In the tiny Cheshire hamlet of Lower Peover (pronounced “peever”) is the delightfully rustic country pub “The Bells”, so-called because one has to literally walk around it to get to the parish church. In fact, so aligned are church and boozer that the two are separated by only fifty feet of graveyard, a low gate [...]
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Posted in America, British, England, Recipe, alcohol, alcoholic drink, apples, barbecue, beverage, drink, eastenders, holiday, patriotism, summer, tradition on Jul 4th, 2009
Every stereotype, no matter how absurd the caricature, has, at its core, a grain of truth. Though I doubt anyone has ever seen him, the beret and black and white hooped sweater-sporting Frenchman with a cigarette hanging off his lower lip and a baguette under his arm, remains an abiding image of France; and in [...]
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My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
- William Wordsworth, 1802
The term formative experience refers to an incident encountered when young that shapes an [...]
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Posted in British, Christmas, England, Recipe, alcohol, alcoholic drink, anise, bay, beverage, brown sugar, cinnamon, culture, drink, easy, holiday, holidays, juice, lemon, orange juice, oranges, spices, sweet, tradition, wine, winter on Dec 20th, 2008
Even though mulled wine should remind me of being in the church choir as a cherub-faced youngster and singing Christmas carols with frosty breath overlooking a seasonally-decorated nave and a sea of pink-cheeked parishoners, it doesn’t. In spite of this being the way I was introduced to this most famous Yuletide beverage, my abiding memories [...]
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Posted in Food Commentary, France, Lillet, alcohol, alcoholic drink, beverage, cafe, drink, gin, history, martini, vodka on Nov 25th, 2008
These days, it seems something is always the new something else. You know, Thursday’s the new Friday, brown’s the new black, Palin’s the new devil, Obama’s the new Messiah, etc. But to me, for example, comparing the pain and anguish at dragging myself from bed on a Friday morning after a few drinks the night before, [...]
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Posted in Beach, Brazil, Brazilian, Food Commentary, Portuguese, alcohol, alcoholic drink, beverage, brandy, cachaça, culture, drink, language, lime, soccer, sugar on Oct 7th, 2008
When you think of Brazil what do you think of? Is it the lazy sway of coconut palms, golden beaches, beautiful, bronzed people, a back-drop of Sugar Loaf Mountain, and soundtrack of relaxing bossa nova? Is it a throbbing samba rhythm, huge, garish paper-mache heads, and crowds of people dancing at carnival? Is it the magnificent [...]
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Posted in British, England, Food Commentary, Pub, alcohol, beer, chips, crisps, crispy, flavor, flavour, fried, salt, vinegar on Sep 25th, 2008
Those of you who have watched or read Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity, will be familiar with the idea of top fives. In the movie, the main character (played by John Cusack) is a record shop owner, who spends most of the movie revisiting the demise of his past relationships, and in so doing, constantly re-imagines [...]
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Posted in alcohol on Aug 17th, 2008
When, two months ago, during a post on vin santo I mentioned the British holiday/vacation tradition of buying a bottle of the local firewater and then leaving it rot in the dark recesses of the liquor cabinet upon returning, I was thinking primarily of the kind of bottles that are simply unavailable anywhere else: artisanal [...]
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