Also, Negronis, because they are hot pink, are awesome drinks to have at parties when everyone else is drinking something that looks like water or something that looks like camel urine.

Ain’t that the truth, and I even work through it on my own because the DH, who is otherwise a man of taste and culture, does not like many bitters. I even worked through a bottle of Cynar, after I saw a cocktail calling for it in a Mario Batali cookbook and had to try an artichoke-based apertif.

And good luck with the taxes, I just finished mine. I’m actually taking a class at the community college on tax preparation so I’m feeling very Informed – though since we’re only 3 weeks in, I’m nowhere near an expert.

An excellent spirit-free ginger option is fresh ginger limeade.

Make up a batch of ginger simple syrup by slicing one largish hand of ginger into bias-cut medallions (no need to peel if it’s nice fresh ginger) and dropping it into a saucepan to which you’ve added two cups of water, four cups of white sugar and a largish pinch of salt (trust me).

Bring to a boil and stir until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat and let simmer for a good hour or so –the longer it simmers the more intense your syrup will be– then strain the syrup into a mason jar with a slice or two of the candied ginger.

A lucky byproduct of ginger simple syrup is candied ginger. Let the candied ginger dry on a rack –you can leave it in an oven that has been heated to 300 and then turned off or just let it airdry for a day or so– and when it’s not too tacky to the touch, roll in white sugar. Ginger is excellent for calming nausea, as I’m sure you know, and might be handy to have around all those pregnant women.