Get your snowsuits ready!
Here's your dispatch from the winter wonderland of Southeastern Wisconsin in December...
We are here in Milwaukee and enjoying all the fun of the holidays. It is quite a different scene than the Mojave Desert, with 3-5 inches of snow expected today and more to follow. There is nothing but fluffy whiteness covering everything in sight. It's a good day for me to finish reading, The Kite Runner or for a day-long marathon catching up on last season's Lost episodes. You don't feel guilty lighting the fire and sitting back with a blanket and a cup of tea when it is snowy and blowy outside. I am going to soak it all in before we have to hit to road back to Vegas. 2 days of driving through Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and then Nevada lies ahead for us and I can only hope we find a clear window to make some miles westward. Before we go we will have burgers and custard, hit a local fish fry, and visit lots of local taverns. But, most of all it has been fun to catch up with family, relax and kick back with some board games (or poker?) and re-aquaint ourselves with the joys of the frozen tundra!
Friday, December 28, 2007
The Frozen Tundra
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Happy Holidays from Vegas!
It's that time of year again and we are sending out a greeting from the desert! This picture isn't of our tree, we aren't even getting one this year, but it kind of sums up what it is like to have Christmas in the desert! Hope you are all well and we will keep you posted on our long journey to the frozen tundra!
We have posted our annual holiday letter so if you want to know what the highlights of the year were you can check it out. Happy Holidays to our friends and family!
We have posted our annual holiday letter so if you want to know what the highlights of the year were you can check it out. Happy Holidays to our friends and family!
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Tis the Season
Maybe, the final straw was at Best Buy when they sold out of my carefully chosen, methodically compared, and finally decided-upon holiday gift. Or maybe it was the six hours spent shopping online to purchase a unique special gift, and then finding out that the very same item was available two blocks away. Anyway...I think it's time to consider another holiday tradition- drinking. I have been half-heartedly following the trendy cocktail culture resurgence (Trader Tiki's Booze Blog, Explore the Pour, and Rejiggered are some examples) because I like the aesthetic, I enjoy mixing it up from the usual beer or glass of wine, and I think its kind of fun to concoct things.
A while back I started reading the magazine, Imbibe: The Ultimate Drinks Magazine. This is a great place to start if you plan on doing any holiday entertaining because there are amazing recipes and lots of cool ideas for all manner of beverages; including coffee, tea, beer, wine, spirits, and more. There are often regional articles on coffee shops and bars and there are always very complicated, but delicious-sounding cocktail recipes from leading mixologists. While not everyone really sees the necessity of a driinks magazine, I think it is fabulous and would make a great gift for that special someone who likes to throw a few back.
Last week, I re-vamped my Yahoo page and added a bunch of new content, including the New York Time magazine and the NYT Dining and Wine section. Recently there have been two really cool articles, one focusing on bourbon and the other on the detective work one tiki bar fan went through to discover the original recipe for the Zombie cocktail. Once again, maybe it is the stress of the season, but I seem to really be able to relate to these lighthearted stories that also come with encouragement to try a frosty beverage.
Interestingly, as I sat down to write this blog entry my husband asked me why the heck I was writing about cocktails in my blog. I mean what do I actually know about cocktails? Well not much, but after hearing my better half talk about the origins of the cocktail during Prohibition (and after verifying it in Wikipedia), I got intrigued. You may be wondering where the word "cocktail" comes from, as I was. It may have come from the tailings from the stop cock of the cask in Colonial taverns, or from the fact that cocktails were traditionally drunk in the morning (when the cock crows)! Apparently, one of the earliest cocktails is the Sazerac, consisting of Cognac and bitters and coming from New Orleans.
Which leads to a side mention of absinthe...yes, you have probably heard all about the romantic notion of artists and writers drinking the greenish anise-flavored concoction, "The Green Fairy". Because of the hallucinogenic properties of wormwood (another ingredient), it is banned for import into the U.S., but it's often sought out in Europe and overseas as a popular gift to bring home. But, I have heard the stories and I'd be careful when experimenting.
There are tons of really cool retro cocktail books out there, check your local rummage sales and thrift stores for some cool graphic design and tons of recipes to experiment with. There are also lots of resources online. If you are more into the history of the cocktail there are a couple good books I have seen: And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails and Imbibe: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash.
Well, before I head out the door to do some more shopping, I did attempt to look up a little bit of info on the soon to open (or is it already there?) Trader Vics at Planet Hollywood on the Strip. Unfortunately, real estate is so chaotic and establishments change names and locations so fast in Las Vegas that I can't actually determine if Trader Vics exists. Is it not yet open? Open and just not mentioned on the Planet Hollywood web site? Or opened and closed already?
Well, if nothing else, I can hit one of the world's best places to sink into a booth for a long night of drinking, making goo-goo eyes at a crush, or reminiscing about 50's lamps. Located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the south side in Bay View is the wonderful, amazing, impossible to describe... At Random. It's the kind of place guys used to go to cheat on their wives in big dark booths, and where a ancient, white-haired cocktail waitress finishes off your Irish Coffee with a flourish of whipped cream and a cigarette hanging out the side of her mouth. Truly open at random, they serve every kind of cocktail found in their encyclopedic menu. You can have a flaming tiki love bowl, a dry martini, or a yummy Peanut Butter Cup (what could be better than ice cream, chocolate syrup, and vodka?).
In a time of constant flux, there is something very comforting to me about the long history of drinks as a social phenomenon and minor culinary art. Even if some of those traditions have funny names, involve three kinds or rum, six kinds of fruit, and arrive in wooden hula girl glasses with a paper umbrella.
If Christmas isn't your thing, and (hey, I don't blame you if it's not) you could consider adopting a new drinking holiday and nostalgically express your Constitutional right to tip a few back. Celebrate Repeal Day on December 5th (the anniversary of repealing the Eighteenth Amendment)! This monumental day ensures that we all have legal permission to seek out new cocktails, self-medicate after trips to the mall and generally drink ourselves silly if the occasion dictates! Cheers!
A while back I started reading the magazine, Imbibe: The Ultimate Drinks Magazine. This is a great place to start if you plan on doing any holiday entertaining because there are amazing recipes and lots of cool ideas for all manner of beverages; including coffee, tea, beer, wine, spirits, and more. There are often regional articles on coffee shops and bars and there are always very complicated, but delicious-sounding cocktail recipes from leading mixologists. While not everyone really sees the necessity of a driinks magazine, I think it is fabulous and would make a great gift for that special someone who likes to throw a few back.
Last week, I re-vamped my Yahoo page and added a bunch of new content, including the New York Time magazine and the NYT Dining and Wine section. Recently there have been two really cool articles, one focusing on bourbon and the other on the detective work one tiki bar fan went through to discover the original recipe for the Zombie cocktail. Once again, maybe it is the stress of the season, but I seem to really be able to relate to these lighthearted stories that also come with encouragement to try a frosty beverage.
Interestingly, as I sat down to write this blog entry my husband asked me why the heck I was writing about cocktails in my blog. I mean what do I actually know about cocktails? Well not much, but after hearing my better half talk about the origins of the cocktail during Prohibition (and after verifying it in Wikipedia), I got intrigued. You may be wondering where the word "cocktail" comes from, as I was. It may have come from the tailings from the stop cock of the cask in Colonial taverns, or from the fact that cocktails were traditionally drunk in the morning (when the cock crows)! Apparently, one of the earliest cocktails is the Sazerac, consisting of Cognac and bitters and coming from New Orleans.
Which leads to a side mention of absinthe...yes, you have probably heard all about the romantic notion of artists and writers drinking the greenish anise-flavored concoction, "The Green Fairy". Because of the hallucinogenic properties of wormwood (another ingredient), it is banned for import into the U.S., but it's often sought out in Europe and overseas as a popular gift to bring home. But, I have heard the stories and I'd be careful when experimenting.
There are tons of really cool retro cocktail books out there, check your local rummage sales and thrift stores for some cool graphic design and tons of recipes to experiment with. There are also lots of resources online. If you are more into the history of the cocktail there are a couple good books I have seen: And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails and Imbibe: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash.
Well, before I head out the door to do some more shopping, I did attempt to look up a little bit of info on the soon to open (or is it already there?) Trader Vics at Planet Hollywood on the Strip. Unfortunately, real estate is so chaotic and establishments change names and locations so fast in Las Vegas that I can't actually determine if Trader Vics exists. Is it not yet open? Open and just not mentioned on the Planet Hollywood web site? Or opened and closed already?
Well, if nothing else, I can hit one of the world's best places to sink into a booth for a long night of drinking, making goo-goo eyes at a crush, or reminiscing about 50's lamps. Located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the south side in Bay View is the wonderful, amazing, impossible to describe... At Random. It's the kind of place guys used to go to cheat on their wives in big dark booths, and where a ancient, white-haired cocktail waitress finishes off your Irish Coffee with a flourish of whipped cream and a cigarette hanging out the side of her mouth. Truly open at random, they serve every kind of cocktail found in their encyclopedic menu. You can have a flaming tiki love bowl, a dry martini, or a yummy Peanut Butter Cup (what could be better than ice cream, chocolate syrup, and vodka?).
In a time of constant flux, there is something very comforting to me about the long history of drinks as a social phenomenon and minor culinary art. Even if some of those traditions have funny names, involve three kinds or rum, six kinds of fruit, and arrive in wooden hula girl glasses with a paper umbrella.
If Christmas isn't your thing, and (hey, I don't blame you if it's not) you could consider adopting a new drinking holiday and nostalgically express your Constitutional right to tip a few back. Celebrate Repeal Day on December 5th (the anniversary of repealing the Eighteenth Amendment)! This monumental day ensures that we all have legal permission to seek out new cocktails, self-medicate after trips to the mall and generally drink ourselves silly if the occasion dictates! Cheers!
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