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The Mother-In-Law cocktail is a similar and very tasty cocktail from "Vintage Spirits..." based on bourbon. Made a double batch to take to a friend's holiday party. Sadly, its name did not endear it to the party goers. Every one went for a "Satan's Whiskers" instead. Fortuntely, I got to take the leftovers home, so may be toasting in the New Year with them. I wonder if it would be good topped off with a little dry champagne?

Has anyone tried the 40 Creek Canadian Whisky? It appears to be all the rage on upscale cocktail lists here in SF. I recently had a Sazerac made with the Barrel Select, and didn't care for it. Not sure if it was just a bad Sazerac*, or if I didn't care for the whisky, as well, so am looking for some other opinions. *Sazerac was not sweet, didn't seem to involve bitters, and I had to struggle to detect the smell of the herbsaint. In other words, chilled, slightly watery, Canadian Whisky. Extra-Dry Sazerac? Bleah.

Driving back to CA from AZ, we stopped at Andersen's for the obligatory cup of pea soup. Figured an old school restaurant would be a fine place to for an old school cocktail and ordered the "Old Fashion" on the back of the desser card. In execution, it was a fairly good old-fashioned of the non-muddled type. Just sugar and bitters garnished with cherry and lemon peel. Sadly, for some reason the bartender chose vodka for the base spirit. When will this "white whiskey" madness end?

Couldn't resist the Nimbus Pale Ale with its amusing and irreverent Monkey as Christ label. Pretty hoppy for a Pale Ale, almost closer to an IPA, but, with a lower specific gravity than you would find in that style.

Guess so, the website sez all menus are priced $210 (with gratuity). Not sure what the sales tax is exactly in Napa; but, that probably takes you over $225. Ouch.

Yeah, for mixing, I suppose it might be OK, especially at that $2 a bottle price point. Anyhoo, at home, I like to get something I don't mind drinking by itself, if folks get tired of adding the liqueur, or there's some leftover after everyone has left. J. Roget doesn't fill that bill. YMMV

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest, Thursday, December 22, 2005 Napa Valley's grande dame, Linda Murphy Schramsberg's, "Jamie (Davis) is the creative force, the marketer, the hospitality director, the landscaper, the campaigner for the belief that sparkling wine isn't just for weddings, New Year's Eve and the launching of ships. She has lost count of the number of tours she's given of the nearly 2 miles of aging caves and tunnels first dug out of the hillside by Chinese laborers hired by Schram." Pairings: Float your boat with a posh fish pie and a sea of bubbles, Amanda Berne Recipe: Fish Pie The Chronicle's Wine Selections: Blanc de Noirs & Brut Rosé, Linda Murphy The Cheese Course: It takes a herd of sheep to make one small wheel of Torta del Casar, Janet Fletcher Letters to Wine: Shipping wine more difficult than before, readers say Wine Business Insider: France pins medal on wine dealer, Cyril Penn Kermit Lynch will be awarded the insignia of Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur by the French government...Sanford Winery & Vineyards dismissed longtime winemaker Bruno d'Alfonso this week... Spirits: An unusual product, vodka with sake, tastes better than it sounds, Gary Regan Recipe: Wokka Martini By Gary Regan, made with Wokka Saki, "a blend of micro-distilled grain vodka, fine Japanese (sake), and a subtle flavor of Asian fruit." Letters to Wine Books: Champagne hosts ghosts of war, W. Blake Gray Bargain Wines: Winter comfort food finds friends in budget Cabernet Sauvignons, W. Blake Gray

Little more detail in the obit from the San Francisco Chronicle. Joseph Owades -- brewmaster, created light beer

If you want to go Italian, try some Prosecco not Asti. Sparkling hard apple ciders are also nice (Kir Breton). But, since it is New Year's Eve, I might stick with a reasonable champagne. Don't go too cheap though. A catering company I worked for many, many years ago always served J. Roget. It's just awful stuff. We called it "J Rotgot". Of course that didn't keep us from sampling when no one was looking... I've read N. Feuillatte is a good bargain for French champagne. Have yet to try it.

Walked past dosa on Tuesday at 6:15 or so, and it was quite crowded. Must have a bit of new restaurant buzz. Smelled good! Holidays are usually a good time to go out to eat in SF. Many folks being out of town, gives you a decent chance for walk-ins without too much wait. Or at least better than usual.

Brew Pubs can be a great place to learn about beer. They often have tasting samplers with smaller glasses of all the beers they brew. There's no guarantee they will be brewing true to the style they claim their beers are in; but, at least it will expose you to a variety of the types of flavors you are likely encounter in beer. Plus, you don't have to spend $10 on a six pack you don't end up enjoying.

There will probably be a tacky US knockoff within two years. With John Ritter plating the Richard E. Grant part. ← That would be odd, considering he's dead. Sort of a "Trouble with Harry" kind of thing?

Here's another good webpage I found. I think all the Jameson products are now distilled at the Middleton Distillery in Cork. From a few other pages I've read, the Bow Street Distillery is pretty much just offices and museum these days.

Though, from this webpage on the Pernod-Ricard website, distillation ceased at the Bow Street Distillery in 1971, so your bottle may pre-date that closure. Isn't there a date on the tax label?

Cool! I'm very jealous. The only whiskey my father ever got as a gift was Canadian Club. Not sure when they changed the proof, that might be the easiest thing to find out. Doing some googling, I found a picture of an advertisement that appears to date after 1982 with the same label. Different bottle closure, though. Pool Advertisement

It's actually pretty warm (and wet) up here right now, with highs in the mid 60s and nightime lows in the mid 50s. Looks like the weather forecasters are trending it a bit cooler after Christmas. Rain slicker might not be inappropriate for the Alcatraz trip. In this thread, Lucky Creation was suggested for vegetarian dim sum.

Except online, "nobody knows your (real) name."

Aside from those already mentioned, I know previous SF visitors have been quite happy with Hawthorne Lane for splurges. I haven't been to LuLu for a few years; but, the sample menu looks pretty tasty to me. Boulevard is also controversial among CA forum members; but, I've always had a nice time and good food there. Recently had a very tasty dinner at Town Hall. Their lunch menu looks good, too. And Daniel Humm, the chef at Campton Place, is leaving at the end of this year. I don't know if they have hired anyone yet to replace him. Campton might be good, or it might be treading water in January. added campton comment.

Wow, is the Food and Wine feature ever underwhelming. Don't usually read this magazine, so not sure if this is par for the course. It's the cover, yet there is almost no type in the magazine dedicated to cocktails. I was about 3/4 of the way through the magazine and wondering where they were. Then all they have is a photo spread of 6 (or so?) bartenders, with a very short blurb and recipe each. (OK, there was a glassware feature, and a few cocktails in the article about the Latin American chef.) Plus, in addition to using cups instead of ounces in the recipes, they seem to have made no attempt to standardize the size of the cocktails. I think one cocktail amounted to 3 TBSP of liquor and flavoring and another was nearly a cup.

BTW, if you're looking for industrial baking equipment, the big "wonderbread" bakery in Potrero is having a liquidation sale soon. There is a big sign up on the side of the building. Unfortunately, I can't remember which company was handling the sale. I would expect the "Parisian Sourdough" factory may also have a similar sale coming up. Wonder if any of the starter is still alive?

I'm pleased with the Hellfire Bitters (or Weaponized Bitters of Mass Destruction, as I like to call them). I haven't dared taste them directly; but, a dash in a glass with a little simple syrup, juice of half lime or lemon, ice, and soda water makes a fine and bracing tonic. They also make a tastier, if alcoholic, replacement for tabasco or other hot sauces. I would change the recipe thusly next time: Hellfire Bitters a la Charles Baker Jr. 2 Cups Very Hot Ripe Chiles 2 Cups Vodka (preferably 100 proof) 2 TBSP Molasses 2 Limes (Quartered) 1/2 tsp. Cinchona (Quinaquina officinalis) Bark Powder 16 Allspice Berries, Crushed All the standard cautions with very hot chilies apply. Don't get it in your eyes or on other sensitive parts. Don't take a big sniff of the blender. I used some sort of thai bird chilies, as I've never been over fond of the flavor of cayenne peppers. High proof Jamaican rum, like Wray and Nephew might be a nice change from vodka. Along with the cautions about Chilies, Quinine is poisonous in larger doses, so don't get carried away and add huge amounts of that to your bitters. It all goes in the blender and then into a sterilized jar to age for a couple weeks, shaking periodically. Squeeze through cheesecloth and into another jar to age for a couple more weeks. Rack off or pour carefully and filter through a coffee filter, leaving as much sediment as possible in jar and bottle in a sterilized jar. edited to clarify some stuff.

To me, Supersize me is more directly about the effects of fast food on the consumer. Schlosser's book is more about the systemic effects of the fast food industry on our society and economy. They're different, although complementary, subjects. I'm sure Linklater will make an interesting film. I imagine he will have to focus on a specific aspect of the book. Workers in the Fast Food industry, sounds like. Wish it was a real documentary, though.

RE: Virginia Snakeroot (getting off topic from "cocktails for blizzards...") Many members of the same genus as Virginia Snakeroot (Aristolochia serpentaria) have long histories as folk medicines. I'm fond of their shockingly bizarre flowers and grow a native California species in my backyard. Here's a good page from eflora, with the ups and downs of it. I won't stake my life on it; but, probably in the concentrations in a bitters, it's no more poisonous than the alcohol. Though, I'm not sure I would make a Pink Gin with the snakeroot version of Stougton's.

From the linked website Hate to be all Politically Correct and all; but, geez, when will people stop saying things in the new world were "discovered" by Europeans? Besides, it should be "West Indies" not "India". Chilies are a New World fruit, and were unknown in Asia or Europe until Columbus (and others) brought them back and started passing them around.

I hate to be too much of a stickler; but, this isn't entirely accurate. Your body has a number of ways in which it detects heat, cold, and other changes in the external environment. When it detects a change in temperature, say heat, specialized cells produce a certain chemical. This chemical then binds with receptors in your nerve endings, sort of like a key in a keyhole. The nerves then convey a signal to the brain which it interprets as heat. Researchers believe Capsaicin has a similar shape to the chemical your body produces when it detects heat. It binds to the nerve receptors, causing the nerves to relay the signal of heat to your brain. Capsaicin does not, "reach the brain". Menthol binds to your body's cold receptors in a similar way.