Pancakes and Cocktails (sounds trashy)

So far, I've created miniature versions of an Old-Fashioned and a Manhattan. A tiny bottle of bitters is not expensive and will probably last for a year or two a good while. For the Manhattan, I consulted the inherited booze cache in my kitchen cabinet: a bottle of dry vermouth and a bottle of sweet vermouth behind bottles of coconut rum. Exciting! Thus, I made a Manhattan sans disgusting cherry. AND it was tasty!

The Old-Fashioned is still my favorite: 2 oz of bourbon or rye, 2-3 dashes of bitters, two orange slices squeezed and tossed in (or not), maybe a little sugar, and ice cubes for chilling/dilution. Clink clink!

Tom Collins should be fine with some Jamaican sparkling lemonade. I've also recently read about an Elder Collins (as I'm calling it), which is a Tom Collins (gin and fizzy lemonade) with elderflower liqueur added. They've got tiny $3 bottles of St. Germaine at Blanchards, so I'm all set for Elder Collins.

Now all I need is some cocktail drinkers in the mood for mini cocktails, and perhaps a freshly delivered pizza (or a stir-fry, if I wanted to be labor-intensive). Oh, and a board game.

This morning, I made blueberry cornmeal pancakes for myself and my lady friend. The blueberries were big, fat, and sweet = a little surreal. I went with it this time. Lots of blueberries per pancake, lots of butter and wildflower honey involved in the batter, with grade B maple syrup for topping...AMAZING. Extremely pleasurable - particularly after a sweaty run - and the only pancakes I'll eat with gusto. Photos forthcoming. I halved the recipe from Bon Appetit, and it worked out perfect for two.



Now I sip a gin and tonic with lime; my reward after cleaning the fridge with soap and hot water, and then mopping the floor. SUCCESS.