Strawberry Mermaid and Sea Smoke – Story

When she’d walked up to him & announced she was a mermaid, he’d responded that she looked like neither Darryl Hannah nor Ariel. A furrowed brow and cocked head were her only response. As the silence had stretched, with her mouth twisting into a small frown, he’d found himself compelled to break the silence.

That had been a mistake too, he thought, sipping his effervescent bitters. He should have ignored anyone weird enough to tell a complete stranger her delusions of fishiness, but he had hoped it was simply a unique come-on. And when he was incapable of ignoring, he should have bolted away from anyone who didn’t know some very mainstream mermaid references.

But, no. He’d been entranced from the moment he’d laid eyes on her a half an hour or more before she had approached him.… Continue reading →

Strawberry Mermaid and Sea Smoke – Cocktails

These were invented, and the previous post written, for Chuck Wendig’s flash fiction contest. The story is very rough around the edges, but the cocktails are pretty damn good. Or so I think.

Indeed, we’ve shared them with guests now. And, as in the story, almost no one (just me) likes the “Sea Smoke,” but both Bill and Tony agree they can see why I like it. The “Strawberry Mermaid” has been a big hit, however. So, grab your booze and your bar tools and make this happen.

Strawberry Mermaid

1 barspoon good strawberry jam/preserves (homemade, in my case)
1/2 oz Campari
187 mL (~6 oz) sparkling wine.

Mix the jam with the Campari thoroughly, trying to break up any huge chunks of strawberries. Poor chilled wine over, mix gently, and serve.… Continue reading →

My Organic Chemistry is So Rusty.

One of the funny things about being in a long-term, live-in relationship is how you can manage, sometimes, to do a single thing that manages to simultaneously irritate your partner and make them happy. I did so recently.

On a whim, I signed up for an online class. But not just any online class. A free, college-(senior)-level chemistry class. Prerequisite of “organic chemistry” listed. My friends JP and Jason are taking the class, and encouraged me to sign up. So I did. Then I tweeted about it.

Which is how poor Bill found out I was suddenly enrolled in this class. And was, understandably, a bit grumpy that not only did he find out about this via twitter and not, say, from me, he also was suddenly married to a woman who had homework again.… Continue reading →

I Wish I Had Smoked Pasta Sauce Again.

I haven’t really ever developed a recipe. I don’t know what goes into recipe development. I mean, I assume some research happens if you know you want to make a specific kind of food/recipe, but I know that’s not how amazing recipes always start. Often, I know, they start with throwing some stuff you have on hand together with no real plan and low expectations and it coming out amazingly.

That’s the kind of recipe development I’m looking for help with right now. Because I’ve learned and heard that usually these one-off meals cannot be replicated. Which is frustrating and unfortuante. It also bothers my innate desire for replication as a scientist-type.

But, more immediately, I have a pasta sauce I wish to replicate for here on my blog.… Continue reading →

Visiting D.C. Jan 2014

Bill and I have been traveling again. 

Once a year, there’s a conference in Washington, D.C. that he always attends. We have friends in the area, particularly up in Baltimore, MD and so I usually accompany him. Typically, we land at BWI and he heads down to the con hotel and I head straight up to Baltimore for four days or so of putzing around with our friends up there before he joins me for about a week.

This year, it’s been different. A friend of mine has just moved to D.C. with her family. I have made numorous friends on Twitter, mostly (but not entirely) fellow beer bloggers. All of them wanted a chance to meet me, and I them. And staying in D.C., I had the chance to have a breakfast or dinner or two with Bill in those four days.… Continue reading →