mstrust Invites You to Pick Your Poison

Welcome to my cocktail lounge category challenge. Find yourself a velvet sofa and place your order.


I'm Jennifer and I've been an LTer since March 2008. I live in Phoenix with my husband Mike and an anxious boxer named Coral. I have about 3500 books taking over my house. I like baking, traveling and Halloween. We spend a lot of time in Las Vegas as my mom lives there, and we visit tiki bars and events. I'm the author of a maple guidebook/cookbook, and a bio of author Dorothy B. Hughes.

I'm doing 10 categories and shooting for at least five books in each category. Some will end up with more, I'm being loosey-goosey about it. But I'll probably drop in some cocktail recipes throughout the year, so hopefully you'll see something you want to try yourself. This lounge is politics-free but we have an abundance of mint leaves and fruit skewers. I'm glad you're here.

My hosting duties for 2022:
January- ScaredyKit- I'm hosting a haunted house theme. I'll bet they're cold & drafty too.
April- MysteryKit- Noir/Hardboiled. Join. Don't make me break your kneecaps.
August- ShakespeareKit- The less celebrated works. Hamlet's taking some time off.
September- ScaredyKit- Haunted or Unhinged?

My Favorite Authors

The Sea Hag- a rum, Cherry Heering and blackberry brandy tiki concoction that I always return to.

1. The Fantastic Mr. Fox- 4 stars
2. James and the Giant Peach- 4
3. The Magic Finger- 3.5

Fresh, New Authors (To Me)


The Orange Blossom- What could be fresher?

World Reading


The Navy Grog- It gets around.

1. Diary of a Bookseller- 4

Mystery, Crime and Noir


Bloody Mary-Tomato juice or something else?

1. Murder at Melrose Court

Horror


The Corpse Reviver- No, it won't hurt you...

1. Horrorstor- 4.5
2. Nothing But Blackened Teeth- 2

Autumn/Halloween

Zombie- They leave you unable to move.

Classics


Martini- There's a reason they've been around so long.

1. The Giver- 4.5

Food, Drink & Home


Planters Punch- Order this and you'll get a drink stuffed with a fruit salad and you ain't going anywhere.

1. Foodheim- 2.5
2. Gastro Obscura- 5

ROOTS


Berry Shrub- the flavor choices are endless.

1. What Now, King Lear?

All The Rest


Sangrias- There's just no telling what will end up in here.

Waving "Hi". Love your choices! Both drinks and categories. Can't wait to see what you put here. Happy reading!

Wonderful theme! Glad to see you here, Jennifer. You always provide something delicious!

Excellent thread theme. Cheers!

I look forward to the drinks as much as the reading.

Great theme. Here's to the Martinis!

Great theme. Cheers!

yummm! Good luck with your challenges and especially with your reading.

>13 LadyBookworth: Hi, and I'm happy to see my first visitor! I think I'll be able to come up with some rare and unusual recipes.

>14 VivienneR: Hello, Vivienne! I'm always urging my visitors to taste this or that, aren't I?



>15 Helenliz: Hi Helen! I'm looking forward to the drinks too!

>16 MissWatson: Thanks, good to see you here! I had to have a martini representing the classics.

>17 Tess_W: Thank you, Tess! Cheers to you!

>18 majkia: Thank you, Jean! Good luck to you too!

Great to see you set up for another year, Jennifer. Boy, I could spend a day here sampling all the drinks - but I have to say, The Sea Hag looks particularly delicious!

What a great theme - I'm always up for a good cocktail!

>20 DeltaQueen50: Hi, Judy, I'm happy you found me. I knew that I would end up posting the Sea Hag recipe as it's one of my very favorites and it's an original cocktail at Frankie's in Vegas. Here's their recipe from Liquid Vacation, which I recommend for anyone interested in tiki cocktails, along with Smuggler's Cove and any of the recipe books from Beachbum Berry.

Sea Hag

1 1/2 oz dark rum
1/2 oz blackberry brandy
1/4 oz Cherry Herring
2 oz guava nectar
2 oz papaya nectar
cherries for garnish
Add everything but the cherries in an ice filled 14 oz double old-fashioned glass, then pour it all into a cocktail shaker. Without shaking, re-pour it into the glass and garnish with cherries.
Now, I don't typically have guava and papaya nectar in the house, but I've made this at home replacing the nectars with orange juice and it was delicious.

>21 Jackie_K: Hi Jackie! You've come to the right place, see above!

I'm in! Okay, what would you rate as a straight shot? Novelette? Short story? Something so utterly gripping that it induces a paradigm shift?

Love this theme! And suddenly I'm feeling a little thirsty...

>22 mstrust: My husband loves anything with a rum base so this is a cocktail that I can see us making and enjoying! Thanks for the recipe. :)

>25 DeltaQueen50: put mine on DeltaQueen50's tab.

>23 SomeGuyInVirginia: Hi, Larry! Good idea, and now I'm gonna steal it! #fivefingerdiscountJennifer

>24 christina_reads: That's what happens around me. Good to see you!

>25 DeltaQueen50: I like rum cocktails too, so you'll probably see quite a few here. Hope the Hag is a hit with your husband!

>26 SomeGuyInVirginia: Oh, Lord, he's starting already.

So fun to have another thread up! I'm looking forward to enjoying cocktails vicariously next year on your thread!

I'm not a big drinker anymore, but some of those look interesting. Great theme.

Sangrias make me think of restaurant patio lunches with friends! I will take my virtual sangria to a screened-in patio, though, to keep it away from the wasps.

I love your themes and pix! We do enjoy our cocktails.

>28 NinieB: Hi! I know, I jumped right in. Glad your going to lift a few with me this coming year.

>29 dudes22: Good to see you here, Betty!

>30 rabbitprincess: But with so many chunks of fruit in that sangria, what's a little ol' wasp?
Glad you found me, Princess!

>31 LadyoftheLodge: Thanks so much! I do believe we will have fun.

And I've just discovered mango habanero sugar, which is fabulous for rimming a margarita glass, but I can see it being used for a few other cocktails too.

Cheers to another year!

I love your theme, Jennifer! You have paired everything perfectly, and your pithy descriptions made me laugh out loud. And your Breakfast at Tiffany's topper!!!

>33 VictoriaPL: I'll drink to that, Victoria!

>34 Crazymamie: Thanks so much! I'm glad you like it here and hopefully you'll visit often. I know, that lady cracks me up, but I think the highlight of the party is this one.

This thread is lethal. Whose shout is it?

No need to wonder, I'm always picking up the tab around here, so help yourself.

Love it!

>35 mstrust: True! Having actually fallen on my face in June, I'm hoping she had a softer landing. Heh.

>39 Crazymamie: Oh bummer! I have had a few near misses myself but luckily someone caught me.

>38 Kristelh: Hi, Kristel!

>39 Crazymamie: I hope it wasn't a bad fall! Everything still where it's supposed to be?

>40 LadyoftheLodge: In my mind, you must be saying that someone who'd had one less cocktail than you was there ;-D I may be wrong.

>41 mstrust: You would be right about that.

>40 LadyoftheLodge: I was by myself.

>41 mstrust: Jennifer, it was SO bad. I fell right onto my face without catching myself at all. Onto concrete. So took skin off my nose and lip, cement burned my lip, split my upper lip inside all the way up, chipped both front teeth, put a hairline fracture on another tooth, broke 2 ribs, bone bruised my right patella, and bone bruised my left shin. BUT I didn't break my nose or my glasses, which is incredible. And I was able to get up and drive myself home. I hope never to do anything like it again. This was back in June, so everything is mostly healed except for my lip - still have a seam and a fat necrosis in there, but they are slowly diminishing.

>43 mstrust: Gotta love Alexis!!

Jeez, that sounds like the results of a car accident! I'm glad you're healing, but that's a whole lot of damage to recover from. Let me offer the only thing I can, which is a Painkiller. Use it in good health.

I literally fell on my face - sis not catch myself at all. Not even a tiny scratch to my hands and arms. Heh. I approve of your first aid - that sounds most yum. Thank you very much!

You're welcome, and I figure that by giving you the recipe you can administer first aid whenever you need it!

>44 Crazymamie: Good lord, that's awful! I hope it never happens again!

It's 10:00 a.m. somewhere, I'll take a painkiller, too.

>44 Crazymamie: I once had a similar experience tripping out of a car at the theater. My heel caught on the door frame of the car. I had visions of busting up my front teeth (I have veneers) as I headed face first towards the pavement. I was lucky the valet who was parking the car caught me as I fell. No alcohol involved!

>48 SomeGuyInVirginia: There you are! You know I always have the cocktail du jour ready for your arrival.

>49 LadyoftheLodge: I've never gone onto my face, but about nine years ago I was talking at the top of a short flight of stairs, so engrossed that I forgot where I was and when the conversation ended, I turned around and stuck my foot out expecting the floor, but instead got nothing but air. I bypassed three steps and landed on that ankle. It tore all the ligaments but didn't break, so I was lucky. Drink milk.

Great theme - I like Old Fashioneds myself ;-)

A delicious classic. Nice to see you, Pete!

Dear mistrust: This is my first year in my very own house and I'm doing the whole "Christmas decoration" thing. I'm having a guy in to hang a big assed wreath on the gable over my front porch. Before yesterday I didn't even know 'big assed' was a standard unit of measurement for the Southern Producers of Expensive and Needless Decorations, Y'all (SPENDY). My question, and I do have one, is this: Is it appropriate to use jazz hands every time I say the phrase 'Christmas decorations'? Or is everybody else right?

Dear Gentle Reader,
Jazz hands are an appropriate reaction when seeing your new neighbors admiring the "Big-Assed Wreath Package" you have purchased. If they didn't want to see jazz hands they wouldn't have looked at your house. In fact, if you bought more than three Big-Assed Wreaths, you are also allowed to do jazz hands at the neighbors, then pull your pockets inside out to indicate you've spent all your pocket money for the next month and will not be contributing to their charity drives. Who do those small-wreathed people think they are?

I'm hosting 2022's first month of ScaredyKit, and the theme is haunted houses. Come join!
https://www.librarything.com/topic/337466#unread

>54 mstrust: This is an excellent and thoughtful response to a true seasonal dilemma. Many of my neighbors have succumbed to the Big-Assed Wreaths theory, but I have not yet seen any jazz hands or presented such to anyone else. BTW--Two wreaths on my house, purchased from a church group, complete with red bows.

I recommend jazz hands as possibly the most polite way to make oneself memorable to others, especially when done silently and with direct eye contact.
I only have a single wreath on my door. The multiple security cameras let the neighbors know that I see them admiring that wreath.

Here's the Rum Rum Rudolph from Frankie's Tiki Room. Very rummy.

1 oz spiced rum
1 oz 151-proof rum
1/4 oz vanilla syrup
1/2 oz Coco Lopez
dash of bitters
2 oz orange juice

Build in an ice-filled double old-fashioned glass, then pour everything into a cocktail shaker and shake well. Re-pour into the old fashioned.
Sprinkle the top with fresh nutmeg and garnish with a cherry. Sit down to drink.

This is what my brother David sent to me for Christmas. Three tiki mugs from Trader Vic's, along with a postcard and sticker.

The palm tree is called "Golden Tiki" and the top comes off. The tall white mug is "The Fogcutter", and the short one is called "Ramu". David is pretty great.

Er.mah.gerd. David sent a Christmas box full of fabulous. Tell David that he's my secret Santa and, really David, tick tock buddy. We're burning daylight and I don't have my box full o tiki joy. So far I've only been able to find about half of my tiki collection and have them lined up above one of the bookcases. It looks a little valley of the ancestors from planet of the apes but, seriously, I can't find my spoons so my fashionable drinking accoutrement is simply going to have to wait it's turn to make that fabulous appearance.

I love the wreath discussions! I live on a floor where there are 4 apartments and although we don't say anything, there is definitely a wreath contest going on. Ours is the biggest (and I think best) this year, but Stan down the hall has galumped me by adding a 3 foot Santa Statue just outside his door. Everytime I step into the hallway I see this little ol' elf down the hall and it kinda gives me the creeps.

>60 SomeGuyInVirginia: I know, everyone should be so lucky as to have David pick out a Christmas present for them. Ummm, I'm sure he's just putting extra thought into yours.
I have half of out tiki collection on two shelves of a barrister bookcase, the other half going across the fireplace mantle. Two of these mugs are so tall that they wouldn't fit in the bookcase and there's no more room on the mantle, so they're on the entertainment center in the den. Looks like I'm starting a third location for the mugs.
What's this about spoons? Teaspoons, wooden spoons, cocaine spoons, or souvenirs from all the states and national parks?

>61 DeltaQueen50: Obviously Stan wants a war. Show him who's boss by adding a motion-sensored six foot tall Santa. Move it a little closer to his door each day.

>62 mstrust: Good idea, I was thinking of sneaking down the hall once a day and slightly moving his Santa but with my luck I would most likely get caught.

>63 DeltaQueen50: Leave your shoes off and go at night. You can always tape some candy to Santa's hand, so if you're spotted it looks like you're being nice.

Well this big-assed wreath and jazz hand discussion is certainly interesting and entertaining! Actually, had never heard of wreath one upmanship before. I had to look up what jazz-hands were!

Interesting to read about the Christmas wreaths. They're not a big thing in Melbourne. Instead, people often decorate their houses and front yards with lights, and there are some really elaborate displays that draw hordes of people - lots of families, with little kids in pyjamas. It's summer here!

>65 Tess_W: I had to look up what jazz-hands were!
You were unfamiliar with jazz hands? I wouldn't know how to leave a job interview without them. Or jury duty.

>66 pamelad: We do up our houses in lights too, and lots of people have the huge inflatable characters in the yard. I'm actually seeing more big yard displays in my neighborhood than last year.
A summertime Christmas would be unique for a lot of us, though I live on the desert and our city is a snowbird destination in winter because it rarely gets to freezing. What's the special hot weather Christmas treat in Australia?

>67 mstrust: Had jury duty last year and never saw jazz hands!

As to Christmas lights, well...we are like Clark Griswold!

Soup spoons! I currently have two. I have eight forks, knives, and those dinky little spoons nobody knows what to do with but I always use for coffee.

And with this shocking revelation I shall take my leave. Jazz hands exeunt stage left.

>68 Tess_W: I love the houses where the owners want their display to be seen in satellite photos!

>69 SomeGuyInVirginia: Oh, soup spoons. Well, one for you, one for Parker. Don't get above yourself and and start bragging about all the spoons you have "in storage".

>64 mstrust: You always have the best ideas!

>67 mstrust: A cold Christmas lunch on a warm, sunny day, with lots of seafood. This year though, we're being encouraged to have Christmas barbecues outdoors.

>71 DeltaQueen50: If by "best" you mean "evil". Just comes naturally.

>72 pamelad: Seafood lunch sounds good to me. We always have a huge ham. I don't like ham so I don't eat it, but I'm okay with filling up on side dishes and dessert.

>73 mstrust: Why bother with the meats? Bring out the side dishes and desserts. Happy with chips and salsa or cheese tray too.

BTW--Love the tiki stuff! We have a tiki god mug that we purchased in Hawaii and a tiki god wood carving that we bought in Polynesia (when international travel was still okay). That is the extent of the collection. However, we have a large collection of nutcrackers that are currently on display and only at Christmas time. Most of them were gifts. My sister insists that they march around the house at night. I have not found that to be true, but I swear I saw tiny footprints in the cheese ball.

In one of the books I just finished, there were suggestions for old timey cocktails from the flapper era, shades of Al Capone. I had to look them up, but they were interesting: Gin Rickey, Bee's Knees, Southside, Singapore Sling.

>74 LadyoftheLodge: I also have a tiki god statue from Polynesia. I have never visited, but this is my best estate sale find so far. I also have some miniature tikis.

>74 LadyoftheLodge: It's true, much as I love Thanksgiving turkey, overall I'm okay without meat. My mom makes killer mac and cheese, a great big bowl of it. I'll be making some vegetable sides to make sure Mike has healthy stuff, like a salad and some Greek yogurt and onion dip.
Awesome tiki stuff! I don't have anything from Polynesia. Most has come from Frankie's and we are a permanent #45 for their yearly anniversary tikis, out of 300. I have some that come directly from Tiki Farm, and then some that we've bought at other places, like a vintage store.
And I too have a nutcracker collection that comes out at Christmas. My rarest is an Egyptian Pharaoh nutcracker that Mike bought me about a dozen years ago in a department store.

>75 LadyoftheLodge: I love vintage and forgotten cocktails and have several books on them. I've made a Bee's Knees and Singapore Slings, and they're both delicious, too tasty to be forgotten. I recommend them!

>76 lowelibrary: The old ones are my favorites. You know that someone had to go to the islands, or the restaurant, to get that mug and they had such a good time.

Oh wow, I also didn't know Tiki glasses were a thing! There was a restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, for about 30 years called The Kahiki. It was a Polynesian restaurant with an extensive gift shop. They had exotic drinks (quite expensive) and you go to take the Tiki glass is was served in home. I probably had 5-6 different ones. When I was cleaning out about 3-4 years ago I put them all in a box to donate to Goodwill! The restaurant has since closed and I noticed in the antique store the other day those Kahiki Tiki's were going for a lot of $. Who knew?

Yes, tiki mugs are a big deal, especially around my thread.
The Kahiki is very well known in tikiland and their mugs are highly collectible. Why couldn't you have made a rash decision of sending them to a certain someone in Arizona, ha? Well, you know the Goodwill made a nice chunk from them if they put them online, so you did a very nice thing.

>78 Tess_W: >79 mstrust: It broke my heart when they closed The Kahiki. I have several of their Tiki glasses, plus a few matchboxes. *sigh*

>80 mstrust: This cocktail looks pretty and tasty! I have a couple of cocktail books: Drinking with the Saints and Drinking with Saint Nick. While they are sort of tongue in cheek and the cocktails are unusual, they are fun to read. We have not fixed any of the cocktails in those two books. We used to have a red bartender's guide, but it has long gone, I fear.

>77 mstrust: I have a few interesting nutcrackers: the Sugar Plum Fairy, a police officer, a baker, and an Irish leprechaun. The rest are variations on soldiers, with the exception of the fashionable lady in her glittery cocktail dress and flip hairstyle.

>81 scaifea: I've never been to Ohio, but the fact that I know about this lone-gone restaurant is a testament to how highly regarded it is among tiki enthusiasts. Someone with a couple million to spare should re-build it.
Our local tiki restaurant was Ah Fong's in Anaheim, a combination of Polynesian and Chinese decor and food that was owned by Benson Fong, a character actor who appeared in lots of tv dramas. There were five locations across Southern California. He walked around the restaurant greeting customers and we were there enough that he knew my parents. When he heard my sister and I chattering over the maraschino cherries in our Shirley Temples, he had a bowl of cherries sent to our table.



>82 LadyoftheLodge: I can see being able to switch out cranberry liqueur for a lot of other flavors, like cherry, orange, or almond.
My sister has a real talent for giving me unusual cocktail books, often about forgotten recipes. I love that stuff.

>83 LadyoftheLodge: I have an Irish nutcracker, but he's tall and has a pot of gold coins. I also have a German who holds a bratwurst in one hand and a mug of beer in the other, a Spanish sailor who holds an eyeglass, and a large king with a red cape, crown and a tray that holds wooden blocks to count down the days. Many others, including a fairy with wings and a wand.

We're leaving tomorrow and I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas!


"It's Christmas. Let the kids have all the mimosas they want."

For anyone interested in nutcrackers, this is the Nutcracker Museum of Leavenworth, Wa.
https://www.nutcrackermuseum.com/index.html

Merry Christmas - love that cartoon.

Merry Christmas, hope you have a lovely trip and restful break!

Smelly Kleemas Tee! Have a wonderful time in Las Vegas! Win Beeg!

>86 dudes22: Merry Christmas, Betty!

>87 Jackie_K: Merry Christmas! Being in Vegas means running around at a breakneck speed. We have our round of casinos, restaurants and shops to visit, and the tiki bar at least once. Just to wish our bartender a Merry Christmas.

>88 SomeGuyInVirginia: Let me wish you all kinds of smells too! I'm gonna win, I tells ya!
I just got your card, and dear lord, where did you find that?! Merry Christmas, Larry!!!
(So that everyone isn't left in the dark, Larry sent me a Squid Games Christmas card with a graphic of the Red Light, Green Light doll.)

>89 mstrust: That cartoon is great! Thanks for the happy wishes. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year too! Your nutcracker collection beats mine into the ground. I would love to see a photo of it.

The bartender's guide I had (and will soon own again, since I just ordered it) is Mr. Boston Bartender's Guide.

>89 mstrust: Great comic! May your Christmas be blessed!

>89 mstrust: And thanks for your card, Jennifer! I loves me some shiny! I got your card on Etsy from Jeff Granito, who does a lot of tiki Polynesian inspired art. You should check them out, I think you would really like his stuff.

Listening to Christmas music and getting the public rooms at least polished.

Merry Christmas everyone! 🎅

Merry Christmas to you and yours, Jennifer!

>39 Crazymamie: I read your other post. I do hope you are healed by now.

>74 LadyoftheLodge: My granddaugter used to be in the Nutcracker ballet and has a big collection of nutcrackers. We are all going to Egypt in January and I will look for one there.

What a fun thread.

>96 mnleona: We just received another one for Christmas from my sister! It is a small policeman, holding a stop sign. He is quite different from the larger policeman nutcracker we have.

>90 LadyoftheLodge: I hope you had a Merry Christmas! I'll try to get a pic of my nutcrackers up, I'd love to show them off. I have so much to do now that we're back home so I can't promise, but I'll try.
I can only guess that the lovely Christmas pic was an add for the alcohol (the words are mine), but why would they give the kids drinks that look exactly like what the adults are drinking? It's like they were begging some smart ass like me to come along and point out that the children are getting crocked.

>91 Tess_W: Thank you, Tess! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

>92 SomeGuyInVirginia: I sure will check him out! That's awesome!
I listened to Christmas music as I baked, wrapped, decorated the tree, and gambled. I don't get how anyone hates it.

>94 DeltaQueen50: Thank you, Judy! I hope you had a great holiday!

>96 mnleona: I hope you find one!

>97 mnleona: Thank you very much!

>98 LadyoftheLodge: And the collection gets bigger!

Here are the books I brought home from Christmas. I also have a couple of gift cards that I'll use on more books.

Books I acquired:
From The Writer's Block-
Life Among the Savages
Sting-Ray Afternoon
Be My Baby- the autobiography of Ronnie Spector

Library sale-
The Case of the Demure Defendant
The Case of the Terrified Typist
The Case of the Daring Decoy
The December Boys
Waiting
The Stephen King Story

>98 LadyoftheLodge: Nice gift.

Okay, I just put Waiting in my Amazon shopping cart. I try to buy books through my local bookstore, but an awful lot of what I want to read they can't get through their distributor. I asked them why they didn't just order it from Amazon and charge the cover price so they could keep the difference, but they said they don't do that. I really don't know why. They could charge the Amazon price or they could charge the cover price. Either way it's a sale and you have to come in the store to pick them up, and by golly right there's the coffee shop so hello espresso!

Happy New Year, Jennifer!

>102 SomeGuyInVirginia: Exactly why I end up buying the specific books I'm searching for on Amazon, but the bookstore is for serendipity, because you can't really count on that book on bats, wood carving, or unusual cocktails to be there. I agree with you, the indie should get the book to the customer even if it means buying from Big Evil and making just a few dollars on top. Maybe you should e-mail this to the store management, because it's a good plan.

>103 VivienneR: Happy New Year Vivienne! Good to see you!

Damn The Weather Cocktail
(for when you're feeling defiant)

1/2 oz fresh orange juice
1/4 oz Italian Vermouth
several dashes of Curacao
ice cubes

Shake with ice and strain into a bulletproof chilled cocktail glass.
From Let's Bring Back: The Cocktail Edition

Thank you, Cheryl, and Happy New Year to you!

Happy New Year1

Happy new year!

Have a Happy 2022!

You too, Jennifer!

Best wishes on your 2022 reading!

>112 thornton37814: Thank you, and to you too!

Coffee. AmIright?

>48 SomeGuyInVirginia:, >49 LadyoftheLodge:, >95 mnleona: Thanks everyone for your sympathy. I am indeed fully healed and hope never to do it again.

Happy New Year, Jennifer! I had lost this thread somehow, but I am all caught up now. The conversation about the wreaths and the jazz hands made me laugh out loud, so thanks for that.

1. Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix. The story of a group of Orsk employees, especially Amy, who determine to find out who has been ruining their low-priced Ikea knock-off furniture each night after the store closes. Actually, only junior store manager Basil and wanna-be ghost hunting duo Matt and Trinity are that determined. Amy and Ruth Anne have been asked to be there because every other employee Basil asked already had plans, and the two women are willing to run up some overtime, hopefully while sitting in the breakroom.
But the group do find who is messing up the stock, and soon wished they hadn't. Will anyone survive doing an overnighter in the store?
This is a re-read for me, for the ScaredyKit's haunted house theme. I hadn't read it in five years or so, loved it back then and just as much now. It's a clever, modern haunted house story, and since the author left it open for a sequel I'm hoping he does it. 4.5 stars

>114 Crazymamie: Happy to have you back! And glad to hear you've healed!

The Soyer Au Champagne (Silk with Champagne)
A dessert cocktail

2 dashes maraschino liqueur
2 dashes pineapple juice
2 dashes orange curacao
2 dashes brandy
champagne
1 tbs vanilla ice cream

Combine the maraschino, pineapple juice, curacao and brandy in a parfait glass.
Fill with Champagne and float the ice cream on top. Serve with a straw and spoon.

>117 mstrust: mmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Looks good to me too!

Christmas is officially over. We took my MIL to lunch yesterday, then back to her house to open presents. I've taken door the outdoor decorations and the tree is mostly bare now. Now I have to go through the house taking down the nutcracker display, the Rudolph display, the Christmas doodads everywhere.

2. Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl. After successfully feeding his family from the stocks of three nasty farmers, Mr. Fox finds that the men have joined together in their determination to kill him. He can't have that, his family would starve. So he hatches a fantastic plan to keep stealing from the farmers and even gets his friend Mr. Badger in on it.
I'm making my way through Dahl's catalog and it's a fun task. 4 stars

>120 mstrust: I love Dahl! What a great idea. I will definitely look this one up.

Late to the party, but I brought some Prosecco so I hope I'm allowed in . . .

>120 mstrust: That is one of his I haven't read. I love his stuff on audio.

>121 Tess_W: Strange that I hadn't read anything by him until becoming an LTer, but better late than never.

>122 Nickelini: Oh, yumyumyumyum! Thanks for the hostess gift and you are very welcome!

>123 Crazymamie: I'm always happy to come across a Dahl that I didn't know existed. I had seen the wonderful Wes Anderson movie of this a few years ago, well worth seeking out.

>119 mstrust: I get that! On New Year's Day, I took down all the decos inside the house (we did not have a Christmas tree) and yesterday removed the outdoor decos other than the live greens. Undecorating on January 1 is a family tradition, although I do not know if my sisters did that or not this year. I try to do it quickly because I find taking down the decos to be depressing.

I leave my stuff up until at least the 2nd. I like seeing it still on New Year's.

Vacationland by John Hodgman and Al Capone Throws Me A Curve both showed up today. I've been shopping online with gift cards and joined a Spice of the Month club, which will come with packets of spices and herbs from around the world that I've never heard of and the recipes to use them in.

>126 mstrust: Spice of the month club with recipes! How exicting!

Right? I cook Indian or Thai-inspired meals all the time, which means I don't get out a cookbook, just throw in coconut milk and basil, or curry and fenugreek. I'm looking forward to seeing what they've got.

3. What Now, King Lear? by Alistair Boyle. Part-time detective Gil Yates is hired by the widow of mega-wealthy Orville Sampson to find out who shot her husband. Not only was Sampson murdered in his mansion, he suspected he'd be murdered, as he had a clause in his will that stipulated that none of his three terrible daughters and their even worse husbands would receive their $300 million inheritances unless his killer was caught and convicted. The similarities to King Lear run loosely throughout.
With so much money and so many awful suspects to pick apart, Yates has to solve the crime in order to get paid himself, and he could really use the money.
This is the second of a series featuring Yates, a likable and put-upon man who hides his detective work from his wife and father-in-law, who consider him dead weight in the family business. 3.8 stars
My copy has a much better cover, of a gray-haired man with a big target on his back. This is going in my ROOTs category.

>129 mstrust: Sounds like an interesting mystery! I opted to re-read King Lear, but I'm using a full-cast audiobook version.

It was, and I'll read more of the series.
Can't go wrong with a re-read of the original story. I'm sure your cast recording is grand!

Good thing I haven't put myself on a book buying diet because I'd be a failure already. I went to the library to pick up some holds to meet my Cats & Kits this month and just went to the sale room all casual-like, but found a whole stack.
A Death in the Family
The Nickel Boys
The Vintage Caper
The Cricket in Times Square- 1960 edition in fantastic condition
Alfred Hitchcock's Haunted Houseful- big 1962 edition with original dustjacket, vg condition. I happen to have a collection of Hitchcock books.

>131 mstrust: Love those library sale rooms!

They call my name.

The Coffee Cocktail (Which doesn't contain coffee)

1 oz brandy
1 egg
2-3 oz ruby port
1 tsp sugar

Pour the brandy into an iced cocktail shaker. Add the egg, port and sugar. Shake and strain into a small goblet. Grate nutmeg on top.
The egg is for a silky mouthfeel and froth.
From Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, this recipe was first published in 1887.

>133 mstrust: I agree. Difficult for me to walk past without taking a peek.

>1 mstrust: Great theme.. this will be fun to follow for sure.
Enjoy your year!

>135 LadyoftheLodge: Well, as long as you have an armload of books, why not? I was smart this time and brought a shopping carrier with me. Between check out books and sale books, it was completely filled.

>136 beebeereads: Thank you, and happy new year!

>131 mstrust:

Worth the detour for those last two books alone.

I think so too.

4. The Giver by Lois Lowry. Jonas lives with his family unit in a tightly ordered community that celebrates the milestones of childhood each year. This year, his younger sister is old enough to be given a bike and Jonas, at twelve, is old enough to be assigned the occupation he'll have for the rest of his working life. His friends are assigned to occupations that are expected and make them happy, while Jonas is given a job that no one could have suspected: a receiver of memories. Most of the community didn't even know this job existed.
Every afternoon, Jonas meets with the Giver of these memories, a very elderly and isolated man who holds the memories of many people, and who shows Jonas what cold, warmth, love and joy feel like. He sees color for the first time, something that had been breed out of his people when leaders decided everyone should be the same, without differences and talents that would lead to envy. The insights into what he and his people have been missing leads Jonas to take unheard of actions. 4.5 stars

I don't know if this one would have been on my radar if not for The Great American Read. It's a haunting story.
A couple of days after I'd finished it I saw the movie version was playing on SYFY. Stars Jeff Bridges as the Giver and Meryl Streep as the community leader, but the last 30 minutes was completely changed to make it a happy Hollywood ending.

>140 mstrust: I need to re-read this. I wasn't in the mood the first time and it was disappointing.

>140 mstrust: I read this when one of my children was assigned it in school. It has stayed with me all these years (25+)...powerful. I don't generally re-read, but if I did, it would be on my top 10 to experience again.

>141 Tess_W: Dystopian stories are something I have to prepare myself for, so I get it. It's a chilling story, and the modern reader can't help but think about Jonas' community of constant observation and reprimand.

>142 beebeereads: I agree that it's a book that deserves re-reading. There's much about this story that could lead to many different branches of discussion.

And now for something completely different.


5. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. Young James was orphaned at four years-old and sent to live with his horrendous aunts, Sponge and Spiker, who force him to work non-stop around their hilltop house. One day a weird man appears and hands James a bag of magic stuff, telling him that if he dissolves the stuff in water and drinks it, his life will become happy. Too excited and being chased by an aunt, James drops the magic stuff next to the old peach tree that has never produced fruit, but the magic stuff fixes that. The peach tree produces an immense peach, big enough for James to crawl inside and meet the variety of insects who also benefited from the magic stuff, and they were waiting for put-upon James to arrive before using the peach for their great adventure. 4 stars

Peach? Yes, please.

The Georgia Mint Julep

fresh mint leaves
1 tsp sugar
a dash of water
2 oz cognac
1 oz peach brandy

Muddle several mint leaves with the sugar and water in a silver julep cup, or a double old-fashioned glass.
Add the cognac and brandy and crushed ice to fill. Stir very well. Garnish with more mint leaves.
Peach? Yes, please.

>140 mstrust: I read this one several times. There are others in the series, if you are interested. I recall reading it with my middle schoolers when I was teaching full time, and then going on a field trip to see the film when it was in theaters.

I am interested in reading more from this author. So what did you think of the movie of The Giver?

>144 mstrust: I first read James and the Giant Peach when I was 10 and it’s remained one of my all time favourite books ever since

I don't know why Dahl wasn't part of my childhood but I didn't discover him until I was an adult. But I guess it explains why I'm now catching up.

>144 mstrust: This has been on my tbr list for ages. Thanks for the reminder. It sounds like fun!

It really is, as all the Dahls I've read so far are!

The Shortest Day by Colm Toibin. An archaeology professor in Ireland takes a trip to a cave he's been studying for years, the site of ancient burials. It's just days before Christmas, which makes it a perfect time for him to go alone and see if he finds anything new without a whole crew around. But the ancient souls in the cave are aware of the professor's intentions and dread him finding out their secret, and the professor's arrival also stirs fear in some local villagers who have been tasked with keeping the secret.
A short story so I'm not counting it. Available on Kindle as an Amazon Original. I thought the story would build to a murder, but it turned out to be rather gentle.

>147 mstrust: I liked it, although the ending tied things up nicely in the movie,while the book leaves the person thinking and wondering. Some parts of the movie helped me visualize the book more completely.

I liked it too, and Jeff Bridges was good in his role. The book ending had me *SPOILER* sure that Jonas and baby Gabe were going to die. A sad ending for a disturbing story, so fitting. He tried to break out of his stifling world but couldn't win against the community's tracking technology. That's why the movie ending seemed so very Hollywood to me, it fell into the good guy vs. bad guy formula instead of staying true to the author's story.

6. Foodheim by Eric Wareheim. Wareheim is half of the comedy team Tim & Eric and a writer and director, so like most celebrity cookbook authors, he has no credentials other than a love of food and cooking. This is a thick, colorful cookbook of his favorite foods, which are mostly Italian. Probably half the book is Italian food and wine. There are step by step instructions for making pizza dough and several sauce recipes, then a large section of pizza recipes.
A lot of the recipes don't need to be in a book. Do you need a recipe for a butter lettuce salad, or a crudite plate? Only if you are new to food preparation, and that's who I'd recommend this book to, the novice. It's recipes are a bit too simple for an experienced cook. But it is filled with the weirdest photos, so that's a plus. 2.5 stars

7. Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw. A group of friends rent a dilapidated Heian-era mansion in Japan. Their purpose is to flush out ghosts, as the thousand year old ruins come with the tale of young women being buried alive in the foundation.
This story is so Gen Z that it should have "A Gen Z Story" as its sub-title. A group of tightly-wound, multi-ethnic twenty-somethings who all have a tangle of sexual history and jealousy with each other travel from England to an isolated haunted house in Japan to seek ghosts, but also to hold a wedding because one character has always dreamed of being married in a haunted house. As the bride becomes possessed by a ghost right in front of the group, they argue about their ethnicity while one character also gets meta and talks about who will survive and who will die, a la Jamie Kennedy's character in Scream. I'm not sure if this was supposed to be funny. The real drag is that the story is so laden with detail about little gestures and facial expressions and each sentence of dialogue is followed with three more sentences that explain why the character said that. Very creepy cover though. 2 stars

>156 mstrust: you’re the second person I know who read that. She also didn’t like it.

Really awesome cover though

It's a good plot badly executed. But no one can say the cover artist didn't do a great job.

Something warm for the weekend:

Coffee Grog

pot of coffee
4 oz cream
2 tbs brown sugar
2 tsp sweet butter
lemon and orange rinds
salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves
6 oz light rum

Cream the butter and sugar together well. Sprinkle with the salt and spices and mix.
Place two teaspoons of the mixture in the bottom of two coffee mugs and add a one inch strip each of lemon and orange rind and 3 oz of rum. Stir well. Add 2 oz of cream to each mug and fill with hot coffee. Stir and serve.

8. The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl. Narrated by an eight year old girl who tells the reader what happened to her neighbors, the Gregg family, after she pointed her magic finger at them. Enraged that the males in the Gregg family hunt, the girl, who had previously pointed her horrible finger at her teacher, now curses the Gregg family. What form her curse will take is anyone's guess. 3.5 stars

9. Murder at Melrose Court by Karen Baugh Menuhin. Major Heathcliff Lennox's valet calls him to the front door to have a look at the dead man lying there. The local detective doesn't believe that Lennox has never seen the man and wasn't responsible for his death, but there's no proof otherwise so Lennox is allowed to travel to his family estate for Christmas.
What would normally be a dull collection of cousins and their elderly uncle is thrown into chaos this year with the introduction of the uncle's new fiancee, a Russian Countess, and her beautiful young niece. It turns out that the Countess has been working on the old man for awhile and now, with the whole wealthy family gathered, she announces that their uncle has a new will that replaces them with her. It doesn't take long for the first murder.
Published in 2018 and part of a series, this has a real Golden Age feel with snappy dialogue and humor. 4.5

10. The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell. The owner of The Bookshop, the largest second-hand bookstore in Scotland, gives an almost daily account of strange behavior by both his customers and employees. He takes the reader along as he examines book collections of the wealthy and average collector, takes part in a week-long literary festival, deals with Amazon's greed and the end of a longtime relationship.
The simple format of diary entries led to a world of drama, aggravation and humor that had me hooked. Dealing with his employee Nicky, with her offers of pre-licked pastries from the garbage and glee as she insults Bythell was hilarious, but add in the customers trying to get discounts on rock-bottom prices, which happens a lot, and the Italian intern who ate everything in sight. And I would imagine his mother would be pretty ticked to read what he wrote about her. 4 stars

>10 mstrust: A BB for me!

>159 mstrust: That sounds really good!

>163 Tess_W: I got a lot of laughs from this one. Hope you like it too!
>164 sturlington: Hard to go wrong with butter, brown sugar and coffee!

>162 mstrust: I just downloaded this book! Looking forward to it.

>162 mstrust: He's very grumpy!

>167 LadyoftheLodge: I hope you like it. It's even more surprising that he gives the store totals for each day. Some days just weren't worth being open.
>168 pamelad: He is! Which may explain why employee Nicky treated him as she did.

>161 mstrust: That sounds like a nice little mystery there.

>162 mstrust: - A BB for me too.

>170 thornton37814: I'm looking forward to reading more from the series. Looks like this was the first of seven or eight more.
>162 mstrust: He has more books, Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops and Confessions of a Bookseller. And it's the departed girlfriend who started the whole publishing success with Three Things You Need To Know About Rockets, so a real trail to follow if you like one of these.

It's Poe's birthday, and why not celebrate with a bottle of Macallan's Scotch Whiskey from their Author series. It'll set you back nearly three grand but you'll get to stare at his unhappy face while you drink.

11. Gastro Obscura by Cecily Wong and Dylan Thuras. A thick, heavy book that introduces the reader to the traditional, rare, and sought after foods from around the world. Each page has a photo or drawing of each item, or the landscape, or the people celebrating a festival devoted to that food, such as the Guimaras Mango Festival in the Philippines, where for about two US dollars you can enter an all-you-can-eat mango buffet. The reader may be well-traveled but will still find foods that are known only to locals, such as Atrapaniebla beer, made in Chile from cloud condensation, or Jeppson's Malort, a Chicago liquor known as the worst liquor in the world. Or that one of the chefs at the Japanese research station in Antarctica developed a snack there, "devil's rice balls", that became a retail hit back in his home country.
I'm restraining myself from gushing about this book, but I loved it. Combining travel and food, with festivals thrown in and photos of everything, was a winner for me and I now have a list of foods and events to look for. 5 stars

Just heard that Meat Loaf has passed. Great singer, great performer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C11MzbEcHlw

>175 mstrust: Yep, saw that on my phone. Remember "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights" and "Two out of Three (ain't bad)". And of course Bat Out of Hell. He was 74 years old when he passed, and looked like a regular guy, just an oldie like the rest of us. We have lost quite a few performers lately.

We have lost quite a few performers lately
Yes, I think so too. These older generations produced so many iconic performers and their loss really stands out.
Did you ever see Meat Loaf on Celebrity Apprentice maybe ten or twelve years ago? The man knew how to throw a hissy, ha! Even made the other celebrities skittish.

>174 mstrust: - I saw this in an airport bookstore while we were on our way back from Tuscon. I'm about 1/2 way through it now and loving it. I could gush too. I was afraid my library loan would run out before I finished since there were holds on it, but things worked out and it was renewed for me.

Isn't it great? I'm glad you get to take more time, it's a book that needs studying.

And since this is a cocktail thread, I'll show off my two new tiki mugs that Mike brought home last night.

The second colored Lava Letch mug we have now. We already had the original shiny solid green, but this color combo is very cool. Ours is a very dark gray/red color.


And this is the anniversary mug, a run of just 300:

>180 mstrust: I think you need to find a very special drink for these Tiki mugs!

They're really cool, so I don't use them for drinks. I know, but I don't because then I'd have to wash them and possible break them. So they come out of the box and go on the mantel or in the bookcase and I use regular cocktail glasses for the drinks. Boring, I know.

>177 mstrust: I did not see that episode with Meat Loaf, but I once worked theater tech for one of his performances many, many years ago. Yep, he could do those tantrums.

Got an up-close look at the celebrity tantrum as it happened? Come to my new thread, grab a drink and tell us about it. I love a good story.

Everyone is invited to my second thread. I've restocked the bar and washed most of the glasses.