Tag: Cocktails

Seven Things I Love (1-18-2021)

1. This Video of Annie Lennox Playing Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’ – proving that even celebrities have to practice and worry about getting things “perfect.”

2. This (Supposed) Real Life Weather Report for Southerners – honestly, if all weather reporters did this I think we’d have a lot less accidents in the winter.

3. This Takeover of TikTok by Sea Shanties – I’ve been a fan of sea shanties for a few years, even before I saw the movie ‘Fisherman’s Friends‘ (and if you haven’t seen it yet, you must watch it!) Now they are popping up everywhere – marvelous!

(Stephen Colbert predicted the sea shanty craze.)

@miaasanomusic

Added strings to @anipeterson’s version as well because I got so many requests! @nthnevnss @_luke.the.voice_ #fyp #seashanty #wellerman #viral #fiddle

♬ original sound – miaasanomusic

Of course Seth Meyers was way ahead of the times with his Sea Captain….

4. This Cocktail Created for Genevieve Lantelme – I can’t remember the circuitous path I took to get to Genevieve Lantelme but the internet has a way of doing that. You start in one place and end up someplace completely unrelated and it happens fairly quickly.

Miss Lantelme was a French stage actress back in the early 20th century. Born Mathilde Hortense Claire Fossey, she had a tough childhood and a short life. Mathilde’s parents divorced when she was a kid and although custody went to her father, there is a memoir written by Simone le Bargy, another French actress, who said that Lantelme ended up in a brothel run by her own mother by the age of fourteen.

The one positive about working in a brothel is that Mathilde met a lot of rich and powerful men and one of them, Henry Poidatz, a banker and owner of Le Matin newspaper, was able to back her stage career. That was when she became Genevieve Lantelme (Lantelme was her mother’s maiden name.) Her nickname was ‘Ginette’.

It took about 7 years but she eventually made it big, getting a leading role in 1908 which resulted in her being pictured on postcards and magazines covers, fashion designers creating gowns for her, and newspapers and magazines in both the U.S. and Europe doing stories on her. She was a star.

She also became the mistress of a playwright (Alfred Edwards) who was on his fourth wife. He divorced the fourth and married Genevieve in 1909. In early July 1911, Lantelme, her husband Edwards, and a few of their friends boarded Edwards’ yacht, L’Aimée. On the night of July 24/25, Lantelme disappeared, and a few days later her body was discovered in the waters of the Rhine River. She was twenty-eight years old.

The death was determined to be an accident but many people suspected that she had been dispatched by her husband. In fact a few newspapers even ran stories with the accusation and Alfred Edwards sued them and won. (FYI, not surprisingly, Alfred Edwards was 27 years older than Ginette. He died less than three years after she did from influenza though he was only 57. He had also married his sixth wife, another actress named Gabrielle Colonna-Romano. Gabrielle was five years younger than Ginette.)

The Ginette Cocktail

  • 1 oz Cognac
  • ¾ oz Dubonnet Rouge
  • ¼ oz Lemon Juice
  • ¼ oz Maraschino Liqueur

Shake well with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Express the oils from a lemon peel into the glass, rub the rim with the peel, give it a twist and toss it in.

Of course if I were going to invent a new cocktail for a French woman whose nickname was Ginette it would have most definitely have included gin. It also would have included champagne and/or St. Germaine. Probably like this St. Germaine Champagne Cocktail.

5. This History of the Tiny Doors of the U.S. Capitol – everyone loves miniature things and these have (had) a purpose.

6. This Artist Known as the “Glitter Queen”Sara Shakeel uses actual Swarovski crystals, glitter, and constellations to create physical and digital imagery which she uses to share her passions, chronicle current events, and convey her opinions on social issues. Plus it’s sparkly!

Be sure to watch the video…

7. This New Stanley Tucci Series on CNN – VERY excited about this one! (thanks Ann.) Debuts on Sunday, February 14th.


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Have a Fantastic Week!

Ten* Things I Love (7-20-2020)

1. If We Treated Teachers Like Pro Athletes – Key & Peele – this is from a few years ago but SOOOOOO relevant right now.

2. This Ingenious Hummingbird – Paraguayan Conservationist Bianca Caroline Soares snapped this photo back in September of 2019. She had been observing hummingbird nests for over a year but when she saw this one she knew it was something unique and special.

“The hummingbird went on to have two chicks, and Soares was able to capture the trio under one roof—literally. The flexible nest expanded to fit the new additions and the leaf was able to cover them all.”

From ‘Clever Hummingbird Builds a Nest Complete With a Giant Leaf Roof‘ by Sara Barnes, My Modern Met, July 14, 2020

3. This Tutorial by Telenovela star Kate del Castillo on How to be an Action Star – She is HILAROUS! I had tears in my eyes. I am planning on subscribing to Peacock TV I’m just waiting for my smartTV to get an app.

4. These three incredibly talented beauties – Norah, Yarah & Rosa known as Let it Happen (thanks to my friend Jeta for originally sharing this video). Just wow.

5. Hear Ye, Hear YeThe Queen has her own Gin. There is pretty much nothing more perfect (and British) than this. Sadly it has already sold out. It is/was only available in the UK but I was hoping to get a bottle when I went over next year. Sigh.

The Queen is famous (infamous?) for having the same four cocktails every day.

From Vanity Fair (and Food & Wine):

And Food and Wine uncovered another detail about the Queen’s daily intake: the 91-year-old reportedly consumes four cocktails a day. And why shouldn’t she!? Let’s run through what they are:

Her first drink, per former royal chef Darren McGrady, enjoyed shortly before lunch, is a gin and Dubonnet with a slice of lemon and a “lot of ice.” Sure, this sounds about right. A classy and posh and powerful concoction.

Then, during lunch, she’ll have a piece of chocolate and a glass of wine at meal’s end. (That we have been eating lunch all these years without closing with a piece of chocolate and glass of wine now makes us feel utterly foolish.)

O.K., then, also at lunch, the Queen drinks a dry gin martini, according to her cousin Margaret Rhodes. So, yes, we are now at three drinks by roughly 1 p.m.

Her final drink of the day? It actually doesn’t come until she’s going to sleep: a glass of Champagne before bed.

6. Quarantine Public Library – this delightful little site currently houses over 40 one-page pdfs that you can download and fold into little “books.” They are really more like works of art. I made a donation of $30 and donated the mega-pack of the entire collection in one zipped file. If you donate $10 you can print out your own library card and there is also a general $5 donation level. Funds collected from the Quarantine Library are being directed to EveryoneON, which is a non-profit that connects low-income families to affordable internet service and computers. That is a non-profit I can absolutely support!

7. Urzila (pronounced Ursila like ….) Carlson – this South African comedian who does “not identify as fat” is my new favorite funny person. Her show on Netflix called ‘Overqualified Loser‘ is a hoot. Some might say she overshares, but then, isn’t oversharing really a subjective thing? For myself, I’ve always felt that society needs to stop being so freaking uptight and talk more about stuff. If we didn’t try to hide things that are part of life like menopause and mensuration and puberty and various stages of aging we’d all be more informed, less ashamed, and people that needed might need help would get it.

Anyhoo, back to Urzila, come on, how could a menopausal broad not adore a female comedian who is a lesbian, has a South African accent, and who does not identify as fat? Pinch me!

8. This video of Billy Joel playing a discarded piano – no words necessary.

9. Crabtree & Evelyn La Source Hand Cream – I have been using this for years. In fact, a while back one of my staff told me that my office smelled like this cream and it always reminded her of me. Which made me happy. It’s a nice scent. When I went to look for a link for this I started to panic because as I typed “Crabtree & Evelyn” into Google up popped “Crabtree & Evelyn closing down” – EEK! It appears that the retailer hasn’t survived the online sales surge so it did shut down its brick & mortar stores. So sad. But it relaunched in the middle of last year as online only and so this product is still available. Though sadly it has been repackaged and is not available in the larger size that has a pump. Still, I may need to stock up just in case.

10. Henry Cavill building a Gaming PC – seriously there is nothing hotter than a guy working on electronics. Is anyone else watching ‘The Witcher?’ I’m REALLY looking forward to seeing him in the new ‘Enola Holmes‘ movie!

*This week there was just too many things so I upped it to TEN things but this is not going to be a standing thing (I don’t think.)

Have a LOVELY week!

Five Things I Love (4/27/2020)

  1. 1. Stanley Tucci making a Negroni – if you haven’t seen this video yet, you have to watch it. It’s true, I could watch Stanley Tucci reading a phone book (there’s a handful of actors that I can say this about and he’s one of them,) but this is entrancing.

2. The Film Short made while isolating by one of my favorite history buff/film makers. I love her sense of humor.

3. Children’s Book Emoji Pictionary – how many can you figure out? I managed to get 15 out of 15 (yes I’m bragging, but full disclosure I was a Children’s Librarian for 12 years before becoming a library director so I have a bit of an advantage.) I’ll put the answers at the bottom of the post.

4. Gabe Kaplan beating the pants off of Robert Conrad in a race from the Battle of the Network Stars. Raise your hand if you remember this show! I do, I do!!!

https://twitter.com/super70ssports/status/1222315769981218819?lang=en

5. This video of Mr. Rogers & Julia Child cooking together. I would have given anything to meet Mr. Rogers but I can say I got to meet Julia Child back when I worked at Schwartz Bookshop in Milwaukee during her ‘The Way to Cook’ book tour. She’s as fabulous as you would hope she’d be and so wonderfully tall. As a tall person myself I was overjoyed about that.

6. This article on ‘5 Reasons to Bake Pretzels with Walter the Baker‘ – yesterday was National Pretzel Day and when I think of pretzels I can’t help but think of the book Walter the Baker. For those of you who haven’t read the book, here is a lovely video story time. Walter the Baker is one of my favorite Eric Carle books. It may be because it’s about pretzels. It may be because it has a Duke & Duchess in the story, (good or bad I’m partial to stories that include royalty.) It may be because I love all Carle’s books.

Anyway, being in isolation, pretzels are the perfect thing to make at home, assuming you have flour – I hear it can be difficult to find in some areas. How yummy!

7. Last but definitely not least, these Coloring Sheets inspired by WES ANDERSONS & HAYAO MIYAZAKI films. O……M…..G, I’m in heaven!!!

And the answers to the Children’s Book Emoji Pictionary are:

  1. Green Eggs & Ham
  2. Charlotte’s Web
  3. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
  4. Good Night Moon
  5. One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
  6. Cat in the Hat
  7. Rainbow Fish
  8. Stone Soup
  9. Three Little Pigs
  10. Alice in Wonderland
  11. Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
  12. If you Give a Mouse a Cookie
  13. Goldilocks & the Three Bears
  14. The Giving Tree
  15. Where the Wild Things Are

How’d ya do?