i found something at grandma’s place today i never would have expected…
…the booze stash.
the silver tea service, the revolutionary war bayonet and bullet molds, the pre-revolutionary war books – some surprises, some not, all somewhat expected (all but the books i’d heard about, and given she had a map she “found in an old book” that lists where i’m sitting as “great indian land mass unknown” that was NOT a reproduction that wasn’t a huge surprise). but booze? in hindsight, i should have expected it…she HAS had to deal with uncle arthur for several decades and all.
and the selection wasn’t surprising – cream de menthe, cream de cauco, cherry liquor, and an unopened bottle of gallo wine…all completely ruined by how they were stored (in a cabinet in the garage with massive fluctuations in humidity and temperature – and the wine was upright so the cork could disintegrate into it…at least i THINK this is the cork?!?!)
so the moral to the story – my grandmother had a very leave it to beaver style stash of shit…most could be passed off for recipe purposes (and may very well have been for such things) and didn’t know how to store it. thank got us newer-school booze hounds know the better way to do our stuff, eh?