48 Comments

The pellet with the poison’s in the vessel with the pestle.

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Incorrect! But I very much like your Mildred Natwick impression and you have caused me to watch that scene from The Court Jester again.

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Oh you meant that to refer to the puddle where the poodle did the piddle? Yes, but you know Sondheim was riffing off of Schoenberg, Schaefer and Fine don’t you?

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Of COURSE I did not know that! I am not that smart. But I'm very happy you did know the correct answer.

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The chalice from the palace holds the brew that is true!😂One of my most favorite movies ever!❤️

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This is another lovely piece! How much more pleasurable it is to dispose of one's excess tomatoes by ingesting them with gin than it is pack them into brown paper bags and leave them on one's neighbors' doorsteps in the dead of night. (If one lives in a place where tomatoes tend to multiply like Duggars at peak season, that is.)

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Mr. Hackensacker 3, I managed to live my whole life without knowing who the Duggars were until just now. I no longer know what to do with myself.

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My tomato vines are near the end of their lives with just a few, sad fruit left-what a lovely way to use them. Thank you!

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Just spreading the word, ma'am.

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Gosh I have not had a good martini in YEARS! Thinking this recipe may have me falling back in love with them. Onward to buy some tomatoes.

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I'd love to know what you think!

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I think I once tried to impress someone by saying I enjoyed cucumber in my gin. The person replied that only some gins were appropriate for cucumber. That was a long time ago now. Havent thought of it in years. I should probably go to bed.

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Bed is often my favorite place to be. Also: was there some sort of subtext of sexual rejection happening in that cucumber/gin conversation? I feel like you're in a better place than you were then.

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Most conversations I can remember have at least some element of sexual rejection to them. No point remembering them otherwise.

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I can relate!

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Aw come on kid - I was pulling your leg. I had to go and look it up. Though the pestle in your photo is a more compelling clue than Sondheim. And I'm a big Sondheim fan. Did a paper on him for my undergrad. Theatre studies. Plus I've written a few librettos (not much music though), and well Into the Woods. Enough said.

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I have a great Sondheim story I will be writing about one of these days!

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Loved this so much!

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I will need this recipe further into next week as I take care of my father while his wife has surgery. He has short term memory loss and is a CHALLENGE. Wonderful, independent, brilliant man - trapped in his wet-ware. Just writing those words makes me cry. So this martini will be great solace. Thank you. And I will also need that next writing about Princess Grace please.

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Lovely!

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Picked big bowl of red ones this morning. Attended Paul Valéry, Montpellier. Favorite resto there: Le Tomate. Only gin here. Vermouth is but a whisper. However waiting days…? We only have a tini bit o patience. We will boodle over that one.

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Ok I was looking something over on this post and discovered to my horror that there were several comment left un-replied to, which is rather horrifying to me because I always reply! So here I am, many weeks later doing just that.

I'm a gin boy myself from way back and Boodles was my first.

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My holy Grail: the clear bloody Mary, made with tomato water.

Thanks for the inspiration.

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Alarmingly late response many weeks after the fact: Did you get to try it? I love this drink and I'm delighted I can provide inspiration to anyone, but the credit really belongs to Dan Saltzstein.

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Not yet...bad tomato year for all concerned. Just like the Cubs, wait until next year.

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Ha! I shouldn't be laughing. So sorry for both your losses.

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Can’t wait to try this, as my tomatoes 🍅 are starting to ripen! Being a newbie with your site, I was howling over your grandmother’s refusal to allow her purse to be stolen... You definitely have a new follower :-)

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Dear Mr. Evans,

Appallingly late response (I think I stopped getting notifications). Did you wind up trying the cocktail? I am interested to know your thoughts.

My grandmother was a rather unique lady. Tough as old boots, but very partial to well-made fashion accessories. Also, I am delighted to have you reading and hope you didn't think I was snubbing your gracious comment!

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No problem, Michael, as long as you forgive my tardy response back to you as well (sometimes I wish the phone was back on the wall, so I wouldn’t have to waste so much time deleting) plus when you replied to moi, Ms Denny (an awful lot of baby girls named ‘Denise’ in the Bay Area back then, my brother named Ken, thus Ken/Kenny & Den/Denny), I happened to be waiting for my batch of Tomato Water to finish up when you responded to me. I ❤️it so much that I made pre-measured baby cubes of TWI (tomato water ice) just so I will be able to enjoy a Delicious TW Martini 🍸later today.

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Sometimes, timing is everything. Except when it's not. And I'm DELIGHTED to read that you love the cocktail!

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Loved the whole ramblings nature of the story. I’d never have the patience to make the tomato water ... but it sounds tasty!!

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If you love rambling stories, you are definitely visiting the right Substack. I rarely have the patience to do such things either, but this year I was DETERMINED. It was very much worth doing.

P.S. I am terrifically sorry I missed this comment all those weeks ago. It was absolutely unintentional.

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Not a bother at all!

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Whew! Thanks.

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Thanks for the recipe. I am also a racing snob about martinis but you’ve convinced me.

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We martini snobs are a dwindling subspecies and therefore must stick together to survive. I hope you got to make one and hope even more that you enjoyed it.

Also: very sorry to have missed your (and about a dozen others) comment until today!

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My godparents here on Cape Cod get a case of Duke’s every year at Christmas from a friend in Richmond, VA. They always gift me with two jars. Heavenly!😁

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I have a large jar in my fridge that I keep trying to ration. I have to remind myself that I don't have to fly to the South to get it. It truly is a factory-made mayo lover's dream.

Sorry to have missed this comment. I just noticed the problem was my email notifications were turned off. The snubbing was wholly unintentional.

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No apologies needed! Happy to find another aficionado.😁

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Thank you, Barbara. Agreed!

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In the thick of tomato harvest, I have no shortage of tomate wasser. But I wasn’t expecting the subtleness, much less the terroir! Fabulous! Having left the Twittership before the scuttling, I would have been none the wiser were it not for your ringing endorsement. So, thank you kind sir!

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The terroir! Very grateful I was able to act as Substack's Tomato Water ambassador for the 2023 Summer Season.

Also: So sorry I missed this comment from ages ago. I'm now worried that I might have missed comments on every single post I've done and am definitely going to need a drink to get through it.

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