Ironed Boxers

I’m not saying because I iron my boxers that I expect everyone to do this. Ironing boxers is just a way to get everything to lie flat, and to bring just a teeny amount of order into an untidy life.

This is the complicated version of a straightforward Bourbon and Ginger. It can be garnished with a strip of lemon or orange zest, but I’ve found garnishing with an apple slice can really wake it up.

It’s also not something that lends itself to being sucked down quickly - a nice companion for a lazy afternoon of laundry.

Ginger Simple Syrup

½ cup white sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 cup water

¼ cup fresh grated ginger

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring water to a simmer. When sugar is dissolved and ginger is fragrant, remove from heat and allow to cool. Strain out ginger. Can be refrigerated - in a scrupulously clean container - for several weeks.

The Drink:

1 ounce Ginger Simple Syrup

2 ounces whiskey

dash of bitters

Combine simple syrup and whiskey in a tumbler. Add ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with restraint.

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest

An old superstition says you should never give your name to a stranger. This stranger may be some sort of magician, or witch, who can summon Dark Forces against you, just because they know your name.

T S Eliot said cats have three names: The name it is given, the name it acquires, and the name you will never guess.

.Which name did Vickie Lynn Marshall give out during her odd, complicated life?

The cocktail in question is named after Sugar Pie, the miniature poodle seen in the first season of the Anna Nicole Smith show. It's very pretty, and fancy in its own way - the color is, of course, that of the Caribbean. It is scented with flavors of the tropics. Fresh pineapple juice elevates things, and balances out what you may have thought would be a little twee. For the rim: mix salt and sugar - the flavor works, but the symbolism can't be avoided.

The Sugah-Pah

1 part Absolut Mandarin

1 part Malibu rum

1/2 part Blue Curacao

1 part fresh pineapple juice

Shake vigorously in a cocktail shaker, decant into a cocktail glass whose rim has first been dipped in blue curacao and then an equal mix of salt and sugar.