lesliec

A Cure for Pain tonight - Rittenhouse 100, Buffalo Trace, Carpano (not Antica), port, Campari and creme de cacao. Odd. It's fine, but with all that in it, I'd expect it to taste like something other than just Rittenhouse.

Nom d'un chien - no Bonal, no Gran Classico, and not much hope of either appearing here. At least we can get Mezcal, if not much of a range. But yes, I think I'd like this one.

Possibly as early as this weekend. I did some initial molasses runs a few months ago and the result has been sitting waiting for me to do the spirit run, as it's called. And I have some new pieces of still that need christening ... If I get anywhere close to W&N I'll be excessively happy! I don't think the drink cares. I used Carpano Bianco. Lovely.

Oh, nothing too serious. No bourbon so I doubled up the Rittenhouse; the Calvados was some cider a guy at work made and decided he didn't like so he gave it to me to distil; the Cognac was Spanish brandy. So, just a couple of minor tweaks ... I have a Joy Division at my elbow as we speak. Rather good, isn't it?

The Conference last night. A very nice drink, even with various substitutions I was forced to make. Next time I'm at the Hawthorn Lounge I'll get them to make me a real one!

In the bag with sous vide brisket (or similar)?

But would they go with a tiki? (Answer: yes, probably!) I have a couple of good ginger biscuit recipes, but neither looks quite like the Fortnum & Masons' ones. And neither specifies stem ginger; both use a mix of powdered and crystallised ginger, and one asks for a small amount of fresh ginger as well. But I can't see why stem ginger wouldn't substitute for crystallised if you wanted to; it might affect the sweetness or wetness of the mix, but not too much. I only have one of the recipes as a scanned image on my phone of a magazine I found in the doctor's waiting room recently and haven't transcribed yet, but here's the other, from a local magazine called Taste a few years ago. The author was Julie Leclerc: Ginger Cookies 250g butter, softened3/4 cup firmly packed dark cane or soft brown sugar1 tsp vanilla essence (I use about a quarter teaspoon of vanilla extract)2 cups flour (why she mixes weight and volumetric measurements I can't imagine!)1/4 tsp baking powderpinch salt2 Tbsp ground ginger200g crystallised ginger, choppedBeat the butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Sift the dry ingredients over, add the crystallised ginger and beat to combine - be gentle and don't over-mix or the cookies will be tough. Divide the mix in half, roll into logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour. Heat the oven to 180°C. Slice the logs into 1cm slices (this gives me a lot of trouble - they crumble all over the place and I usually have to end up squeezing each slice more or less into shape). Lay them out on baking trays, leaving a bit of space for them to spread, and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until they're crisp and golden. Cool on wire racks. If it weren't for the fact they're delicious, the crumbly stage would have put me off making them again. Maybe you'll have more luck.

Hi, Tracey. Welcome to eGullet. You'll find a lot of enthusiastic macaron makers here, along with a huge number of macaron virgins (like me!). Our main macaron troubleshooting topic lives here, but you'll find plenty of mention of them in other topics as well. Have fun in the forums. Regards, Leslie

It's arrived! This is going to occupy me for some time, I think. I like the presentation; the story of the bar's origins and the ingredients they like. I was fully intending to make something from the book last night, but the volume overwhelmed me and I wimped out and fell back on Kindred. Which isn't a bad place to have to resort to, but I'll try to do better tonight. One thing we talked a little about upthread was their timesaving method of making orgeat. I looked that up, and without getting too detailed the technique seems essentially to be to omit the multiple soak/squeeze steps I go through with mine. Do the extra steps add nothing? That seems to be the message.

Freeze-dried bread = your own source of panko?

We may get into the old discussion about what you call cider may not be what I call cider ... no, let's not: what I call cider is alcoholic, and our current favourite is this one. There we go. Anyway, to your question. There's a recipe we enjoy that came in a little booklet attached to a Domaine de Canton bottle. It's called a Ginger Toddy and comprises two parts hot cider (or tea, or sake) to one part Domaine de Canton. We put it all in a Pyrex jug and warm it up in the microwave, and it's a really good, simple, warming drink for a cold evening.

This, on Saturday. The Rittenhouse a restock; the other something my favourite booze shop has only recently acquired: Oh yeah, and a few bottles of Badger Applewood, a very good English cider. I'm quite intrigued by the orange citrate. There are some tasty-sounding recipes in Kindred that call for it; we had our first last night and it was as good as it sounded, with a just-detectable 'sting' from the citric acid coming through. Then, through the agency of a kind Canadian friend of a kind Canadian friend, this arrived: Happiness! Hen's teeth aren't in it when it comes to Smith & Cross here, although the aforementioned favourite booze shop told me that morning they'd ordered three bottles from the UK. Anybody's guess when they get here and what they feel they'll have to charge, but for now I'm good. Thanks, Kerry.

Délit de Fuite, created by our very own Plantes Verdes. Gin (mine), Cynar, Cocchi Americano, Campari, our newly-acquired Orange Cream Citrate and a strip of orange zest, but perhaps not looking its best as I'd already had a couple of slurps before I thought to take the photo: Yum! Definite Negroni family resemblance, which is rarely a bad thing.

That seems contradictory. If you're not enjoying it, why would you eat more of it? And if it's true, why would any restaurant owner wanting to make a buck want people to eat less?

Well said, sir. I don't subscribe to the climatic theory of cocktails. If a Mai Tai, say, is good on the deck in the middle of summer it's just as good by the fire in the middle of winter. Effectively, the air around you is the same temperature either way.

For something completely different ... the Smoking Cap cocktail works quite well with 'fake' smoke if the real stuff isn't available. Be cautious; just a few drops onto the ice cube should do it (I have a spray bottle of manuka smoke flavouring, and it's startlingly strong but fine in this with a gentle squirt on top). You can always add more.

A combination of my own devising, of which I am rather fond. For two servings, take: two thickish (say 2 - 3cm) slices of boudin noir/black puddinga tomato, roughly the same diameter as the sausage, halved horizontally (ie perpendicular to the stalk end)two slices or chunks of halloumi to roughly match the size of the sausage and tomato (size really isn't critical; just use what you have)Fry all of the above in butter, turning the halloumi until it's nicely browned on all sides (just flip the other two a couple of times, and give the tomato a sprinkle of salt and a grind of black pepper). Serve in a stack (if it will all stay upright - if not, don't worry about it); sausage on the bottom, then tomato (with a basil leaf if you have one), then the halloumi. When eating, try to get a bit of everything in each mouthful. I find sausages from different producers vary considerably in size and shape - some are 'normal' sausage-shaped; some much fatter. They all work for this!

What, better than the Hawthorn Lounge? Or Rafa's place, or Adam's, or yours? Surely not! ​But I have indulged; Mr Amazon has it in hand as we speak. I'll be particularly interested in the 'accelerated orgeat' referred to above.

I'm not sure if I'm quite as excited as the dog. Maybe I need a drink. But the book is now on Amazon - very similar price for Kindle and hardcover, at least today. I believe I'll indulge.

Since Dan's 'friend' was making a donkey of himself, I propose an Eeyore's Requiem. Which is a very fine drink I haven't made recently, but should.

I was most pleased yesterday, on visiting an uncommonly-visited (by me) booze shop to pick up some tonic for after-work G&Ts, to find bottles of Bittermen's Tiki Bitters and The Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas Bitters. All you lot keep publishing recipes calling for them, but I'd never found them before. So now I'm sorted.

You missed a couple, Dan. Fernet Branca > Chuck Norris.

That's one part of the technique I forgot to mention - before they go into the water, I cut a small cross in the non-stalk end. The skin just slides off from there.

Still no Cynar to be had. But I found these: I think they must have only recently become available here - or maybe it's just a new label. Cocchi seems to pop up a lot in recipes both here and in Kindred, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it differs from Punt e Mes, or Carpano, or ...

I've added this to Kindred, FP (got in before Rafa - is this a record?). Sounds really nice; I'm enjoying a good old G&T right now, but maybe later ...