boston sour

Old Mr. Boston Deluxe Bartender’s Guide (6th edition, 1946, or before; 1st ed. 1935)

2 oz rye or bourbon
1 egg white
1/4 oz simple syrup
1/2 oz lemon juice

Shake with ice and pour into 8-oz collins glass. Fill with seltzer water, decorate with lemon slice and cherry.

The above quoted from the fantastic but now-defunct DrinkBoston (nothing to do with the Mr. Boston brand btw, rather a blog from Boston). My brother can rip through the classics (as well as having developed drink menus for various establishments) and over Xmas couldn't resist serving up Boston Sours utilising Bulleitt and Araucana eggs [blue shells, no taste difference -ed.] from the henhouse 50 yards away. I just watch and learn.

fridays are tie days -cetacean

Cetacean [def from Britannica Concise -ed.]: They are found in oceans worldwide and in some freshwater environments. Modern cetaceans are grouped in two suborders: about 70 species of toothed whales (Odontoceti) and 13 species of toothless baleen whales (Mysticeti). They have a tapered body, no external hind limbs, and a tail ending in a horizontal blade of two lobes, or flukes. Cetaceans must come to the water's surface to breathe through blowholes located on top of their head.

50cent tie from the thrift store.

gift idea -silpat by demarle

NASA grade materials. Eye-pleasing woven material. Orange border. These silcon SilPat® mats by DeMarle are insanely non-stick sheets used for pastry and any other baking you do. Can be used in ovens up to 480 degrees, and can also be frozen without being structurally compromised.

Caution: Never use a cut or ripped Silpat® as glass weave could migrate to the food.

oma in the spectator

Huge props to mum for generally being cooler than the other side of the pillow, but the newsflash is that the Christmas edition of The Spectator printed a letter she sent to them regarding presents/thrifting/thoughts on giving. It is in the print version only, in a section devoted to Thifty Christmas. Teaser below;

Secondhand /charity /vintage shops have plenty of treasures and the time and thought put into these finds are really the gift in themselves.

You can occasionally even give something that "money can't buy" nowadays, and a bit different from a catalogue or department store. Have always found that these really do surprise and delight everyone.

Put time and effort into the packaging and theme them up with other items for maximum effect e.g special tea with the tea cups or a book voucher tucked into a book.
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This all may sound a bit "homespun and worthy" but if you go regularly to charity shops -you will soon find it addictive and more fun than traipsing around crowded shops [and avoiding the babycarriage brigade!-ed.] and there is always the thrill of finding something unexpected or even antique if you are lucky that day.

This will get filed with her note printed in The Scotsman about cold winters; "Reach for a sweater!" #rockstar

the us open turns 30

If the last post didn't make you feel old then this will. The US Open Snowboarding Championships turns 30 this year... coming March 4th-11th, held as usual at Stratton Mt, VT. If they are going to run with this retro red/blue theme and the Burton anoraks etc I'll be made up. Sweet. Looks like they have tweaked the event line-up again, this time no Friday night event (instead Saturday night Rail Jam), and Sunday reserved for the Junior Jam. Racing isn't coming back anytime soon looks like... maybe on the Friday afternoon? #suntanner

ox snowboard boot from burton

The Ox Boot, from Burton. Some might call this vintage styling... for *ahem* others these boots look very familiar... like their first pair but now with everything you need and nothing you don't. The copy reads "good old days without the duct tape." These are mid-range for Burton (sub $300).