Cheers to Moms

Hemingway in Cuba…

Do not mistake the daiquiri for a girly drink. The daiquiri was created by manly men. Supposedly an American mining engineer near the coastal town of Daiquiri in Cuba made the first one. Then the popularity spread man to man — from miners to Admirals to the Army Navy Club in DC. The great hunter who turned out to be a fine author but not such a nice guy, Ernest Hemingway himself, made the daiquiri his own. 

But the girls do like the drink and here’s where mothers come in…it’s delightful!

I loved the girly version when my children were small. The daiquiri desire started because the sips loosened my uptight self. With four toddlers underfoot, I am not ashamed to say liquor played a tiny part in getting me through the week. The context is important. I had baby twins and an 18-month-old, and the times were a-changin’ but they hadn’t changed yet! My pediatrician prescribed two beers per night so I could nurse my twins. Once a week I had lunch with my closest friend, where we consumed many courses and glasses of wine, and that was fine and normal for anyone to do then. There were no ‘girls nights out’ in those days! 

Car seats were not mandatory till your child was a tween either. I drove a green Jaguar, the inside of which looked like a men’s club, to swim meets all over the South, with three kids in the car and one beer for me. Who would even do that today? Who would want to? Daiquiris came into my picture because of swimming. After laps in the pool, another friend & I ordered banana daiquiris. How lame is that? Everything we did in the pool was undone by the drink! Luckily I didn’t drink too much because I don’t have that gene. Not too much, not too little, just pure pleasure for 20 minutes. That’s what moms everywhere want, a 20-minute R&R. 

Those were my coping strategies for being a mom then. I didn’t know about meditation, yoga, smoothies. But now…WOW! Moms are the heroes the wide world over. Moms are everything and do everything as our world has become our home. (Dad’s are great too, but we don’t have to worry about that on Mother’s Day.) Moms do their jobs, teach, cook, clean, nurture, even bribe household members to get through cooped up survival.

Daiquiris are the perfect Mother's Day drink. They bring a bearable lightness of being in this almost unbearable time. They are a tropical trio of rum, lime juice and sugar, plus ice, combined in a shaker, usually served up but you can drink on the rocks. I do. The ice melts slowly, giving a little less punch and allows a 20 minute brain buzz instead of a headache in the morning. Think about it. Do the math. 2 ounces hard stuff +1 ounce sugar = on the way to sh*t faced. The sugar combined with the alcohol packs a double whammy.

This is math at the Academy. We are not awarding degrees in trigonometry, we are working towards a degree based on a meaningful life in a functioning home. Distilling all that higher thinking down to the narrowest point possible gets us to one question: why drink a daiquiri? For a delicious 20 minute break injecting a tiny bit of flirt, frisk and fun for mom on Mother’s Day. 

Let’s make our drink.

Squeeze a lime, or maybe two, to get 1 ounce juice. Pour in a cocktail shaker. Add sugar syrup, ¾ to 1 ounce (made with a sugar to boiled water ratio of 1:1), depending on how sweet you want to go. Pour in 2 ounces white rum. Add ice cubes to fill the shaker three quarters full. Shake shake shake your cocktail shaker. Strain in a pre-chilled glass. Add a lime slice.

Cheers to Moms everywhere!

The Academy’s job is to help make your home life as meaningful as possible. Part of a meaningful life is taking a step back, accessing any situation, giving ourselves some breathing room — and that’s where the Wednesday sip comes in. We all need a break and we need community!

You are invited to join us (via Zoom) on Wednesdays at 5:30 - 6:00 for Sip with Suzanne. Next week’s topic: The Marvelous Martini…

Centerpiece for a Mother's Day Feast

The Dean makes it her business to meet passionate home cooks who keep salmon secrets up their sleeves. Each new way with salmon winds up being her newest excitement. Last summer, it was French -- the perfect marriage of poached salmon, fresh tarragon and heavy cream.

Now, a new salmon master has emerged to reveal an innovative, easy recipe pairing salmon with dill, making each tastier together than individually, as with any good match. How did the new King of Salmon know that combo would work? What lay at the heart of his recipe is a deep understanding of links between flavors. Dill has a nervy, clean taste that benefits rich fish. Dill is complex, demanding and opinionated, very much like the creator of this recipe. Three forks up to the newest King of Salmon.

Here is his deceptively simple recipe for Salmon with Dill:

• Salmon (Not farmed. We use Scottish Salmon from Ted’s Butcher Shop, flown in fresh every day. Using a whole side is very impressive but you might have to cut into two pieces to fit into 9” sauté pans.)
• Olive oil
• Dill

1. Preheat oven to 475. 
2. Heat sauté pan over high heat. When hot, pour enough olive oil to cover bottom of pan. Let oil heat for twenty or thirty seconds, then place salmon skin side up for two minutes. Using a spatula turn salmon over, to skin side down, and continue cooking for another two or three minutes,  depending on thickness of the piece.  Remember, the oil will splatter, so wear an apron.
3. Cover top of salmon with many sprigs of dill, then place sauté pan (with salmon) in oven for seven minutes. If salmon is on the thin side, check after five minutes. Dill’s feathery fronds will crisp, the salmon will be succulent and you will be a star!