8 minute read
Take a Cup of Kindness
BY JIM MATHIS
There are two things that must happen before I get in the Christmas Spirit each year and they both involve movies. First, on a cold winter’s evening, my beloved will ask “Want to watch a Christmas movie?” which I know means it’s time for the original Die Hard. It’s just not Christmas until you’ve watched Hans Gruber plummet from the Nakatomi tower. I know some of you are thinking Die Hard is not a Christmas movie, but you are wrong. Sorry. This precedent has been well established. The other trigger is that moment in It’s a Wonderful Life when George Bailey’s family and friends gather in that old drafty house and sing “Auld Lang Syne.” By the time Harry Bailey raises a cup of kindness and says “A toast to my big brother George: the richest man in town” I’m bawling like a baby. It happens every year; I don’t try to fight it.
As I look forward to doing it all over again this year, I got to thinking about that song, “Auld Lang Syne”. What the heck does that mean anyway? The title literally translates to “old long since” but loosely means something like “days gone by.” Think of it as the Scottish equivalent of “once upon a time” from the fairy tales of youth. But it’s the line in the chorus “we’ll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne” that always strikes me.
That line comes from an old Scottish saying that means to share a friendly dram – and since it’s the Scots, we assume they’re talking a good single malt whisky! Maybe that’s why the scene in the movie always brings a tear to my eye. At any rate, that gets me thinking about whiskey (or whisky, more on that distinction later). The history of whiskey goes back way before Jack Daniels. Way, way back to an Egyptian alchemist named Maria Hebraea (sometimes referred to as Mary the Jewess or Mary the Prophetess.)
Back in the second century, she is credited with creating the
tribikos; a three-armed device for collecting purified liquids in the distillation process. The same basic pot-still method Old Mary created 1,800 years ago is used today to make whiskey, whether it’s Scotch, Irish, Kentucky Bourbon or Tennessee Sour Mash. And since this is a cooking column, I’ll add the bain-marie (used to keep your cheesecake from cracking in the oven) and the doubleboiler you use to melt chocolate; those are her inventions as well.
Back to our friends in Scotland, they began distilling whisky (they leave out the “e” while the Irish, most American, and Canadian whiskeys include it) because the boggy moors of Scotland were fine for growing barley, but they sucked for growing grapes for wine. If you wanted a tipple, whisky was your local choice. Back in the early days, the Scots borrowed the Irish/Gaelic phrase “uisge beatha” which translates to “water of life” shortening it to “usquebaugh,” before the English language mangled that to “whisky.” So, when Scottish poet Robert Burns penned the words to “Auld Lang Syne”, it was that water of life which filled his cup with kindness.
Here in the States, whiskey filled many a cup of kindness for most of our history. Jamestown colonist George Thorpe is credited with discovering whiskey could be made with the Indian corn that was plentiful on this side of the pond. George Washington made whiskey at Mount Vernon. Years later, Baptist Preacher Elijah Craig is believed to be the first to age his bourbon in the charred oak casks that gives the elixir its color and flavor. Some say the barrels where charred in a fire and he was too frugal to throw them out. Either way, I’m happy to savor the results today.
Whiskey drinking legend tells of a night in 1842, when Charles Dickens spent a night imbibing mint juleps with Washington Irving; that night was, he wrote, “among the most memorable of my life.” A cup of kindness, indeed.
Whiskey held its grasp on the American drinker right through Prohibition, being the darling of bootleggers and gangsters. In the mid-twentieth century, whiskeys fell out of favor for a few years, being too tightly tied to drunkards and tortured writers.
Today the whiskey culture is enjoying the height of its revival, buoyed by a new generation’s cocktail culture. New distilleries are being born across the globe, and revered, old brands are fetching ridiculous amounts of money. A bottle of 20-year-old Pappy Van Winkle often sells for $2,500 or more; a 23-year-old might fetch over $4,000. That’s more than $150 per ounce, and a good two-ounce pour would run over $300. That’s one serious cup of kindness! Be sure to tip your server accordingly.
Do yourself a favor, drink something good today. Yippee-ki-yay, my friends!
When Jim’s not sharing a cup of kindness with friends or family, he runs ADwërks, an advertising and marketing communications company in Downtown Sioux Falls (with the staff still working safely from home-offices around the city.)
Winter Fashions
2101 E. 26th St., (605) 332-6641 7310 W. 41st., (605) 362-9727 www.cliffavegreenhouse.com
“I myself subscribe more to the European philosophy of life, my priorities leaning towards wine, women and, well that’s about it.” Alfie (2004) – Alfie (Jude Law)
Resolutions You Can Stick To: Watch More Movies
& Drink More Wine BY RICCARDO TARABELSI
It’s a New Year, and it’s time to have fun! Resolutions can be daunting; it should come as no surprise that only 8% of resolutions are kept successfully. Here is last year’s list of most common resolutions: lose weight, get organized, spend less, save more, stay fit, quit smoking, fall in love. This year, resolve to do two things that are more fun when done together: watch movies and drink wine! Better yet, drink wine while watching movies about wine!
One of my wife’s favorite movies is French Kiss. It’s funny, it’s romantic, and there are a ton of wine references! It’s the perfect movie for a wine writer. My wife’s favorite scene is when Meg Ryan’s character falls in love with the plethora of cheeses offered on a train ride to the south of France. She eats and eats and eats… until she realizes that she’s lactose intolerant… comedy ensues.
My favorite scene is at Kevin Kline’s character’s vineyard in the heart of France. He is describing how to smell aromas in wine and then makes a statement about how wine is like people. I love that line; I always think about how many times I say that a wine has great legs or lots of body or is complicated or lackluster. Every bottle of wine I encounter is like meeting someone new. Of course, just like people, there some that you want to spend more time with than others…
So, pick someone you like to spend time with, pick a wine you like to spend time with, and make it a great New Year! Here are some of my favorite wine quotes from some memorable movies. Happy New Year and Carpe Vino!
“Wine is like people.
The wine takes all “I’ll tell you where. the influences in Someplace warm. life all around it, it A place where absorbs them and it the beer flows gets its personality.” like wine. Where French Kiss (1995) – Luc (Kevin Kline) beautiful women instinctively flock FREE CC BEANIE SHOP & GET YOUR DEC 1 thru DEC 6 “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.” like the salmon of Capistrano. I’m talking about a little place called Aspen.” Dumb and Dumber (1994) – WITH YOUR $100 PURCHASE LADIES NIGHT HOLIDAY SIP & SHOP DECEMBER 3 4-8PM DEC 14 thru DEC 20 find the perfect gift!
Silence of the Lambs (1991) – Hannibal Lecter Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) SWEATER SALE BUY MORE, SAVE MORE (Anthony Hopkins) JAN 1 thru JAN 31 THE SHOPPES AT LAKE LORRAINE 2524 S. LORRAINE PLACE APRICOT LANE SIOUX FALLS *VALID DATES SHOWN. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, COUPON OR DISCOUNT. FREE GIFT WHILE SUPPLIES LAST. SOME RESTRICTIONS MAY APPLY. SEE STORE FOR COMPLETE DETAILS. WHEN YOU MENTION THIS AD FREE GIFT SHOP & GET YOUR G o G r e e n f o r S t . P a t r i c k ’ s D a y ! Join our Loyalty Club! New Year!Ring in the “I like how wine continues to evolve, like if I opened a bottle of wine today it would taste different than if I’d opened it on any other day, because a bottle of wine is actually alive. And it’s constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks, like your ‘61. And then it begins its steady, inevitable decline.” “Stick your nose in it. Don’t be shy, really get your nose in there. A little citrus, maybe some strawberry, passion fruit and there’s the faintest soupçon of asparagus and just a flutter of a nutty Edam cheese.” Sideways (2004) – Miles Raymond (Paul Giamatti) Sideways (2004) – Maya (Virginia Madsen) “I never drink… “The grape waits for no wine.” Quench Your Summer Thirst! man.” Father Brown (1954) – Inspector Dubois (Gerard Oury) Dracula (1931) – Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi)
“It’s a bold wine with a hint of sophistication and lacking in pretension. Actually, I was just talking about myself.” French Kiss (1995) – Kate (Meg Ryan)
Curbside
Giftware -Wine Spirits Beer Homebrewing & Winemaking Supplies Available!
Riccardo and his wife, Marybeth, live in Sioux Falls and have three sons, one in college and two in high school (Dante, Berent, and Jaxon.) Riccardo and Marybeth are the owners of R Wine Bar & Kitchen on the East Bank of Downtown Sioux Falls. Contact Riccardo with all of your wine questions: riccardo@rwinebar.com. Inside Taylor’s Pantry on the Corner of 41st & Minnesota
