Happy New Year!
We’ve been enjoying a nice few weeks off with our family in Tallahassee, FL, where the weather is temperate if not a hot 75 degrees most days. We’ve been eating too much tasty holiday food and then taking the dogs on walks around a neighborhood that still has it’s Christmas lights up. We’ve become accustomed to the classic Florida Santa- long beard and red hat, in swimming trunks and a Hawaiian shirt- and with snowflake shaped Christmas lights hanging off of palm trees. Let’s just say it’s been a little strange coming from our very own winter wonderland in Vermont to the land of Jimmy Buffet. But of all the strange things to occur down here, today on the first day of 2019, we played our first ever Dungeons and Dragons campaign with our budding wizard nephew, his proud and amused parents, and their friends Liz and Mike, who was our ever patient dungeon master. We chose to share a character, a barbarian born from a silver dragon, who our niece named Snowflake for us. The more we got to know Snowflake the Barbarian, the more we realized that she was a vegan who more than anything didn’t want to fight, didn’t want to kill and especially didn’t want to go into the rage state that was needed to defeat the goblins. In fact, the more we played, the more we made it our goal to kill as few other people as possible, much to the chagrin of our trigger-happy wizard nephew. But we made it out of the cave, still alive and happy with the decisions we made.
You also may have some 2019 goals that make you feel like a vegan barbarian named Snowflake who’s just trying her hardest to help her friends on a magical quest and we’re here to say, you can be anybody you want to be. That’s the great thing about the new year and the resolutions we all make- there’s the promise of time to accomplish them, or at least try. Every new year, for some time now, we’ve made a goal list for ourselves and a goal list for the band. Usually some financial goals appear, some health goals, a hope to read more, play more, write more, scroll less. We then take our goal list and hang it on the wall where we have to reckon with it everyday. It’s a system that works for us and while we won’t bore you with all of our goals for the year, we will show you a picture of the highlights. We do need to tell you that the best way to keep up to date with whether or not we’re keeping our new years goals is to sign up on our mailing list! That way when, oh I don’t know, our NEW RECORD COMES OUT, you’ll be the first to know about it. But whether or not you make a goal list yourself or care about ours, today on Double Americana we’re performing our song “Goal List,” from 2014’s much ignored album The Rough & Tumble’s Holiday Awareness Campaign. So, tune in to Facebook at noon EST today.
If your goal is to quit drinking, though, maybe this Rumbly Tummy isn’t for you. Today we’re going to kick off the year with a delicious winter cocktail, brought to you by this month’s sponsor, Makin’ Maple. You may recall our story of Chris, the father in the father/son maple syrup making team, Alex Parker and Dad. Well, while he was playing the part of Vermont Santa and delivering us all the liquid gold presents we could’ve asked for, he told us about this cocktail recipe called The Fireside that is the perfect winter warmer for those cold nights when the snow is falling and the moon is full. His version features ginger beer but we prefer fresh lemon. It’s really up to you. So, if you’re somewhere the snow is falling this recipe is for you. And if you’re somewhere as warm as Florida in January, well…this can be for you, too. Just close your eyes and dream of being back up North with the snow and your winter jacket.
The Fireside
Ingredients:
2 shots bourbon
1/2 oz maple syrup
dash ginger beer OR squeeze of fresh lemon
ice
vanilla bitters (optional)
maple sugar & orange (garnish)
Instructions:
1. Sugar the rim of your glass.
2. Place three cubes of ice in your glass. Pour bourbon, maple syrup, and ginger and/or lemon, If you prefer sweeter, go with the ginger beer (like this homemade ginger beer made by Scott over the winter!). If you prefer simple, squeeze in the lemon. If you're using bitters, squeeze them around the inside of the inside of the cup.
3. Stir!
4. Garnish with an orange slice, or more lemon to keep the scurvy away.
