Things always taste best when you share with a friend

I really enjoying drinking a good cocktail every now and then.  I don't drink often, only during the weekend and usually just one drink at that.  Of course if the mixologist is whipping up a tasty treat, well then maybe two will do for the evening.  Lately Doug and I have been enjoying a few classic cocktails, the Moscow Mule and Bee's Knees.

Just like many of the classic prohibition-era cocktails, the Bee's Knees is an icy and sweet concoction created to mask the incendiary taste of speakeasy mash.  Current recipes will include a steeped lavender blossom to add to the mix but I can't imagine the bartender at a speakeasy during the 1920's going through the trouble of finding a lavender blossom and steeping it for several minutes. 

The Moscow Mule is not prohibition-era but a product of necessity, hence invention.  In a nutshell, back in NY, some argue LA, but definitely in 1941, John, John and Rudy,  all business men in the business of libation, had to think of a way to sell ginger beer.  So after warming up with a few drinks and nibbles, they came up with the idea of mixing the ginger beer with vodka, Smirnoff Vodka to be exact.  The concoction would later be served in a copper mug, but that in itself did not add to the taste of the new drink.  It was merely a marketing ploy to sell drinks and then the drinker could take home the novel mug.  Much like buying wine from a winery and getting to take home the vintner's etched wine glass.

If you ever get the chance, please try either drink.  They work well in any season but always taste best when shared with friends.

Moscow Mule
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- 1 1/4 oz Smirnoff vodka
- 3 oz. ginger beer*
- 1 tsp. sugar syrup
- 1/4 oz. lime juice
- 1 sprig mint
- 1 slice lime
 Mix and enjoy

 
*After much trial and error, Doug and I have decided that Reed's Extra Ginger Brew Ginger Beer and DG Jamaican Ginger Beer are good products for the Moscow Mule.

The Bee's Knees
2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce honey syrup*
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker, stir briefly to dissolve honey syrup, then fill with ice. Shake well for 10 seconds and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
* Mixing honey with hot water makes it easier to mix in a drink. To make honey syrup, simply combine equal parts honey and hot water, and stir until dissolved. Keep remainder refrigerated.

image: http://www.jeffreymorgenthaler.com

Baby It's Cold Outside!

It's February.  After a soggy Autumn, we now have cold winds and snow.  Snow?!  Wait, we're in Georgia.  What are we doing with four inches of snow on the ground?  Ah, yes.  It's that time for...EL NINO!  It was a bad El Nino Winter many years ago which drove me from a frozen Washington, D.C. to seek the sunnier climate of Central Florida.  I worked in Reston, VA but lived in Fredericksburg, (getting my B.A. in Art History).  Several times a week, I'd commute a little over 1 hour each way to get to either work or home.  Not that bad of a trip but anyone who has experienced Interstate 95 during rush hour, with a snow storm, (I think they even used the word, blizzard, back then) and of course, no more salt or sand to lay down on the roads, would understand my exodus out of D.C.  Yes, Mid-Atlantickers...D.C. ran out of salt and sand!  Let's just hope this Winter, the DOT was mindful and stocked up with enough grit to cover the roads.


Speaking of grit, Georgia, is ill experienced with snow.  But that's okay, they shouldn't be.  It's not supposed to snow here.  The average temperature in Athens, GA for February is 56 degrees.  56 DEGREES FOLKS, NOT 37!  So Wal-mart, (yes Wal-Mart) must be doing well selling cold weather clothes.  Good thing I bought Zelig's snow boots when I did.  They were the last in his size, but I couldn't find snow gloves for him in small.  What I bought him are huge but they keep his hands warm, (when his hands are in them and not in the snow making snowballs). 

Speaking of Wal-Mart...yes, I've shopped there.  And still do.  Maybe once a week.  I'd rather not.  I'd rather go to Kroger's or even Publix, but both are not in Monroe.  The closest of the two, Kroger's, is perhaps 15 minutes away.  It's certainly not too far out of the way to go after I've dropped off Zelig at school, but to be honest with you, it does cost more to shop at Kroger's and yes, there are times when I need a can of spray paint, snow boots and a carton of milk.  Where can I get all that in one stop?  Wal-Mart is easy on my wallet and saves my sanity.  I know all about the evils of Wal-Mart, doing business with the most evil and powerful country in the world, China.  I know China doesn't have the same safety regulations as the U.S., hence all the poisonous products they have and still do export out of their country into ours.  But until there is an affordable solution, most Americans, including myself, will shop at Wal-mart and even Target because they provide what we want.  It would be nice if an American company could do the same, provide a one stop-shopping experience with affordable, made in America products.  Don't you agree?

So what does Wal-Mart have to do with snow in Georgia?  Nothing.  I was going on a stream of consciousness.  It was fun.  Now back to work.