A summer cocktail with the subtle, yet distinctive, flavors of cucumber and rosewater requires a special spirit. Sugarcane-based rum is too sweet and tequila from the agave plant is too strong. Continue reading
Strawberries are in season. It’s time to add them to salads, desserts, breads and beverages. This Strawberry Shrub Gin Cocktail has the makings of a tasty mocktail with just the shrub base. Add to gin or a favorite spirit for a delightful seasonal cocktail to start your outdoor entertaining. Continue reading
Homemade cocktail mixers are the most handy items taking up valued space in your fridge, ever chilled and at the ready for adding to spirits, fizzy beverages or enjoyed over ice as a solo drink. Continue reading
Some years back, a client gave me some pamphlets touting the benefits of pure apple cider vinegar. There were hundreds of uses listed and one could never remember them all; it was overwhelming . Household uses were listed with abandon. Although it seems a waste to use pure organic apple cider for cleaning (that’s what white vinegar is ideally suited to accomplish), I do use it for cooking and livening up both sweet and savory dishes. And I drink just a little bit each and every day.
And just like that, it’s summer. We may have a month to go by the calendar, but when the temperature climbs and air conditioners kick on ( with more than a little grumbling that it’s May, dangit, and why can’t we wait until June?), we long for great outdoor dining adventures. Pretty lights strung up between trees, the first fireflies of the season and a light breeze rustling the leafy trees. Yep, it’s time to dine and entertain on the deck, in the yard and on the screen porch.
Is it summer yet? The calendar may not agree with my assessment, but in Richmond summer appeared sometime in February, when we passed the 80 degree mark, and in April when we soared into the nineties. A stout refusal to turn on the air conditioning (in April!) got me thinking about ways to cool off in front of a fan on the back deck as I fired up the grill.
When you cook, you sometimes make mistakes. I cook a lot, and I make a lot of mistakes. It’s how I learn. Those cute little refrigerator magnets say it succinctly : Always Make New Mistakes.