#ValentinesDay: #DoRight #RAOK #Love #Hallmark

In my early twenties, I worked at a Hallmark Gold Crown store for a time (while on leave from university) and I unfortunately worked on Valentine's Day that year. It was not a pleasant experience. Never have I encountered so many grumpy, crass and downright rude people in such a short amount of time. It's really sad that a holiday which is supposed to be about love (and not only romantic love, mind, but love of one's fellow man) seemingly brought out the worse in people. I told myself to never turn out like all the people I witnessed in the Hallmark that day.

Personally, I've never been one to harp on holidays, I don't need an arbitrarily approved date to be nice, give gifts, forgive transgressions or play fair. That said, there's nothing wrong with celebrating Valentine's Day. (One can never have too much love.) It's merely an observation that if you have to get so bent out of shape and overwrought in the quest to impress someone on this one day, then things probably aren't right the other 364. Valentine's Day, if anything, should be an enhancement of bonds, not a catchall panacea for all the crap accumulated throughout the rest of the year. But to each his own.

I try to treat the people about whom I care well every day of the year. Certainly, I fall short of this goal upon occasion; I am human and can be a grumpy cuss at times like anyone else. But I would like to think I succeed much more than I fail. (My family and friends would have to confirm this.) Thus, I don't have any special plans for today. I'm not out running around buying gifts at the last minute, in a harried attempt to make the day special (as an afterthought). No, I plan to go about the day much like I go about each day, with a smile and a wave. As for me and mine, I do know there will be pizza and cake (though sadly, not by the ocean, as I'm landlocked this year). And, that's a pretty good start to one fine day, let me tell you.

Happy Valentine's Day! May the true spirit of this day not elude you (or those whom you encounter).

#Vegeversary What Can I Make with... #ingredients #recipes #pantry to Satisfy My Sweet Tooth?

Ever had a random craving that will not go away until it's satisfied? It happens. (Luckily for me, not often.) I hate it, but what does one do? The body is a strange and wonderful machine with a mind of its own. I try to listen to my body, but sometimes it speaks a foreign language I have yet to learn.

'Tis the season! Winter officially arrives at 5:44a this morning. The Winter Solstice and the Summer Solstice each coincide with an important date in my life.

Yesterday, for whatever reason, I randomly craved sugar. Don't get me wrong, I like sweets perfectly well, but I tend to only eat sweets in spells. Day to day, if you were to find me snacking, it would most likely be on something salty or savory. So while I do eat sweets, I seldom crave them so intensely that I start searching the pantry for them, as I did then. Unfortunately, the cupboard was bare.

Frustrated, I resorted to examining the potential ingredients I had on hand in order to determine what I could make quickly and without hassle. As I have yet to do any grocery shopping this week, I used one of those recipes search engines that seeks matches based upon an ingredients list that one inputs. Out of milk, butter and oil, but with sugar, eggs and a few other sundries, I got a short list of results. I rapidly scanned down the page, until my eyes fell upon a recipe for a simple peanut butter cookie.

Who'd have thought that 1:1:1 egg, sugar and peanut butter would combine into simply the best peanut butter cookie. It was wonderful. Craving satisfied. (I believe in satisfying one's cravings within reason. I don't deny myself, instead opting to use moderation as a guideline. You only live once, why work at making yourself unhappy? There's enough crap in the world as is. Mindful indulgence works to the benefit of your mental health, if not your physical self. Both mental and physical health is needed, so a balance must be struck.) Have a cookie.

FOOTNOTE: I don't eat meat, but this was a natural progression for me, because I didn't desire it. Giving up meat, therefore, was not truly denying myself anything. Today is my vegeversary! I became a lacto/ovo vegetarian by way of a conscious choice to give up meat on 21-12-1989. Having spent more of my life without meat, than with it, at this point, I don't recall what meat tastes like. It has all the appeal of cardboard.

No Garnish. Straight Mule.

TWINE by True Fabrications Old Kentucky Mule Mug

File this under "you learn something new every day." Had no idea that Smirnoff Vodka created the original recipe for the Moscow Mule cocktail as a way to promote the vodka some 75 odd years ago.

It makes sense, of course, once I'd thought about it. I mean, one would assume a drink called a "Moscow Mule" had originated in Moscow or thereabouts, or at the very least pays homage to the city, and Smirnoff is a legendary vodka originally produced by a fellow named Smirnoff at his distillery in Moscow (though it's now a Diageo brand). So, it's foreseeable the two things might have a connection. Small World and all that.

The story of how the Moscow Mule was actually supposed to be created 75 years ago is one of those "only in Hollywood" tales, it goes: A Russian immigrant named Sophie Berezinski walked into a bar on the Sunset Strip to hawk her solid copper mugs and met Smirnoff Vodka owner John Martin & ginger-beer purveyor Jack Morgan. The rest, as they say, is history.

Smirnoff Vodka (and Diageo) are currently celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Moscow Mule and dropping knowledge to boot...

Although traditionally made with some amount of vodka, spicy ginger beer and lime juice, and garnished with a slice or wedge of lime, there are, of course, many variations of the recipe that have arisen over the cocktail's 75-year history.

Moscow Mule (or Vodka Buck)

1 1/2 fluid ounces vodka

1/2 fluid ounce lime juice

ice cubes

1/2 cup ginger beer

1 lime wedge for garnish

Happy Birthday to the Moscow Mule! Cheers!