I've been reading Ross Gay's Book of Delights, and am very much enjoying finding out what delights another fellow human, even though it's a human I've never met. It's not necessarily what I expected and his delights are far from the obvious list of things that might come to mind. In the beginning he mentions that once he began this project and made it a point to look for delights, they started to present themselves to him more frequently as if saying "pick me! pick me!" I think this is an excellent time to be deliberately looking for delights when there is so much happening that is quite undelightful. It could be a sort of therapy to balance out the negative incoming.
Inspired by Ross I thought I'd share a delight of my own. I am delighted when I discover a confluence of things or people that I have enjoyed separately. As a recent example, the food blogger that I've referred to many times, Deb, of Smitten Kitchen discussed a book called The Margot Affair and raved about the author's knack to describe food. Deb mentions she and the author, Senae Lemoine ended up speaking so Senae could share one of the recipes mentioned in the book. I was intrigued by her description and in need of a novel to immerse myself in so ordered and quickly read the book. I liked it quite a lot, so recommended it to a friend. Shortly thereafter, that friend told me the author of the book was interviewed on a podcast she listens to called "The New Paris". I listened to that episode and thought the podcaster, Lindsey Tramuta, was an excellent interviewer so listened to several more and it turns out that she also recently had David Leibovitz as a guest. I've mentioned David recently as the inspiration for much of my cocktail experimentation over the past many months. Then, around that same time, David Leibovitz mentioned Smitten Kitchen in one of his Instagram posts and having talked with Deb. <Insert brain explosion sound here.> So, now I imagine all four of these folks who I am a huge fan of separately all being connected, or maybe even good friends and perhaps all sitting down to a long French style meal together! I understand this probably doesn't sound particularly exciting to you and it makes sense that these folks would be connected, so not all that surprising. I guess I just enjoy when it turns out people I like also like one another. I wonder how they would feel knowing that I'm referring to them familiarly by their first names as if Deb, Senae, Lindsey, David and I are all pals. If Ross ends up mentioning any of these folks in his book, that'd really make this confluence very special. I think you'd have to agree with that. I'll let you know if that happens.
David revealed in his interview with Lindsey that his favorite cocktail is the Boulevardier which is also one of my faves, and so the theme continues. This is sometimes referred to as a "French Negroni". Here's the recipe. Hopefully you will enjoy it too.
Boulevardier
1 1/2 oz Bourbon
1 oz Campari
1 oz sweet vermouth
orange peel for garnish
1. Put bourbon, campari and vermouth in a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Pour into a coupe glass. Twist orange peel over the drink and then place inside.
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