Drinks

The Big Sleep Cocktail (Champagne and Cognac)

My collection of vintage cookbooks is actually an offshoot of a more general book habit. I’ve been converted recently to the joys of e-book readers, but I still really love the smell and feel of old trade paperbacks. Which is why I found myself browsing through my parents’ books, and picking up a 1970s copy of The Big Sleep. Food, I found, follows me even into my non-cookbook vintage adventures: in Chapter 2, as Philip Marlowe gets drawn into the affairs of the Sternwoods, the aged patriarch of that family tells the P.I., “I used to like my brandy with champagne. The champagne as cold as Valley Forge and about a third of a glass of brandy beneath it.” I was reading my book on the train this weekend (a perfect place for hardboiled crime stories) and was unable to stop thinking about it until I tried it today. It was delicious; I’m still unable to stop thinking on it.


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Lime Shrub: Citrus-Infused Rum, American Revolution-Style

First order of business: today is the last day to vote for Cookbook Archaeology in the “Best Cook-Through” category at the Saveur Blog Awards; it only takes a second, and your support is much appreciated!

Today is also my last day of law school. And this is the cocktail with which I will be relaxing in the sun at 5 PM when I finish my last exam. It’s called a Lime Shrub, and it’s made with rum.


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Mid-Week Tidbits: Cookies and Cocktails

These Sour Cream Drop Cookies come from The Complete American Jewish Cookbook, which is one of the most dessert-centric cookbooks I’ve ever come across. It’s kind of funny: cookies are so common these days, but they don’t appear in a ton of mid-century recipe collections. Except for Jewish and Southern ones. An interesting observation…


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Flipping Out

Some of you may have noticed either or both of the following on this blog: 1) I own a copy of a 1960s bartending guide and have not yet made anything out of it, 2) I love bourbon. My roomie finished her first final today and we’re both sitting inside being warm and cozy and I started thinking…let’s be warmer and cozier, Mad Men style. Enter: Mr. Boston’s Hot Brandy Flip recipe. I don’t have any brandy around, so I decided to use bourbon: I’ve had whiskey substituted in hot drinks before (including an awesome Hot Buttered Rye at Rye Restaurant in Williamsburg) and I thought it might turn out well. Boy was I right. This drink is like more grown-up, boozier take on eggnog. It is the Jon Hamm to eggnog’s Justin Bieber. Yum.

Hot Bourbon Flip (Makes one drink)

1 egg
1 tsp. powdered sugar
1 1/2 oz. bourbon
2/3 c. milk, heated to a simmer
Nutmeg

Shake or whisk the egg, sugar, and whiskey until frothy. Pour in the hot milk and sprinkle a little nutmeg on top.