JAZ

I don't think Meyers have enough acid to work in the usual Sidecar -- you'd probably want to reduce the amount of Cointreau/triple sec. They do work really well with Lillet (blond) -- I make a drink with 1.5 oz. gin, 1 oz. Lillet and .25 to .5 oz of Meyer lemon juice, with either a dash of orange bitters or a drop or two of Chartreuse, shaken over ice and served up. It really showcases the Meyers. Meyer lemon juice also works well in a variation on a Margarita -- substitute Meyer lemon juice for the lime, and Grand Marnier or curacao for the triple sec. Both those ingredients are sweeter, relatively, though, so you probably want to use more Meyer (than lime) and less curacao (than triple sec) than you would in a traditional Margarita.

Or you can skip the hot water and sugar and just sip a few ounces of Compass Box's Peat Monster. That worked for me.

I used it in some cookies, so I hope it's good. I'll let you know when I can taste again.

Well, I found them and bought some, but --wouldn't you know -- came down with a head cold the very next day, so I can't taste anything now. I did try a Friday After Five, which was great -- the herbal flavors in the Chartreuse work well with the bergamots. Then I tried a Sidecar with the bergamot juice instead of lemon. It needs some adjustments, which I'll work on after my cold goes away, but it shows promise.

I have a set of 10 or 12 glass ornaments shaped like hard candies in "wrappers" with twisted ends. They're cool. Sur La Table used to sell miniature copper ornaments -- saucepans, coffee pots, beer steins, colanders -- but we don't anymore. Wish I'd bought some.

You can try Incanto -- I've had some great meals there, including one of the best quail preparations I've ever eaten. Wines are all available by the glass or half glass/taste as well, which is great if you want to match wines to courses. It's on Church St at about 28th -- very easy to get to on the J Church streetcar, if you don't have a car. They're open on Sunday, and usually not too busy then. Here's their web site: Incanto Edit to add that Incanto is where Jamie Oliver went to dinner after his book signing in SF -- if that will help to impress your wife.

I got them directly from Greenleaf, a wholesaler that Trillium recommended. You have to go there (it's down in the wholesale produce market on Jerrold -- off Bayshore), and be sure to call ahead to place an order.

For "relaxing after work" drinks we like, check out this thread: It's Friday, it's after five, and I think I'll have a . . . Nice collection of after dinner liquors. I just bought a bottle of Compass Box Peat Monster Scotch, which will no doubt be my after dinner dram of choice until I run out.

It actually is Friday after five, and since I finally bought found some bergamot oranges, I'm having a Friday After Five, created by Trillium. I tried a version with a "faux" sour orange juice mixture when I first read about it, but the bergamot juice takes the drink to a new level.

I'm off to buy them from Greenleaf. Thanks for the tip and link, Trillium.

Trillium, last year I searched in vain for Seville oranges here in San Francisco. I think I was trying the wrong sort of markets, though (upscale farmer's markets). Now I'm thinking ethinic markets might be a better bet. What sort of market do you find them in (either Bergamots or Sevilles)?

My point was that in San Francisco, a French Martini is gin and Lillet -- not vodka, pineapple juice and Chambord. Here's yet another: the Sensation, which can be either an Aviation with mint (which is what I've had by that name) or a brandied port (from the Esquire Drink book).

Sam, I don't know if you remember the discussion I had with Julie at the Flatiron, but we were talking about how in San Francisco, a "French Martini" is simply a (gin) martini with Lillet instead of vermouth, but in New York (and presumably elsewhere) it involves cassis and, well, other stuff I can't recall. So I wonder if at least some of the differences are due to geography.

I had one of these for the first time tonight, and I agree about the elusive quality of this cocktail. Much more than the sum of the parts. I had mine at the Starlight Room -- but the bartender there used to work at Absinthe, so my guess is that it's much the same as the one you remember. The proportions above sound about right, although I wasn't paying that much attention to the mixing. And mine was made with simple syrup instead of sugar. It's definitely worth some experimentation.

I think there's a balance -- perhaps difficult to achieve, but good to strive for. I don't like reading a novella for each dish, but neither do I like ordering a beet salad, for example, and having it arrive with blue cheese all over it (I hate blue cheese). Blue cheese seems to be a major enough ingredient that it should be mentioned. Likewise, I don't really need to know if the beets were roasted, steamed or boiled. When I'm ordering a filet of sole, though, I like to know if it's fried, sauteed or steamed.

We get regular requests at the store for battery operated pepper mills, sifters and cheese graters. We carry the first two, but not the third. My first thought was that they were silly. But 98 percent of the people who ask for them want them for elderly parents with arthritis. When you consider that, they don't seem so silly.

Actually, gin with grapefruit juice and a splash of tonic (or equal parts grapefruit and tonic) is a wonderful summertime drink. Add a dash of bitters, and you have Gary Regan's Tart Gin Cooler, which for me is neck and neck with the Americano or the Pimm's Cup for my favorite summer afternoon drink.

Nah, I wish I could say I was the inspiration, but it's not the case.

I don't think the choice of gin is crucial in the Negroni, although I would avoid the lighter styles, like Bombay Sapphire or Tanqueray Ten (regular Bombay or Tanqueray are fine, as is Beefeater, Boodles or even Gordon's). I usually buy Martini & Rossi sweet vermouth -- I'm not very familiar with other brands. The classic proportions are equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth; that's what Gary Regan (Joy of Mixology), Paul Harrington (Cocktail) and Dale DeGroff (The Craft of the Cocktail) all call for. However, I like slightly more gin in my Negronis -- Dave Wondrich (Splificator here in the forum) calls for 1.5 oz gin to 1 oz. each Campari and sweet vermouth, and that's close to what I prefer. Gary's recipe is unique among all those mentioned above in that it calls for the drink to be built and served over ice. All the rest are shaken and strained into a cocktail glass. I like mine served up in a cocktail glass, although if you add a big splash of soda and serve it over ice, it makes a nice afternoon drink -- a stronger version of the Americano.

So, after all this time, I gave this idea a try tonight. It works really well, I think. My "sour orange juice" is about one part Meyer lemon juice, 1/2 part lime juice and 3/4 part orange juice. I imagine that if you don't have Meyer lemon juice, you could use less regular lemon juice and more orange (or even tangerine) juice. The proportions for the drink: 1.5 oz scotch .75 oz sweet vermouth .5 oz Cherry Heering 1 oz. sour orange juice These proportions allow the scotch to come forward more, and the drink is much less cloying than with regular orange juice and more Cherry Heering. I could drink these regularly. [by way of comparison, Gary Regan's recipe calls for 3/4 oz of each of the ingredients; the recipe in CocktaildDB uses 3/4 oz scotch and orange juice, with 1/2 oz sweet vermouth and cherry brandy.]

I know I'm unusual in this, but I find the Kershaw Shun handles really uncomfortable -- the "D" shape just doesn't fit my hand (it actually fits my left hand better, but I'm not left handed). I'm not trying to dissuade you from buying them -- they're very good knives -- but I do recommend handling them before buying, just to make sure the handle fits well in your hand.

I finally tracked down some raspberry syrup (who'd have thought it would be that difficult?) and gave the Blinker a try. Tasty. Like almost all rye- and bourbon- based drinks, it's not something I'd drink more than one of, but one is very nice.

Isi, maker of the Orka silicone oven mitts, now has a new gadget out, called the Squid. I can't find a picture of one anywhere (not on Isi's site or Sur La Table's, even though SLT sells them), but it's a combination basting brush and bulb baster made of silicone. It looks like, well, a squid, with a long hollow body and a short basting brush on the end. There's a hole that goes from the body through to the base of the brush, so it can suck up marinade or whatever (like a bulb baster), and then brush it on to whatever you need to brush it on (like a basting brush. I thought they were silly, until I was faced with the task of spreading olive oil on six half-sheet pans of baguette slices for crostini. Gotta say that the squid was the answer. I'm thinking that it would be the answer for brushing melted butter on phyllo dough, too.

I dip squares of dark chocolate into peanut butter -- I've even been known to do that with chocolate chips, which is difficult but it can be done.

Peter Reinhart mentions this place in his book American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza -- in fact, the pizza on the cover is from there. (PS He liked it too)