photo via the al dente blog

I was searching the blogosphere to find a tantalizing drink recipe, when I found this post by Braiden Rex-Johnson (who has one of the best names ever!) on Amazon’s Al Dente blog, which I’ve talked about before.  And lo and behold, the recipe is by my favorite drink author/expert AJ Rathbun!  I can’t get away from this guy if I tried… then again, why would I even try in the first place?  Besides being a fabulous person, AJ is by far the supreme knower-of-all-things-alcoholic, and the pages of his books are more dog-earred than my copy of Eliot’s The Wasteland from junior year of college.  I still swear by his recipe for sangria from Good Spirits as the best I have ever tasted.

The drink featured on Al Dente is called the Rosé Squirt.  The name makes me giggle each time… perfect for a light-hearted summer evening.  What I like most about the recipe is the anticipation of the maraschino liqueur, which undoubtedly will offset the dryness of the white wine.  Wine cocktails are making a comeback, people!  Guaranteed.

Rosé Squirt
Serves 2

Ingredients:
Ice cubes
2 ounces maraschino liqueur
6 ounces dry rosé
Chilled club soda
2 maraschino cherries, for garnish

Directions:
1. Take two glasses (highball) and fill with ice cubes until 3/4 full.  To each, add one ounce maraschino liqueur and three ounces rosé.  Stir

2. Top with club soda. Give it a swirl, top with a cherry, and sip away!

I can’t take this rain.  And it’s not even rain; more like a perpetual mist that seeps through every pore and fiber, dampening clothing and temperament alike.  Everything in Boston is absolutely and utterly soggy.  The air is thick and drenched.  Summer hues peep out beneath long, dark raincoats.  Faces are permanently shaded by nylon umbrellas.  I think you’re getting the idea.  This cannot possibly be June.

For me, rain breeds complacency.  I don’t want to do anything.  I don’t want to go out on my bike, and thus must muster every ounce of will to go out at all; I don’t want to cook, because my body goes into hibernation and craves nothing but bread and chocolate.  Add to this my most recent Trader Joe’s discovery:

It’s called “Chocotal” and it is an assortment of four delectably exotic and rich chocolate ice creams.  Of course, I saved the Costa Rican Chocolate one for last.   Wasn’t quite ready to see it go…  Still, hello, heaven, I always knew you’d be in chocolate form.

Anyway, like a mourning shawl lifted from the hunched shoulders of an ancient babushka, today was the first sunny day in what seems like an eternity.  I actually felt the warmth and heat of the sun!  Such a blasphemy that we need to feel this way at the end of June!  But, it was glorious, nonetheless.  And so, I immediately hopped on my bike and rode out to my local Trader Joe’s for some red wine and cherries.

Yeah, those are pits.  I got a little hungry during the shoot.  Cherries, to me, represent the jubilant calling of summer.  Their tartness, sweetness, juiciness, and vividness epitomize the food of this season.  There is just about nothing better than biting into a chilled, plump cherry after a long day out in the sun.  So, should the sun decide to tough it out for me, I’ll be making this Cranberry Cherry Relish to spoon over some grilled chicken sausage.

Pour out the wine without restraint or stay,
Pour not by cups, but by the bellyful, 
Pour out to all that wull.

~Edmund Spencer

I’m not quite sure what’s influencing me this morning (besides the bottle of cabernet sauvingnon I polished off last night).  Perhaps it’s the anticipation of my company’s holiday lunch, taking place at Boston’s extremely fabulous, award-winning restaurant, L’Espalier.  Chef Frank McClelland is truly deserving of a standing ovation for his menu.  He is a master of French cuisine, and Erik Johnson, the resto’s wine director, always manages to suggest the most flawless wine pairings.  In fact, McClelland (along with writer Christie Matheson) recently published Wine Mondays (Harvard Common Press), a book named after the classic L’Espalier prix fixe that takes you on a tour through a variety of wines, paired deliciously with dishes from the L’Espalier test kitchen.  Definitely recommend this for anyone on your holiday gift-giving list.

Allow me to wipe the drool from my face.  The whole purpose of this post was that I wanted to share this article on the NYTimes wine-blog “The Pour.”   It talks about the representation of wine in modern culture, as well as gives several significant suggestion on what books to add to your wine-loving library.  Ok, so I’m not exactly talking food here, but in the spirit of the season– redden your cheeks with some pinot, and fill up your mind on wine-lit.