Brews You Can Use
The warm weather, combined with kids sports tonight, drove me to the gin and tonic last night. I even made a return trip to the drinking club, so I could sit on its back deck and overlook the lake while discussing plans for the urban "farm" that I'm going to start the first week of May. It's not really a farm, but rather a produce stand for my son Max to run. I'll grow the produce on the 3/4 acre behind the stand. The excavator is supposed to come the first week of May to strip the sod (a mix of grass and weeds) and till.
That endeavour has devoured a large chunk of my time this week, hence the abbreviated blogging. And now a small hangover is devouring a small chunk of my time this morning.
Fortunately, I have a drinking post readily available: Let's Bring Back: The Cocktail Edition (2012). Marie bought me this book last year but I forgot about it and didn't crack its spine until a few weeks ago. My delayed loss. It's great.
It's not a book that explains how to make every drink, but rather a collection of more obscure recipes and commentary: light banter, anecdotes, history. Most of the recipes appear to come from the 19th and early 20th centuries, but it features older stuff, too, like Ancient Roman Mulsum: "Warm 1/2 cup clear honey. Add one bottle of medium-dry white wine and stir. Chill before serving." I doubt I'll try it, but the recipe, combined with the commentary on Roman wine, is entertaining.
The author of the book writes for the Huffington Post, so she's probably a screaming leftist, but based on the parts of the book I've read so far, she leaves any political persuasions at the door. It's a delightful read.
