Bright Season Bright Drinks

 Spring is the season for gatherings and parties. The food is bright and festive. The drinks should be too. Spring cocktails have the flavors of the season in them, including floral notes. For non drinkers = not to worry there are sunny mocktails t have with quiche slices and finger sandwiches.

The most famous Spring cocktail is the mint julep. This will in full swing next month for the Kentucky Derby.Yes it's the most popular sip at any party in and out of Louisville. Yet it;s the perfect drink at engagement  parties and bridal showers.What makes a tasty and memorable julep? It starts with  a simple syrup which you should make ahead of time for other cocktails. This is cooking one cup granulated sugar and one cup cup water to form a clear syrup. (It can also be used as a glaze for pound and Bundt cakes.) Use a good Kentucky bourbon such as Old Masters. Muddle the mint leaves (about a handful ) with the simple syrup using a wooden muddle spoon. Add crushed ice to the glass and then put in the bourbon. THis should cover all the crush ice. You can add more mint for a really refreshing tastes. Another classic is a gin Rickey freshened up with lemon and lavender. This is a zesty mix of gin,. lemon juice honey an seltzer. Sprigs of lavender not only give the glass color but also a floral flavor.

Two drinks that are always at Spring brunches are mimosas and Bellinis. The first is a delightful mix of a good champagne and orange juice. You can use a dry sparkling wine too. The ratio is be half orange juice and the either half a good Prosecco. A Bellini is a cousin of the mimosa except it's peach nectar mixed with a dry sparkling wine.For the more ambitious home mixologist you can make peach nectar. This is cooked peaches, skinned and then pureed. Sugar is added for taste while a drop of lemon juice is added to preserve them.Keep in mind that mimosas and Bellinis can also be turned into mocktails but subbing in the champagne or sparkling dry wine with seltzer. It still has the sweet dizziness but without the kick.lemonade is big in the warmer weather, Think of mixing lemonade with bourbon and cherries for a naughty but fun adult drink.It's a mix of the classic summertime drink with a headier one. Maraschino cherries are added for color and more flavor. Keep in mind that the bourbon can be omitted and a splash of cherry flavored seltzer can be added for a refreshing non alcoholic sip.

Spring is here and with a delightful array of drinks. They can be cocktails or mocktails. either will make a delicious companion to a fun Springtime brunch or party.

Tea And Everything

 It's still steamy, hot weather.There's nothing like a tall glass of iced tea.It's great on it's own but it can be amped up with extras, from other cooling drinks to fruit. 

How to make a perfect pitcher of iced tea.it tarts with your favorite black tea.YOu can use herbal or green if you prefer but the best tasting really is black tea.Your best they is Earl Grey because the flavor has fruity under tones that work well chilled. Brew about five to six bags for a really strong drink. You can then let it cool add the tea and cold water. After that just add ice if you want an unsweetened kind.As for the sweetened variety , use simple syrup as opposed to just dumping sugar in .Simple syrup is easy.It's just cooking one cup of granulated sugar with one cup water. Bring to a boil and constantly stir until the sugar is dissolved. It keeps for one to two months and can be used for sweetening lemonade, cocktails and mocktails. What about stevia? You can use it if you are diabetic or want to lose weight. People in South Asia grown the plant in their yards and use the fresh leaves to sweeten tea.

A refreshing drink for any hot day is an Arnold Palmer, named for the famed golfer.It's three parts ,lemonade to one part iced tea but a tastier  version is half tea with half lemonade along with a glass filled with ice cubes. It started in a country club in Southern California when a lady saw Palmer sipping the drink at a country club restaurant. She wanted "that Arnold Palmer drink".It 's also called a Half and Half too. Another delicious ice tea variation is strawberry iced tea.This has either strawberry syrup or pureed berries in it. The recipe is similar to simple syrup but add two cups of pureed strawberries to it. Blueberry tea is another tasty drink. Just add bought blueberry syrup and add to taste. You could also float pineapple chunks in the iced tea too if you so desire.Pear and apple slices can be added to a pitcher for a different , fruitier take.If you want a different , kickier iced tea. splash in some rum. This is a fun cocktails for those warm summer night parties.

Nothing beats a glass of iced tea. Try it just plain or with add ins.It a refreshing sip on these still hot days,.

Classic Summer Recipes

This is the time of year when classic summer recipes come in handy. They make good use of the produce of the season, from zucchini to corn, from fresh fruit to fresh herbs. These are what make summer eating memorable.

Farms and farmer's markets are selling corn right now. Og course there is classic corn on the cob (made easier with an air fryer) but there's also the deliciou corn chowder which can be made now and then frozen for the colder weather. This is a creamy soup made with crispy bacon  which gives the fat to saute the onion. Potatoes and chicken broth are added to this along with flour mixed with milk and heavy cream. Three cups  of fresh corn along with a pound of Russet potatoes are added. A cup of white Cheddar cheese is added for more richness along with salt and pepper. It's a perfect soup to make on one of those rare cool summer days. Another classic using the ears is corn salad. This is made with fresh tomatoes from the garden, sliced cucumber and chopped red onion. Dress with a simple oil and red wine vinaigrette. Another summer staple is zucchini. Sliced zuccnini coils sauteed in a mix of butter and oil  infused with chopped garlic. This is a perfect side for any grilled meat. Also consider subbing in the squash for eggplant when you make ratatouille too.

Fresh herbs are in bloom right now. It's definitely time to create pesto, the basil sauce from Genoa. This is taking two cups of fresh basil and blending them with half a cup of  olive oil. You could add pine nuts or walnuts if you want but this may cause the sauce to become rancid quickly. Add some Parmesan before you serve it. What's pesto good on? Try it on any kind of pasta from spaghetti to ravioli.It's also good on gnocchi too but even better on grilled chicken and pork chops. MInt is in abundance right now. It can be used in everything from salads to cocktails and mocktails. A refreshing picnic side dish are peas with mint. You could also add a sqwueeze of lemon to this. Try a simple syrup infused with mint. THis is just cooking water and granulated sugar together. A cup of freshly picked leaves is added to this and then strained out. Of course fruit is being harvested right now. It's the time for crisps and crumbles with all sorts of buttery , sweet toppings over cooked blueberries and blackberries,. However  bake classic fruit  muffins chock full of these gems that also include peaches. These are a great breakfast treat, especially slathered with butter.

This is the season that begs for classic recipes from summers past. Use the bounty of the season to create memorable dishes. It's time to make culinary memories.

Just Add Water

 Everyone is sweltering under these hot temps. The one thing to keep cool is drinking water and lots of it. Always keep a bottle or container of aqua.

What's the best water to drink?Some swear by their tap which is fine. You can r constantly refill an empty water bottle with it to save money Another idea is filling a metal container with tap water and ice cubes. This is perfect for long car trips and days at the beach when being hydrated isimportant. You can easily get an all purpose theemos at either Targer or Walmart. Some even have neat and pretty patterns on them. If you want , an add in think Splenda. It is always a tasty alternative. Try their iced tea, mandarin orange or strawberry watermelon for a different twist. Splenda also has a zero calorie water additive in such flavors as sweet tea,fruit punch, pink  lemonade and peach mango. A more natural flavoring is lime or lemon juice with a tiny bit of simple syrup drizzled in  Simple syrup is just cooking white sugar and water together to form a slightly viscous syrup. You could add rosemary or even lavender  for extra flavor. You could even put sprigs of herbs in your ice cube tray for flavored cubes. This gives water a nice dash of flavor.

What about the boittled kind? What brands are the best? Some say that Mountain Valley is one of the  top ones in the country.Theirs comes from springs located in the Ouachita Mountains between Arkansas and Oklahoma. It's one of the oldest being first bottled in 1871 ans it's still being sold in glass bottles. Another of the best tasting water is Smart Water sold in every convenience store. It comes from springs in Britain It also contains those needed electrolytes  for muscle contractions and movement. Bottled water afecionados will tell you that Fiji water , coming from artesian wells is th e most tastiest. The only problem is that its' bottle o alsmost half the size of the other water bottles. Still its worth it , with the liquid coming all the way from Fiji. There;s also the Hawaiian based Waiakea.It;s a natural alkaline water from the island of Hilo.It  is amix of rain water and snow melt  and is filtered  through thousands of feet of prourous rock. The flavor is crisp however it is hard to find in the NY Metro area. Purists will stick with Evian and Poland Spring which are fine .

Everyone needs a  good bottle of water right now. It can be a fine one from voclanic rock and artesian wells or it could come from your tap. The main purpose is to be hydrated.

Cool Ades

 Nothing beats a cool glass of some kind of ade.These are refreshing on a hot day and perfect for any barbecue or lazy day at the beach. You can easily buy these but they're more fun to make at home.

One of the easiest is lemonade. This anceint drink  ist still popular as it was in ancient India, China and Myanmar.The best homemade one requires  simple syrup which can be used in other drinks and even cocktails and mocktails.It's boiling one cup of sugar in one cup of water. Combine this with one cup of  fresh or concentrated lemon juice. Two to three cups of warer along with ice cubes are added. A popular variation is adding mango to it. Use two large mango chop into big chunks and add with water to a blender. This will make a kind fo mango puree that will be diluted when it's added to the lemonade. Others go wild for  large frosty glass of raspberry lemonade. It'st the same basic recipe but with the addition of a strained raspberry puree added. One of my favorites and I've been drinking this a lot is an Arnold Palmer. This is a hybrid half and half of lemonade and iced tea. I usually make it  on a tall glass with any fruit tea and a splash of lemon juice. I add a small packet of Stevia In The Raw to sweeten it,  and a  good splash (about half a cup) of cold water to dilute it's strength. The last step is  adding four or five ice cubes for a cold sip.

Another ade you can easily make is limeade. This can be made with granulated sugar as well as a simple syrup.It's using the juice of two or three limes along with the zest for more flavor. Some home chefs will recommend using simple syrup which gives the entire drink a lovely sweet flavor. Add the juice and two to three cups of water along with ice. You could add a sprig of mint to it to make it a mocktail mojito. Watermelon is  popular right now but instead of cubing or slcing it , turn it into a refreshing ade. This is taking four cups of cubed watermelon  and pureeing it.I;'s then strained and blended with simple syrup, three cups of cold water and a half cup of lemon juice (this can be freshly squeezed or bottled) Mix well and then add ice. You could add the raspeberry puree to it and copy Dunkin Donuts new drink it's raspberry watermelon cooler. Raspberry juice and orage juice also makes a yummy blended ade.

A cooling ade is what you need during this hot weather. Create a homemade one , sit back and enjoy.It's refreshing and soothing

Kentucky Derby Spins

 Today is the famed and much beloved Kentucky Derby. The event is known for racing but also for the classic foods from the Bluegrass State. As with all traditional recipes they just need some updating. They' still will be tasty but with a modern spin.

Mint julips have always been a must at the Derby and also got many through the humid Kentucky summers. Update them by turning them into slushies.It's a refreshing cocktail on a hot Spring or summer night.It's also an easy mix too. First freeze glasses for only fifteen minutes. It;s then blending ice, bourbon, mint leaves and simple syrup in a blender for about thirty seconds or until it resembles a Slurpee or Icee.  Gently slap a mint leave against your wrist to release the mint oils and place on top of the slush. You can serve with  spoons or straws. Simple syrup is an easy cook and it's great for also sweetening iced teas and lemonades too.It's just cooking up one cup of white granulated sugar with one cup of water. You don't have to wait to the water to boil. Just heat it up enough so that the sugar completely. You can add mint oil to intensify the flavor of the julip if you want. A few drops will do it.  another way to make your mint julip a cool sip is serving it in  home made ice cups. This is just filling up a regular size glass or cup with water and then placing another cup inside it . Freeze and then pour the mint julip slushie into it.

Hot brown sandwiches are a Louisville tradition having originated at the city's famed Brown Hotel. It's basically a turkey sandwich with a Mornay sauce made from eggs and  Parmesan cheese. Tomatoes are added and the whole thing is placed in the broiler.  The sandwiches are sometimes topped with bacon. It's a big sandwich, perfect for a hearty dinner or lunch. It can be streamlined by turning them into manageable sliders. Use King's Hawaiian rolls for a neat sweet taste to counteract the savory. Layer all the ingredients, turkey, tomato and bacon on the rolls. Put them in a buttered baking dish or pan and then pour the sauce over the rolls.Let stand for ten minutes covered with aluminum foil. It's then baking them for twenty minutes in a 350 degree oven for twenty minutes. Burgoo is another Kentucky classic that can have a different spin on it.  This classic stew that the settlers first ate is a mix of chicken , pork shoulder and ground beef. There's a variety of different veggies too like carrots and peas. You can easily make it and then top with a mashed potato crust. It's also a different spin on the British classic and could have been made by the English who settled Kentucky in the 1700's.

The Kentucky Derby is one one the most traditional events the US has. Yet it's time to update the foods associated with it.  There's still the classic taste but new spins for a new generation

Refreshing Ades

The temps are up. The humidity is crushing. It's time to make refreshing thirst quenching ades that cool you down. They're easy to recreate and wonderful to sip, especially on a hot night.

One of the most refreshing and popular is agua fresca. This can be made with any fresh fruit and even veggies such as cucumber. It goes back to Aztec times when it was made to appease the gods' thirst. Now it can satisfy ours.It's simply fresh chopped fruit, water, and sugar. They can be made in a blender or using an immersion blender. A fun one is the watermelon  flavored, made with about four cups of watermelon chunks  , muddled with three cups of water, two tablespoons of sugar and the juice of one lime. It's a quick blitz and then serve over ice. Another fun and tropical twist is using pineapple. You may not need as much sugar for this one. For a truly refreshing agua fresca, think cucumbers.  You will need more sugar - about half a cup for two cucumbers and one half cup of lime juice.Mint leaves can be added for more refreshment.Another great cooler from Mexico is horchata. Again, this is another easy mix. It's taking long grained white rice that's been cooked, along with almonds and cinnamon sticks and blitzing them in a blender or with an immersion blender.It;'s then adding water and vanilla. Milk is added when it's ready to be chilled for a few hours.

Ades are an old fashioned way to quench your thirst when the temps go high. One of the most popular is lemonade. Keep in mind that the recipe starts with simple syrup and not sugar tossed in. Sugar will sink to the pitcher's bottom and you'll be left with a sour drink. Simple syrup is just that, a cooked syrup made with only a cup of sugar and  a cup of water boiled together. It;s then stirring them together over a low flame until a syrup is created.  You can add fresh lemon juice if you want a more lemony flavor. It's then adding one cup of fresh or bottled lemon juice and two to three cups of ice cold water. Mix and chill. You can add a few to a 1/3 cup crushed fresh mint leaves if you want.Limeade is another refreshing summer cooler. It takes seven large limes and five cups of water. Add simple syrup to sweeten it and served, iced with sliced limes. You can also do the same with oranges for a refreshing hot afternoon treat.  You'll need seven to eight medium sized oranges along with  a third of a cup of lemon juice to balance the flavor. Again use about a  half cup of the simple syrup to sweeten the drink.

This is the time of year for thirst quenching drinks. Make up an icy pitcher of any of them to cool off.They're the perfect sip for a hot , steamy day.

A Beautifully Curated Cookbook

Once in a great while a beautifully crafted cookbook gets published.Rustic ,Joyful Food: My Heart's Table (Sourcebooks Publishing 2019) is one of those books. It is chock full of good recipes and stunning photographs of the various dishes. It may have humble and homey recipes but it is really a shining gem every home chef should have in their library.

The chef behind the book is Danielle Kartes,a food stylist and  former restaurant owner created this beautifully written and photographed book. It would make a lovely hostess gift, especially for home chefs who enjoy cooking and collecting cookbook. The photographs are stylish and are true pieces of art, bringing to mind the works of Rembrandt and Monet. Of course there are the usual introductory chapter on pantry staples which is a great boon for new home chefs, starting out on their own. Chef Kartes calls them building block and they are the basics that should be in every kitchen. Another plus is at the end of the book where there is a section for simple basic like simple syrup and fresh whipped cream. I like this chapter because the recipes can be used in other recipes in the books or my own. She has a sun dried tomato pesto one, perfect on slices of toasted Italian bread. There are several easy vinaigrette recipes such as the refreshing strawberry basil one and the sweetly zesty signature citrus dressing. Her from scratch salted toffee sauce would be great layer in  homemade ice cream cake or poured over a slice of homemade butter pound cake. The other chapters are divided in appetizers, main courses, soups and sides and ends with sweets.

The recipes are down to earth , with no fancy ingredients that require trips to fancy specialty shops.Some of the appetizers listed can be used for the main course.One is a rosemary and bacon flatbread that takes store bought flat bread topped with bacon and mozzarella.There is also a how to on assembling a cheeseboard, incorporating both sweet and savory components. Chef Kartes also includes popular hot dips such as a creamy artichoke and spinach one and pico de gallo. The soup section has the classic tomato soup, the perfect lunch or dinner on both hot and cold days.Another highlight is her French onion topped off with a mix of Havarti and Parmesan cheeses. The main dishes are pure comfort foods.A good dish , especially on a cool rainy summer day, is the classic chili with grass fed beef and tomatillos. Serve it with her garlic and cheddar cornbread.Quiche lovers will enjoy the caramelized leek and bacon tart, rich with twelve (!) eggs. For sides there is the parchment  paper vegetables and  brown butter carrots. The sweets section features such treats as homemade graham crackers and the unique chocolate white chocolate chip cookies. She even includes  popsicle and almond bark recipes too. I love that she includes a chapter on drinks There are boozy ice cream floats along with healthy blackberry mint water.

Rustic Joyful Food - My Heart's Table is an absolute gem of a cookbook. Buy this book, not only for the mouth watering recipes but for the beautifully curated pictures.  They are true artistry , food not only for the body but for the soul as well.

An Oasis Of Cool

Hot weather and heat waves are good for bringing families and neighborhoods together. Like blizzards the extreme weather proves to be too much, especially for the elderly. It's time to reach out and help in big and small ways.

The recent heat wave had everyone reaching for bottles of ice cold water. During our next heat wave - and we will probably have more  - reach  out to neighbors and even those with young children. Make sure that they have water and offer to take them shopping or share a 24 or 12 pack with them. Check in on older relatives and friends to make sure they're cool and hydrated. If they have just fans and limited air conditioning, then invite them over to chill and relax. You can easily make  homemade lemon or limeade or iced tea.  Flavored water is also a nice treat. If the air conditioning is a bit much then sit out in the shade or in the garage. This is a good time to buy a fridge for the car port. Store water in there for when you and the family need it. Also , if you're feeding feral cat colonies or just a few strays, have bowls of iced water for them too. Animals can have heat stroke as well. Also put their food in cool, shady areas.

Hot summer nights can be unbearable too. Again invite elderly neighbors over for a cooling drink and maybe a bite to eat. It is easy to make any fruit ade. It starts with a simple syrup - one cup of sugar boiled in one cup of water. From there mix three cups of fresh  lemon juice with four cups of water. Serve with a lot of ice.Change it up with lime ade. Another cooling idea is buying ice cream or Popsicles for everyone. Everyone - no matter what his or her age  - will enjoy a frosty sweet on a 96 degree F night. It's a communal way to keep chill and along the way  a chance to hear interesting back stories. Another way to keep neighbors , family  and friends cool is inviting them over for a no cook dinner. Introduce them to hummus, salad Nicoise or gazpacho. All three  dishes require no cooking , only mixing and blending. You could even have a minimal cooking meal such as pasta crudo which is a great way to use the veggies of the season.

Make your house and yard an oasis of cool. Invite friends , family and neighbors over to enjoy frosty treats and company. Us these hellish days for heavenly connections.

A Quick Ice Cream Fix

Home made ice cream is always a treat but a chore to make.It's getting the salt, making a large batch and then waiting for hours for the finished product. However there's  a gadget that will remedy it.  The Zoku  Ice Cream Maker is a neat - yes, neat and fun addition to any ice cream lover's kitchen.

Zoku not only makes this ice cream makers, it manufactures other fun household items from their Hoboken,, New Jersey offices and factory. The company basically started with a simple idea - how to make popsicles freeze faster. The answer was the Quick Pop Maker which gives a perfectly formed, perfectly frozen pop.(they've since expanded it to make stenciled pops and a pop kit where you can make multi flavored popsicles).The company has won several design awards and have even been included in the Henry Ford Museum as well as in  the Chicago Athenaeum Museum For Architecture and Design. Their dino-Pop Molds are cute enough with Lucy the Cavegirl along with a mini T  Rex
an other dinosaurs. Zoku also makes deep sea ,polar and outer space themed molds,perfect for parents who want their little ones to have healthy treats. They have truly cool slushie makers that can even give you a great iced coffee. I bought the ice cream maker that can also makes Italian ice as well.I  bought it off Amazon  but they can also be found at Sur La Table, Williams & Sonoma along with the Zoku website itself.

Is the Zoku easy to make? Yes, if you;re making ice cream. The actual bowl, (there's two, an exterior  sleeve that's plastic and you could put the ice cream in it after it's been made) and an interior bowl. This is where it happens.It's composed of a plastic exterior and a metallic inner one. filled with a refrigerant liquid.

Place the inner bowl in the fridge overnight  for twelve or more hours. I made a non dairy sherbet  with almond milk, pureed strawberries and agave syrup. I had started out with the idea of ice cream but the almond milk was too thin. It did make for a nice fruity dessert that fluffed up nicely when shaved. I then tried that summer classic.Italian lemon ice. This was a bit more involved to make.  The recipe had to be amended to  suit the bowl's size. Three lemons were peeled (yes, peeled, which resulted in bloody fingers surprisingly ) cut up and then pulverized in my mini processor. A simple syrup had to be made with white sugar and water. Then the lemon mash has to be strained to get rid of the pits and pulp .It's added, cooked for a few minutes in a soupy kind of mix and then poured into the bowl. It has to be cooled in the fridge for two hours before it's poured in the inner bowl. I didn't stir it with he accompanying paddle spoon. I let it freeze overnight  to look like

It wasn't white. It wasn't fluffy. It was too tart. In other words  better luck next time.


The Zoku Ice Cream Bowl screams to be tried out again. Next time.I am going to try the traditional vanilla ice cream one. Should be easy. and a true treat to make.

Summer Spritzers And Sparklers

One of the most refreshing summer drinks is anything made with seltzer. The fizz makes any wine or juice festive and it's a nice departure from the usual cocktails and ades. They're perfect for barbecues or even just enjoying movie night by yourself.

The New York Times Food section on Wednesday gave some good advice regarding making the perfect spritzer. Robert Simonsen wrote about going to and looking towards Northern Italy for inspiration. Generations have made the perfect spritzer. All it takes is three factors : bitter , bubbly and low in alcohol.Sadly , us Yanks made a blander version popular in the States during the Seventies and Eighties.It was known as the white wine spritzer in which any white was combined with seltzer. It wasn't a memorable drink , neither in taste or character. The true Italian spritzers should be more wine than seltzer or soda water. What is used is up to the bartender. Seltzer is the best because there's  more of a lightness and fizz. Soda water has a definite mineral taste in it that can detracts from the flavors of the other ingredients One of the best spritzes is the Aperol, composed of the bitter orange liqueur, prosecco, the Italian sparkling wine, and seltzer.Another refreshing combo is a mix of California Chardonnay with Bruto Americano, a liqueur with such diverse ingredients as coffee bark, bitter Seville oranges and balsam fir, Pink grape juice give it a blush color in this spritz called Cali Spritz, created by Jon Santer, owner of the Emeryville California bar Prizefighter.

Seltzer can also liven up the non alcoholic as well. These are called sparklers and can be made with a variety of juices. You can use store bought  fruit juices or crushed fruit. For the first try to get the purest and the most natural. The Simply Juice company sells juices as if they've just come from the juicer itself. Try their lemon or limeade for a truly refreshing thirst quencher. The two can be combine and mixed with seltzer for a tart drink, perfect for those holiday barbecues.Their orange juice is another one that can be mixed with any fizzy seltzer for a drink that can be sipped all day long. In fact it make for a perfect virgin or clean mimosa for any brunch.Cranberry fans could make a clean Cape Codder spiking up the juice with seltzer. As for fresh juices you can use a juicer. The drinks will have a different, more fresher taste. Home mixologists can also use fruit simple syrups, a variation of the classic bar staple. Basically it's a cup of sugar and water mixed with one and a half cups of fruit.They're boiled together and then strained through a fine mesh strainer. Any fruit can be used. Think tart for some flavor contrast. Take advantage of the blackberry and raspberry season right now. They not only make for flavor packed drinks but also for pretty ones too. The cooked berries tint the seltzer  lovely shades of pink.

It's summer, the perfect time for both spritzers and sparklers. Open a few bottles of seltzer and create a cool and bubbly thirst quencher,excellent for a hot summer's night. Sit back, look at the stars and sip.

The ABC Guide To Cocktails

Yesterday’s Times Food section devoted itself almost entirely to drinks. This should be a saver section if you don’t have an anthology on cocktails or spirits. It’s a short but useful dictionary that also includes suggestions and recipes. It’s also a good guide to follow if you’re also planning on throwing a lot of parties this summer.

What I liked about the article written by Pete Wells, is that there are different spins on the ordinary. He suggests basil can be used in place of mint which makes sense. It has just a strong green taste like pepper or spearmint . It also is a great foil for fruit drinks too and works well with melon and even pineapple flavors. Another part I liked is the idea of using ginger beer or strong ginger in drinks. Sometimes regular ginger ale just doesn't cut it flavorwise and detracts from the other flavors. Adding a sharper variety give the drink an edge plus can pack a well needed wallop to any anemic cocktail.

The guide also explains drinks and what their ingredients are. I liked the lime rickey recipe and explanation. That's one drink I did always wonder about. I also finally found out what a daiquiri is . Another good recipe was the one for simple syrup. There are variations on this involving the amount of sugar as well as what to do with it. Wells not only gives perfect measurements but also great storage tips. He also adds the idea of spicing up the syrup for more interesting cocktails.

Keep yesterday's Times Food section for your summer drink guide. This is a well written mini dictionary about drinks. It'll help you be the best bartender at your summer parties.