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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Posted in Argentina, South America, alcoholic drink, beverage, cognac, drink, egg, grapes, history, lemon, lime, tart, travel on May 7th, 2009
Picture this, if you will: A warm, humid day in Argentina’s early autumn; the last rays of sun slanting sharply through the browning leaves of mature plane trees; myriad dog-walkers rustling quietly by in the litter of those already fallen. In the lee of a giant ficus planted for sidewalk shade, two travelers recline 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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For this month’s drink, I considered writing about several summer classics, and was nearly persuaded that a paean to my proletarian love — cold beer — might suffice in both the “pure sunshine in a glass” sense, and because it’s typically my leading beverage in terms of volume consumed between June and September.
The problem with [...]
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