Abilene and Liz Newman RULES!

Guys, remember how cold this weekend was?  Remember walking from that show on Friday to the Bedford L stop and not thinking you were going to make it?  Well I sure do.

Thank god on Saturday night I attended the lovely Liz Newman’s birthday party (happy 26th, Liz!  Liz also gets a special mention for being so thoughtful as to not pre-spike her holiday punch at her Christmas parties!) at Abilene in the lovely neighborhood of Carroll Gardens (extra points for having the festivities close to my very own home!).  As soon as I walked in the door and greeted the birthday girl, she informed me that they had special non-alcoholic HOT APPLE CIDER to be consumed!!!  I’m sure this is not the only bar in the entire Tri-State area to offer hot apple cider, but because this is the first that I have encountered this year, they get the coveted post. Of course they offer Whiskey or Rum to be added but let me just inform you of the price difference:  No alcohol = $3; Alcohol = $7.  Ahem.  I’m just sayin’…

Anyway, it was so wonderful to defrost in this awesome bar that has a great eclectic southern atmosphere, and, from what I could tell, some great smelling Nachos.

You should definitely pick this place if you’re looking for a nice location to warm up!

Abilene:

442 Court Street
At 3rd Place
(718) 522-6900

F, G to Carroll Street

http://abilenebarbrooklyn.com/

Local

Just want to give a quick shout out to Local Cafe on 33rd and 8th Ave.  Not for having any kind of special non-alcoholic drinks, but for a kind waitress who kept my waters coming!

Thank You!

Erica Weiner Jewelry

HAPPY NEW YEAR, GUYS!

For my first post in this grand new decade I wanted to mention two things:

First, I just wanted to say something about how 2009 was my first full calendar year without alcohol since I was…I dunno…a teenager?  Who’s counting, really.  But it feels great and I’m SO looking forward to the great things that 2010 and this entire decade will bring to me and everyone I love.  So here’s to a greater decade, everyone!  Love!

Next, I received a lovely and incredibly thoughtful gift over the holidays that I wanted to share with you all.  The jewelry artist, Erica Weiner, makes this great necklace called “Alcoholic’s Necklace” which I had admired for quite some time.  Here is a pic:

"Alcoholic's Necklace" Erica Weiner Jewelry

The inscription on the back reads:

“I promise to abstain from all intoxicating drinks as beverages.”

The front has an image of a woman pouring a young child some kind of a drink.  Get the full description here.

Needless to say, I pretty much wear this everyday as it is officially the most awesome thing that I own.  Well, it’s neck and neck at least with the Japanese wood carving knife I got for my birthday, I guess, so I should probably say it is *one* of the most awesome things I own.  So it’s a great gift for yourself or the non-drinker in your life.

If you like this check out her other work which is really interesting, unique and beautiful.  Here is her website.

Also, I’m going to see Julian Casablancas, my favorite recovering alcoholic, tonight in concert!  Woot!  I’m giddy like a 12 year old!

Hope your new years are off to a good start!

New Year’s Recipe!

Today’s AMAZING recipe comes from my roomie, Isobel (thank you!).  Doesn’t it just look so beautiful??  Here’s the scoop on this great treat for NYE:

This classic champagne cocktail can make any event celebratory. Alcohol-free blood orange bitters saturate the sugar cube, and a not-too-sweet sparkling grape juice does the topping off instead of champagne. Using a twist of orange instead of the traditional twist of lemon will help guests tell their drinks apart from those that contain alcohol. This is the perfect non-alcoholic beverage for weddings and other events where toasting is required.

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

1 sugar cube
Splash of blood orange bitters
Sparkling white grape juice, preferably no-sugar-added, chilled
Orange twist, for garnish

Instructions:

Step 1: Drop the sugar cube into a champagne flute and add a good splash of bitters to saturate the sugar cube.

Step 2: Slowly pour in the sparkling grape juice and serve garnished with the orange twist.

*This recipe comes from Liz Scott’s great book on non-alcoholic beverages titled “Zero Proof Cocktails.” She was featured in the NYTimes article I posted months ago about people living sober in unconventional careers.

Holiday Drinks!

Hey Y’all!

As we are in the midst of the holiday season, I thought I’d post some recipes for some nice non-alcoholic  holiday punches/beverages that you can prepare for all of those bazillions of holiday parties you have been/will be attending in the coming weeks.

Non-Alcoholic Planter’s Punch

This is a great non-alcoholic punch that is perfect for serving at parties.  Supposedly this is an old Colonial American tradition, so not only can you make something for non-drinkers/designated drivers, you can impress your friends with your vast knowledge of American history.

Slicing a whole orange, lime and lemon and adding a few stemless cherries or seasonal berries add flavors and makes a spectacular presentation to one batch of punch.

• 60 oz orange juice
• 40 oz pineapple juice
• 5 oz lemon juice
• 3 oz grenadine
• lemon slices
• lime slices
• orange slices
• other seasonal fruit

Preparation:

1. Pour the juices and grenadine into a punchbowl filled with ice.
2. Stir well.
3. Float fruit slices on top.
4. Serve in individual cups filled with ice.

Hot Not Toddy

People love drinking Hot Toddy’s in the winter, so here is a revision to the original for those of us out there who do not imbibe:

Choose your favorite hot tea and watch it be transformed into a delightful winter mocktail by adding some the non-alcoholic elements of the traditional toddy. This is not only great for the non-drinker but to share with kids and as a soothing relief of cold symptoms – kind of like chicken soup.

Ingredients:

• 7 oz hot tea
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• grated cinnamon
• ground cloves
• grated nutmeg
• lemon wedge for garnish

Preparation:

1. In an Irish coffee glass pour the honey, lemon and spices.
2. Top with hot, brewed tea.
3. Stir.
4. Garnish with a lemon wedge.

If you have any other recipes you’d like me to post please send them my way!

Have  safe and happy holiday season and a wonderful new year!

To a greater decade!

Much Love,

Dry In NY

One More Thing On Julian…

I read this quote today (thanks, Claire!) and just thought it was funny.  I mean, who of us hasn’t felt that way before, right?

“The problem is, I did all the drinking for my whole life in a two-year span. I wish I had spaced it out. Drinking is great. It makes you happy. But the next day, it makes everything feel twice as bad as it was before. So what’s the point? It’s delicious but poisonous.” – Julian Casablancas

The full interview is here if you’re interested/

Fate? Nah, It’s Just Cat Power.

Do you guys ever believe in fate?  I sort of do sometimes.  At least I do a little tonight.

Three years ago I was driving my car to work.  I had recently graduated from college and was  embarking on one of the worst personal  years I’ve ever lived through.  I’m sure some of you out there can relate.  It was two years before I finally wised up, so not the best of times.

Anyway, like I said, I was driving my car and listening to NPR.  I caught the tail end of a song that had this great simple piano riff and beautiful voice over it.  I loved it.  I couldn’t wait for the DJ to tell me who it was, but he never mentioned who the song was by (bad DJ!).  I was on a quest,  I was determined!  Surely with the internet it couldn’t take that long, right? Is three years a long time?

The only reason why I found it at all was because a certain chain of events was set off recently by my deciding to take my desire to make music more seriously (see Julian Casablancas post).  Two weekends ago I found myself talking to my friend Ana, another singer, about how we both wanted to be in a band.  Ana and I decided to try to sing together.  She sent me a list of songs she felt comfortable playing on the guitar, one of which was Cat Power’s cover of Sea of Love.  We decided that this would be one of the songs we would perform for our friends.  Last Friday night, before our practice session, I decided to listen to the three Cat Power songs I have on my ipod, never having been into her much before.  I realized that, although I don’t love her music, there are elements to it that I definitely relate to, so perhaps I should get over myself and look her up sometime.

This all brings me to tonight.  Ladies and gentlemen, I have had a very trying day.  Just one of those where nothing seems to be going right.  I decided to turn on some Cat Power and see how I felt about it rather than going to my usual “today sucks” tracks.  I went to the album from which I knew two songs, You Are Free, and played the first song.  I couldn’t believe my ears.  The song I had been obsessively searching for for three years was right at my finger tips and had been all along.

As I basked in this discovery, I decided to look her up and read some more about her.  What did I find?  Cat Power, or Chan Marshall, is a recovering addict/alcoholic.

I found this old NYTimes article where she goes into quite a bit of detail surrounding her struggle and recovery process.  She brings up some interesting points.  Sobriety meant to her, at least at that point, that she had only had 7 drinks in 7 months.  By AA standards, and probably most other peoples, this does not count for much, but really – whatever works, right?  Well that was three years ago, and by all accounts, she’s still doing well.

They also have this video recording of her talking about her personal battles.  This just made me love her so much.  She talks about how much she loves Mary J. Blige for her strength and how much the changes that MJB went through helped her in her sobriety, maybe I should tell Cat Power that she’s done the same for someone like me.  Thank you, Cat Power.

I can’t help but feel a little spooked by all of this coming together.  I realize this probably is meaningless to anyone out there reading this, but it meant a lot to me tonight.  I just wanted to share it in case anyone else can relate.

Oh, and here’s the song that I finally found. The song is rumored to also be about a famous addict.  One who didn’t survive it, Kurt Cobain  (Also referenced in my Julian Casablancas post).

Somehow I feel like all of this is telling me I’m doing the right thing.

Someone’s giving me a cosmic high five somewhere.

Apartment 138 and My Lemonade Weekend

Happy Monday, gang!

Yesterday I went out to brunch with my dear old buddy Maya to this place, Apartment 138, in my neighb.  I’d heard great things about the food and the atmosphere of this place, but Brooklyn is full of great brunch locations and we all get a little spoiled.  I  certainly was not expecting anything out of the ordinary.

HOWEVER!  We sat down and low and behold, on their cocktail menu is a fancy non-alcoholic lemonade drink called “Mulberry-Mint Lemonade”.  As you can probably tell from the name, it is made from Lemonade, fresh mint, mulberry syrup (which gives it that beautiful purple color) and a little bit of soda.  It was such a delightfully refreshing beverage to have on that beautiful Indian Summer day yesterday.

Mulberry-Mint Lemonade

The atmosphere and food in general at Apartment 138 was delicious, I had the Chorizo – Havarti Grilled Cheese and Maya had the Grilled Chicken Pesto Sandwich…thing.  We were both very pleased that both dishes came with both salad and french fries taking away that eternal battle between Good and Evil.  They gave you just enough of a taste of each, perfection.

Now, the second part of my Lemonade weekend is actually the first half.  On Saturday night I went to a lovely dinner party hosted by my friend Ilana and her roommate Champika at their brand new  apartment.  My hero, Champika, made a delicious Ginger-Mint Lemonade which was also wonderful and refreshing.  It just felt so nice to have a special non-alcoholic beverage to consume at a dinner party.   I’ll have to get my hands on the recipe and share it with you all.

So thank you Champika, Ilana, Apartment 138 and the world of fancy lemonades.  You truly made my weekend.

Champika's Ginger-Mint Lemonade

Apartment 138 Bar and Restaurant

138 Smith St.

Brooklyn, NY

11201

718-858-0556

Kombucha?

Guys, I’m having some conflicting ideas about this Kombucha stuff.  I’m wondering if anyone out there has any thoughts to add to this.

My story begins the other night.  I stopped by the 24 hour bodega to pick up a beverage on my way home and decided to try this krazy Kombucha stuff that I keep hearing about.  Most of the options didn’t seem to be flavored and that scared me a little.  I wasn’t prepared for full on Kombucha madness so I think I bought GT’s Cosmic Cranberry or something like that.

Anyways, I opened it up and starting drinking it and thought to myself  “this might be an excellent substitute for Champagne!”  I mean, it’s not exactly chocolate milk, you know?  You gotta get used to the stuff, much like we didn’t all come out of the womb loving alcohol.  It’s an acquired taste.  It’s kind of got a similar aftertaste to Champagne,  and you know how soda and seltzer have the bigger, different bubbles from Champagne?  Well, Kombucha’s are exactly like it!  It’s also apparently really good for you.

I got so excited, that when I got home, I busted out one of my favorite antique Champagne goblets and sipped away.  But all of a sudden I started feeling a little funny…like…woozy…like…tipsy funny.  And I noticed that it does say that there is the possibility of there being less than 0.5% alcohol in it due to the fermentation process.  Now, this percentage is the same as nonalcoholic beer which makes me feel nothing, so I was wondering if that sensation just had more to do with the weird stuff in Kombucha.  It felt a lot like when this guy once tricked me into drinking a spoonful of apple cider vinegar.  So I was wondering if perhaps that was the weird sensation that I got.

So, I just wanted to know if there was anyone out there who had more experience with Kombucha to let me know what is the what on this product.

Can I drink it?  Can I really use it to toast things with?  I sure hope so cause this stuff really kicked Martinelli’s butt…

(Martinelli’s, I will always love you, it was never about that.)

Tribute To A Fellow Non-Drinker

So…for those of you who know me well, my biggest heroes in life, for as far back as I can remember, have always been rock stars.  Starting out with my first introduction to Kurt Cobain when I was 10, I was a goner for Rock & Roll and those who make the best of it.  It’s the only job I’ve ever truly wanted, if I could only find the courage to pursue it…

Anyway…When I was younger, I had no concept of what addiction or substance abuse was in any real sense.  I only knew that most of my heroes seemed to battle with it and or eventually die of it.  It looked glamorous and dark and heartbreaking and like something that I wanted in on.  This passionate and intense artistic life that was full of pain,  this was the stuff real life was made of.

I remember this girl Kathryn and I in 6th grade had to make an anti-drugs poster in Family Life Education class and as we came up with our slogan (Heroin: Don’t Inject It, Reject It), we kept laughing about how “stupid” it was to be anti-drugs and how it was so much cooler to do them.  Please understand that we had NO IDEA what we were talking about, we were just both really into Hole and Nirvana and it was the early 90’s.

Since giving up ‘the juice’ I’ve had to seriously reevaluate some of these ideas and swap them out for a healthier approach to life (i.e. actually living it and not just expecting greatness to be bestowed up on me because I was trying to emulate those that I looked up to’s terrible habits).  Which has been hard for many reasons, partly because I often feel like the only person around me that doesn’t drink.  Mostly that doesn’t really bother me,  but it can make me feel a little bit ‘other’ from time to time and it can be a little lonely in some social situations.

It is in these moments, where I find great solace in hearing about some of my rock star heroes successfully giving up drinking and still being awesome, cool, successful people who deserve love and respect.  It helps me remember that emulating my heroes doesn’t have to be dark and dangerous, it can also mean taking care of myself.   It feels kind of great to have the worst part of myself in common with people I truly admire, people who are not just rock stars, but are making the right choices in life.  When I’m at a party and feeling a little anxious I think to myself  “Well, if Julian Casablancas were here, he wouldn’t be drinking either and he’s way cooler than these jokers.”  What can I say, it helps me a little.

So folks, after all of that, I just wanted to share a recent article (as well as the new song/performance that I can’t stop listening to/watching) where Julian Casablancas of The Strokes discusses (among many other things) his own problems with drinking.   He also discusses his drink orders which I personally loved.

If I ever get to meet him, I’ll have a lot to thank him for.  I’ll also have to ask him about his favorite places to hang out in NYC these days.

Here is an excerpt:

“Casablancas doesn’t drink at all now – sometimes, he jokes, “I’ll order something cheesy and pretend it’s for someone else – ‘He’ll have a virgin pina colada!’” – but there was a time when he was physically sick if he didn’t drink. When he gave up, he says, he had a hangover that lasted two years.”

Click here to read the full article

And click here to view the song and performance that has had me smiling for two days straight.