Ungava [gin]

I'll be on the lookout but won't buy if the sticker
price exceeds that of a ticket to Yellowknife.

It's going to run you about $15 a fifth over the bottom and middle
shelf brands. That kind of premium may be unusual in the gin world
but whisky and brandy drinkers wouldn't blink an eye over that kind
of a spread.

We shall see what turns up in the market.

Recent tastes ...
Bad booze: Roslind likes spiced dark rum and we have 4 brands
available locally. She especially likes Kraken Black which is

Kraken is my spiced rum of choice, when I have
a choice, which is pretty much never.

premium priced as well as superior quality. We pass on Sailer
Jerry's just because of the tacky label but occasionally buy the

Avoided for the same reason (also the fairly
high price).

modestly priced Lambs. This time around Roslind decided to try
Captain Morgan's Spiced rum which is a golden not a dark rum. It
turned out to be vanilla rum reeking of vanillin and completely
devoid of allspice or anything else interesting. It's nasty. I give
it an F if you like spiced rum and a C- if you actually like vanilla flavoured spirits.

I had a coupon good for a premium drink at the
Admiral's Club in Dallas and was pleased to see
Pyrat XO on the list, so I asked the bartender
for Pyrat in a snifter, and what came was Captain,
which is overpoweringly nasty in a snifter. I
asked what was up, and he said, oh, you asked for
the pirate rum. I tried to get him to repour with
the real stuff, but he claimed they were out. Oh,
well, the price was right.

Coca Cola Life in a green can. It's sweetened with a mixture of cane
sugar and stevia, so it has about half the normal amount of sugar
but no metallic, bitter aftertaste like the various versions of diet
Coke over the years. I also like that it comes in 222 ml mini-cans
as well as standard 355 ml cans and 500 ml bottles. I'm not a big
fan of colas or soda pop in general but I found it tasty and
refreshing, not too sweet and with bonus points for coming in a
decent sized serving.

I find Stevia alone or in combination still has a
weird taste - not the same weird taste, perhaps,
but still enough. Half sugar and half Equal has
recently been best to my taste buds.

... Art Deco is short for the style's inventor, Author Decorations.

Heh, close enough not to be funny. It is short for the
style's progenitor, an exhibition called something
like that.

Christmas pudding
categories: celebrity, historical, British, holiday, dessert
yield: 1

1 lb raisins
1 lb sultanas
1 lb currants
2 oz sweet almonds
1 oz sweet almonds
1 oz bitter almonds
4 oz mixed peel
1/2 lb brown sugar
1/2 lb flour
1/4 lb breadcrumbs
1/2 ts salt
1/2 ts grated nutmeg
1/4 ts powdered cinnamon
6 oz suet
1 lemon, juice and rind of
5 eggs
a little milk
1/8 pt brandy, or a little beer

Wash the fruit. Chop the suet, shred and chop
the peel, stone and chop the raisins, blanch
and chop the almonds. Prepare the breadcrumbs.
Sift the spices and salt into the flour. Mix
all the dry ingredients into a basin. Heat
the eggs, mix them with the lemon juice and
the other liquids. Add to the dry ingredients
and stir well. If the mixture is too stiff,
add a little more milk. Allow the mixture to
stand for a few hours in a covered basin.
Then mix well again and place in well-greased
basins of 8" diameter. Cover with rounds of
greased paper. Then tie the tops of the basins
over the floured cloths if the puddings are to
be boiled, or with thick greased paper if they
are to be steamed. Boil or steam 5 or 6 hr. On
the day when the pudding is to be eaten,
reheat it by steaming it for 3 hr. When
serving, pour a large spoonful of warm brandy
over it and set fire to it.

In Britain it is unusual to mix into each
pudding one or two small coins, tiny china
dolls or silver charms which are supposed
to bring luck.

George Orwell
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