Ilsa J. Bick's Blog, page 20

Astronuts

Had a lovely hour and a half with a librarian friend here this evening, which accounts for the Astronuts: it’s a brown beer made here.  My friend and I have done this twice now: gotten together for a monthly beer … Continue reading →

Starting Off on the Wrong Foot

Jerked awake at 5 after some terrible dreams that just made me depressed once I was awake and got me started off on the wrong foot for the whole day.  On the brink of tears all morning and blah, blah. … Continue reading →

It Don’t Have to Be Shakespeare

I’m not exactly sure how to go about talking about my day or writing out loud, so I guess I’ll just start with the day itself. The Day I actually gave a fair amount of thought to how I wanted … Continue reading →

Modifications

I don’t even know how to begin this post. Well, that’s not exactly true.  I could post a picture of my latest cocktail that inspired all this post.  So, yeah, let’s do that. The story behind this drink: this is … Continue reading →

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

What with Thanksgiving coming up, I figured that it was time for something tart and loaded with cranberries.  I’ve made this particular upside-cake before, though always in a regular 9–inch cake pan.  The recipe I found today (courtesy of David … Continue reading →

The Barbara West

So I’ve set myself this . . . well, I hesitate to say “goal,” because then it sounds as if I’ve got nothing better to do with my time than sit around thinking about booze.  But since I do a … Continue reading →

Color Me Purple (or Not)

After a reader mentioned now understanding what Parfait d’Amour was, I realized that I wasn’t clear about the distinction between it and, say, Creme de Yvette.  So I decided to do a little taste test and here’s the scope: not all … Continue reading →

Paula Deen’s Grandgirl’s Fresh Apple Cake from Georgia

Had a load of lovely fresh-picked apples from the local CSA and so had NO excuse not to make this. I’ve made this cake before, with equally spectacular results.  This isn’t much to look at–no fancy ganaches or glaze or … Continue reading →

The Jupiter

We’re not usually a two-cocktail-a-week couple, but the husband had a hankering.  So I took a chance on a kind of out-there cocktail, The Jupiter.  If you like gin and dry vermouth with a floral whisper, this is the drink … Continue reading →

The French (Strawberry) Blonde

The recipe calls for fresh grapefruit juice, and I asked the husband to bring home a small jug. He showed up with ruby red grapefuit juice, and I’m, like . . . oh-kaaay. The result was okay, though, and here’s … Continue reading →