On Pork, Cocktails, Seeds, and Growlers

We got our Philly fix this week by going to Taylor Gourmet. All their sandwiches are named for streets in the City of Brotherly Love so, by just looking at the menu, we knew we were in for something good. We both got the Pattison Ave. sandwich: pork, broccoli rabe, and provolone on warm, soft yet crusty rolls. Just the right amount of grease cut by the bitterness of the rabe and the saltiness of the cheese. Good God was it good.

There also was a second visit to the Columbia Room. And, yes, there will be a third (and so on). This time Katie took care of us. I felt pear-y so I asked her to use pear liqueur in some way. She whipped up a champagne cocktail using pear and ginger liqueurs and ending with a bit of citrus. Nice. I followed it up with a gin cocktail. I’d never tried Junipero gin before so I asked for something made with that. Essentially Katie made me a martini sweetened with agave. It came in a champagne glass--not a flute, but a wide-mouthed one like people drank champagne out of in old movies--with a giant hand-cut ice cube. Really nice.

The next night I created my own, but I made a huge mistake--the biggest mistake you can make when mixing cocktails. I didn’t measure. I’ll have to try to recreate them. If I succeed, I’ll be sure to note the measurements. For the first one, I muddled rosemary (from the balcony garden), ground ginger, cane sugar, and grapefruit bitters. To that I added fresh orange juice and gin. Whoa was that wonderful. Then, in honor of Karl Pilkington (we were watching An Idiot Abroad), I whipped up gin, Pimm’s, Peychaud’s Bitters, fresh orange juice, and agave. Wowey zowey.

Today I’m planting our balcony garden: cilantro, flat-leaf parsley, Bulgarian Carrot chile peppers, Silvery Fir Tree tomatoes, French Breakfast radishes, Lemon cucumbers, and arugula. Here’s hoping for a greener thumb this year.

Oh, one more thing…We got our own growler from Falls Church’s Mad Fox Brewing Co. They make THE BEST IPA called Orange Whip, though they didn't have it the day we bought our growler so we got the pale ale. We plan to keep it full at all times (as often as possible with Orange Whip).

I lied. There’s still one more thing: I missed the tart workshop at L’Academie because I was sick that day (darn), but our Indian cooking class is coming up next week. So is a third class I signed up for at the Tabard Inn: a cocktail history one co-hosted by Derek Brown from the Columbia Room. Yay!