By First week of February. The cold continues. The garden is paused. The fire pit was used twice this week — both times Caleb and Miriam came over and we sat outside in coats with bourbon (for Hannah and me) and tea (for them) and the fire did its work.
I started doing the wedding cooking prep. Tuesday I roasted bones for stock — about thirty pounds of beef and venison bones, into the oven for three hours, then into the big stockpot for the long simmer. The stock is the foundation of the pozole and the gravy and the soup courses. Twelve quarts of stock by Friday. Frozen.
Wednesday Hannah and I went to Tahlequah to look at the cultural center reception room. The room is small but the right size for twenty. The wedding will be in the main hall, the reception in the side room. Linda Walkingstick is helping coordinate the event. She has been a friend for years and she has appointed herself the kind of guardian-of-the-day that a wedding needs. We left the planning meeting with a clear list. Hannah is happy. I am happy. Caleb is happy. Miriam is happy. The wedding is going to be what it is going to be.
Saturday Macy came with Henry. The first time I had met him. He is twenty-three. He is tall. He has good manners. He shook my hand twice — once when he came in, once when he left. He said sir. I am old enough to be called sir. I am fifty-four. The age comes up at moments.
Henry was good with Hannah at lunch. He asked questions and listened. He laughed at the right places. Macy watched him talk to me and watched me talk to him. After he and Macy left, Hannah said: I like Henry. I said: I like Henry. She said: that's what we said about Cole. I said: yes. We are batting two for two with the children's partners. Three if you count Danielle, which I do.
The fire pit nights with Caleb and Miriam were the exhale the week needed — the stock was started, the reception room was seen, the list was written, and all that was left was to sit in coats and let the cold do its work. Both nights we had bourbon. Nothing fancy, nothing complicated, just something warm in your hands while the fire did what fires do. This bourbon margarita is what I’d reach for now if we were doing it again — it has that same quality of being just right for the moment, the kind of drink that doesn’t ask anything of you.
Bourbon Margarita
Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 5 minutes | Servings: 1
Ingredients
- 2 oz bourbon
- 1 oz fresh lime juice (about 1 large lime)
- 3/4 oz triple sec or orange liqueur
- 1/2 oz simple syrup (adjust to taste)
- Ice
- Coarse salt or smoked salt, for rimming (optional)
- Lime wheel or wedge, for garnish
Instructions
- Rim the glass. Run a lime wedge around the rim of a rocks glass. Dip the rim into coarse salt on a small plate if desired. Fill the glass with ice and set aside.
- Combine ingredients. In a cocktail shaker, combine the bourbon, lime juice, triple sec, and simple syrup. Fill the shaker with ice.
- Shake. Shake firmly for 15–20 seconds until well chilled and the outside of the shaker is frosty.
- Strain and serve. Strain over the prepared rocks glass. Garnish with a lime wheel or wedge and serve immediately.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 210 | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Carbs: 14g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 5mg