Pinkie Power

As Barbara M. put it, “If we were 18-year-olds in bikinis, we wouldn’t have had our picture taken more than we did in our pink shirts.”

Team Cosmo rode the Ride to Montauk yesterday — 30 miles (or so; Laura’s bike computer showed 33.77), four kinds of pie (apple, cherry, blueberry and for one lucky Cosmo girl who got the last slice of it, strawberry rhubarb), lemonade (purchased from the enterprising boys of Jeffrey Lane in East Hampton), one lost bus driver and more questions and comments about the Searching the Cosmos shirts than we can count.

Everyone wanted to know what it was all about, from a professorial-looking couple at the ride start in Babylon who asked if we were astronomers to the woman at the finish line who said she’d like to join our cycling club and when told by Barbara K., “We’re not a cycling club, we’re a drinking club,” said, “Even better.”

We’re not really a drinking club, of course. Though we certainly have our share of cocktails when we get together, the ties among us are stronger than one of Barbara’s cosmos. And if you’ve ever had one of Barbara’s cosmos, you know that’s saying something.

Let the 18-year-olds have their bikinis. I’d rather wear the pink jersey of Team Cosmo. Long may we ride.

Jersey designed by Barbara K.; Photos by Judy (top) and some nice stranger (bottom).

Turks & Cosmos

Just back from Point Grace, a Turks & Caicos resort where rum cocktails were poured freely, and by freely I mean I didn’t have to pay for them, yet I opted for cosmos on a couple occasions; that’s how devoted I am to continuing the search regardless of economy or geography.

A brief introduction to my friend and Turks & Caicos traveling companion, Ilene: She and I have been friends since high school, good friends who see each other maybe once every few years, but good friends nonetheless. A few years ago she was at my house for dinner. I had cooked an Italian meal, with olives, focaccia and hunks of Parmasan cheese to start, all accompanied by a good bottle of red wine, which was my drink in the days before cosmos. It fleetingly crossed my mind that she might not like red wine or might not drink at all, in which case I wouldn’t either. I offered her a glass and she said, “No thanks, I can’t really drink red wine anymore, it gives me a headache.” Before I had time to process my disappointment, she continued, “Do you have any vodka?”

Anyway, cosmos are Ilene’s drink. We each had one at Point Grace with dinner on our first night here, hers made with vodka, mine with gin, and both were very good. Fresh lime juice and Triple Sec, instead of Rose’s and Cointreau, but in the exact right amounts, very cold, nice glass – a 9.0.

The next night we went for cocktails at the Gansevoort, a brand-new luxury resort down a mile or two down the beach from us. We walked there at around sunset, only to find that the main restaurant and cocktail lounge were closed for a private wedding. We sat at a small outpost where I had the worst cosmo ever. It was warm and had no bite at all. It didn’t taste like there was any alcohol in, nor any juice. It tasted like water. We sent it back, but the replacement was not much better. Shocking, for a place as groovy as the Gansevoort.

Later that night we crashed the wedding, just to dance, but after making some friends and being served wedding cake we felt okay about ordering a cosmo at the bar inside, again for research purposes. That cosmo was better, but still not great. I didn’t notice what gin was involved, but I’m thinking maybe it was a brand that just does not work for cosmos. At least twice Barbara and I have had cosmos made with a very expensive gin, and we didn’t like the results.

The fourth cosmo was at Point Grace on our last full day, and I micromanaged it. I requested Tanqueray gin and Cointreau. It was delicious. So were the free rum drinks we had most nights. I’m not going to start a blog about it or anything, but rum punch sipped poolside does have a certain Caribbean flavor. And after my first trip down there, I can say that it’s a taste I quite like.

Barbara Thinks She's So Clever.

Barbara did a drawing of what she imagines I must look like sitting around the pool in Turks & Caicos in my full SPF 50 regalia.

Is it me, or is she WAY off the mark?

Yankee Stadium Drought Is Over

On a recent rainy Tuesday night, I went to a Yankee game with tickets my non-baseball-fan boss had won in a raffle. The seats were not under an overhang, so during the one-hour rain delay Mary O. and I wandered around looking for some place to sit down. A Yankee employee took pity on us and gave us passes for the Audi Yankees Club, a fancy membership-only bar and restaurant. We scored a table near the window overlooking the field to sit out the rain delay and wound up watching the first few innings of the game as well. Despite my previous experiences with ballpark cosmos, I decided to try one, and it was delicious —made with Triple Sec, so not perfect—but ice cold, just the right amount of lime and cranberry juices, and served in a nice glass.

It never did stop raining, and the Yankees wound up blowing a five-run lead. But in general, May was pretty good for the Yankees. Mark Texiera came to life. And Nick Swisher hit four home runs in the Bronx, versus zero in April. The Yankee Stadium dry spell is over, for Nick and for me.

Photo credit: Mary O.

Drinking, not Drunkeness

Good post on Divinipotent Daily, a blog written by my friend and former boss Michele. She and I have shared a drink or two over the years; when we worked together, we regularly had a glass of red wine with lunch at Nino’s, and more than once she took the entire department out for cocktails. I remember celebrating Martini Week at Roosevelt Hotel’s Madison Club Lounge, and we once went to the Campbell Apartment in Grand Central Station. We’re due for a gin and tonic soon.

Anyway, she writes about a wide variety of topics (this month included the Blues and her Aunt Ella). One of this week’s post, Alcohol By Volume, is interesting, as is the Malcolm Gladwell article she mentions. Both are recommended reading.

http://divinipotent.blogspot.com/2010/05/alcohol-by-volume.html

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/02/15/100215fa_fact_gladwell

The Ride to Montauk: Whatever works.

Barbara has already signed up for the 66-mile route. Judy (of the vintage cocktail glasses) and I, upon learning that the ride snacks include bread from Balthazar, Briermere Farms pies and other delicacies, are planning to sign up for either the 30- or the 66-mile ride. But first I have to get a bike. Then I have to train. Here's one method that just might work.

www.ridetomontauk.com

Finding the Cosmos (in a manner of speaking)

Just a quick un-illustrated post because even though Barbara has drawings ready to go for what I told her would be the next topics, I haven’t had a chance to write them yet. But here are two things of note from the last few days:

1. Shortly after writing in my last post about how I was tempted to make the switch to small cocktail glasses, my husband and I went to a couple of estate sales specifically looking for them but didn't find any. A few days later while walking on Earl Street in Northport on my way to borrow a bike for a test drive before signing up with the Ride to Montauk that Barbara is already committed to (more on that in the future), I found four vintage small cocktail glasses right at the curb as part of post-yard-sale detritus.

2. A few days ago while cycling around Salem Lake in Winston-Salem with my husband and my sister Kathleen as part of the training for the Ride to Montauk (see, I told you there'd be more), we rode past a trestle over which one of those endless freight trains was traveling. “Look, memorize this scene so you can tell Barbara and she can draw it,” said my husband, too late for me to see what he was pointing at. Apparently, one of the cars on the train passing through the bucolic spot was decorated with a graffito that said in gigantic letters, “Cosmos.”

As signs go, these seem significant. Certainly, they're enough to give me pause and consider my place in the vast universe. Or cosmos, if you will. Everything is connected....