Spring Garden, A New(ish) Cocktail, but not much knitting...

I just looked at the calendar. It's May. Howinthehell did that happen? Not only that, my anniversary and birthday are coming up, and Memorial Day, and we've been working on the yard, and...

...clearly, I haven't been posting about it.

Last first. Yes, I've done a little bit of knitting. It's the Cat Blankie, which is living up to its too cute name nicely. It's about 2/3 the length of my body at this point, and the cats are happy to burrow under as it continues.

Next: the cocktail. It's not really a new one--I just decided to ring a change on an Aviator (gin/lemon juice/creme de violette/maraschino). Regular gin is currently out of stock at the old booze cart, but I do have some Old Tom gin. And in addition to creme de violette, we have creme yvette.

Creme yvette is the ancestor of creme de violette. I don't have all the information, but I believe that it dates from Victorian times, as does Old Tom (slightly sweetened) gin.

Therefore, my "new" cocktail is the Steampunk.

Steampunk Cocktail

2 1/2 oz. Old Tom gin
3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
2 -3 generous dashes Maraschino
1/2 oz. Creme Yvette

Shake briskly for a short time with clean, dry ice. Strain out into a cocktail glass.


The drink will be a strong rose pink, and a trifle sweeter than an Aviation. The Creme Yvette brings a nice floral/herbal aftertaste to the drink.

Speaking of floral and herbal: