Do your Duty....

If you are a US Citizen and have not yet submitted your ballot, do your homework, get on out there and vote! If you found yourself in a long long line at the polling place today, consider getting onto the early voting list, or the vote at home list - or whatever alternate your state may offer. I voted from home for this election, and found it convenient and conducive to taking the time to do my research on various ballot measures and propositions.

After today, I'm sure the candidates might need to hoist a drink - either in celebration or condolence, the following book may be useful (and a good one to keep in mind for entertaining this holiday season too!):



The Essential Cocktail: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks is a fantastic book - especially if you are an aspiring mixologist. The book is well put together with approximately 100 "essential" drinks (plus variations) - each drink recipe includes a stunning photo of the finished cocktail in addition to a brief history on the drinks creation. The book is broken down into nine sections for the drink recipes and also includes a few appendices to address basic recipes (basic syrups), garnishes, and glassware/tools. The Drink Sections include: the Classics (prohibition era drinks), the Modern Classics (cocktails born post prohibition) , Martinis, Sours, Highballs, Tropicals, Punches, Sweets and Innovations (did you know there is a cocktail out there that uses avocado as an ingredient?!).

Simply reading the book has proven entertaining, and has brought back memories of playing at tending bar way way way back when! Coincidentally, the book has a recipe for from-scratch eggnog that I may just have to try this holiday season, especially since I generally object to most of the commercially available eggnogs, what with their strange thickeners and liberal use of corn syrup! I've also discovered that I apparently like Bloody Caesars (though I don't object to a simple straight up Bloody Mary).