kochleffel

SoCo Float Southern Comfort has been the source of many a young person's first, and worst, hangover. Its sweetness makes the alcohol palatable to an inexperienced drinker, and it's 100 proof. It was created in 1874 by Martin Wilkes in New Orleans as a flavored whiskey; for a while it was made with neutral spirit, but the current owner of the brand, Sazerac, has returned to using a whiskey base. The SoCo Float is made with Southern Comfort, vanilla vodka, and root beer. Root beer itself is sweet, and the drink has been described as a liquid dessert. I could imagine adding a scoop of ice cream for a boozy Boston Cooler. 1-1/2 oz Southern Comfort 1/2 oz Vanilla Vodka Root Beer 1 wedge Lime Fill a highball glass with ice. Add Southern Comfort and vanilla vodka, and fill with root beer. Squeeze a lime wedge over top and drop it in.

Speaking of Phil: mayor of at least two cities have tried to horn in on the act, with bad results. In 2015, the mayor of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, held a groundhog to his ear so that the groundhog could whisper the prediction to him. Instead, it bit his ear. New York City has the custom of getting its predictions from a groundhog in the Staten Island Zoo. In 2009, it bit Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the hand. In 2014, Mayor Bill DiBlasio, wore gloves and dropped the groundhog, which died a week later. Since then the zoo has not allowed anyone to handle its groundhogs. The current mayor, Eric Adams, refuses to have anything to do with groundhogs. He has enough rodent problems of his own, having appointed a rat czar to control them (where is the Pied Piper of Hamelin when you need him?), but also having himself been cited for rats at a property he owns.

The beef stew would be OK with me. As I said, the drink sounds like old-time cough medicine. For the wine I'll nominate the 2021 Beta Series Sparkling Rosé from Sheldrake Point. I haven't been to Paamiut. 1653 New Amsterdam becomes a city (later renamed New York) And the first Jews in what would become the United States arrived the following year, coming from the former Dutch colony at Recife, Brazil. 1922 James Joyce's "Ulysses" first published by Sylvia Beach in Paris (1,000 copies) British publishers refused it because of, well, prudery; respectable printers in the UK would not typeset some of the language. Sylvia Beach, owner of a bookstore in Paris, had it printed by the firm of Darantière in Dijon. There is a persistent tale that the French typesetters set the entire book without a single error, but Beach wrote in her autobiography that this was not even remotely true. She also wrote about getting traveling friends to smuggle the book, a few copies at a time, into England and the US.

Gold Rush The Gold Rush isn't one of those classic pre-prohibition drinks: it originated at the beginning of this century at Milk & Honey in New York City as a whiskey sour made with honey syrup instead of sugar syrup. (To my ear, that sounds like old-fashioned cough medicine.) It's best made with a bourbon that is neither too old (more oak) nor too raw, say 4 to 8 years of aging. The honey is first made into a syrup of 3 parts honey to 1 part warm water because it resists mixing, even in a shaker. 2 ounces bourbon 3/4 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed 3/4 ounce honey syrup Garnish: lemon twist Add the bourbon, honey syrup, and lemon juice into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled rocks glass over one large ice cube. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Motion-sickness meds apparently work best if you start taking them well in advance of needing them. I have no idea how you would tell when that would be.

In 1980-something my doctor advised me to have a glass of wine every day. I largely did already. Then, ca. 2000, a different doctor prescribed a medication that came with an instruction (from the pharmacist) not to combine it with alcohol. I questioned him about it, because the package insert said that it did not interact with alcohol. He said that it was safe to drink while taking it, but that drinking too much would affect the condition for which it was prescribed, and suggested a glass of wine only every second day. At home I'm more likely to have only two glasses of wine a week. Right now I'm not drinking at all, because the surgeon said not to, but that is only for another week. Not taking ibuprofen is bothering me more. Which means that your doctor probably may believe that you drink three glasses a day. Many doctors assume that every patient lies about alcohol and so triple whatever the patient reports.

<tmi> When I removed the dressing and cleaned off the dried blood there was a little seepage, so now I'm pressing a gauze pad to my nose for 15 minutes and trying to follow the NO PEEKING instruction. This is not fun. </tmi>

Rabbit, rabbit. I'd like the soup but would reduce or omit the red pepper. A mint julep is not in my foreseeable future. No Nebbiolo in the Finger Lakes, so I'll treat this as a wild card and nominate Fulkerson Dornfelder. Gatun Lake is in the itinerary for my PC cruise in December. DaVinci hopped onto my bed last night, after I had gotten into it, I think for the purpose of sniffing my bandage, which seemed very interesting to him. Does that count as a cat scan? He stayed about 15 minutes. This is not a quiet day. I should change my bandage at 1:30, but I have an acupuncture appointment then. I don't think I can leave the house the way the bandage is now: they bandaged it with a small gauze pad and a lot clear, waterproof tape, which blood has seeped under so that it looks like a train wreck. Thus, I'll need to change it at 12:30, a little before the 48-hour mark. I haven't yet gotten any Nexcare bandages, and I don't think that ordinary ones will stick well. Then I have class at 4:00.

Mint Julep The Mint Julep is another storied drink, because of its association with the Kentucky Derby in particular, and more broadly with Southern gentry. It was being drunk before 1800 and is mentioned in print as early as 1803, as being consumed in the morning in Virginia. The general class of julep is a drink with a spirit served over crushed ice, so one could be made with a spirit other than bourbon and a flavoring other than mint. It’s possible that the original juleps were made with cognac until that became scarce during the phylloxera epidemic in France in the 19th century. A mint julep would ideally be served in a silver julep cup, but a glass will work. Bourbon is the only liquid, so it should be a high-quality one, and preferably one around 100 proof, because of the rapid melting of the crushed ice. 8 mint leaves 1/4 ounce simple syrup 2 ounces bourbon Garnish: mint sprig In a Julep cup or rocks glass, lightly muddle the mint leaves in the simple syrup. Add the bourbon then pack the glass tightly with crushed ice. Stir until the cup is frosted on the outside. Top with more crushed ice, and garnish with a mint sprig.

I receive Social Security benefits but I have never received a Social Security check--it has been all direct deposit for quite a while now. No Brandy Alexander for the lactose-intolerant. No gorilla suits for anyone, imo. I would probably like the stew. I think it would be a challenge to make from scratch since red lentils cook in less than 20 minutes but chickpeas need five hours. I'll think about the cocktail come summer. For a Finger Lakes chardonnay, Dr. Frank's just-released 2022. I haven't been to Belfast, but one branch of my family is from a rural village in County Armagh. I was feeling quite a lot of pain last night, and took diphenhydramine (Benadryl) for sleep. It worked, but I was wide awake by 5:00 a.m. Less pain today. I'll need to buy some Nexcare bandages but the bandage on my nose now, which stays on until lunchtime tomorrow, is a bloody (lit.) mess.

Dickelade The Dickelade is a drink made with George Dickel No. 12, a Tennessee sour mash whiskey. Dickel No. 12 is described as fruitier than most sour mash or Bourbon and with less charcoal character. There are two different formulations in circulation: one made with lemon juice and sugar syrup, which is just a whiskey sour, and one with lemonade. Based on the name of the drink, I believe that the lemonade formulation is the correct one. 1 1/2 ounce George Dickel No. 12 4 ounces lemonade Fill a rocks glass with ice. Pour in the George Dickel No. 12, followed by the lemonade, and stir until the glass starts to chill. Garnish with a lemon slice.

Breakthrough, after seven months: DaVinci let me pet him.

Not so far, and it's closer to the tip of the nose than to the eyes. The local office is where I had the biopsy last month, but it's not equipped for Mohs procedures and probably wouldn't have the volume.

I'll be able to have the sutures removed a week from Friday, at the office nearest me--the surgery was 55 miles away. The doctor mentioned that my nose may be very swollen for a couple of days, not from the surgery itself, but from the lidocaine.

Only needed one pass. Just waiting for doc to close it up.

Only for international flights.

I won't be celebrating any of the special days, not that I wouldn't like a croissant. The chuck roast would be OK with me. I've had the cocktail and like it but it will be a while before I can have another. Finger Lakes wineries excel in Riesling, and I'll nominate the just-released HJW Vineyard 2021. I haven't been to Airlie Beach. As noted by Vanessa, Mohs surgery today, potentially taking all day. I've just had the pre-surgical antibiotic. I finished the course assignment for this week yesterday so that I won't have to do anything tomorrow.

Dark 'n Stormy “Dark ‘n Stormy” is a trademark of Goslings Rum in Bermuda, and they have been known to file or threaten lawsuits over recipes for this cocktail that did not specify Goslings Black Seal Rum. The drink became popular among the sailing crowd and spread through it along the East Coast. It’s in the general category of a “buck,” which is a drink containing ginger beer, spirits, and lime. For example, a Moscow Mule is a vodka buck. The official Goslings recipe today calls for only a lime garnish, but earlier recipes specified adding some amount of lime juice to the ginger beer. At that time Goslings did not offer a proprietary brand of ginger beer and it’s possible that Goslings ginger beer isn’t very sweet. I have made this drink with Ithaca ginger beer and I included lime juice. It’s important not to stir this drink too much before serving, because the rum should float at the top, resembling a storm cloud, but enough that the first taste isn’t pure rum. 6 oz. Goslings Stormy Ginger Beer 2 oz. Goslings Black Seal Rum Lime wedge Into a tall glass filled with ice, pour the ginger beer and float the rum on top. Stir (until it looks like a storm cloud). Optional garnish: Lime wedge.

My college roommate was a curmudgeon even then, so you can imagine what he's like now. I could envision making the honey-orange chicken if I had any chicken. No on the pseudotini. Cabernet Franc would be the signature red of the Finger Lakes, if the world weren't always chasing after Cabernet Sauvignon. I'll suggest Ravines Wine Cellars 2021. I haven't been to Buenos Aires.

Elderberry Martini Today's pseudotini is a formulation of relatively recent origin, as purveyors looked for ever more concoctions that they could call martinis even though these contained neither gin nor vermouth. Variations such as blackcurrant or pomegranate would also be possible. Vodka: 2 oz (60ml) Elderberry syrup: 1 oz (30ml) Lemon juice: 1 oz (30ml) Ice: As needed Lemon twist: For garnish Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the vodka, elderberry syrup, and lemon juice. Shake well until the outside of the shaker becomes frosty. Strain the cocktail into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

It's time for me to renew Nexus. Last time I didn't have to have an interview; my original interview was at Fort Erie/Buffalo.

I would like the stew better without kale. Please substitute Swiss chard. It's just as well that I have no great desire to try the drink of the day, because today is the beginning of a period of two weeks or so during which I can't drink at all. For the wine, Thirsty Owl 2021 Meritage. I haven't been to Puntarenas.

Absinthe No other drink is as storied, or has such a reputation for degeneracy and wickedness, as absinthe. It's an anise-flavored spirit derived from several plants, including the flowers and leaves of Artemisia absinthium ("grand wormwood"), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. It is classed as a spirit, not a liqueur, because it doesn't contain sugar; conventionally the drinker adds sugar and water. It was invented in Switzerland in the 18th century by a physician who intended it to be a patent medicine. It became popular in France around the turn of the 20th century, especially among artists and writers, among them Hemingway, Joyce, Lewis Carroll, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud, and Toulouse-Lautrec. The association with bohemianism was one source of opposition to it from social conservatives, but there were also concerns about the wormwood content, on the grounds that it was a psychoactive or hallucinogenic drug. One opponent wrote: Absinthe makes you crazy and criminal, provokes epilepsy and tuberculosis, and has killed thousands of French people. It makes a ferocious beast of man, a martyr of woman, and a degenerate of the infant, it disorganizes and ruins the family and menaces the future of the country. Here is a painting by Degas that depicts absinthe drinkers as "sodden and benumbed." It was banned in most countries of Europe and in the U.S. by 1915, although never in the UK (where it just wasn't available) or in Spain (where people lost interest in it). The standard way to drink it entailed pouring a serving, often into a special glass with a demarcation for the absinthe, placing a sugar cube in a slotted absinthe spoon on the rim of the glass, and pouring water over the sugar cube. There was a lot of interest in it among my college friends, mostly because of the reputation for wickedness, but also because our college museum had a painting by Picasso depicting a glass of absinthe. It's from his fully developed cubist period and so it's nearly impossible to recognize anything, but an explanation of it is at https://allenartcollection.oberlin.edu/objects/12237/glass-of-absinthe?ctx=8a599fdef0d42f78b3f7ff6ae3310d3c7d5c043f&idx=0. Late in the 20th century it came to be recognized that the wormwood content in properly made absinthe is so low that a person would die of alcohol poisoning before taking in the amount that might have any psychoactive effect. Alcohol poisoning, however, was a real risk, and probably the reason for the problems associated with it a century before: it's typically bottled at 75% to 90% ABV. Thus, some brands have a higher alcohol content than 151-proof rum. Absinthe has been legal in the U.S. since 2007. Federal regulations require that absinthe alone not be used as a brand name and not stand alone on the label, that the thujone content be minimal, and that the label not use images that suggest mind-altering effects. St. George Absinthe Verte, the first brand produced in the United States, is fairly readily available. It's lower in alcohol than many brands at 60% alcohol by volume. It's $60.99 at Total Wine in New Jersey.

From SpaceHook (translation should say "remember," not "remind"):