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A Night at the Opera (1935)
AFI 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) Ranking: #85

Whoa it's been way too long! Sorry guys, super busy summer. Back-to-back multi-day music festivals, camping, tutoring the bf's kid sister who is staying with us for a few months, an awesome birthday party, new projects at work, and way more delicious cocktails than I can count :D
Here's one of my old favorites to get us back in the swing of things...

I'm a huge Marx Brothers fan - so goofy and silly, excelling at both rapid-fire one-liners and lengthier, more extensive set-ups. Sometimes it's nice to just zone out and enjoy the pure absurdity and ludicrousness of it all. This one is cute because it features not only the brothers and their hijinks, but also an adorable and talented young couple (named Ricky and Rosa, no less!) who need a bit of help.

I really like the exchanges between Groucho and Margaret Dumont - their playful banter is simultaneously charming and insulting - as well as the exchanges between Groucho and Harpo particularly the classic contract-ripping scene, "You can't-a fool me, there ain't no Sanity Claus!" Throw in some random musical numbers, a few Cirque-worthy death-defying stunts, and various hijinks and misunderstandings, and you've got yourself a good time. I like being reminded of the tremendous amount of talent that these performers had, not just the brothers themselves, who played multiple musical instruments, but the rest of the ensemble as well. Quite impressive.

Cheers!

     

Ginger Blueberry Mojito
Perfect for summertime! Adapted from The Novice Chef.

Gingery Bluejito? Bloo-bitty Gin-gito? Whatever you wanna call it, these things are freakin’ delicious. I sucked down the first one I made in about 15 seconds flat. So fruity and refreshing!

• 1/2 cup blueberries
• juice of half a lime
• 10 mint leaves
• 1/2 oz ginger syrup*
• 2 oz white rum
• club soda

Puree blueberries and lime juice in a blender. You could also puree the blueberries by themselves and add the lime juice later on with the rum, but my blender likes a little bit of liquid to get things going. If you don’t feel like breaking out the blender, muddling the blueberries in with the mint leaves and syrup will work just as well, but the end result will be a bit chunky and not as pretty.

Muddle mint leaves and ginger syrup together in a cocktail shaker. Add rum, blueberry puree, and ice, and shake until well chilled. Strain into highball glass filled with ice and top with club soda. Garnish with mint or blueberries and serve immediately.

* If you use as much ginger syrup as I do, check out Jeffrey Morganthaler's blog for a quicker and easier blender method. He also just released a great book on cocktail making that my awesome boyfriend bought for me on Kindle. Yay!

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Strawberry Ginger Smash
Adapted from Make Me a Cocktail.

• 2 oz bourbon
• 5 strawberries
• juice of half a lemon
• 10 mint leaves
• 1/2 oz ginger syrup

Muddle the strawberries, mint, and ginger syrup together. Add bourbon, lemon juice, ice, and shake until well chilled. Strain into old fashioned glass with ice. Garnish with mint or strawberry and serve immediately.

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