Amarantha

Neat. It can be fun to add a drop or two and note how the flavour profile changes, but generally I prefer it without. My favourites are the Islays, and we recently discovered the single-cask heaven that is SMWS; we might never buy a commercial bottling again. The tragic thing about SMWS membership is knowing that you'll never taste this bottle again, but at the same time it's exciting to wonder about the next one

Emerson's Taieri George. Dark, spicy ale perfect for a Melbourne winter's night. My comment at first taste was "christmas pudding-y". You can taste dried peel, and something like cloves, and the sweetness is raisiny, with burnt bits. I found a review that described it along the lines of "hot cross bun in a bottle", which is apt. Mouthfeel is also rich and fulfulling, but the drink overall is still quite refreshing, not as sweet and heavy as I think I'm making it sound. It's seasonal and apparently designed to be stored for up to five years, so I'll see if I can maybe get a dozen to stash away.

Hosted a shot night with a flatmate many years ago, and had a flash of inspiration regarding amaretto, peach schnapps and cranberry juice. A little experimentation came up with the perfect ratio: 1 part amaretto 1 part peach schnapps 2 parts cranberry juice It tasted a bit like cherry cough medicine, only much nicer. The guests refused to shot it; they said it tasted too good and sat there sipping it instead. I called it a "Cherry Bomb", but my flatmate preferred "Cherry Slide". Many years later I've gone off both names, so it's kinda nameless. I don't drink it much anymore anyway, because my sweet tooth is diminishing over the years. I used to also drink variations on the basic shot, such as on the rocks with soda or with extra cranberry, or layered inna champagne glass with a long spoon or stick for mixing. More recently, I felt like something salty and sour but light and refreshing, and nothing in my admittedly limited repertoire was tempting. So I had a think and came up with: tequila (couple shots) lemon juice (few squirts) soda (maybe half a cup) ice (handful cubes) inna salt-rimmed glass (actually a Leffe chalice) Can't remember the exact amounts; I kinda make it up as I go along. Couldn't think of a name, so for now it's just the Quarry Rd Cocktail, since that's where I made it. I think these are original creations - I've checked several books and websites and found one or two things similar but nothing quite the same. But it wouldn't surprise me to learn that someone, somewhere has made them already. Convergent evolution, nothing new under the sun and all that I've also made a variation on someone else's cocktail. Readers of Kinky Friedman will be familiar with the Vodka McGovern, as created by Kinky's friend Mike McGovern. It's equal amounts vodka, freshly-squeezed orange juice and soda, with a little freshly-squeezed lime juice to taste. I make these from time to time, except I don't squeeze my own orange juice. One day I was very low on all my drink ingredients, so I improvised a McGovern-based variation using: 1 part chilli vodka (home-made with a pricked Locoto) 1 part cranberry juice 1 part soda lemon juice to taste The combination worked quite well. I call it a Cranberry McGovern for want of a better name, but I don't know if McGovern himself would approve.

(My first post on eGullet - yay!) Went to Offal Night @ The Homestead on Monday - it was lovely Would have gone sooner, but had to wait for the smoke ban (I've been to pubs twice already this week and about to go again, but that's another story). And I hear that the place is on the market, so might not get the chance again First course was the famous bone marrow and parsley salad. Every bit as good as we'd heard, and we'll definitely be trying that at home. Crunchy toast, soft creamy marrow and tangy, herby salad made a wonderful mix. Getting the amount of salt just right was a challenge, but that just added to the fun Next, tripes lyonnaise. This we viewed with a mixture of interest and trepidation - I sometimes have trouble with the texture of tripe, and the other half was worried that he might find it tasteless. But we both found it wonderful Smallish strips of tripe were easy to chew, and the sauce was marvellous - subtle, but complex. Plain boiled/steamed chats were the perfect accompaniment. Third course was a few fried slices of pig trotter sausage, served with a salad of witlof for contrast. Sausage - meltingly soft, with fatty, savoury, porky flavours and the sweetness of shallots. My partner's not a huge fan of bitter flavours (although his appreciation is growing), so I had half his salad - it was crunchy and bitter with a light tang from the dressing. Salad plus sausage made a whole flavour/texture greater than the sum of its parts. Fourth was braised veal tongue with chickpea mash and whole green olives. Separating the olives from their stones was half the fun The tongue was soft and grainy (inna good way), and a little savoury to complement the creamy-chunky mash and tart, chewy olives. Dessert was a divine slice of gingerbread (the cakey kind) with baked quince. The chewy bits in the quince made the soft gingerbread last longer in the mouth. The menu suggested a series of white wines to go with the food, but it was a cold Melbourne winter night, so we had a dark beer each (Dogbolter and Dark Isle Stout) and then I had a glass of red (Sticks Cab Sav). They still went pretty well with the food Got home and dug out the recipe books - found tripes lyonnaise in Margaret Fulton. Couldn't find my copy of Fergus; I suspect I might have lent it to my Mum. Speaking of whom, she might like to go to the next offal night, if there is one...