Muddling Through

After the NCC Steering Committee meeting last night some of us headed out to the Medici to converse on important topics such as

1.  Is iCarly (a show for pre-preteenagers) a violent show or is it touching and funny in spite of the character Samantha's propensity to push Freddy around?

2.  Did one SC member's doctor  tell him to "get a hot mama and be cheerful" or "you've got a heart murmur so be careful"?

3.  What drinks other than a mojito require "muddling" of mint?  (Answer...the mint julep of course, coming into it's prime this weekend with the running of the Kentucky Derby!)

I confess I did not know that mint had to be muddled for these drinks.  I did not know muddling was something other than what I feel I am doing some days when I can't get anything finished.  I did not know that there is a kitchen utensil called a muddler.  I probably have one in the back of my scary utensil drawer.  Yes, the drawer that may well have a snapping turtle or gecko living in it for all I know.

So, I looked up muddlers on Wikipedia.

And I found there some other drinks, from South America, that require muddling.  One is from Brazil and called "caipirinha" which means "little hillbilly" in Portuguese.  Gotta love that!  It's made with a spirit called cachaca plus sugar and lime.  No mint.  The sugar and lime get muddled.

Wait!  The Little Hillbilly is the "national cocktail of Brazil."  I didn't know countries had national cocktails!  Excuse me...

Ok, not all countries seem to have them.  So much for the plan to muddle my way around the world tasting national cocktails.  But Thailand has one called The Siam Sunray made with "a shot of vodka, coconut liqueur, a dash of chili pepper and sugar, lime juice, a few slivers of lemongrass and ginger, with the whole mixture shaken then strained into a glass with ice and soda water." (thank you Wikipedia for the recipe.)

Perhaps an International National Cocktail Party is in order.  Then we could muddle around on the deck and celebrate the following May 6th holidays:  National Beverage Day, Tourist Appreciation Day, and No Diet Day!

And in case you get sick from mixing your muddled drinks or muddling your mixed drinks, it's also National Nurses Day!