Me, I don’t drink so much. This may come as a surprise when you consider ALL I HAVE TO PUT UP WITH, but really, left to my own devices, I’d probably go a few weeks before cracking open a real beer (the non-alcoholic O’Doul’s I got used to during pregnancy don’t count) or a bottle of wine. It’s not that I don’t like a really excellent cold beer on a hot day or that perfect glass of red wine, more that I rarely seem to think of it as a reasonable (or not so reasonable, depending on your perspective) option at the end of the day or when the children life in general gets stressy. Plus, I don’t like the taste of most hard alcohol — call me crazy, but to me a martini is about the most unappetizing drink on the planet.
My non-predilection for booze puzzles Rachel, for whom a drink at the end of the workday is a rite of passage, the symbolic closing of one door and the opening of another. This is a woman who compares the merits of one brand of gin versus another — and can actually tell the difference — who spent part of yesterday molling (it’s a verb, apparently) mint leaves with lime and icing sugar in a mortar and pestle bought specially for the occasion, in order to make mojitos. Who actually planted mint in our garden for that particular purpose.
But now — now — all that might change. Because I have recently rediscovered the pleasures of that Canadian classic, the Caesar, and all of a sudden I am finding myself thinking, fairly regularly, how nice it might be to have one. It seems counterintuitive: I mean, really, clam juice? Bleah. But, my God, the Clamato, the vodka, the Worcester and Tabasco, the lime, and the ohmygod the celery salt, and it just... works. So very, very well, especially in August. And really, the Clamato would go bad if I didn’t finish it up. (As would, I hear, the Stoli. Just watch Arrested Development.)
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Just got back last night from our Canadian holiday with friends where we feasted on Caesars throughout the trip. I might go into withdrawal now that we're back in the land that knows not Caesar. Thank you for the reminder of our trip and the reminder to add Clamato to the shopping list.
ReplyDeletecaesers were my preferred beverage as an underage punkity rockity teenage drinker, because i could sneak them into a venue in my own bottle. bouncers usually thought it was veggie juice, and rarely checked for booze vapours. looking back, i'm just glad that it was healthier than other things i coulda been injesting... and i had no idea it was a canadian thing until now!
ReplyDeleteI have not heard of the Caesar before. I will have to google it. My DH would love it. I don't care for vodka with tomato products. Ick.
ReplyDeleteI too grow mint, just for mojitos. I think Rachel and I would get along well.
And, Arrested Development??? OMG, BEST SHOW EVER!
I don't remember if you have seen Ms. Pettigrew Lives for a Day with Frances McDormand, but I think you would like it. It's a srsly good movie.
The secret to the best Caesar ever is Grey Goose Vodka. I know it's pricey, but if you want to be shot to the moon over your little beverage of choice taste it with the good stuff. But be warned, you will never want to go back to the other Vodkas. It's that good!
ReplyDeleteMy secret to the best Caesar is a small teaspoon of horseradish. Don't knock it until you've tried it.
ReplyDeleteOh, horseradish sounds divine, as does Grey Goose (although Rachel warned me that she won't be able to keep me in the stuff should I develop a real taste for it). Purists will note that I have not mentioned the celery stick, and I have to admit that it's never been a big turn on for me. In Thunder Bay they use a dill pickle instead, which is odd but surprisingly decent.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds more like a meal than a drink. I don't think I could do it. The mint leaves and the gin tasting and all that sounds more my style. I recently wrote about gin and, though I have long been a fan of gin and tonics, never realized that the different brands tasted differently. I should have talked to Rachel.
ReplyDeletei to have been taking in the Canadian Caesar this August but to make it even more perfect a bottle of peppercino's and add a splash of the juice to the creation, perfect
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