Friday friend blog number 327--Bourbon Slush

 

Making my way thru my Friday Friend Cookbook, one recipe at a time.

What is the Friday Friend cookbook? I once had about 50 of my closest friends and family (from all over the county) on an e-mail forum which I called the Friday Friends. At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 21 years, we've answered and shared silly--and serious---questions, exchanged Secret Santa Christmas gifts, had a dieting contest in which we paid a $1 a week and that money went to a scholarship fund for a Friday Friends son's memorial scholarship, and we went on a great vacation for my 52 birthday. (plus so much more....)

AND, we contributed recipes for a cookbook.

I was looking at the cookbook the other night and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog."
The Handyman--who thinks he knows me better than I know myself (this happened to be a question on the Friday Friend forum once---does your spouse/partner know you better than you know yourself? Said, "you'll never, EVER do that."
WELL---maybe I'll show him!  Maybe I will.

Which brings me to recipe #327

Cindy's Bourbon Slush

It seems that the Handyman and I are always eating chips and salsa and playing cards with a cocktail.

What can I say--we are wild and crazy like that. 

Now days it's easy to go buy a single serve slushy in a foil packet to stick in your freezer for anytime you want to enjoy it.  There is none of the mixing and freezing and stirring and waiting as in the olden days. But you know what?  It was kind of fun doing all the buying and mixing and stirring and waiting--- waiting is half the fun, right?

Look at all the bubbles from the 7-up!  This is a great summertime slushy. (Although I made it in November and stuck it in front of a cornucopia--still good!) 

This is where my story gets hard--

My friend Cindy Borchgrevink (in the middle) only had two recipes in the cookbook countdown.

See her other recipe and story here.  Just Click.

So I am saying goodbye to her in the cookbook---the hard part is that Cindy passed away last summer, from a fast type of early onset Alzheimer's. 

(this photo is of me, Cindy and Debbie E about  21 years ago.) 

Cindy and her husband Larry came thru town in January of 2021 and surprised me.

I got a phone call early one Saturday morning and I saw her name pop up on my phone. 

She said they were driving thru Winnemucca on their way home to Wyoming and wanted to see we if could meet them for breakfast.

I said, of course, and then she said they were staying at the Model T and then she asked me if I knew where that was.

Strange question because, it's a small town and everyone knows where that is and also, I work for the Chamber of Commerce, so I have to know where.  (It's a hotel/Casino) It's on the main street--everyone knows where it is.

I just laughed and said yes.

We had a nice breakfast--she went to the restroom early on and her husband told us what was happening with her.

Then the Model T question made sense. And it put a whole different vibe on the visit--for me. 

It's sad to lose a friend--and while I hadn't lost her yet, I know from experience what a long, painful road dementia and Alzheimer's can be.

They were making a trip--a trip to see old friends--in essence to say goodbye.  Her husband was taking her on a big loop around some western states to say goodbye to people while she still could. That's what she wanted.

She passed away about 15 months later.

I had the Handyman take a picture of us--even tho I wasn't at my best.

That's the thing about friendship-- we see each other thru thick and thin, thru best and worst, good and bad-- and it's worth it, worth every minute even if the end is not fun.

Good friends are worth their weight in gold.

My friends!  This is recipe #327 out of 361  (I'm 99% sure I have all the math down pat now)

2023 will be the year!!

Then what will I do?

Friday recipe 326--Homemade Rootbeer

 

My Friday Friend Cookbook Countdown #326

My wonderful mother-in-law's Homemade Root Beer

and you know all the whys and wherefores of this countdown, right? Homemade cookbook, friends contributed, Handyman said I couldn't/wouldn't do it, I'll show him, yadda yadda yadda....

...and the rest is cookbook history!

Just remember, the countdown is not all about pretty food and food design---it's about the people and the stories.

And (the most important thing) proving my husband wrong--and that I can and WILL make every recipe in this cookbook.

Dry Ice.

 I had to wait till it was 'in season' to buy it around here.  Because in small rural towns, it has to be spooky season, I guess.

And--I had to buy it twice!  Because little did, I know that you can't store dry ice in your freezer for too long as it just disappears. 

It evaporates!

My son and his family with their spooky look on. 

The Handyman had to wear gloves to handle the dry ice--- and kept mentioning that he doesn't ever remember his mother making root beer. 

I cut this recipe in half, and it still made a lot.

It was really good, but once the dry ice melted (or whatever it does) there was no carbonation, so it was flat.  I had a gallon in my fridge for a while--- it tasted good, but more like root beer flavored juice.

It was fun tho!

So now, my mother-in-law, Teresa Marie Solaro Stone Belcher, there was never a better mother-in-law on earth.

That's what I believe. (even, and especially with all her eccentricities)

You can look at her past recipes (and stories) here..Just Click.

This will make her 14th recipe in the countdown, and I've mentioned before that I'm having trouble now thinking of stories about her, so I'm just going to tell you--that one time I made fun of her (re-read ECCENTRICITIES above)

Can you believe it?  I tried to get a laugh at her expense!

One of my kids (not the one above) was graduating from high school and we were having a big party.  Friends and Family from near and far were coming and I wrote a little 

'Cast of Characters' describing who would all be there and sent it to Barbara Brown, the editor of the first edition of this cookbook, just so she would know what to expect.  I think it was the first time she'd met everyone.

Later she was adopted in a ceremony by the whole family, so she is a sister by extension. But before that I thought it imperative that she understood who she was dealing with when she came to the party. 

*a disclaimer.  I might have described everyone in the family. But that paper got lost somehow, this was the only part that has survived the past 25 years. Seriously.

**also a disclaimer.  I might have exaggerated certain things.  I might have taken literary license when writing up descriptions.  Might have.  

This is what I sent to Barb:

And then I also sent this to her. 

(the last, very last, only remaining page of family descriptions!)

It's too bad (sigh) so very sad that I don't have those other pages describing everyone. 

I sure wish I did. But I don't---I DON'T. 

By the way, here is a photo of Teresa and her 2 husbands.

The one who looked like George Gobel (kind of), Richard,

and the other one.  (the one she loved till the end of her life--Phil)

I was the queen of candid shots when no one was lookin--and this was back in the day of 'film', so I couldn't ever do a redo.

Phil told me one time, , that he hated their California King bed, because he missed being able to reach out and touch her.

oh.... 

💓💕💖💘

Dang!  

The only reason I might have used her as a comic sidekick (in the description to Barb) was because she would laugh at herself too!

And she really wasn't all that bossy.

(shhhhhheeee really was. shhhhhhhh)

(having lunch in Capitoal, CA with my favorite in-laws and my 3 sons.   Can you guess which one is the middle child?)

And that is recipe #326 from the Friday Friend Cookbook Countdown.

Getting closer all the time.