Billy May –not to be confused with Billy Mays– was the king of the big band sound we know now as “ultra lounge”. When I throw my legendary annual-when-I-can-afford-it Cocoa-a-GoGo holiday party, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Mambo is always on the mix list.
Click Rudolph to see an adorable Rankin-Bass video to the song.
Love it? Buy it.
Years ago, when I was young and punk rock, I was known as the “The Living Legend of Red River Street” (full disclosure: I only discovered I was called this a few weeks ago. I DO remember being The Empress of Red River) and associated with all manner of fabulously disreputable characters including The Satan’s Cheerleaders.
Now in point of fact, they weren’t disreputable at all and just a bunch of sweet, smart, creative women with a healthy sense of camp who could dance like the devil.
I’m not sure which one gave me the recipe for Satan’s Candy, but professional association aside, there is a special place in heaven for her.
Satan’s Candy
1 bag bittersweet chocolate chips
1 bag white chocolate chips
1 cup smooth peanut butter
Salt (fancy if you’ve got it, Morton’s if you don’t)
Melt white chocolate chips in a large heatproof bowl and stir until smooth. Evenly spread in a thin layer over a large foil-lined jelly roll or lipped cookie sheet. Set aside. In same bowl, melt chocolate chips, stir until smooth and stir in peanut butter plus 1 tsp salt. When no streaks remain, gently spread peanut butter mixture over the white chocolate. Marble with a fork so the white and dark chocolate is attractively swirled. Sprinkle with yet more salt (trust me). Refrigerate or freeze until set. Break into small pieces and keep in fridge. Amazing.
Can anyone be truly good?
Possibly my favorite movie made in the past 20 years, Millions
Full disclosure: someday I will marry Robert Earl Keen.
I’m not saying I’ll marry him long, but you know, just enough for us both to get some good material out of it before I leave him for his best friend, Lyle Lovett.
When I first moved to Austin ten years ago last November, everything was new and wonderful and it was SEVENTY-TWO DEGREES ON CHRISTMAS DAY.
Back then, I used to get lost on purpose, just to learn the town. Of course, Austin was a lot smaller and cooler back in those days so you could drive for miles without seeing anything other than low rambling mesquite and the occasional palm or prickly pear, wrapped up in white lights.
I was toodling around town in my trusty old chartreuse Volvo station wagon marvelling how I’d never seen so much NOTHING in my life and feeling a little maudlin for Virginia which was snowy and beautiful and didn’t have ANY cactuseseses, light-wrapped or not.
Then this song came on:
and I just burst into tears, which is ridiculous because it’s a funny, funny song. I guess it reminded me of why I moved to Austin. It was the antithesis of the perfectly repressed East Coast Christmases of my youth.
Now the mesquite has been replaced by condos with silly names and my volvo station wagon is one of those sporty numbers. I’ve been to parties with Robert Earl Keen and have enough friends in common that it’s not entirely inconceivable that he might know my name, but I’ll never forget Christmas of 1999 when the world was new –or at least not covered in condos and dog bakeries. Hallelujah, everybody say cheese.
Click to buy the song. You know you want to.
This week we’ll be doing a series of mini-featurettes dedicated to making your season merry and bright and what’s more merry and bright than a bright red cocktail? Nothin’!
These have been my bev of choice ever since Billy at The Good Knight (winner of the best cocktails in Austin) mixed one up when I said “I don’t know, just make me something I’ll like.”
This is a close approximation, and every bit as good.
Ruby Manhattan:
2 oz. Maker’s Mark bourbon
1 1/2 oz. decent ruby port
dash bitters (I use Fee’s Orange, but plain old Angostura should be fine)
twist of lemon or orange peel
Stir together the booze and the bitters in a cocktail shaker, strain into a rocks glass –either up or on the rocks, twist the peel over the glass and drop in. Maraschino cherries kill this drink, so save ‘em for the sundaes.
Incidentally, you don’t have to use the very best port for this recipe. I use Charbay Ruby Port because that’s what I have, but unless you’re a real enthusiast, there’s no need to drop $50 on a bottle. Don’t go for plonk, but Dow’s or anything in the $10 range should be just fine.
Last week, my best pal Kirk mentioned casually on his Facebook how he was not especially fond of It’s a Wonderful Life. I mentioned –equally casually– that my favorite Capra movie was and forever shall be It Happened One Night. Well you would’ve thought we said we hated America, apple pie and happiness!
And it’s not like there’s anything WRONG with It’s a Wonderful Life other than it’s boring, long and not-at-all-interesting, but it’s just not a very good movie. No, for my money the best Christmas movie from that era has got to be The Bishop’s Wife, starring Cary Grant as Dudley, David Niven as the Bishop and Loretta Young as his titular wife.
(Bishops are ALWAYS making that face. ALWAYS.)
If you haven’t seen it, do so immediately. If it’s been a while, watch it again. I find that in these times of tightened belts the film resonates even more than before. Click here
