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| Mistletoe Martini |
Dear Bookclub,
A most unusual Christmas Bookclub to round out our most unusual year, as we zum gali gali'd around ye olde computer screens:
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| obscure reference |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82Ht1xHLqd0
Most festively decked out, from her red dining room chairs to her mistletoe martini, Diane wowed us and in the finest holiday spirit, overlooked that not one of us had finished the book, except herself. She regaled us with tales of holiday mixology as we enviously spied her gorgeous drink.
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| Our Christmas Angel |
The above pictured drink was in her hand; we inquired: she reeled off the ingredients. I wished I could remember exactly what she said and when I later googled the recipe, I could not replicate. Graciously, she later shared her tweaks to this:
* https://mixthatdrink.com/mistletoe-martini/
Diane's modifications: no simple syrup, subbed rosemary for the mint garnish and served in a martini glass out of the shaker, so no ice in the glass as it is pictured on the website and looking more like the one above.
Moving right along, our intellectual conversation turned to the peanut butter cup I held in hand:
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| https://www.cuisineathome.com/recipes/drinks/peanut-butter-cup-cocktail/ |
Again, Diane, brought us up to speed with the full, fascinating history of Skrewball, the peanut butter whiskey featured in said drink, master-minded here in San Diego County. Truly, worth reading is the following story about the Ocean Beach Yengs, he a Cambodian refugee and polio survivor and she, his wife, a chemist and patent attorney.
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| The Yengs |
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| I, also, did not read "Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas" |
https://www.skrewballwhiskey.com/story/
Right about now, an appreciation for Stephanie Barron surfaced. The author of our December selection is actually Francine Mathews. Mystery solved.
Francine Stephanie Barron was born in Binghamton, New York and grew up in Washington D.C., the youngest of six sisters. Earning degrees from both Princeton and Stanford, the former intelligence analyst with the CIA has written more than 25 novels.
Please enjoy:
https://francinemathews.com/author-bio/
Then, we were treated to an unexpected arrival as Martha joined our conversation! So happy to see and hear from our beloved member, we caught up on her family's recent journey and with great interest, she asked about ours.
Circling back to the focus of the meeting, a bookclub, not drinking club, I learned that "Jane" was indeed available as an audible, and I lamented that I would have certainly polished it off (like a steaming bowl of brandy and lemon) if I had only known. Having researched this option on my Amazon account, I found that the only editions were hardcover, paperback and kindle. I was reading away on my paperback edition but seasonal obligations kept me from finishing.
The Christmas Angel informed us that she had listened to it (!) at 2X (!!) and lo and behold, she's on it! Looking to purchase the selection, it turns out the audible version is free and did not appear in my search.. live and learn. I have since downloaded the audible. Hope you will benefit from this info.
My suggestions for an upcoming read:
"This Time Next Year We'll Be Laughing" Jacqueline Winspear *chosen
"Caste" Isabel Wilkerson
"The Grammarians" Cathleen Schine
Up next:
Happy reading,
LK
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