http://eggandsoldier.com Just another WordPress weblog Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:05:41 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It's a dull gray and thoroughly depressing afternoon in New York City, and just looking at this photo, which I snapped before breakfast on Christmas morning, cheers me up. I'm not suggesting that one should attempt to banish depression with booze, but a little booze, a little vitamin C, and ... http://eggandsoldier.com/?p=300 The Kir Royale might be the most romantic drink ever (she writes after drinking one). There are few things more joyous than champagne, and champagne tinged garnet with blackcurrant liquer has la vie en rose written all over it. It's named after the once-mayor of Dijon, but don't worry about ... http://eggandsoldier.com/?p=309 Food often gets me thinking about literature, or history, and vice versa. This happened one afternoon recently as I trotted happily back to my office with a slice of sunny citrus-spiked loaf cake from the staff café at the Met Museum. I found myself humming the nursery song "Oranges and ... http://eggandsoldier.com/?p=299 There are lots of great places to sip a cup of posh hot chocolate in New York City, such as the sleek Chocolate Bar, the jewel-box-like Mariebelle, or one of Jacques Torres' wonderlands, to name just a few. But to this chocolatarian, City Bakery and its velvety elixir reign supreme. This ... http://eggandsoldier.com/?p=302 This afternoon, I prowled the food section of my local bookstore looking for a laugh. More specifically, I had in mind those books that creep from the miscellaneous cooking shelf to show up on seasonal display tables every Valentine's Day. I mean the sexy cookbooks. I do this every year, mostly ... http://eggandsoldier.com/?p=303 I learned about hot buttered rum from watching the film White Christmas as a small child. In one scene, Bing Crosby waxes poetic on the joys of a winter in Vermont, listing "hot buttered rum, light on the butter" as one of them. I was certain even then that when ... http://eggandsoldier.com/?p=295 The quintessential Christmas tipple, egg nog is worth a second mention. For the recipe, see Egg Nog For the Neurotic from December '06. http://eggandsoldier.com/?p=293 The Moscow Mule is a zingy combination of vodka, lime, and ginger beer (gingerale's spicier, sassier big sister who, like a mule, knows how to kick). It was born in 1941 when three friends--Jack Morgan, a ginger beer producer, John G. Martin, a liquor distributor, and Rudolph Kunett, president of ... http://eggandsoldier.com/?p=291 The Frosty Morning Drink is for making with one eye open and taking back to bed with you on a winter morning when coffee isn't appropriate because you have every intention of falling back to sleep. I discovered this beverage in the glorious, hilarious, perverse Eccentric Cookbook by Richard, Earl of ... http://eggandsoldier.com/?p=290 In times of stress and heartache I turn up the heat in my cooking. I hadn't really faced this until recently, when on my third consecutive day of fiery red curry I paused to consider as I rubbed an ice cube over my chile-scorched fingers. Stress and spicy food seem ... http://eggandsoldier.com/?p=286