Gin & Bear It

Is it me, or is that glass …

This week we’re harvesting the first of the citrus from the garden. The limes are juicy, plump and green (sort of how I’m feeling as I recoup from my trip to New York). Mix a harvest of bright, succulent limes with our Indian summer heat wave and you have the perfect excuse for a good old gin cocktail. I’m not sure why, but gin just seems to get me smashed, fast. After just one itty-bitty cocktail (well, maybe two) I am stumbling in my stilettos.

But I have to admit that with their rapid-fire inebriation power, gin cocktails hold a special place in my tipsy heart. Maybe it’s because they’re the preferred drink of choice when we have family get togethers. The morning after a gin-soaked evening we always swear we’ll never do it again, but then my sister and I spot our favorite Hendrick’s gin bottle gleaming behind the bar … and of course we do it again — luckily we live in different towns or we really would be lushes. We take refuge in my dad’s long proclaimed “gin allergy” as we mumble blame on the juniper berry and swiftly lift our glasses for another round of cheers.

On one of those nights, we concocted a new gin cocktail and laughed ourselves silly as we sipped.