The Gray Lady tackles the Old Fashioned

The NY Times is clearly feeling the depression. The Dining section sounded more like "Fast Easy and Delicious" recipes from Womens Wear Daily with such tips as, "Turning leftovers to dessert" and "It may sound like pseudoscience, but there are ways to alter wine to get rid of unwanted aromas, including the taint of corked wine." Taint of corked wine? Oh we are drinking that now, NY Times? Things are bad since to mortgaged your new building, eh?

And their Blog on alcohol, Proof, is sooooooo depressing! Its all about quitting drinking. Its like reading about baseball from the guys who couldn't make it to the Show...so sad, Crash Davis! And I am not alone! Look at this recent post from commenter JES:

What’ll I have? A column about drinking by someone who doesn’t have an intrinsic bias against it. Good luck in your recovery from alcoholism, but I’d rather read your thoughts about abstinence.

I concur, JES. But for once the spirits blog looks like it was not written by someone in Alcoholics Anonymous Although I still have a health mistrust for ANYONE who thinks there is a place for Rose's Lime Juice on this planet, much less in my drink! But Paul Clarke takes on one of my favorite drinks, The Old Fashioned. I didn't think there was such drama around how to make one. Are ou still friends after an Old Fashioned? I hope so!

I have a tradition of making a Ginger Old Fashioned (from a now defunct restaurant on Jones St) every year for Thanksgiving. I start in September infusing some bourbon and rye with fresh and candied ginger (bakers ginger from Trader Joes is good). Before turkey day I will use fresh ginger to make some ginger simple syrup. The question of bitters. I like classic old fashioned bitters, but I don't mind playing with some other flavors on top, especially if I am making the drink without soda on top. Now the Fee brothers have recently come out with Cherry Bitters and their Orange biters, while not as spicy as Regans, is pretty good. But I still like to muddle a bit of fruit in the bottom of the glass with the ginger syrup and bitters. Toss in the ginger bourbon and just a splash of seltzer (fresh from a gun would be perfect) and its like Christmas exploded in your mouth! So fresh, tart, spicy and packed with vitamin C!

Are you still friends after an Old Fashioned?
[Proof-NY Times Blog]

Green, Gold and Pink: Fast, Easy and Delicious

[NY Times]