So much has happened since my last post on the blog! When we last left our hard-hitting cocktail coverage at the end of 2018, my world – our world – was a different place. Since that time, I had a big day at the day job, the aftermath of which has contributed to my extended absence from posting. (I’ve done a little better on Instagram, but only a little.)
And of course, since earlier this year, we’ve all been struggling to adjust to life during a pandemic. For some of us this has meant virtual quarantine. Some luminaries of the cocktail universe have sought to help us through it all. One offered to give us recipes we can use based on ingredients we have in our house (Derek Brown is just an amazing human being). Many others have minted new “quarantini” cocktails for us to sample. (I don’t have any of those for you, but I do have a classic martini, a hot and dirty martini, and even a totally dry (i.e., alcohol-free) martini for you if you’re interested.)
Pandemic/quarantine has knocked me off my cocktail blogging game a bit. I (like many of you I imagine) now work from home day after day and for some reason that new pattern has further disrupted my already disrupted flow for creating cocktails and then posting here about them. I’ve said “yes” to collaborations on Instagram, thinking they would motivate me to get back to it, but then failed to follow through. I guess there is a momentum to this kind of thing. It’s (at least by comparison) easy to keep blogging going when you’re consistent about it; but impossible when you get out of rhythm.
So I know better than to promise you that “I’m back,” but I am at least popping up to say hello and offer you something to drink as you wait patiently for the world to return to normal. This one is inspired by the last superfun thing I did before quarantine: visit South Africa.
South Africa is a wonderland. I can’t show you everything I loved about it – there isn’t enough space here (and at some point we need to get to the recipe). But let’s consider at least a few items: penguins, mountains, zebras and sunsets.
The penguins flock in large groups and just kind of party, looking as awesome as you would imagine. There’s no ice or cold weather here – it was in the 70s or 80s (Fahrenheit) in this shot. But they look unperturbed as they mingle on the shore between occasional trips to the water to cool off and look for food.
