Pear Sidecar

Here is my new favorite alcoholic beverage courtesy of the Jan 2009 (really, are we there yet?) issue of Fine Cooking Magazine.

Pear Sidecar (serves two)

1/2 cup Pear Brandy (I use Clear Creek Distillery's Williams Pear Brandy)
1/4 cup triple sec
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
2 thin strips lime zest

Combine the brandy, triple sec, and lime juice in a cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Shake well and strain into two chilled martini glasses. Twist the lime zest into spirals and drop one in each glass.

So, I skip the zest, just use the juice of 1 lime, and shake in whatever glass I have handy. This is a strong drink with the brandy that I use, but it is verrrrrrry good. If the brandy was cheaper, I could get in a lot of trouble with this one.

Bits and Pieces

I am just starting to feel like a person again. I hate hate hate being sick. I haven't had the energy to do anything, and haven't been sewing at all. I do, however, have a picture of the McCalls 5480 swing coat in action outside of my favorite izakaya.



I don't love this coat, but I do like it. I wish it was a little longer, and that I had known that the lining was not going to be attached at the bottom. (I would have finished the edges of the lining a little better.) The buttons are pretty big, so I decided to put snaps under them rather than make giant button holes. I was recently at Macy's and saw a black coat with white interfacing peeping out of the buttonholes. Ack. Since I used a white interfacing here, I didn't want it to show through as well. This is my first coat, as well as my first lined coat, and I am pretty happy with it. I think I am going to make the long version to wear with my holiday dresses.

I also have pumpkin pictures. We take pumpkin carving very seriously here at the compound, even growing our own squash. Io and her boyfriend video-conferenced in from college and carved with us. Also present was my co-parent, his son, co-parent's girlfriend, daughter, niece, best-friend, her husband, and daughter. A fine time was had by all.

Darin's evil masterpiece:



My slightly less evil concoction:

I have a cold.

I have a really bad cold, which is why I have not updated in awhile. I also broke out in hives tonight while watching a version of Twelfth Night that takes place on the Bayou. We left during intermission. I had to explain what was going on to Darin because he gets very confused by iambic pentameter with a New Orleans accent. It was honestly one of the most god-awful things I have ever seen.