Food History

Mary has given me the most wonderful reports. I feel as if I’ve made you lose out bigtime because I can’t give them in their entirety without giving away the recipes. In fact, I have made you lose out bigtime, there’s no doubt of it. To make up, I’ll give you just a bit more of her notes, without telling you what bits of recipe they’re note of. If it’s confusing, blame me, not Mary.

For one recipe, Mary needed shaved ice:

“Off I go to get the trusty food processor down from the shelf. Andrew stops me, saying, don’t bother, he’d rather have his on the rocks and he doesn’t see that it would make much difference to the taste anyway. My appeals to historical authenticity fall on deaf ears. Steve is out for a walk and therefore of no help. ;-)”

Obviously the ice was not a problem, because the results went something like this (which means this drink is on the rather-long list and possibly straight through to the final):

“Andrew: 3 out of 5 stars — still too sweet for him. (At this point we theorize that 1920s bartenders might have been sweetened their drinks more than we do nowadays to cover up any harshness or off-flavors that might have been present in the rotgut whiskey and bathtub gin they were obliged to use!)

Mary: 4 out of 5 stars. Quite nice. I’d like to try it with a better brandy and served over shaved ice, the “right” way! (Mary gives Andrew “The Look”, but Andrew is now watching TV and is therefore cheerfully oblivious)

Steve (back from his walk): 5 out of 5 stars — he says it’s his new favorite! :-)”

I have one more report from her to go (ie in my in-box) and it’s a very simple one. As ever, she worked through the instructions and explained what she did. Her final report read:

“Phooey! Our club soda has gone flat. Well, I still give it 4 out of 5 for the lively citrus flavor, though Steve gives this one only 3 out of 5. I would definitely try it again with fresh soda.

Average: 3 1/2 out of 5.”

And that’s it from me until more people report in.

Thank you everyone, so far. I’m looking forward to seeing what appears in my in-box over the next few days.