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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
Frederic's LiveJournal:
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| Thursday, July 16th, 2009 | | 6:23 pm |
Eloped!
Oh yeah by the way, Andrea & I eloped on 07/08/09 down in New Orleans when we were there for the Tales of the Cocktail conference!  | | Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 | | 8:16 pm |
I guess you can't blame them for trying...
 "Antique" empty bottle of Hendricks Gin being sold at an antiques store in Cambridge, MA. If the ploy is successful, it pays for the seller's drinking habit as an almost neutral buoyancy technique (minus shop fees, I guess). | | Thursday, June 25th, 2009 | | 7:13 pm |
Brown Snake
 Continuing on in the theme of wildlife spotted in Somerville, here is my garden's resident Brown Snake ( Storeria dekayi) as seen between the rows of icicle and sparkler radishes (and unweeded morning glory seedlings). He probably spends most of his day hiding underneath the black weed guard which not only absorbs the heat of the sun rather well, but also provides a bounty of slugs and other critters for him to eat. This one is a lot bigger than the other brown snakes who have called my garden home and hopefully he can handle some of the larger, more damaging slugs in the plot. Bon appetit my scaled friend! | | Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 | | 2:17 pm |
More Somerville Wildlife
 English Garden Snails near Ball Square train overpass. A favorite of mine that make walks on drizzly days more cheery. | | Thursday, May 28th, 2009 | | 3:12 pm |
Addendum to the Garden 2009
Since no one from the building wants to worked on the herb garden, I decided to turn over the unused part today where the basil had been planted in the past (the other half has the herbs that came back from last year). There I planted: • 1 row of Sparkler Radishes • 1 row of Icicle Radishes So we should have some radishes in 4 weeks! It's been years since I have planted radishes (got tired of weeding the open plot, I guess). Hopefully, I remember to stagger additional plantings throughout the season. Also planted a mixed assortment of nasturtium seeds around the periphery of the garden (Alaska and Jewel mixes). | | Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 | | 6:06 pm |
Garden 2009
 Took a photo of the garden today. This is what I planted: Brandy Wine, Juliette, Large Red Cherry, and Jet Star Tomatoes Super Chili and Cayenne Peppers Eggplant (some sort of purple-white varietal (Rosa Blanco?)) Lemon and Poinsett 76 Cukes Early Golden Crookneck Summer Squash, Fordhook Zucchini, Acorn Squash Ambrosia Cantaloupe, and a funky gourd Sage, Mint, Oregano, Chives, Catnip (all returned from last year) Brussel Sprouts May plant some radishes later. | | Sunday, May 24th, 2009 | | 5:20 pm |
Wild Turkeys of Somerville
This one spotted in a small front yard on Willow Ave a few blocks from the bike path today (between Ball and Davis Squares). Four of the seven or so chicks in tow can be seen in this photo:  | | Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 | | 2:07 am |
And in other bitters' news
A photo of my Smoking Ban Bitters appeared in the new edition of the Improper Bostonian (twice -- table of contents page 3, and on page 38). No mention in the text though. The cocktail glass (next to the bottle of bitters) appears to be the ones at Rendezvous in Central. Strange. Had two people tell me about it -- a local bartender told me in person and a friend in Portland, Maine, wrote me about it tonight. Ran out and got a copy after getting home. | | Monday, April 27th, 2009 | | 10:21 am |
| | Thursday, March 26th, 2009 | | 1:08 pm |
| | Saturday, February 28th, 2009 | | 12:34 am |
Cocktail Recipes, pt. XLIV
Lamb's Club• 1/2 oz Gin • 1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth • 1/2 oz Dry Vermouth • 2 dashes Benedictine Stir with ice and strain into a small cocktail glass. I found this recipe in Boothby's World Drinks and How to Make Them (1934) and later on CocktailDB which has it in a more modern format of 3/4 oz of gin and vermouths and 1/4 oz of Benedictine. Basically a fancy old school perfect Martini, or a gin-light version of a Rolls Royce. Affinity Cocktail #2• 1 1/2 oz Rhum Agricole Blanc • 3/4 oz Dry Vermouth • 3/4 oz Green Chartreuse Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a mint sprig. A cocktail created by Philip Ward of Pegu Club (NYC) by way of the BunnyHugs blog. The grassy rhum agricole blanc complements the green Chartreuse quite nicely. My notes say that we used Rhum JM Blanc and Noilly Prat dry vermouth. Chancellor Cocktail• 1 3/4 oz Scotch • 1/2 oz Dry Vermouth • 1/2 oz Port • 1 dash Peychaud's Bitters Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. I found this recipe looking on CocktailDB for a recipe to make with our newly bought bottle of ruby port (Ramos Pinto). We used Famous Grouse blended Scotch for this sort of Perfect Rob Roy cocktail. Besty Ross [sic] • 1 1/2 oz Brandy • 1/2 oz Port • 1/4 oz Curacao • 1 dash Angostura Bitters Stir with ice and strain into a coktail glass; garnish with a lemon twist. This recipe came from my recently purchased copy of The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks by David Embury. Other sources for this recipe spell the name properly. My ingredients notes read Courvoisier VSOP Cognac, Ramos Pinto Ruby Port, and Curacao of Curacao. Bourbon Cocktail• 1 1/2 oz Bourboun • 1/2 oz Lemon Juice • 1/4 oz Curacao • 1/4 oz Benedictine • 1 dash Angostura Bitters Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Another recipe from Embury in his chapter on drinks based on the whiskey sour. It was a little dry and tasted a bit sharp for my palate; perhaps a 1/4 oz or so of simple syrup could have improved this drink for me. | | Monday, February 16th, 2009 | | 2:39 pm |
Cocktail Recipes, pt. XLIII
Café Royal Special• 1/2 oz Dry Gin • 1/2 oz Lemon Juice • 1/2 oz Dry Vermouth • 1/2 oz Sloe Gin Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. This recipe was garnered from the Café Royal Cocktail Book (1937) where it states that the drink was invented by W.J. Tarling (probably a bartender there). The recipe was equal parts and I went with 1/2 oz instead of 3/4 oz to make it a more petite drink. My notes state that I used Plymouth gin for it. The lemon and dry vermouth balance out the sweeter sloe gin quite nicely. 19th Century• 1 1/2 oz Bourbon • 3/4 oz Lillet Rouge or Dubonnet • 3/4 oz Lemon Juice • 3/4 oz Creme de Cacao Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. I found this recipe on the Kaiser Penguin where a commenter mentioned that they had a 20th Century made with Bourbon instead of gin and was called the 19th Century by the bartender, Brian Miller of the Pegu Club/Death & Co. Their recipe stated Lillet Rouge which is a pale imitation of Dubonnet (same could be said about Dubonnet Blanc being that of Lillet Blanc). My notes state that I used Buffalo Trace whereas the original used Old Forester. Mardi Gras Sour• 2 oz Bourbon or Rye • 1 oz Lemon Juice • 3/4 oz Falernum Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry. I found this recipe on Chuck Taggart's Gumbo Pages. The drink was kind of like a Frisco Sour but used falernum instead of Benedictine. My notes say that I used Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Velvet Falernum, and Luxardo Marasca cherries. San Martin• 1/2 oz Gin • 1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth • 1 barspoon Yellow Chartreuse Stir with ice and strain into a small cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist. This recipe came from Boothby's World Drinks and How to Mix Them (1934). I used Boomsma Jonge Genever gin and homemade sweet vermouth for this rather simple but elegant cocktail. Dolly O'Dare• 1/2 oz Gin • 1/2 oz Dry Vermouth • 1/2 oz Apricot Brandy Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass; garnish with an orange twist. Another recipe from Boothby's. I used Bombay gin and Noilly Prat dry vermouth, and I noted that I substituted the orange twist for a dash of Regan's orange bitters. | | Monday, February 2nd, 2009 | | 10:52 am |
| | Sunday, January 25th, 2009 | | 1:51 pm |
Cocktail Recipes, pt. XLII
Artist's Special• 1/3 Whiskey (3/4 oz) • 1/3 Sherry (3/4 oz) • 1/6 Lemon Juice (3/8 oz) • 1/6 Simple Syrup (3/8 oz) Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. My notes say that we used Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Lustau East India Solera Sherry, and gomme syrup. Not sure of the source, but it might have been Trader Vic. A tasty whiskey sour with the sherry working well with the lemon. Sherman Cocktail• 1 1/2 oz Rye (or Bourbon) • 1/2 oz Port • 1/2 oz Jamaican Rum • 1 dash Angostura • 1 dash Orange Bitters Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. A very rich drink with spiciness from the rye and bitters. Sazerac Rye, Sandeman Founders Reserve Port, Ron Zacapa 15, and Regan's orange bitters. Recipe garnered from CocktailDB.com. Moonshine Cocktail• 3 parts Gin (3/4 oz) • 2 parts Dry Vermouth (1/2 oz) • 1 part Maraschino Liqueur (1/4 oz) • 1 dash Boker's Bitters (or Pernod) Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. I found this recipe in our 1948 edition of Trader Vic and made it on the small size, but enjoyed it a bit. We used the Boker's that I had made a few months before and used Boomsma Jonge Genever as the gin choice. Somewhat reminiscent of a Martinez cocktail. Kill Devil• 2 oz Rhum Agricole Blanc • 1/2 oz Green Chartreuse • 1/4 oz Demerara Syrup (2-1 sugar to water) • 3 dashes Angostura Bitters Stir ingredients over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Found this recipe on the Ministry of Rum page while looking for recipes to make with our JM Rhum blanc we had just bought. The MoR wrote, "I was served this drink at the Pegu Club. The balance between the Chartruese and the rhum really hit the spot." Indeed, the grassy nature of the white rhum (his was made with La Favorite) and the Green Chartreuse herbalness made a great pairing. Vel d'Hiv• 3/5 jigger Cognac (1 oz) • 1/5 jigger Benedictine (1/3 oz) • 1/5 jigger Lemon Juice (1/3 oz) • 2 dash Bitters Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. I got this recipe from Boothby's World Drinks and How to Make Them (1934 reprint) and it was named after the cycling race track and sports arena (the drink pre-dates the building's unfortunate use during WWII). I used Courvoisier VSOP and 2 dashes of Fee's Whiskey Barrel and 1 dash of Regan's No. 6 orange bitters. | | Monday, January 19th, 2009 | | 3:04 pm |
| | Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 | | 1:16 pm |
Cocktail Recipes, pt. XLI
Jasmine• 1 1/2 oz London Dry Gin • 1 oz Cointreau • 3/4 oz Campari • 1/2 oz Lemon Juice Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon wedge. This variation of the Pegu Club was invented by Paul Harrington and my notes say that I got the recipe through Chuck Taggart (either his Tales of the Cocktail or GumboPages blogs). Andrea commented that it "tastes like an orange popsicle". The Los Angeles Cocktail• 1 1/2 oz Buffalo Trace Bourbon • 3/4 oz Simple Syrup • 1/2 oz Lemon Juice • 1/4 ounce Vya Sweet Vermouth • 1 Egg White • 1 dash Angostura Bitters Add egg white to shaker (no ice) and shake. Add rest of ingredients plus ice and shake. Strain into a wine glass. I found this recipe in the Mixology Monday "Local Flavor"-themed listing. Chuck Taggart wrote about the house version of this cocktail served at the Seven Grand. We had the exact ingredients (Buffalo Trace and Vya) but I modified the recipe slightly to be a 1/2 egg white and 1/2 oz gomme instead of a full one and 3/4 oz simple syrup. Toto/Broken Flower• 3/4 oz Cynar • 3/4 oz Green Chartreuse • 3/4 oz Tequila/Gin, respectively Stir over ice and serve up. From the LeMixeur blog, two drinks he wrote about during his trip to Portland, Oregon. I am guessing that we made the tequila version due to Andrea's aversion to gin and Chartreuse mixed in the same cocktail. TipToe Cocktail• 1 1/2 oz Sloe Gin • 1/2 oz Dry Vermouth • 1/2 oz Lemon Juice Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. I found this recipe on CocktailDB while looking for a lemon juice-containing cocktail after zesting a lemon for a homemade gluten recipe. The lemon and dry vermouth seem to balance the sloe gin's sweetness rather well. Andrea said, "Mmm... like Hawaiian Punch for adults!" The Ruby Cocktail No. 2• 1/2 oz Sloe Gin • 1/2 oz Gin • 1/4 oz Sweet Vermouth • 1/4 oz Dry Vermouth • 2 dash Benedictine Shake with ice and strain into a small cocktail glass. From the following Mixology Monday "19th Century"-themed round up, Chuck Taggart posted this recipe as one of his two entries. | | Saturday, December 6th, 2008 | | 9:44 am |
| | Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 | | 11:56 am |
Choo choo!
 Over Thanksgiving, my dad took us to Northlandz, the largest model train railway replete with 8 miles of track. It was pretty amazing to look at all of the detail put into the various scenes throughout the mile of walkway. The guy who built it had a dark sense of humor that often bordered on scatological with his placement of extreme outhouses (outhouses on overhangs sometimes over certain targets).  | | Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 | | 6:39 pm |
Cocktail Recipes, pt. XL
Davis Cocktail• 1 1/2 oz Jamaican Rum (or other medium-bodied rum) • 3/4 oz Lime Juice • 3/4 oz Dry Vermouth • 1/2 oz Raspberry Syrup or Grenadine Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. I found this recipe on CocktailDB.com and my notes read that we used homemade grenadine (since we do not have raspberry syrup at home since Andrea does not like it); I left off the notes on the rum but I am guessing that we used Ron Zacapa 15 Year. The drink was a tad too sweet for my tastes but otherwise well balanced. La Bicyclette• 1 1/2 oz Plymouth Gin • 3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth • 1/4 oz St. Germain • 2 dash Peach Bitters Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass with a lemon wedge garnish. Rick Stutz of Kaiser Penguin created this drink with a name that focuses on the St. Germain lore. He presented it at this year's Tales of the Cocktail. I rather enjoyed the use of St. Germain as an accent instead of a major component of cocktails (I have had drinks where a third of the pre-melt beverage is St. Germain which ends up rather sweet). The peach bitters (Fee's) complements the sharper notes of the St. Germain liqueur. Peach Martinez• 1 oz Genever Gin • 1 oz Sweet Vermouth • 1 oz RinQuinQuin • 2 dash Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters • 1 tsp Maraschino Liqueur Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Twist a lemon peel over the top. I found this recipe at BunnyHugs blog while looking for recipes that use RinQuinQuin, a peach-flavored quinine-containing apertif wine (think a fruity quinine-centric vermouth) that Andrea found at Marty's in Newtonville. We used Boomsma Oude Genever gin for this version of the Martini-precursor. The original Martinez recipe would have used 2 oz of sweet vermouth whereas this one uses 1 oz of vermouth and 1 oz of Rinquinquin. Submarine Cocktail• 1 1/2 oz Gin • 1/2 oz Red Dubonnet • 1/2 oz Dry Vermouth • 1 dash Boker's Bitters Stir with ice and strain in a cocktail glass. I found this recipe on CocktailDB.com in looking for a drink to make with the Boker's Bitters that I made and wrote about on CocktailVirgin. Otherwise, the drink would do just fine with an aromatic bitters like Angostura or Peychauds (since Boker's is no longer commercially made). (Improved) Holland Gin Cocktail• 2 oz Oude Genever Gin • 1 tsp Maraschino Liqueur or Grand Marnier • 1 tsp Simple Syrup • 2 dash Angostura or Peychaud's Bitters Serve on ice or strain and serve up. Garnish with a lemon peel. My notes say that I found this on Chuck Taggart's Gumbo Pages but perhaps only the idea for it since the recipe seem to be from Wondrich's Imbibe!. I used Boomsma Oude Genever, Maraschino, gomme syrup, and Peychaud's to make this gin Sazerac-like drink lacking the Herbsaint (or perhaps a Martinez-like minus the vermouth). | | 10:10 am |
Morning Glory Project
Two years ago, I started my morning glory project which entailed gathering seeds from my yard and spreading them in choice locations in the neighborhood. The last project was to improve the appearance of a house a few blocks away. This house was rife with political controversy as the owner submitted plans to the zoning and other departments that were very different than the ones his builder was using. After a few stop work orders which included issues with him trying to make a one family into a two family, making a larger foundation than allowed, and building the house taller than zoning laws dictated, the house just sat. One of the local alderman boasted about his handling of it in a primary election advertisement. When I emailed him with an email that was more formal and polite than "WTF are you proud about -- the house is a mess and you won't let it be finished", he sent me to Daniel Mayer, the community nexus (besides being an incredible stained glass artist), who later got me to go to a meeting about this (and two other issues). Neighborhood meetings are entertaining in that way when you let the general populous speak their mind replete with paranoia, descriptions of their long family history in the town, and the like. Also, shortly before the meeting about the house occurred, there was a mysterious fire -- especially strange since there was no gas or electricity hooked up. So to add to the partially built house with a yard filled with building materials, all of the windows got boarded up. To beautify this mess, I decided to sprinkle a few thousand morning glory seeds in the yard especially along the fence (that I believe the zoning board was also not pleased they built). A few weeks ago, I took a few pictures of the project:  ( One more from this project and one from a project I started two years a go ) |
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