Sneakeater

You have NOTHING to worry about.

I lose. Or win. Depending on how you look at it.

I'm thinking I should have another. I'm also thinking I shouldn't.

Yeah REALLY good.

Considering how much I have to do tomorrow, this was one of the stupidest and most self-destructive cocktails I've ever mixed. A creation of the reigning bartender of what will soon be my former neighborhood, Del Pedro. Hi Falutin' I'm giving you what I actually used to approximate the ingredients Del used. Not Del's original recipe. (The fucking around is in the whiskey.) 1 oz. Bourbon 3/4 oz. Mellow Corn (Del calls for 1-3/4 oz. Ransom Whippersnapper) (I'm lucky enough to have Byrrh) 1 oz. Swedish Punsch 1/2 tsp. Byrrh 2 lemon peels Stir the liquid ingredients in an ice-filled mixing glass. Express the 2 lemon peels and toss in. Stir. A lot. Strain into a rocks glass. Happily for how stupid it was for me to have this, it's REALLY good.

What @Steve R. said is actually EXACTLY what I think of Jimmy Buffet. Thanks.

NO ONE would think the tomatoes I bought this morning -- gorgeous every one of them, and so far exceedingly flavorful -- were from the middle of September.

I'm thinking I can invite some enemies over for dinner.

This wine is really nice. I'm not sure Vincent Ricard even makes it any more.

Lamburger, topped with what turned out to be a perfect lamburger topping: this chevre torte the goat vendor at the GAP Greenmarket makes, which is essentially goopy goat cheese with pesto and red pepper layered on top. I also slathered some Mean Old Lady chili crisps on the bun. A grilled ear of corn on the side (this time I made some garlic chive butter for it). And some roasted okra, tomato, and hot pepper. Now here's this week's food problem. The vendor that has chili peppers at the Greenmarket hadn't yet had any this year (beyond some standard-issue Serranos and Jalapeños). This was rather mysterious: you'd think a great tomato season as we've been having would also be a great chili season. (This vendor also had very few Summer squashes this year, so probably they're having some kind of production problem.) This week was the first week they finally had any chilis worth mentioning. But it was very few: not enough for them to sort and label. They just sort of had the chili peppers laying out in cartons. I grabbed some that looked appealing to me. When I got home and really examined them, however, I realized that two of them were Ghost Peppers. What am I going to do with Ghost Peppers? I don't want to die like the Paqui chip teen. Tonight I thought to mince a very little bit of one and put it into a vinaigrette in which I'd toss the okra and tomato before roasting them (the chili I was roasting obvs didn't need tossing). But I'll tell you what: Ghost Peppers are so potent that even putting a very few tiny pieces into a vinaigrette in which vegetables are briefly tossed is almost overwhelming. What am I going to do with these? Fortunately, I chose a wine that wasn't totally defeated by this. 2015 Domaine Ricard Le Close de Vauriou You can see how this Gamay/Cab Franc blend would have been perfect with this meal if it weren't for the superhot pepper. But what's surprising is, how adaptable it was even to that pepper. Gamay has lots of acid and no tannin. So it's one of the better reds with spice. But Cab Franc, while more tannic (which a burger requires), also has distinct pepper notes (I mean pepper as in the vegetable -- actually I guess it's a fruit(?) -- not as in black pepper). So it was pretty complimentary. Which is not to say I'm not enjoying it more now WITHOUT that hot hot chili pepper.

Might as well wait till after the end of tomato season (which at least here is being spectacular this year -- and with this weather ought to last long), though. No sense to rush into making a pasta sauce that has no tomatoes in it. It's perfect though, as it combines my two recent obsessions: it's from Compania, but everybody thinks it's from Liguria.

TBH, I thought Sleater-Kinney were on tour now. But now that I look, not till November.

Wow. Maybe it WAS.

I could swear I saw Carrie Brownstein at the Greenmarket this morning. I mean, I know it couldn't have been. But I could swear.

Am I brave enough to try Paccheri alla Genovese?

A friend is getting ready to go to Amalfi. I think I must be more excited about her trip than even she is, since I've been compulsively cooking Amalfi food lately (along with Ligurian food, which has nothing to do with where she's going but I've had a hankering) (and Sicilian -- but I always cook that). Tonight, a one-dish meal of Capellini topped with cucumber, bell pepper, grape tomato, scallions, dried chili, garlic, parsley, oregano, and rue soaked for a couple of hours in olive oil (this was also a crisper-clearing meal), and also some rock shrimp quick-sautéed with anchovies. This was great. They eat well in Amalfi. Falanghina duh. 2022 FontanAvecchia Falanghina del Sannio This was pretty inevitably going to be a great pairing. And so it was.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/aug/17/stop-drinking-keep-reading-look-after-your-hearing-a-neurologists-tips-for-fighting-memory-loss-and-alzheimers

Fingers crossed!

I get an email about the opening of a non-alcoholic dive bar. And I think either I'm missing something or they're missing something.

Trust me, that's the LEAST of it!

Although not before one more batch of Condigiun.

One of many reasons I'm ready to die.

I dunno. That sounds like Humanities to me.

Said a Humanities prof to a Humanities major.

Oh! That totally makes sense.