Lucky Star: One of the few songs not to make it into Stranger Things, I think you could call a Star the pop version of a Sazerac, which I did not expect when I made it.
Much of the taste derives from the bitters, while the kick comes from the apple brandy: pretty good stuff for a chilly winter night, with a slight aftertaste of anise.
Star
1.5 ounces Apple Brandy (I used Laird’s)
2 dashes simple syrup
3 dashes Peychaud bitters
1.5 Sweet Vermouth (I used Tribuno)
Garnish with a twist of lemon peel
Combine brandy, simple syrup, bitters, and vermouth in a cocktail shaker. Add ice, and shake until chilled. Pour into coupes or cocktail glasses; squeeze a lemon peel over the surface, and rub the glass rim with the peel.
I spent an informative but deeply uncomfortable day at the Smithsonian, attending their 2017 Digitization Fair, open to the general public for the first time. Among the things I learned? Everyone struggles with evaluating the impact of digitization, digital programs/products and tools (and every other humanities endeavor), but there is an interesting tool part out by the Europeana Foundation: The Impact Assessment Playbook. (The digital collections are here; Europeana is behind the Art Up Your Tab plugin that I really enjoy.)
It’s also really clear that even within the museum field, the words “curate” and “curator” (verb and noun) now seem to mean whatever they like to whomever is using them. It’s hard to get used to hearing “curate” used when “aggregate” or “interpret” seem more appropriate, but once a word goes rogue in language, you never get it back.
To salve my sore backside and wounded pride, I made a variation on a sherry cobbler, presented here:
Curate What Ails You
1 Tablespoon honey syrup*
2 Tablespoons amontillado sherry
2-3 dashes Hella Bitters Aromatic bitters (or Angostura bitters)
2-4 ounces hard cider, chilled (I used Jack’s Hard Cider Helen’s Blend)
Lime wedge
Combine all ingredients except the lime in a tall glass.
Add ice; stir until chilled.
Top with hard cider to taste – or – pour into an old fashioned glass and top with 2 ounces of hard cider.
Garnish with a lime wedge.
* Add equal parts honey and water to a small saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, stir until honey is completely dissolved. Let cool, store in a covered container in the refrigerator.
Always ready to assist with shift mending or other tasks involving sharp, pointy things.
This past weekend, we went up to Trappe with the 17th Reg’t of Foot, though they were portraying Col. James Dunlap’s Partisan Regiment, and Drunk Tailor and I were portraying refugees trying to find a safe place somewhere between the British and the Whigs– not an easy task 240 years ago. How did we celebrate? By taking Route 1 part of the way back home, and stopping at Wolff’s Apple House in Media, PA for apples, strawberries, and, of course, cider. The reward for actually unpacking like sane humans and washing body linen was a cider-based concoction I’ll call Thirsty Like a Wolff.
1 ounce Jamaican/Plantation Rum (lighter is better)
1/2 ounce orgeat syrup (mine is homemade, recipe here)
3 ounces fresh, unpasteurized cider
2-3 dashes Hella Bitters Aromatic bitters
lime wedge
Combine all ingredients in shaker.
Add ice.
Shake until chilled; strain into an old fashioned glass.
Garnish with a lime wedge.
tipsymilliner 