bevvies

There is something weirdly satisfying about someone recognizing something in you that you didn’t see yourself. Maybe it’s the narcissist in me, but when Maggie Mason recently announced that beverages are my thing, it felt like a high school boyfriend passing me a note with something sweet and enlightening.

And it was uncanny because I was in Ireland, reading a gorgeous book on the world of preserves and syrups. Blackberries happened to be out in all their fat and juicy glory, so I skipped jam and made a blackberry-bay leaf kind of cassis, strained through paper towels. Soon I was adding dashes of the thick, dark syrup to white wine, fizzy water, and champagne. Plus it doubled as a dessert sauce. Hooray, nature!

PS: all of you who are voting for my husband, I love you.