how they change. So, in the spirit of getting better, gradually, won’t you join me now as we make the Trinidad Especial.
“‘Tis an ill wind that blows no good.” he said apropos of nothing. I had barely noticed the onshore breeze, so I looked him up and down, trying to decide whether or not it was gonna be worth the trouble to engage him, before shooting back, “You’re gonna need to unpack that fella.” The old man turned to me slowly, clearly surprised to have someone answer his rambles. I didn’t miss a beat, though. “Seriously, What are you trying to say there?” He did not answer immediately. “Is it some sort of warning? Are you saying that this wind is ill because it brings no good to any of us? And, if so, how can you know that?” I was answered with a blank stare. Unabashed, I followed on “Or are you saying that even an ill wind, which this one may or may not be, brings some good to someone somewhere, a la Henry VI? And, if so shouldn’t you thrown an “indeed” in there somewhere? You know, “‘Tis an ill wind, indeed, that blows no good.” I wasn’t messing with him, I was genuinely curious, that phrase had always bothered me. After a moment, he looked down and under his breath answered, “I passed gas, please pardon me.” Well, what the hell was I suppose to do with that? So, in the spirit of asking the question when you know you should just walk away, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the tiki classic, Tradewinds.
I stepped out on the porch this sultry morning to a cacophonous chorus of cicadas announcing their much vaunted, but overdue, arrival this Summer. Their grating cries were welcome in their own way, since I had casually planned on mowing the lawn this afternoon. It has been exceptionally humid this week, but the moisture has stayed in the air so the ground is dry and the grass doesn’t really need the trim I had planned. No matter, our lately molted insect white noise generators tend to make mowing impractical if not impossible. They home in on any competing monotonous drone with a ferocity and fearlessness seldom seen in these parts. Yard work, postponed, I will have to find something else to pass the time in the oppressive heat. So, with a nod toward avoiding work on a lazy afternoon won’t you join me as we stand and make, something cool and refreshing the Summer Negroni.
I’m a little sad today. It’s not Jenn’s fault, mostly. It’s probably not even fair for me to feel this way, but I don’t really care. Today is her birthday and I’m bummed to be celebrating it “virtually” from half a country away. To be fair, we have not celebrated it together in three years, as social media keeps reminding me… relentlessly. Seriously, the last couple of days, my “memories” have been a constantly wonderful inundation of photos of us eating, drinking, laughing and generally causing a commotion in chase of the perfect shenanigan. If I am honest, I am not really sad, I’m just missing the good times we have had sharing our own brand of charm with our occasionally adoring fans. So, with a nod toward the past and the hope of good times to come won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Porn Star Martini.
Mistakes, we all make them. I make so many mistakes that this almost feels like a retread of stuff I have said before. I wanted to quote Maya Angelou and her admonition to, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” Then I figured I had probably use that bit before, I am a big fan of quoting her whenever I can. If you’ve read much of her work, you know why. I wasn’t properly prepared for today’s drink, so I missed a trick and I hate that. My whole hook is working tirelessly in the background to be better prepared than the next guy, all so I can try to make it look effortless. I failed at that, but all is not lost, now we have one of those teachable moments, so we are going to go with that. In that spirit, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make the Fantasticus.
