Searching the Cosmos, Circa 2050

I've mentioned that I started drinking late in life; here's proof. When Barbara sent me this drawing last night, I asked what all the glasses were for ("Are we having a taste test??") and wondered what she was throwing in my drink.

Beer Pong. Who knew? Sure I've heard of it, but I've never played it or seen it played. I better learn the rules and maybe start practicing, since apparently Barbara and I will be playing the Cosmo variation of it during our porch-side cocktails hours in our golden years. I kind of can't wait.

What Price Cosmo?

Barbara and I have for months been talking about figuring out how much, exactly, we’re spending on cosmos. A few weeks ago I did some quick calculations in my head and estimated that they cost about $11 each. Barbara thought that sounded high and suggested I try it again, with a calculator.

A regulation cosmo — that is, one that’s half the size of the ones Barbara serves — costs $1.48. So the ones we’ve been drinking cost us $2.96. Still a bargain, compared to the $10 (minimum) they cost on Long Island and the $15 (or so) they cost in NYC.

Cointreau is the most pricey ingredient; $1.68 per big drink. To save some money, I decided to revisit triple sec. It costs 12 cents per drink! And I like that it’s not as strong as Cointreau. The resulting cosmo tastes fine. Cosmo lite.

But Barbara isn’t having any of it. That is, she doesn’t agree in theory (“How much do we drink, anyway?? It’s not like we’re buying bottles of Cointreau every week or even every month!"), and she refuses to practice what I’m preaching (extreme austerity and weaker drinks in preparation for Christmas overspending and indulging). So I will buy a bottle of Cointreau to use to prepare her cosmos when we have cocktails at my house; it’s only right. But I’ll be using the triple sec for myself until it’s gone or Christmas, whichever comes first.

How We Spent Our Summer Vacations

We're back. As you can see from Barbara's illustration, it was an eventful summer. (Barbara can actually do a forearm stand, whereas I am still working on learning how to ride a unicycle. If anyone has any tips — or a unicyle, for that matter — please let me know. It was just a notion that I mentioned over cocktails a few weeks ago as something I wanted to do, and, now that Barbara's drawn it, feel I must do. As soon as I get a unicycle.)

Looking back over the summer, it's worth noting that in three months of weekly cosmo sessions, not one glass was broken. The reason: stainless steel. I gave Barbara a pair from Target for her birthday. At first they made me think of what a cocktail party in prison would be like, if prison had cocktail parties — I can practically hear the clanging as inmates demanded Cointreau, not Triple Sec — but now Barbara and I like them, both for their indestructibility and the nice job they do keeping a drink cold.

By the way, the cartoon caption comes from a comment Jan from Newport made via email several monts ago. What she actually wrote was, "It's comforting to know you will never fall victim to scurvy," which I misquoted when I reported it to Barbara. But the point is made.

This post marks the resumption of our once-a-week (at least) publishing schedule that we will stick to until next summer, at which point I will no doubt slack off again. But until then, please continue to check in (and comment!) as the search continues.

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.