Well, hello, you gorgeous, sweet-talking readers. I think I’d like to buy you a drink, just to say thank you for the unexpected and lovely outpouring of anti-troll support you laid on me last week. That was….wow. It was wow. Please know I appreciate it, and I have no intention of letting a few anonymous jerk-wads derail this blog.
Since I can’t actually buy everyone a drink, I’d like to do the next best thing. Giveaway!
If there’s anything better than a gardening book, it’s a gardening book with a drinking problem, and I’ve got one that lives up to that promise.
I happen to have two signed copies of The Drunken Botanist to give away, which is kinda cool since this book isn’t even being released for sale until March 19th.
The Drunken Botanist is the latest work of staggering genius to come from Amy Stewart, author of many books including Wicked Plants and co-founder of the fabulous blog, Garden Rant.
The story of how Amy (New York Freaking Times Bestselling Author) Stewart handed me a few copies of her book after the Northwest Flower and Garden Show isn’t nearly as flattering to my garden writer reputation as you might think – she has no idea who I am.
No, basically the extra copies were just too heavy for Amy to lug back on the plane, and I threw myself in her path as a willing book porter. I think I basically jumped up and down with my hand in the air yelling, “Oooh, pick me! Pick me!”
Did I ever claim to have a lot of shame when, after several herbal cocktails, free books were up for grabs?
No. No, I did not.
Which brings me to The Drunken Botanist.
Next time you pull a piece of silk from between your teeth while you are eating a fresh ear of corn, remember that you’ve just spat out a fallopian tube.
Summer barbecues will never be the same: “Is that a fallopian tube in your teeth, or are you just happy to see me?” Yes, this book will change the way you look at plants, even if you already think you know them pretty well.
Stewart manages to turn a seemingly random botanical collection of grains, herbs, spices, fruits and vegetables into a fascinating guidebook to anything that could end up in a cocktail glass or beer stein. She crams cocktail recipes, history, accessible science, varietal suggestions and growing tips into The Drunken Botanist, and keeps the whole jaunt really fun to read.
The only thing this book doesn’t have that you might expect is detailed instructions on how to actually make hooch. There are instructions for simple infusions and cordials, but this is not a winemaking, homebrewing or distilling how to book.
As if combining plants and booze isn’t hedonistic enough, the book itself is a joy to hold and page through. The paper feels burnished, and the color, typography and graphic flourishes are vintage-fun. This is the kind of book-lover’s book that makes you hope Kindles and Nooks never completely take over.
To enter to win one of two copies of The Drunken Botanist, leave a comment below telling me how you use the harvest in your own creative mixology (“Pineapple Sage Mojito!”) If you don’t drink booze, non-alcoholic beverage refreshment options are welcomed, too!
Contest open until Thursday, March 21st at 8 PM PDT. US residents only, please, because of shipping constraints. Two winners will be selected randomly and notified by email.
Good luck, and thanks again for being wonderful.
2
My favorite mixer to make is a rosemary & thyme simple syrup. Cook a few sprigs of both rosemary and thyme in water, add a bit of sugar and cook until dissolved. Strain out the thyme and rosemary and store in a ball jar in your fridge to use to make a myriad of cocktails. My favorite being gin, grapefruit, club soda and a splash of this simple syrup. Delish and refreshing.
Dilly Beans in bloodies, nuff said.
Before i make salsa i roast my tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos, onions and garlic in the oven in a roasting pan. The juices that are expressed get poured into mason jars and become the most delicious bloody Mary’s ever!!
I am all about the mint (in water, in tea, in just about everything), largely because I am currently limited to a container garden on my rather shady balcony, so my options for planting are pretty limited (although I had cherry tomatoes do surprisingly well last year!). I’ve only really moved beyond drinking just wine this past year, so I’m hoping there will be more plant-alcohol experimentation this growing season.
This sounds AWESOME! We grow apples and pears for cider and perry, grow hops for beer, mint for the mojitos, and celery for bloody marys!
I like to grow lovage and use the lovage leaves instead of celery in my Bloody Marys. I also use the lovage stems as straws. Besides that I like to make rhubarb bitters and nocino (green walnut liquor) out of plants that grow on my property.
Thanks for the cool giveaway! I ferment vinegars with all sorts of fruit scraps and then make raw pickled infusions (asparagus in live strawberry vinegar right now) and shrubs. I also make liqueur from our loquat pits, it’s like nocino!
I won a Margarita contest with a Hibiscus Margarita I made using a syrup I made from dried Roselle flowers from my garden (Hibiscus sabdariffa), fresh lime juice, Cointreau and, of course, tequila.
I love using rosemary or basil with gin
Mint+limoncello+lemonade=dangerous. Also non-alcoholic thyme+red peppercorns+club soda=tasty!
Always interesting what clicking on a seemingly interesting article (npr) may lead…and I’m so glad it led me here. Just a quick comment to mention my new discovery of using loquats, sort of apricot/peach like, from a tree that sprouted up in my small yard which was from a seed dropped by a bird! Another happy accident. I’ve been experimenting with using the loquats in margaritas, but even more successfully with bourbon and now hendricks gin. It’s my loquatail: muddled loquats, hendricks gin, a touch of lavender syrup, and soda water. Careful, as several makes one loquacious.
Came here from your comment on the NPR article … I find that lemon and lime are the ideal garnishes for pretty much any mixed beverage, but my winter favorite is a hot toddy: hot water, whisky, honey and lemon. Gone are the days when I could pick meyer lemons from the backyard in California, but they are still mighty tasty!
My favorite non-alcoholic harvest beverage is cucumber water, and my favorite alcoholic harvest drink is by far rhubarbitas 🙂 Hey, rhubarb is almost here!
The only thing that makes me even tolerate the mint in my garden (or more technically in a whiskey barrel as far away from any soil as I can get) is the promise of it freshly muddled in summertime drinks. Mix it with some ginger infused vodka and a shot of soda and I’m a happy girl!
Green smoothies (spinach, kale, etc) or homemade grape juice only at present, but I’m intrigued! 🙂
I love your site with my whole soul!
First, I’d just like to say that I need to try all of these drink ideas! They’re wonderful. My favorite garden drink is a shot of homemade blueberry or blackberry syrup, one shot vodka, club soda to taste for however strong a drink you desire, with a fresh grown mint sprig. Yum.
Along with the hops we grow that become part of the beer we brew at home, a cucumber right off the vine, peeled and sliced lengthwise is a delightful garnish for either a Pimm’s Cup or a Bloody Mary made with a home-grown mixed-vegetable juice (tomatoes, carrots, bell pepper, celery, etc). Now we need to try all of the drinks people have described above! I guess this will be the summer of the drunken botanists at our little urban homestead. . .
I make a roasted beet juice and rosemary – vodka “martini”. It’s now my favorite special drink. I even bring a vial of my homemade beet juice concoction to restaurants and add it to vodka ordered at the bar. 🙂
I hope I win a copy of this book!
Thanks.
I’ve never thought of making drinks from my garden (sad, I know!). But now I have something to look forward to this summer 🙂
Last year I made a popular bloody mary mix straight out of the garden – it was sort of in between bloody mary mix and gazpacho, and quite tasty with or without vodka. Looking forward to new adventures this year!
If, next summer, I should be eating corn on the cob and drinking a basil mojito, and the thought of fallopian tubes causes me to laugh so hard that I choke–I’ll know who to blame!
Aarrrgh. I just found your blog. Too late for the contest. 🙁 Great post, btw.
How did I miss this contest? Would love to have that book. Ah well…maybe I’ll have to let go of a few coppers…
I always make home brew from my crop, honey, therefore mead. Since I don’t care for straight mead, I make what’s called melomel, honey mixed with fruit. I use the fruit from my farm as well: blackberries, persimmons, and blueberries. It’s a wonder I get any beekeeping done!
ブランド 財布
Magnificent website. Plenty of useful information here.
I’m sending it to several pals ans additionally sharing
in delicious. And certainly, thank you for your sweat!