Tag: cointreau (Page 1 of 3)

Golden Dream

April 26, 2022 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

Where does inspiration come from? Great question. Anyone have anything here, because I have no clue. I am equally flummoxed when it comes to where inspiration hides when it does not come, which happens way more often. When pretty much anything consequential happens in my life, I go on a journey to find the root cause. Good news or bad, I end up walking backwards through decisions and circumstances trying to figure out just what happened. When the outcome became fait accompli with the rest of us just going through the motions. So in the spirit of foregone conclusions that may very well be wrong, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Golden Dream.

Corpse Reviver #2

August 19, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 2 Comments

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.

The Brazilian Smuggler

July 29, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

It’s properly hot today. Seriously, searingly hot. The temp is pegged at 100° with the humidity in close pursuit. It’s a stand in the shade as you melt sort of scorcher out there. Which is why I am in here, making a drink. Something cool, refreshing, summery and full of life giving hydration, perfect for replenishing those bodily fluids when you know you should be out there mowing the lawn So, if you prefer being cool to languishing in the sun with the rest of the hotheads, won’t you join me now as we stand and make The Brazilian Smuggler.

Japanese Slipper

June 22, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

One of the best parts of getting older is learning just how ignorant you truly were back when you thought you knew it all. That seems to be a recurring theme with me, learning humility, mostly at the hand of my old, cocky self. I miswrote that as old, cocky elf and I really wanted to keep it. To go off on a tangent about that clever little fellow with the pointy ears and prodigious memory who would pop up from time to time, dispensing wisdom, while showing me the follies of the ghosts of former me’s long gone, but not forgotten. There is a great deal of fun to be had there, but I am not feeling up to it narratively today. So, ponder that and mourn the tale that might have been as we stand and make the Japanese Slipper.

Blue Lady

May 4, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

It is customary that on the morning immediately following the birthdays of my weird uncle figure, my figurative Wonder Twin and my actual brother, we celebrate Star Wars Day with the traditional “May the 4th be with you” greeting. Best I can tell, that is all that is required to honor this completely made up holiday. I suppose we could watch a movie marathon or just queue up some sort of supercut of great moments from that galaxy that is both long ago and far, far away. Some folks honor the day with a tall glass of Blue Milk, but I feel like we are a little fancier than that, so won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Blue Lady.

The Seelbach

April 16, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 1 Comment

“You’ve got to enjoy things while you have them, son,” he said with a world-weary sigh, “nothing stays here forever, appreciating that change is coming makes us realize just how valuable our time is.” That’s the kind of thing I found myself saying as we sat in the sun this afternoon, examining the meaning of grief while both experiencing it for very different reasons. It’s not what I had planned, but life has a funny way of blindsiding you and no matter what else is on the schedule, sometimes you have to set those things aside and be a dad, a friend and an absorbent shoulder. So, even though it has nothing to do with any of that and I am gonna have to work to tie this all together, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the “classic” Seelbach.

Key Lime Curd Margarita

April 12, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

There are fundamental flaws in our world. Most of them are our fault and I like to think that we are working to make things better, even as I see daily evidence of folks going out of their way to make things worse for others. We are imperfect, but I hope that long arc does, indeed, bend toward justice. Those are problems we can work on and when we finally acknowledge that we are all in this together and worthy of respect and consideration, we can fix them. Others are more challenging. Those things deeply ingrained in our collective psyches or worse, hard-coded into our genetic make-up. I was reminded of one of the most troubling design failures in the human body today, repeatedly. I am speaking of the entirely unnecessary in the modern world, brain freeze. So, in the spirit of self inflicted wounds that we never seem to learn from, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Key Lime Curd Margarita.

Irish Cocktail

March 17, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

It was foggy and overcast as I stood on the porch, my breakfast tea in one hand, toasted soda bread the boy had made, slathered with Kerrygold butter in the other. I was reminded of another morning, nearly twenty years ago in County Cork, drinking tea, eating warm brown bread, watching a boat floating in the lough across the lawn. A boat without a passenger, in the middle of the water. I never wondered how it got there, why it was there or what it meant. Funny how that happens. I took a picture and it wasn’t till years later that it occurred to me that a pilotless boat in the middle of a lake is unusual. That image has stuck with me and on mornings when the mist comes in close, I often wonder what happened to that boat and the person who loved it. Just another mystery without an answer or even a proper question. So, in that spirit, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Irish Cocktail.

Moonlight Cocktail

February 24, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

I find that a nice stroll before dinner is just the thing to get the blood pumping and stimulate the appetite. That sounds like something out of a Dickens novel, said in an offhand way by a fellow in a waistcoat, as he lights his pipe. I have a waistcoat and a pipe but I don’t have Charley writing my lines, so I just go for a walk most evenings. To be fair, in Summer I usually walk a couple of miles before work to avoid the heat, but this time of year I go for my stroll in the dark, flashlight handy in case of traffic. I love the way things look after the sun sets, the stars in the sky and the way the moon turns everything a pale silver. In honor of that subtle magical change, won’t you join me as we stand and make the Moonlight Cocktail.

Brandy Daisy

February 22, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 1 Comment

They say that the best place to start is at the beginning, so I am going to make an effort to take us all the way back to where it all began, allegedly. They also say that today is National Margarita Day, a holiday clearly needed by the masses and the “frozen or rocks” lobby. The answer is rocks, by the way. They don’t tell you that, they just roll their eyes and laugh as they walk away if you get it wrong. I hope to answer the bigger question of how did we get here, but that may be a little too ambitious? For now, let’s just delve a little deeper and look for prime causes as we stand and make the Brandy Daisy.