Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Between the Sheets

Between the Sheets - my favourite cocktail!

1 oz Bacardi rum
1/2 oz Cognac (brandy for the cheapskates)
3 oz Cointreau (or orange-flavoured liqueur)
1/2 oz lemon juice

Combine in shaker with ice. Strain and serve in cocktail glass.

It's been awhile between drinks actually - mainly because my doctor had a chat with me...apparently my Blood Pressure ain't what it should be for a young whipper snapper (schnapper?) like myself. It seems that because I had toxemia with my last baby, I am now in a high risk group for blood pressure problems "later in lfe". Oops. Oh well, c'est la guerre right? Wrong. Dr says "eat better, drink less, exercise more"...Time for a new doctor methinks... (Dr Who??Oooh I feel better already, and such wonderful legs!!)

So, bearing that in mind we had a good friends 50th birthday party dinner to attend last night. I was the sober driver. (Yes, me!! I am a fast learner) We went to Tim's favourite Thai place for a meal. Great stuff. The chilli is still working it's magic on me today (I suspect no further explanation is necessary - or wanted?). We had a wonderful evening, had to scurry off early as the babysitter had an early start -at what point will the 13 year old object to a babysitter being called a babysitter??

I feel "hippy happy" today. Sorry.


13 comments:

VioletSky said...

Ah, Herman!! Their silly music always makes me happy, an old favourite of my [very young] youth ;)

The Sagittarian said...

Vi - yes, I know...I just wasn't brave enough to put up Mrs brown you've got a luvly dawter!

VioletSky said...

Got a bit sidetracked on the David Tennant videos....

The Doctor returns in October.

The Sagittarian said...

hehe, yes he cuts a striking figure eh? Our 10 yr old (nearly 11) LOVES him and we are geting her the series on DVD for her birthday. Probably won't see her again til she's 16!!

Steve said...

Cheers for the recipe... now I'll be "three sheets to the wind" as we say here... not quite sure what it means though.

The Sagittarian said...

I think it is a nautical term and possibly refers to speeding along at great pace? Anyone else??

VioletSky said...

I thought it was referring to the three sails flapping about because they were tied too loose causing the ship to flail about in the wind - or maybe it is the rope it refers to (ropes being the made of sheets?) as surely you wouldn't have all three sails not tied properly? That really would be a drunken sailor.

The Sagittarian said...

Steve, Violet - I cheated! Vi - there's a chocolate fish prize here for you if you ever want to collect it!
Three sheets to the wind
Meaning

Very drunk.

Origin

Our colleagues at CANOE, the Committee to Ascribe a Nautical Origin to Everything, have been hard at work and, to their great pleasure, they can add this phrase to their list. 'Three sheets to the wind' is indeed a seafaring expression.

To understand this phrase we need to enter the arcane world of nautical terminology. Sailors' language is, unsurprisingly, all at sea and many supposed derivations have to go by the board. Don't be taken aback to hear that sheets aren't sails, as landlubbers might expect, but ropes (or occasionally, chains). These are fixed to the lower corners of sails, to hold them in place. If three sheets are loose and blowing about in the wind then the sails will flap and the boat will lurch about like a drunken sailor.

The phrase is these days more often given as 'three sheets to the wind', rather than the original 'three sheets in the wind'. The earliest printed citation that I can find is in Pierce Egan's Real Life in London, 1821:

"Old Wax and Bristles is about three sheets in the wind."

Sailors at that time had a sliding scale of drunkenness; three sheets was the falling over stage; tipsy was just 'one sheet in the wind', or 'a sheet in the wind's eye'. An example appears in the novel The Fisher's Daughter, by Catherine Ward, 1824:

"Wolf replenished his glass at the request of Mr. Blust, who, instead of being one sheet in the wind, was likely to get to three before he took his departure."

Robert Louis Stevenson was as instrumental in inventing the imagery of 'yo ho ho and a bottle of rum' piracy as his countryman and contemporary Sir Walter Scott was in inventing the tartan and shortbread 'Bonnie Scotland'. Stevenson used the 'tipsy' version of the phrase in Treasure Island, 1883 - the book that gave us 'X marks the spot', 'shiver me timbers' and the archetypal one-legged, parrot-carrying pirate, Long John Silver. He gave Silver the line:

"Maybe you think we were all a sheet in the wind's eye. But I'll tell you I was sober; "



Copyright © Gary Martin, 1996 - 2008

VioletSky said...

Chocolate Fish Prize!!?? Yummy.
White or Dark? Or Milk?

Steve said...

On my way...!

Anonymous said...

Oops I'm too late for a prize as always. But my cocktail glass is ready and waiting to be filled.

Shame about the doctor's advice though. Still, (s)he is only recommending moderation. I have been trying to be kind to my liver and am not drinking much at the moment. It's OK actually - I find I savour what i have a bit more rather than just glugging it down!

Anyway, just popped in to say hello really, so HELLO.

x

The Sagittarian said...

Hi RB, glad you called in (I knew you would be able to hear the twisting of a bottle cap from that distance!!). My weekly BP checks have been so good that I'm down to fortnightly checks now. I can be a good gal when I want, y'see!

Mike said...

Been there on that whole "drink less" thing. God, it sucks more than you can imagine.