> When I was a kid my parents would make the trek to Ottawa at least
> annually and one of the treats they returned with was a gallon pail
> of freshly shucked oysters packed in ice and rushed from the coast by

That's 500 miles to Maine or 1000 to the Maritimes,
not inconsiderable. Of course, in the 19th century,
they used to pack oysters in wet sawdust and salt and 
drive them on trains to the midwest, where it is said
they were among Abraham Lincoln's favorite foods.
Could oysters be grown in the salty end of the Seaway, 
which might be closer?

> fast train. Mom would break that down into pints and quarts and then
> freeze them. We would have oyster suppers fairly frequently as they

They freeze decently - I've eaten thawed ones raw
with no great pleasure, but any unrotten oyster is
better than no oyster.

> were not considered a huge extravagance. Even in the 80s one of my
> favourite bars had them on at four for a dollar and now they are $3
> each. I do make more today thanks to inflation but I certainly don't
> make 12 times as much.

I remember that sad devolution ... 4 for a buck, 3 
for a buck, two for a buck, and now they've become 
very dear. Until the S2 thing, a lot of places had, 
in addition to taco Tuesday ($1 each), dollar oyster 
night, where you could get a dozen for $12 with the 
purchase of an adult beverage.

>  JW> The Irish are unpredictable and whiskey sometimes makes them
>  JW> volatile.
>  ML> [and] the Chinese their moutai ... Hot River
> I have not sampled moutai to date or anything sorghum for that
> matter. Would 9 parts vodka and 1 part whiskey be a reasonable
> approximation?

I've written here about the bottle of counterfeit
Kweichow that I got in New York that nearly killed
me. Well, it did not taste substantially worse than
the one that my father was presented with as an
honored guest of the Chinese government after he
gave a lecture tour on cancer chemotherapy.

But why bother. Look at tinyurl.com/1maotai and
tinyurl.com/2maotai - I'd suggest if anything 9 
parts vodka and 1 part acetone with a  dash of 
Worcestershire.

> The rest of it would be no problem. I still have a wee bit of St.
> Germain in the pantry.

>  ML> Garnish with a slice of Cucumbers (to taste)
> Or maybe a lemon twist.

That would make it less Asian.

> I can actually endorse this next one having made it a couple of
> times:
>       Title: Cherry Blossom #2
>   by LeNell Smothers

A chocolate cherry in a glass, eh, or ehh. 
Better than her other offerings but not 
something I'd go for. 

> ... The beauty of cocktails is they can transcend their assembled components.

And the ugliness is that they can fail miserably
to do so.

Pete's passion
cat: booze
servings: 1

1 part Midori
1 part peach schnapps
1 part Malibu rum
1 part Southern Comfort
1 part amaretto
1 part sloe gin
1 part pineapple juice

Shake on ice. Serve as a shot.

Peter Leroy, Improper Bostonian 3/31/04

[Pete must be into underage hookups]