Wow, these are frickin’ awesome, as Carl would say.
Here is Christy’s recipe again:
The Bees Knees
1/3 C hot water
1 Tsp lavender
1/4 C honey
6 Tbsp gin
2 Tbsp lemon juice
This makes 2 small (6 oz) drinks (or as pictured above, one HUGE drink). Steep the lavender in the hot water for 4 minutes and then strain. Mix the lavendar water with the rest of the ingredients and add ice. Strain out into cocktail glasses.
I found it helpful to the honey first with the strained, hot, lavender water so that it melts, then mix that with everything else. Yum!
***
So, jwa’s 34th(!!) birthday is coming up and we’re looking for a restaurant to have a nice, leisurely, tasty meal. Not too fancy, but still, an occasion restaurant of sorts. Oh and we ususally don’t eat out on Saturday nights (Sunday is actually my favorite night to eat out), so I’m hoping stuff isn’t all unreasonably crowded and hectic.
As of now, the list has been whittled down to:
* Wildwood.
Never been. Have heard great things (obviously). We really want to try it sometime, but I fear trying a place I really, really want to love on a birthday is a recipe (hee!) for letdown.
* Paley’s Place.
See above.
* Three Doors Down Cafe.
Sadly, again, never been. Pro: Walkable. Con: No reservations on a weekend could be annoying and not much of a festive experience.
* Wild Abandon.
Sigh. Again with the never tried. Walkable. Great name. Have heard nice things but I think I may want to try this place more than he does.
* Rivers Restaurant.
We’ve been here before as well but never for dinner (just brunch, which was pretty good). The dinner menu looks intriguing.
* Castagna — affectionately dubbed Costanza around the house.
We’ve been here before and liked it, so maybe this is a possibly — but it is fun to try someplace new…
Hmmmmm…my goal is for him to make a decision and for me to make a reservation today. Edited to add: Okay, so I think he has decided on Wildwood…Yay!
Toss out Rivers. They’re changing chefs anyway. Wild Abandon and 3 Doors Down aren’t truly special occasion places to me. At least not compared to other options that you haven’t tried. Both Wildwood and Paley’s would be excellent choices. I highly recommend them. If you do Wildwood, consider sitting at the bar overlooking the kitchen for entertainment value. The cooks are good about talking with the patrons, too.
And dammit, save that money and get out more!
Wildwood it is, actually! I’m really looking forward to it.
Rivers is changing chefs, huh? I take it that it’s probably not for the better. *sigh* We were only there twice but I kinda liked it for a mimosa-soaked brunch and then a walk by the river…
And, pathetically, I think our biggest hurdle in going out to eat more is, uh, just plain laziness. But, I really want to work on that. Are you listening, you-know-who? Yeah, you, in the other room. 🙂
I wanted to let you know that I’ve made this cocktail several times and everyone loves it. I just made up a big batch to bring to a BBQ. I mixed up the lavender infusion, honey, lemon juice and put it into a container. I’ll have people add the gin to taste seperately.