It's Noon Somewhere....Thyme Grapefruit Sparkler

Spring and summer call for lighter cocktails.  When the weather is warm I just don't want to be drinking something heavy or super strong.  My brother and his boyfriend came down from Philly for Easter and we were planning our Easter lunch at about 3 p.m.  Now in my family you can't have a party without appetizers and you can't have appetizers without cocktails.  I jokingly nicknamed the three guys the Negroni Gang because that is the kind of cocktails they prefer, very strong and not too sweet!  Manhattans, Negronis and Martinis are what they all drink but I knew if we started at one in the afternoon with drinks like that, Easter wouldn't turn out too great!

So my brother and I decided we needed to come up with something light and fruity.  We were doing a lunch, not a brunch so nothing too breakfasty.  After some online research we came up with an idea upon an idea for a grapefruit sparkler with vodka and sparkling wine.  And rosemary simple syrup.


Then we went shopping and couldn't find rosemary anywhere.  It was the day before Easter and literally every store we went to was sold out.  We had some at home but just enough for the lamb we were planning on serving.  But we did have thyme so the rosemary simple syrup became a thyme one.  And it was delicious and perfect!  So you could do rosemary or thyme, whichever you prefer.  Additionally, if you wanted something even lighter you could just use Seltzer Water or Club Soda.

This was the perfect drink for the afternoon and would be great for a Mother's Day Brunch or Lunch. I think it would be great all summer long and I will definitely be adding this one to my regular rotation. As my brother and I said on Easter, since its so light we can have three instead of two!  And we did!

Thyme Grapefruit Sparkler

2 oz vodka
1 oz grapefruit juice
1/2 oz thyme simple syrup
sparkling wine

To make the thyme simple syrup cook 1 cup sugar with 1 cup water with a few thyme springs in the pan until the sugar dissolves.  I usually do this the day before so it has plenty of time to cool in the fridge.  It stays good in the fridge a few weeks.

Mix the vodka, grapefruit juice (you can use an type of grapefruit you like) in a shaker with ice.  Strain into a cocktail glass and top with sparkling wine.

Julie

La Femme's Essentials....Rachel Getting Married

Jonathan Demme's Rachel Getting Married is one of those films that is just so perfectly watchable.  If it's on TV, I will pretty much drop everything and watch it, even though I own it.  Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt) may be the one getting married, but our main character is her younger sister, Kym (Anne Hathaway).  Kym is picked up from rehab by her father (Bill Irwin) and stepmother and begins to disrupt the weekend right away, beginning by demoting the maid of honor and giving a terrible, selfish toast at the rehearsal dinner.  We are immediately thrown into the family dynamic, and boy is there a lot of emotion and dysfunction in this upper middle class, perfect-looking family.

Hathaway gives her soul up to Kym.  You know that raw emotion Hathaway had in the “I Dreamed a Dream” sequence in Les Miserables?  I find this performance even more heart wrenching.   Demme smartly shows us right away why Kym is the way she is, which allows us to understand her and like he even though her behavior can be infuriating.  As a teenager, she was troubled, doing drugs and struggling with an eating disorder.  Her mother left her in charge of her younger brother, and Kym accidentally killed him in a car accident.  Her anguish and guilt over his death is fully realized, and it gives you incredible sympathy for Kym.  She feels like she is going to be paying for this her whole life.  Kym could so easily be horrendous, but she is so fully realized and Hathaway shows us her good qualities, how funny she is, how warm she can be, and how badly she wants to change her behavior. But, expectations and her own guilt prevent her over and over again.

The last two paragraphs might make Rachel Getting Married sound like an incredible downer, and yes, there are moments that are uncomfortable, trying, and tragic.  But Jonathan Demme imbues the film with such vitality, and the moments of joy are just as urgent as the moments of anguish.  The camera seems to roam freely throughout the home, following the family but also giving glimpses of the wedding preparations, giving the film an energy of excitement and preparation.  He also uses diagetic music perfectly, the wedding celebrations involve incredible musical performances but also the musicians are friends and family practicing around the house, and we have roving bands of different types of musicians playing in the background.  It's not distracting, its just natural and adds to the feeling that we are flies on the wall to this family’s weekend.   Demme treats all of the characters with such humanity that there isn't one weakly drawn character in the ensemble; from Rachel's family to the wedding party to the guests, each character gets respect and they all seem like they have lived before the film and will keep living after it.  One of my favorite performances is very small but a perfect example of Demme's humanity.  While at a hair appointment with her sister, a man approaches Kym.  He tells her they were at rehab together  a few years ago.  We learn that in rehab Kym made up a terrible story in a group therapy exercise. This man is so thankful to her and thanks her for sharing and for helping him with his sobriety, it is a heartbreaking moment. The guy is basically a device to cause Rachel to get completely fed up with her sister’s behavior and starts a fight involving her whole family, but Demme doesn't treat it that way, and the actor who plays the man at the salon is just so emotive and real that you can't ever forget his face.

Demme is juggling a lot of balls in the film but keeps them all up perfectly.  We have to acquaint ourselves with Kym's different dynamics with every member of her family and the wedding party.  We have Kym's struggle to connect with her estranged mother (Debra Winger). The scenes between Hathaway and Winger are maybe the most uncomfortable in the whole movie because Kym's mom just seems to hate her and seems like she almost wants to forget her family.  There is also Kym's relationship with her father, Paul.  Bill Irwin is a revelation in this film: he is the happy father of the bride, but also the very worried father of Kym, and the grieving father of the son he lost.   Irwin imbues Paul with everything you want in a father, he is so caring and so, so sweet but really smart and funny and you can see the joy he has for his family radiating in his face.  The scene where he and his soon to be son in law, Sidney, compete to see who can load the dishwasher the best is perfectly executed, and Irwin goes from competitive to elated to devastated so naturally.  I won't spoil the end of this scene, but it’s like watching a bubble burst, from compete joy to utter sadness in a second.  And it seems so natural.   I also love the peripheral romantic entanglement Rachel has with the best man (of course, right?).  They only have a few scenes together, but the chemistry is palpable, and Mather Zickel is incredibly charming.

And finally, with Rachel, there is resentment but great sympathy for her sister's situation, but also anger that this weekend is again being dominated by Kym.  Rosemary DeWitt is wonderful, bringing to life the older sister who is trying to hold everything together.  The wedding scene in this movie is probably one of my favorite weddings ever in cinema.  Sidney (Tunde Adebimpe), Rachel's fiancée, sings his vows to her in a Neil Young song "Unknown Legend". This moment is incredibly emotional and evocative, but the song doesn't seem like a traditional love song and doesn't even seem to fit in the moment at first, but somehow Adebimpe completely sells it and gives the relationship between Sidney and Rachel that has been mostly in the background, obscured by family drama, a real weight, and there is no way to watch it without crying, I'm just warning you.

Rachel Getting Married is a movie I have been meaning to highlight on this blog since the beginning.  I saw this movie in the theatre in 2008 (at the old Metro in the U District!), and I literally cried almost the whole movie.  Some were sad tears and some were happy but I walked out knowing I loved this movie.  And, in a way, it’s a really easy movie to talk about because the script by Jenny Lumet is incredibly strong, and the acting is great and Demme is bringing amazing, exciting, almost Dogme 95 energy to the film.  So, all this should make it easy to write about, but I found it incredibly hard to explain not why you should watch this movie, but why I love it.  This movie just hits me in the gut and I don't know why.  I can't particularly relate to Kym or Rachel and the family isn't like mine at all.  But the movie hits me equally hard every time I watch it: it's emotionally exhausting but leaves you feeling gratitude and hope.  Sometimes you can't say why something touches you so deeply it just does.  And it isn't just the expertly made film, there is something deeper that you can't put your finger on.  It's like the song Sidney sings in the wedding scene.  It doesn't seem to match up to their life but the emotion is there, deep and vital and universal.  That's Rachel Getting Married.

Julie

Things I Love...4/6/16

1. The Hour: When K and I came to the DC area for the first time last October, we knew that there was a possibility that we would move here.  So we decided to explore a couple different areas in Maryland and Virginia.  Alexandria was the place we fell in love with, with its super charming old town and quaint vibe, we thought "this was a place we could live"!  And much of that charm came from this amazing shop, The Hour, a vintage cocktail boutique on King Street.  We walked in and marveled at the gorgeous, mint condition vintage glassware, cocktail shakers and more.  I had started a very small collection of vintage glasses that I had found in various antique shops throughout the Pacific Northwest but honestly none of them had been that great.  The Hour isn't your local goodwill, it is a boutique full of amazing and unique pieces and for me it is definitely a special occasion kind of shop.  So far, I have an amazing cocktail caddy set and most recently a set of black and white glasses.  The only problem is they are so beautiful I am afraid of breaking them so they mostly sit in my china cabinet, but I do break them out on occasion.  I love both of them and can't wait to add to my collection, the Hour is a treasure and if you find yourself in Alexandria, please check it out.

2. Machiavelli:  This is a sad one for me, because on of the things I am currently obsessed with is out of my reach (well, its a plane ride away but I'm not that crazy. Yet.)  Machiavelli is quite simply one of the best restaurants in Seattle.  It is cheap, incredibly consistent and delicious. The wait can be terribly long because they don't take reservations but the bar is cute and the bartenders are nice and make great, simple drinks. Or you can go around the corner to Rumba, another place I miss!   The food is simple Italian American but it's fresh and flavorful.  I think Italian food is something that can so easily be so mediocre and can be so much better at home.  Restaurants either try to be too fancy or not fancy enough with huge servings of overcooked pasta and heavy sauces.  Machiavelli isn't like that, the servings are perfect sized and perfectly cooked every time.  One thing I really value in a restaurant is consistency and I know it will be great no matter when I go, in fact I have been there tons of times and the service and food are always amazing, I have never had a bad experience.  Fettuccine Alfredo is my favorite and I don't order it anywhere else because no one can beat Machiavelli's smooth and creamy but not heavy sauce.  K and I are trying to explore lots of new places in the DC area and every time he asks me where I want to go for dinner, I say "Machiavelli!"  I don't know if I will find a place as great as it here but I am willing to try.

3. Adam and Jessa:  I have been a fan of Lena Dunham's Girls since it premiered but I have to admit there have been times I have almost given up on the show.  Sometimes I feel like Dunham is working so hard to show us the characters flaws and appalling behavior, she doesn't highlight the characters strength.  Jessa was one of those characters to me.  I loved Jemima Kirke in Tiny Furniture, Dunham's film debut, in which she placed Lena's close friend, but Dunham often didn't let Kirke highlight her natural charm.  Instead Jessa never really found her place on the show, she was never endearing, sometimes funny but mostly just such a unnecessarily cruel character to nearly all of her friends and family.  Jessa was vindictive and selfish but I would have been hard pressed to find anything positive to say about her.  Until the end of last season and the start of this one.  Jessa has found a calling and a new boyfriend, Adam (Adam Driver, every one's favorite Neanderthal), Hannah's ex.  You know, I used to love Hannah and Adam together but now that I see Jessa and him together I can't believe I didn't see it all along.  They very well may end up destroying each other but for now there is a new calmness in each of them I hadn't seen before.  There is a new tenderness in in them but they are still as perverse as ever (that role playing scene had me dying of laughter). Driver and Kirke have amazing, natural chemistry together and I want every episode to be just about them.  Plus, Jemima Kirke looks so insanely hot right now, she is just radiant. Adam and Jessa 4EVA!

It's Noon Somewhere...Manhattan

This certainly isn't the most exciting cocktail I will ever post, but its a classic for a reason (and let me tell you, I have a fabulous, fun cocktail coming up very soon!).  This is the story of how I learned to stop worrying and drink whiskey.  When I started drinking cocktails, I hated anything brown (even dark rum!) and could basically only stomach the sweetest drinks out there and a Cosmopolitan or  Lemon Drop came in a martini glass so I felt fancy getting them (also Sex and the City, right?).  So for the last few years those have been my go to unless a bar had a fancy menu and then I would try something new, usually with vodka or rum and sometimes gin or tequila.  But I had tried whiskey and couldn't stand it, so I generally avoided it like the plague.

But after a while, I got sick of ordering the same freaking drink everywhere.  Plus, every time K and I went to a dive bar or a place with no menu to order an original cocktail from, I would be stumped as to what to get.  And I would almost always get a Cosmo, a drink I do like a lot, but I got bored and tired of the sweet and tart taste.  I wanted something with more bite, and something with a bit more cocktail cred.   And at home, I was in a rut. More often than not on the weekend we aren't bar hopping but we are at home with cocktails and appetizers making dinner.  And we have a pretty fully stocked bar but we generally like to keep it simple.  Tiki is my jam but it is better left to the professionals, too much juice!  So at home every weekend I would have Cosmos, so much that I almost grew to dread them.

So I decided to teach myself to like whiskey.  At first, it was hard for this sweet loving girl.  I started by ordering drinks at bars that had whiskey and other things I thought I'd like.  And then I just started ordering Manhattan's on the rocks and before I knew it I would get them up sometimes too! And then I realized I actually liked them.  This isn't to diss Cosmopolitan's or "girly" drinks, I still love them.  All flavors make cocktails wonderful, sweet, tart, bitter and acid are all necessary.  I was just stranded on the girly drink island and needed a change.

Instead it is a celebration of my newfound appreciation of whiskey, particularly in the Manhattan.  I would have loved to get K to write this post because he has much more insight than I do, so I questioned him a bunch about how to make a good Manhattan.  Here is what I gleaned: technically, Rye is better than Bourbon, but Bourbon is acceptable, and when K first started drinking and we were on a budget he did a blend.  I now have a taste for Michter's which is lovely but a little spendy, we usually buy Maker's Mark or Bulleit, but Canadian Club or Seagrams is very budget friendly, especially if you aren't semi professional drinkers like us.  Also, stirring is encouraged but shaking will make it a little thinner on the tongue, which I like.  Angostura bitters are traditional, but K prefers Peychaud for flavor and color (got to keep it NOLA), and finally, a cherry is the best garnish but an orange peel is a beautiful substitute.

K and J's Manhattan


2 oz whiskey

3/4 sweet vermouth

2-3 dashes Peychaud bitters




Mix all ingredients in a shaker and shake with ice (or stir if you prefer).  Serve up or on the rocks.  Maraschino cherry required (that's my rule, not K's).




Cheers!

Julie