Three Things

And none of them are chickpeas!

1.

Whenever I order a mocktail at a bar or restaurant, I like to say, “Please ask the bartender to make something that won’t make me sad about not drinking.” (I feel like if you give people an occasion to rise to, they rise to it, you know?) And that’s always my hope at home too. Thus, here is a homemade mocktail that will spread joy to hearts (and livers) everywhere. It sounds kind of fussy, but it’s really easy to make. You can even skip the lemon and maple syrup, and it will be simultaneously less tart and less sweet but still excellent. Sometimes I add a drop or 2 of almond extract.

Hot and Sour Cherry

Shake up in a mason jar:

2/3 cup pure sour cherry juice (the kind from Trader Joe’s is my favorite)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon maple syrup

a pinch of salt

1/2 to 1 teaspoon chipotle puree* or something else smoky and spicy

A few ice cubes

Pour it, ice and all, into another class filled with ice, top with a little seltzer, and garnish with a cocktail cherry (I like the Amarena ones from Trader Joe’s, though I think you can only buy them at xmas).

* To make the chipotle puree, scrape an entire 7-ounce tin of chipotle en adobo (brands to look for include Embasa, San Marcos, Herdes, and La Costena) into the blender and puree it. Store it in your fridge in an impeccably clean glass jar where it will keep indefinitely—unless it doesn’t, which is what sometime happens.

2.

After more than 2 years, Michael and I are fiiiiiiinally getting the hang of empty nesting. We play tennis (because I’m Bjorn Borg all of a sudden) and eat the kinds of soup the kids feel medium about and cold plunge and spend a lot of time in bed and walking around the house naked. Also, we’re finally getting more into two-person games after years of mourning the loss of our robust quartet of gamers. We’ve always played a lot of Patchwork, and it’s still my all-time favorite two-person game. But I recently got us the two-person versions of two of our all-time favorite big games: Ticket to Ride, which is quick and fun, and Codenames, which is excellent.

I made Michael put clothes on for this photo even though he wanted to be naked and have me just pixelate his bits out.

I feel like it’s a little embarrassing to me to play a game with just Michael? Like, if the kids aren’t home, shouldn’t we be reading the Infinite Jest or beating the rugs or blowing each other or running for office? But I’m getting over it. We play two rounds of Codenames most nights after dinner, and it’s really fun and also cooperative but still hard, which is a combo I like.

Also? Speaking of Codenames?

I brought this tiny game card to the hairdresser to communicate the vibe I wanted, but then I was too embarrassed to show it to her and also didn’t want bangs and so felt it might be legitimately confusing. Then I thought about showing her this?

Or this?

To describe my gender and explain how weird I can feel if my hair looks too pretty? But then I didn’t think it would be super helpful, since there’s not actually any hair in either picture. (In the event, I got a good haircut.)

Where was I?

Oh.

3.

When I asked for recs on Facebook, multiple people recommended Connor Ratliff’s 3-season podcast Dead Eyes to us, and now I’m recommending it to you. To quote from its own deadpan and comedically repeated introduction, it’s “about one actor's quest to find out why Tom Hanks fired him from a small role in the 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers.” The series is laugh-out-loud funny but also, ultimately, deeply moving because mostly what he does is interview comedians and actors and other people about their own failures, and how fresh is that—to hear people speak honestly and often hilariously about their horror and shame and resilience? Plus there’s an ongoing and wonderful Aimee Mann soundtrack. Michael and I have had occasion to be in the car a lot of late, and boy have I always looked forward to listening. Now that it’s done, I’d love more recommendations.

Enjoy your weekend, my darlings.