Firewater Friday - Let's call a spade a spade

To call a spade a spade is a way to describe something as itreally is.

These days it seems like everything and everybody is calleda racist for any little old thing.   I guess it’s simply the way I think but itnever occurred to me that this phrase . . . ‘call a spade a spade’ . . . wouldbe considered racially derogatory.  Andthe fact is . . . it’s NOT.  Or, at least it wasn’t . . .

 

The expression is thousands of years old.  Back when spades were implements to dig theearth and not the symbol on a deck of cards or . . . whatever else.

The original saying derives from the ancient Greek idiom ‘tasyka syka, te:n

skaphe:n de skaphe:n onomasein’  which translates "to call a fig a fig, atrough a

trough".    

Far from being an ethic slur, its thought that thisexpression was initially a sexual reference . . . a fig and trough beingsymbolic for . . . well, I don’t think I need to paint you a picture.

Anyhoo . . .

Interestingly, sometime during the Renaissance, ‘trough’ gotmistranslated as ‘spade’.    It’s not surprising,considering the ancient Greek for these words are fairly similar . . . skaphe =trough / skapheion = digging tool.

"Spade" in the sense of "negro" is notrecorded until 1928 and comes from the color of the playing card symbol, viathe phrase ‘black as the ace of spades’.

 

Frankly, I’m sick of tippy-toeing around and tired of politicalcorrectness. I think people are way too overly sensitive.  Buck up and get a stiff upper lip . . . everylittle ol’ thing is not an attack onsome other thing.  It’s just not.  Sometimes a spade is just that . . . a spade.

That is all . . . moving on . . . 

Sweet Cream Soda


2 Shots Pinnacle Cake
2 Shots  Pinnacle Whipped
8 oz. Club Soda


Mix in a glass filled with ice and garnish with a cherry.

Firewater Friday - The tower of power, too sweet to be sour, ohhhh yeahh!

Have you ever experienced what could best be described as a puckering of the salivary glands when you eat something?  The pain is right at the very back of the jaw where it hinges with the skull. It feels sort of like the glands going from zero to OMG-here-comes-a-lemon! in half a second.

This pain is usually comes on when the first bite of food hits your tongue and only lasts a couple of seconds.  Sometimes it happens when you smell a certain food or even when you do nothing more than think about it.  

It is commonly, but not necessarily, something sour that causes this reaction.   

This is what that is . . . when you eat something sour your mouth waters.  That is, saliva is being pumped into your mouth by the salivary glands. The parotids, two of your primary salivary glands, are located on your cheeks, near the jaw.  The pain is caused by the inability of the glands to discharge the saliva they are producing quickly enough.

Normally, this is a natural reaction to the foods you are eating.  However, it can also be caused by parotitis, which is a low level inflammation of the gland which most often requires no treatment. 

But I’m not a doctor . . . so what do I know?

Absolut® Orient Apple Vermont


OMG! good . . . very delicious . . . very dangerous!

2 Parts Absolut Orient Apple

1-2 Teaspoons Real Maple Syrup

2 Dashes Bitters

Garnish: Orange Zest

Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled withice.  Stir and strain into a martiniglass. 

The tower of power, too sweet to be sour, ohhhh yeahh!
Macho Man Randy Savage

Firewater Friday - Allow me to ladle you a piping hot bowl of . . .

If a meal is served tome 'piping hot' I know if I gobble it down with utter disregard for its extremehotness I should do so with full knowledge that it's going to burnthe taste-buds from my tongue and scald the flesh from the roof of mymouth.  

Piping hot . . . what doesthat mean anyway?  A reference to plumbing?  If you’re in thevicinity of a burst steam pipe, it will get your attention  . . . and, I promise, it will hurt.

Nope, that’s not it.  

Does it come from theScottish tradition of ceremoniously serving food on special occasions accompaniedby the playing of the bagpipes?  Certainlythat food could be considered 'piped in'.

No, not even close.

What ‘piping hot’ refers tois the sound sizzling hot food makes as steam escapes from it . . . the sound isreminiscent of whistling teakettles and high-pitched musical pipes.

One of the first literary referenceswas from the second of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales - The Miller’s Tale (1390)

Absalom in his attempt to wooAlison . . .

He sang as tremulously asnightingale;

He sent her sweetened wineand well-spiced ale

And waffles piping hot out ofthe fire . . . 

Now a pipe dream . . . that's a whole other thing. It, too, has nothing whatsoever to do with plumbing or musical Scots.  It has everything to do with pipes . . . opium pipes.

You puff on one of those suckers you'll have dreams like no other . . . pipe dreams, as it were.

Absolut® Orient Apple Breeze

2 Parts Absolut Orient Apple

2 Parts Cranberry Juice

1/2 Part Fresh Pink GrapeJuice

Combine all ingredients andpour over rocks in a highball glass. 

Firewater Friday - No bread. Then bring me some toast!

The other day I was watching an episode of The Big BangTheory.   Sheldon, the know-it-all  theoretical physicist, was explaining what a toast was . . . despite how totally obnoxious he is it was interesting so I’llshare.  Hopefully, minus his ever present I'm-smarter-than you, holier-than-thou attitude.  




Toasting hails from ancient Greece . . . it was a time when they drank a lot of wine . . . not necessarily good wine.    It was dark and thick and had to be diluted with water . . . and it was often acrid and sour tasting.

To make the fermented grape juice more palatable, spices were added to improve the flavor and it was topped off with a slice of heat treated bread  . . . tostare  or toast to you non-Latinificiandos . . . to absorb some the acidity and mellow out the wine.

Before they drank they would symbolically make an offering of wine to their gods.   With cup in hand, they would raise up their arms to the heavens and say a prayer . . . a toast.  Afterwards they would drink their libation . . .  


A side note . . . a libation is an alcoholic drink which is offered as a religious ritual.


Cheers!

Rihannsu Starita

3/4 Cup Tequila

1/2 Cup Blue CuracaoLiqueur

1 Teaspoon Lime Juice

4 Ounces Orange Juice

Ice

Mix the tequila, blue curacao liqueur, orange juice and limejuice in a 2-cup measuring cup, and pour over ice in a salt rimmed margarita glass. 

No bread. Then bring me some toast!
Punch

Firewater Friday - Drink of the Gods

This week is vacation week . . . unfortunately for everyone else, as well.  So much for a peaceful week in the White Mountains glutting on micro-brews and majestic snow covered mountain peaks.   Don’t get me wrong . . . we are still imbibing quite ubiquitously on liquid bread but it’s not so quiet with all the invasive rugrats crunching crumbs and whatnot.  


It amazes me how many parents drag their kids into bars and pubs when there are plenty of kid friendly places to be visit.


Not to be deterred, we will not sequester ourselves in our small but cozy room with our faces glued to our laptops and noses stuffed into a book . . . or Kindle, as it were . . . although we will make plenty of time for that as well.

The other day we ventured out to a local meadery owned and operated by a couple of young men in Center Ossipee, New Hampshire . . . the Sap House Meadery.  Center Ossipee is by no means a bustling metropolis . . . it a quaint little town that is quiet in the winter time and teeming in the summer due to the plethora of lakes in the area. The Sap House is a small establishment located in what was once a local grocery.  

Owners Ash Fischbein and Matt Trahan (from left) 

Owners Ash Fischbein and Matt Trahan (from left) 
As we walked in the door we were greeted warmly by a pleasant relaxed atmosphere and one of the proprietors, Ash Fishbein, who was offering up samples of his wares.  We also met co-owner Matt Trahan and Mom.


At the time of our visit, the business has been in operation for just over a year.  And, by the looks of things they are off to a great start.  The presentation of their product is tasteful as are the contents they contain.

Like many of the businesses in this area, they make every effort to support the regional economy by using only locally produced ingredients for their meads.  And, when that is not possible, they make sure that the ingredients are fair trade certified.

We did a sampling of their four main offerings and one seasonal.  We were not disappointed.  They were all quite different and delicious . . . not typical of the meads I’ve had in the past, the Sap House meads are less sweet and on the drer side.


Ash, mazer (slang for mead maker) extraordinaire and our bartender for the sampling . . . besides plying us with the lovingly made luscious liquid . . . regaled us with the history of mead and its primary ingredient honey.

If you’ve never had mead it’s very different from wine or beer.  It is, in fact, a honey wine that is millennia old . . . archeological discoveries as far back as 8,000 to 12,000 B.C.  At its simplest mead can be described as an alcoholic drink of fermented honey and water.  Of course, modern mead makers have expanded the basic recipe.  At the Sap House Meadery, they offer up a rich Vanilla Bean, smooth Sugar Maple, citrusy Hopped Blueberry and dry-ish pyment (which is made with a red wine grape juice) called Ossipioja .  All in all . . . YUM!

Honey . . . the main ingredient in mead . . . has been forever used for food and medicinal purposes.  As Ash describes it . . . the honeymoon has long been a wedding tradition.  The honey in honeymoon comes from an old northern European custom in which newlyweds would, for a month, consume a daily cup of mead.  It is thought that the honey would increase the chances of a boy child being conceived.    If nothing else the intoxicating effects of the mead would surely encourage  . . . uhm . . . sexy time.

Not surprisingly, mead was the preferred drink during the Meditteranean “Age of Gold” . . . however, interestingly enough, the word for drunk in classical Greek translates to "intoxicated with honey".

We walked out of the store feeling the pleasant effects of the mead and four bottles of the heavenly nectar.  We were in no way dissatisfied. . . in fact, we were extremely impressed.  Cheers guys!!  We will be back.  

Firewater Friday - Yodel-Le-He-Hoo!

Yodeling . . . I get visions dancing in my head of Heidi in pig tails frolicking through the Swiss Alps with her grand-pappy and a plethora of goats.

In fact, yodeling comes in many forms 
. . .


Used by shepherds as calls to round up their livestock, in African tribal songs, by Tarzan as he swung from vine to vine, and a tasty cream filled snack cake.

I was recently introduced to a new and entertaining form of yodeling . . . cat yodeling.  Also known as . . . playing the Angry Bagpipes.

Depending on your instrument . . . engaging in cat yodeling is not for the faint of heart . . . painful in many instances.  For me . . . by invoking this soulful sound I am taking my life into my own hands.  My cat . . . clearly not amused.  Protective gear . . . totally recommended.

Screwrita

A margarita with orange juice . . . yums!

1/2 Cup Ice

1/2 Cup Orange Juice

1 Fluid Ounce Tequila

1/2 Fluid Ounce Triple Sec

1 Teaspoon Sugar

1 Dash Fresh Lime Juice

Fill a glass with ice. Pour the orange juice, tequila,triple sec, sugar, and lime juice over the ice; stir.

Political correctness is tyranny with a happy face.

I hate what the world is coming to . . .

The other day I was grabbing a dose of caffeine from thecafeteria where I work.  The cashier . .. an older gentleman . . . said to me as I handed him my a dollar bill, “justthe coffee, honey?”.

As I’m pouring the elixir of alertness he came up to meand apologized, not once by three times. AND he said he hoped he hadn’toffended me.  For what?  Well, for calling my honey.

I assured him he hadn’t offended me in the slightest.  He told me that someone had said something tohim about it the other day who hadbeen offended.  Can you believe that??

For what?  Beingpolite?  Being sweet?    He’swasn’t hitting on me, for God’s sake.  Hewas just being nice.

All this political correctness crap is . . . well . . .crap.

I’m living in a world of hyper-sensitive ninnies!

Firewater Friday - Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down

When I was a kid I thought that Mexican jumping beans werethe coolest things. What could be neater than a little bean that bouncesaround?

Okay, so I was an easily amused child.  I admit it. 

They usually came in a little clear plastic boxes with ffour or five beans in them.  They areabout the size of a kernel of corn or a small bean.  Picture a little bean that moves a fractionof an inch every 15 seconds or so . . . pretty exciting stuff, huh? That'sabout as exciting as jumping beans get.

It wasn’t until I found out what they really were . . .  and what mad them jump . . . that they became lesscool.  WAY less cool.  Icky even.

The thing that makes these beans jump is a tiny mothlarvae that lives inside the bean. The moth lays its eggs in the flower ofthe plant, and the eggs are incorporated into the seeds. The larvae then eatout the interior of the bean and live there. When the larvae move, so does thebean. Eventually, the larvae turn into moths that emerge from the beans torepeat the cycle.  Unless, of course,their stuck in a little airless plastic box . . . then they justsuffocate.  

when i

Firewater Friday - What the dickens?

A Gimlet . . . or other such cocktail. . .  if you drink too many your headhurts like the dickens.

What the devil is a Dickens?? 

I thought it had something to do with thefamous author.  I just didn’t know whatthe relation was.  You might be surprisedthat the phrase has nothing to do with Charles Dickens, as I assumed itdid.  And, since there isn’t anycorrelation that explains that!

But that doesn’t clarify what the dickensthe dickens is.  Way back in the day whenknights were bold and maidens were fair and all that rot, dickens was a euphemismfor the devil.  It started out as devilkinsand was eventually shortened to dickens. 

Along the same vein, dickens is very muchlike deuce . . . as in What the deuce?!  . . . deuce is another old English name for the Devil.

So, there you have it . . .