the dude abides

i LOVE the academy awards, cheesiness and all. last night's award ceremony was replete with the kind of breathiness and sincerity that made cynical, snarky comments especially easy for my guests and me. we thought we were quite hilarious, at any rate. maybe you had to be there. steve martin and alec baldwin were so on top of their game, though, that even if we weren't being hilarious, there would have been plenty to laugh at. or with.

of course the laughing part was helped along by (you guessed it) cocktails! misha said i made pretty stiff drinks, but actually the one i served only contains 1.5 oz of liquor. it is my variation on something called the washoe peel.

1.0 oz bourbon

0.5 oz cointreau

0.5 oz freshly squeezed blood orange juice

lemon twist

combine first three ingredients in a pint glass or shaker filled with ice. stir until slightly diluted and very cold. strain into chilled rocks glass. squeeze lemon twist over top of drink and drop into the glass.

when i was doing research on bourbon-based drinks (the russian doesn't like vodka, but that's a whole other story), i found it amusing that these booze websites require you to input your birthdate before you enter. wow. what an ironclad system. i wonder if there are similar safeguards on bomb-building websites or pot-growing websites. i wonder if i should have something like that in place to prohibit juveniles from accessing this blog. if i weren't such a risk-taker, i'd call my lawyer to find out.

p.s. i love you, jeff bridges!