By Second week of December. Carol came for the Saturday baking day — the pepparkakor, the two of us working at the kitchen table in the afternoon, the rolling and cutting and the smell of ginger and clove filling the house. We talked while we worked, which is when the talking is easiest. About her year in Stowe, about the garden she's planning for next spring, about the state fair apple butter ribbon she intends to win. Her ambition about the ribbon has become a running story between us. I don't underestimate it. Carol wins things she intends to win.
Teddy sent the buche de Noel photo. Third attempt, completely right: the ganache smooth and scored well, the bark realistic, the meringue mushrooms clustered at the base, the powdered sugar snow he added last year now standard practice, a small piece of rosemary as a tree. He's taken the dish fully from beginner territory to something he owns. He sent the photo without comment. It didn't need comment.
Christmas is a week away. The lamb is reserved, the cranberry relish is made, the 1987 notebook has been consulted for the spiced pear compote that Sarah remembered last year and said should be an every-year thing. It will be an every-year thing. The guest rooms are made up. The long table is coming in from the barn. The farm is ready for the people coming into it.
Made a batch of mulled wine this week — a new addition, something from the 1987 notebook under a page I hadn't reached before: "December, for cold evenings." Spiced red wine, warm on the stove, served in mugs. I drank a cup by the woodstove on Thursday evening in the dark and felt the particular satisfaction of December done correctly.
The mulled wine from the 1987 notebook was the right thing for that Thursday evening — warm, dark, spiced, earned. But on the nights when I want something equally deep and wintry without lighting the stove, the Boulevardier does that work just as well: bourbon and Campari and sweet vermouth, the same family of flavors that makes December feel complete. It’s the drink I reach for when the baking day is done and the house still smells of ginger and clove and the talking has gone quiet in the best way.
Boulevardier
Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 5 minutes | Servings: 1
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 oz bourbon whiskey
- 1 oz Campari
- 1 oz sweet vermouth
- 1 large ice cube or several standard cubes, for stirring and serving
- Orange peel or cocktail cherry, for garnish
Instructions
- Combine ingredients. Add the bourbon, Campari, and sweet vermouth to a mixing glass filled with ice.
- Stir. Stir steadily for 25–30 seconds until well chilled and properly diluted. Do not shake — stirring keeps the drink clear and silky.
- Strain. Strain into a chilled coupe or over a large ice cube in a rocks glass, whichever you prefer for the evening.
- Garnish. Express an orange peel over the glass by holding it skin-side down and giving it a firm twist over the surface to release the oils, then run it around the rim and drop it in. A cocktail cherry works equally well.
- Serve. Drink slowly, ideally near a woodstove or somewhere close to one.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 185 | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Carbs: 9g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 4mg