JAZ

Do you have Cinzano Bianco? (Cinzano also makes a dry white vermouth and a sweet one). The Bianco is fruity and sweeter than the dry. If so, you can try it on the rocks or with a splash of soda. I like it with gin (about 2 parts gin to one part Bianco) with a big squeeze of lemon. You can also use it in place of dry white vermouth, but it will change the flavor of the drink.

Or you can do what I do and go on Tuesdays (the joys of having days off during the week -- almost makes up for having to work on the weekends). There aren't as many vendors, but there are still quite a few, and you can actually stroll up to the stands without having to negotiate strollers and crowds. Plus, you don't have to get there at the crack of dawn -- the market opens at 10 on Tuesdays. Chardgirl, Rancho: are you guys there on Tuesdays?

Try club soda. You might also want to cut back on the peach schnapps and substitute some fresh peach puree for some of it.

It's friday, way after 5, and I'm having a Hemingway daiquiri, because although I'm in San Francisco, it feels like I'm in Cuba (it's not supposed to get hot here, damn it!).

I thought I heard that Miss Millie's stopped doing breakfasts. Good to know that's not true. I haven't eaten there in years, but now that I'm back in the neighborhood, I'll have to go back.

I tried the Quintessential, which I found light and not very junipery. I wasn't crazy about it, but I like juniper in my gin. I had it in a martini; it would probably do better in a G&T. Tanq 10 is a great gin for non-gin drinkers; my vodka-drinking friends love it. Another lighter gin for beginners is Bombay Sapphire.

If you explore the Stinson Beach/Muir Woods area, you can drive down the coast and end up at the Pelican Inn at Muir Beach. It's been a while since I've been there, but I had a great time there. It's in a beautiful setting, you can walk to the beach or take longer hikes; plus there's a pretty good restaurant there and a great pub. Pelican Inn

Ah. You mean this Homeskillet. It sounds interesting.

If there's a place near you that sells stained glass (or maybe even offers lessons in making stained glass), chances are pretty good that they can blow glass too, so they could probably make you a stopper to order.

Congratulations to all involved. This sounds like a great project.

One thing to keep in mind is that most of the sauces mentioned here are vinegar based, so they add not only heat but acid, which can serve to perk up flavors. They can also contain blends of other spices as well. Also, since the sauces are liquid, they can be incorporated more evenly into some foods than minced fresh chiles or dried chile flakes. In a Bloody Mary, for example, I can't see any way to use fresh chiles instead of Tabasco or another similar sauce (unless you begin by infusing them into the vodka).

Ida, check out this thread on vodka and infusions for some good information. The point in using a 100-proof spirit is that the higher the percentage of alcohol, the faster and more complete the infusion is. Most of the time, you'd want to add water (or sweeteners, in the case of liqueurs like limoncello) to bring the proof down to around 80 after you're done infusing. While it's true that I haven't done lots of infusions, I haven't found much difference using 100 proof and 80 proof spirits -- the 80 proof takes longer, but the flavor is not noticeably different.

Count me in on the "dumb idea" side. I like the taste of alcohol; if I'm going to kill brain cells, dammit, I'm going to do it drinking something that tastes good. [Note: no brain cells were killed during this post.]

What? And drop the baby again? (Sorry, Ned -- couldn't resist. I'm very glad to hear the baby is fine.) Me? I'm having a margarita, just because I haven't had one in a while, and it sounded good. It is. I might have two, in fact.

I should have made it clear that I was recommending the Svedka as a mixing vodka (the only way I use vodka). The only brands I've compared it with directly were Skyy, which I thought was harsher, and Vox, which seemed about the same in drinks.

Save it to cook with. Almost anytime a recipe calls for white wine, you can use dry vermouth instead (a la Julia).

I picked up a couple more sale books: Commander's Kitchen and a Smithsonian-published book on sustainable seafood. And while on vacation I simply had to buy The Rocky Mountain Gourmet Cookbook. Oh, and did I mention Wolfert's Slow Mediterranean Cooking?

I think you're right -- regular orange juice sort of takes over a cocktail. To me, a Blood and Sand tastes remarkably like a Bronx, or a Satan's Whiskers (gin, OJ, dry and sweet vermouth, plus Cointreau or Grand Marnier), even though the B&S is scotch-based, while the other two are gin-based. I'd even put Mardee Regan's Mischief (eGullet's second official cocktail), which contains tequila, lime vodka and orange juice, in the same category. It's not that I don't like these drinks, but it's odd -- it's as if once you get that much orange juice in a cocktail, everything else is drowned out. I think the Blood and Sand, which I like once in a while, would be a much better drink -- to my taste -- if made with sour orange juice. As I mentioned elsewhere, I've used a combination of Meyer lemon juice, lime juice and regular orange juice as a sub for sour orange juice. When I get my bottle of Cherry Heering, I'll give it a try.

So what is in a Homeskillet?

I had a mediocre lunch there a couple of years ago -- that's my only experience. The food could have been pretty good, but I think it sat around for a while before being delivered to the table -- the fries were cold, for example. Gotta love a place that doesn't allow cell phones, though.

Well, I wouldn't say that I thought it sounded disgusting, but I was skeptical when I first read about it, because: a) I don't like my Rob Roys that sweet -- I generally drink them perfect (although I have started to drink the occasional sweet Manhattan); b) the addition of cherry brandy made it sound even more sweet, to the point that I thought it would be cloying; c) the combination of Scotch and orange juice sounded very strange. Why did I try it? Because both Gary Regan and Dr. Cocktail said it was worth trying, and I trust their judgment. It's not my favorite drink, by any means, but it's nice from time to time. It's sweeter than my usual drinks -- I'd be curious to try it with sour orange juice. But I'm glad I tried it, certainly.

There aren't any cocktails in this photo, but I picked up some cool German liqueur glasses while on vacation. This is the picture from the antique dealer's website -- not the greatest, but it'll have to do until I get a digital camera. These are Jugendstil, which, as I understand it, is a sort of German precursor to art deco. Anyway, they're three inches tall and hold two ounces to the rim. I love them.

We tried a few new (to me) beers while on vacation, a couple of which are worth mentioning. I finally tried Moose Drool brown ale (brewed in Missoula MT). Good solid beer, very drinkable, not too complex. Light bodied for a brown ale. I had not heard of Bitch Creek ESB before, but that was probably the best beer I tried on the trip. Brewed by Teton Brewing in Idaho, it's very well balanced, with the hops apparent but not dominating.

Pearl has gotten some good reviews in this thread. For more information on vodkas (and infusing as well), click here for a long thread on the subject. I've been buying Svedka for mixing and find it to be decent and a good value.

My favorite spirits store carries it, so I've been on a Falernum kick. My typical use for it is in a drink I call the Velvet Daiquiri: 2 oz. white rum, 1/2 oz. Falernum, 1/2 oz. lime juice and a shake or two of peach bitters. I also had a drink at the Starlight Room with Chartreuse, Falernum and pineapple juice that was good -- and I'm not really a pineapple fan.