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Thursday 9 September 2010

Gin Gimlet


We're drinking hard liquor today, people. Please enjoy!
To go with, I'll give you some drunken beer babble: my thoughts on university education. Please also enjoy!

I'm not saying that it (university education) is a waste of time - so don't jump all over me, OK? - but I do think, looking back at what we actually studied when I was a student, that some of what we studied in those lectures had little useful application to real life.

My European Literature module for example. Or The Cultural History of Japan. I wonder if they still torture people with those?
Tell me that my Heroes of the Torah glasses are not fabulous.


In my final year, I took a module on French crime fiction, and thought at the time that it was going to be a similar story. I mean, we were reading whodunnits for crying out loud.

In the end though, I did actually enjoy that particular class - it was probably the only one I ever did the reading for on time, albeit in translation, and I loved the arguments about how 'noir' some of the texts were. I mean, as if we, a bunch of undergraduates, had any idea.

University will do that to you.


Now. Here's the thing. Because of this crime fiction module, and the fact I really didn't know anything about crime novels (or what hard-boiled crime writing was), I did a bit of background reading at the time. Only a few novels. nothing major, but I did read Raymond Chandler's 'The Big Sleep' and 'The Long Goodbye', the former being on the recommended reading list.

They don't scream USEFUL APPLICATION TO REAL LIFE, granted, but they did come to my rescue (or downfall - ultimately, I burned a cake) when I wanted a gin and tonic the other day and found, as usual, that we had no tonic, a situation equal in terms of frustration as finding no milk in the fridge when you've already made your cup of tea.

I didn't kill myself. I saw we had Rose's lime cordial in the cupboard and Terry Lennox's instructions for making a gin gimlet came to mind: 'half gin and half Rose's lime juice and nothing else.'

I remember reading the passage about gimlets in the book and thinking to myself that it was probably all down to the drinking of such rough drinks that Terry ended up with scars on his face. Yet look at me now! I seem to have acquired a taste for them myself. I was quite surprised, because I didn't think a drink made from gin, and what is basically squash, could taste any good. But it does! It's superb.


I think you need ice. But otherwise, I wouldn't add anything, and I certainly wouldn't bake (well, never again...) while drinking one of these, otherwise your Southern Manhattan Coconut Cake will end up black as soot, and the only cure will be another gin gimlet.
Unversity: the foundation of alcoholism.

Apparently, the rabbis on these glasses aren't real. I wanted to do a blow by blow account of why each one is a Hero of the Torah for you, but can't.

How fabulous are these Judeo-kitsch glasses by the way? Told you I love Fishs Eddy. They haven't sent freebies yet. I still dream.

Gin Gimlet


You will need:


Gin (I used Gordon's, which I would never buy, but some was left at our house after a party)
Rose's Lime Cordial
  1. Mix the two ingredients in equal measures, and pour over ice.
  2. That's it.

10 comments:

  1. I want to see photos of the burnt cake! Pleaseee.

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  2. I think I've now come to the realisation that university did nothing but teach me how to be a philosophical, lazy alcoholic. I read Raymond Chandlers The Little Sister in my first year when I was practicing becoming a wasterel. I love those Rabbi glasses, although if I was drinking gin gimlets out of them for an afternoon, I would start questioning them.

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  3. The glasses are cracking me up and AMEN to your thoughts on university education not teaching you stuff for the real world. Ugg.

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  4. Fun post and glasses! I've never tried this drink, but I will now!

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  5. Since I'm a teacher I get this comment a lot-- when will I ever use this? I like to say that relating to the rest of the world (either because of what happened to them or because of what they study) a little bit better never hurt anyone. Plus it's good brain exercise. Now I'll tell them they might learn how to make a drink. Ha!

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  6. love the gin... we've being doing a lot of event work with Beefeater 24 recently and I can honestly recommend it... as for Uni... taught me that youth and alcohol are the best combination and now that i'm older, I cannot handle it like i used to... depressing but true.

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  7. Well, Mr. P, I'm not much of a drinker, but I do enjoy the occasional gin gimlet. I actually use freshly squeezed lime juice mixed with half as much simple syrup when there are ripe limes on my tree, but the Rose's when there are no limes. And I shake the ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. But that's just because I like the look of a cocktail glass. Glad to see you using gin instead of the inferior, tasteless substitute (just trying to stir up a little controversy for you)!

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  8. I read on another blog's comments that you were cutting back on the sugar? Are you replacing it with gin?!

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  9. They are actually real! Go out and do your research and report back on their fascinating lives.
    Here's a start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzchak_Elchanan_Spektor

    ReplyDelete

That's what he said.

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