FrogPrincesse

The PDT recipe fot the Monkey Gland is not very good (also, I think it was a mistake for you to use blood orange juice). *hangs head in shame*

It's hard to beat a Martini. Other good options are Audrey Saunder's French Pearl, or PDT's Swiss Mist.

El Take it Easy has closed its doors a while back. The word is that the team from The Lion's Share is opening a new spot in that location.

+ 4 The Zuni Café Cookbook, Judy Rodgers The Cocktail Lab, Tony Conigliaro The Drunken Botanist, Amy Stewart Jigger, Beaker, & Glass, Charles H. Baker Jr.

Things are dormant on these local boards but I can assure you that the cocktail and beer scene is still very active in San Diego. I finally made it to Polite Provisions last weekend. It's always a good thing when you have a hard time ordering because there are so many good-looking options on the menu. First round - Barrel-Aged Chocolate Negroni (on tap!) and Seven Year Storm, a nice tiki creation with a touch of Averna. Second round - Attorney Privilege (bourbon + orgeat + bitters) and Weekend Beach House (another rum-based drink, with spiced soda). Overall, a very pleasant space and a great drink menu. You can even order little bites from Soda & Swine, their meatball shop next store. What else can we ask for...

It looks beautiful and I love the idea of this strawberry-Angostura sorbet!

So I hesitated for about 1/2 a second before clicking on the "add to cart" button on amazon... I really like the book so far. A few approachable recipes, some less approachable. Lots of ideas and techniques for new drinks. And the first cocktail that I tried, the Wink, was not bad either. A really nice riff on the sazerac with gin as the base.

I've long given up on the Monkey Gland. Even PDT could not get it right.

Hi Chris - is that really Dolin blanc or is that the dry? Not wanting to be nitpicky, but if that is the blanc, which is about as sweet as sweet vermouth, can you still call it "perfect"?

The Corpse Reviver No. 2 is a huge favorite. Another good one with Lillet is the Odd McIntyre (with cognac as the base). If you still have some genever the Mr Manhattan Cocktail is nice and refreshing. There are a lot of other cocktails from the Savoy that I like, but I tend to use tweaked ratios.

Great! I told you it was a good one!

Chartreuse is also great as an ice cream... Very good with chocolate! (in this case, chocolate-covered speculoos cookies).

tanstaafl2 - I may "need" to go to Hawaii to get a bottle... I am long overdue for a visit already.

Not quite a daiquiri but very close in spirit, the Halekulani cocktail from the Tiki+ app: okolehao, pineapple juice, lemon juice, orange juice, grenadine, angostura bitters. Much more interesting than I had anticipated based on the ingredient list. It was tart and exotic with intriguing notes from the okolehao liqueur.

Heidi - I made the dough late morning, went out of the house to run some errands, and baked the bread when I came home about 4 or 5 hours later. This should actually read "second rise".

Thanks lesliec. The fougasse ended up being devoured with homemade tapenade & rillettes. The cocktail that day was a Rumble (rum + muddled blackerries). What a fabulous idea! There is no shortage of local breweries in San Diego so I should be able to try this. Thanks for sharing.

No bread in the house the other night so I decided to make some. Dough ended up being a little too wet and I decided to shape it into fougasse. It turned out great despite my super casual/sloppy technique (not perfect by any means - but it tasted great with minimal effort which was the idea). The book says that they are not always crispy because the dough is brushed with olive oil, but it was slightly crispy in the end. Sometimes things are best when you don't overthink them. After shaping First rise Out of the oven

Wow. Wonderful assortment of treats!

On the topic of cynar (and salt), here is Christian Siglin's Milano Swizzle: gin, cynar, sweet vermouth, lemon juice, salt. It builds on the foundation of the Search for Delicious and adds gin. A great summer drink.

That's right. I think I've only used eau-de-vie once before in a cocktail which was Toby Maloney's Poor Lisa if my memory is correct. It was pretty good but eau-de-vie is so expensive that I tend to limit my experiments with it.

I wonder if another eau-de-vie could work. I have a "small plum" eau de vie from Switzerland (Pflümli) that I could use (I also have pear and cherry/kirsch, but I don't think they would work as well).

Dry apricot brandy = apricot eau-de-vie, right? (not the liqueur)

You came across this how? This has been a big thing here the past few years. You know, I just watch from afar... Has it not arrived in Europe yet? It makes sense though from a purely scientific perspective. Alcohol is a very good way to extract aromatic components, similar to deglazing a pan...

You could always try a bone luge.

ScottyBoy- great to see you back! Fabulous looking dish.