Caffè Quattro Cantoni This whish of the espresso machina brings me back to my tiny table and a half-eaten cornetto—limp— its crumbs cascading over the Tribune and La Corriere, barely opened. I should pay at the caisse but it’s crowded. Instead I go over, over Laura, what she just did, what she just said, or not. Laura’s like an orange, sweet smelling and giving to the squeeze, but hard to get into, and once you do the fiber’s fiberous, hard …
Tag: Cocktails
“The Whole Entire World Ever” * Fiction * Caitlin Hernandez
*We are delighted to present our first-ever fan fiction! Written in response to “Restoring the Effigy,” by M. Leona Godin. “The Whole Entire World Ever” is a prequel written from the point of view of Effie’s little girl Artemis on their mother-daughter trip to San Francisco. Leona admits to tucking in an embellishment or two amongst Caitlin’s beautiful words* Last year, I had the best hairstyles of anyone in first grade. Mom can do hair a bazillion different ways, …
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“Restoring the Effigy” * Fiction * M. Leona Godin
“See you tonight Sweetheart,” Effie said to her daughter. “Anything special you want for dinner?” “Don’t worry about me. I’ll just graze. See you later mom,” returned Artemis, with the air of someone looking forward to solitude. She’d been entrenched in the couch since quitting Yale’s MFA in acting almost a month ago. Effie was worried–she was a mother and a Greek one at that–but every discussion she tried to have with her daughter ended in an argument followed by …
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Bay Laurel Hydrosol Encounter, From Taste & Smell to Apollo
*This brief, and admittedly drunken, hydrosol encounter with laurel (Laurus nobilis) was inspired by Cathy Skipper‘s work with hydrosols, and was first published at Quail Bell Magazine* Last week I ordered my little arsenal of sensory indulgences from Aromatics International because they were the only (recommended) online aromatherapy shop I could find that was not sold out of this delicious hydrosol. It was my first time ordering from them, but I’ll definitely order from them again. I must confess that …
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The Spirit of St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur
There was “sad news in the spirits world” when it was reported by Eater.com and countless other food and beverage blogs that Robert Cooper, the founder of the wildly popular St-Germain elderflower liqueur, died suddenly at the age of 39. Cooper was born into the booze business, but struck out on his own when his idea to make an elderflower liqueur (like those he’d encountered in London) was pooh-poohed by his father. The elder Cooper had cause to regret his …
‘There’s Rosemary, That’s for Remembrance,’ With Recipes!
Ophelia, as her wits unwind, uses the language of flowers to express what her modesty as a young maid won’t let her say directly. She says, “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember,” to her brother Laertes, perhaps as a stand-in for the lost Hamlet. Rosemary has long been renowned for its stimulating effects on the brain, and modern science seems to be catching on. I remember well a roommate in Santa Cruz who burned rosemary sprigs to …
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Cooking and Cocktailing with Hydrosol: Rose Geranium Martini, Bay Laurel Marinade, Clary Sage Punch
When we were nineteen, my best friend and I backpacked through Europe from Germany to Greece, ending our epic adventure in Athens. In the final days before returning to the US, we found a bottle of rose–not rosé–wine and took it to the rooftop hostel where we drank with bats swooping over our heads. The dark floral richness, like theatrical curtains opening on my tongue, stuck in my imagination as a pallet-expanding experience that busted through the confinement of the …