Happy Bastille Day! Wish I was out doing something interesting,
but the fact that I'm sending you an e-mail at 10:45 pm tells you
the whole story, doesn't it? For as many of us as there are in
Chicago, of French or partially French descent, this is one
ethnic holiday that sees little celebration. I suppose that
there's something semi-apropo about my choice of kitchen
chores for tonight - I'm making liqueurs; liqueur rouge
at the present moment - but this is pretty darn sad, all the
same. I have to do something about that.

Right now, I'm resting my hands, and my slightly redenned
and sticky skin, to post about a small page I put together
a week or two ago. See if this reminds you of anybody:

http://cafesatan.bravehost.com/Postmodern



Liqueur Rouge ... sounds expensive, doesn't it? If you managed
to find it in a restaurant, I imagine that it probably would
be; small glasses of liqueur tend to run one $5 - %8; the one
glass I've had in my life of Chartreuse cost considerably more
(but worth every penny). Well, I couldn't begin to tell you
how to make anything akin to Chartreuse. The recipe for that
calls for hundreds of different plants, most of which don't
even grow in my part of the world, many steps, ... suffice
it to say that it's been in high demand for generations, and
nobody has succeeded in coming up with a decent counterfeit,
as far as I know. A real sign that one is looking at
something far too complicated for the home enthusiast.

Other products, however ... something bearing a definite
resemblance to amaretto (called noisette) can be made with
a blend of peach and apricot pits soaked in alcohol
(I favor a 50-50 blend of vodka and white brandy) for about
a year, strained, and then sweetened. Many fruit and herbal
cordials can be made with a considerable amount of labor -
I almost killed the building alkie who tried to lift some
of my stash for use as a mixer with pepsi - but relatively
limited expense, and the results can be quite good, after
a little experience in gained. More about that later.




Stuff, stuff, and more stram of consciousness babbling ...

If you've been by the homepage for this group lately, you've
probably noticed a few changes. Obviously, that I've darkened
the page colors in response to Yahoogroups' change in layout.
The increase in contrast in tone makes for a more attractive
look, I think. More interesting from your point of view than
that bit of minutiae is the fact that this is no longer strictly
an announcement list. You can send posts to this list. They'll
be moderated, of course, though in the case of a number of
you, I recognize your names well enough that I'll probably
switch you over to unmoderated status when I don't have a
few cases of fresh fruit to deal with, and worries about
mold breathing down my neck. Putting it all in the
refrigerator is not an option; any refrigerator odors the
fruit picks up will be transmitted with disturbing
effectiveness into the liqueur. What you must do is process
your purchases on the spot.

Back to work. More senseless babbling later. Hope you
like the page.



Joe Dunphy