#sassafras and moonshine

[sassafrasmoonshine]

Albert Beck Wenzell (American, 1864-1917)

[bergamotz]

I keep thinking I shld transfer my pharmacology knowledge in2 any amnt ov understanding ov chemistry. semi relatedly I have a bunch ov sassafras root I wonder how hard it iz 2 make mdma

[cakemagemaeve]

Hello everyone. I am too tired for The Discourse(TM) today, so please enjoy this video of my cat Squeaktoy Sassafras Silkyshorts making a valiant effort to kill a gecko through the glass, with special guest appearance by her brother Moogle Moonshine.

[findafight]

Okay stobin cat parent lore

Once they get settled in their own place they decide to go to the shelter and get a kitty cat. Just the one, because they've never had a pet before and don't want to be too ambitious. Robin is a strong believer in weird or silly names for pets, but Steve likes people names because he thinks it's funny for cute animals to have normal ass names.

However. They get to the shelter and wander around, some of the cats in the play area so they wander around and see if any of them want to play. Eventually they end up playing with a couple, and the worker tells them that their names are Sassafras and Moonshine (Moonshine being this massive fluffy thing, Sassafras originally I though as a calico? But then realized a naked kind would be far funnier.) but, they probably aren't a good fit because Steve said they were looking for one starter cat, and those two have to be adopted together, they're bonded and separating them would cause extreme distress.

And both Robin and Steve look at each other and realize that they can't not adopt these two cats. They're just like them!! Can't be separated!! So they leave with adoption forms for two cats. They aren't unhappy about this.

Eventually with their two happy cats whom they spoil outrageously (the amount of jingly mice under the couch is truly absurd) they decide "hey. why don't we try to take them for walkies?" so they try to harness train them. Sassafras is fine with it, he likes to go out a bit, but is very temperamental and must be in a specific mood for it or he will try to escape. Moonshine however? Moonshine loves going outside. Will meow and paw at the door until Steve gets her harness and leash on.

This leads Steve to the most logical conclusion. He goes for runs with his giant cat. He goes for runs in their neighbourhood with his giant, fluffy, harnessed cat.

He becomes a bit of a local cryptid. Local hottie spotted jogging with his massive cat. Occasionally she wears jackets too.

They send Christmas cards with their partners and their cats, dress them up in silly outfits, throw adoption day party for them etc. They are stobin's precious babies.

A few years after they adopt Sass and Moonie Steve finds a stray they take in. No tags or id number, so they get to keep her. She gets named Karl, because gender isn't real.

Years go by and eventually, sadly, Sassafras and Moonshine die. Stobin are inconsolable, but they have a very tasteful dual funeral.

After a while they know Karl is getting lonely, so they go back to the shelter for another cat. They leave with three.

There they were, and the volunteer said "oh! we call those three 'the Marx brothers' because one kind of looks like Groucho and one has kind of curl hair." And stobin looked at each other and knew. Because they are nothing if not lovers of a bit. And if they adopt Groucho, Chico, and Harpo, they'll have the Marx Brothers, and also have Karl. Which. Robin thinks it would be so funny if they had a cat that would potentially accidentally called Karl Marx. Like oh these are our cats, the Marx Brothers. And Karl.

They end up calling the cats collectively the Marxes even though Karl was not originally a Marx.

this is is all silly things but stobin love their cats and are funny weirdos about it.

The amount of stobin cat lore in my brain.... You would not believe.

[alittlevampyreandherteddybear]

A typical evening at the speakeasy. We're playing speakeasy. The password is sassafras to get in. Just don't tell the fuzz. We have lots of lovely diet root beer flavoured moonshine to share.

[awesomehoggirl]

Ok was looking back on my blog and imfidning it hysterical that this is the only thing i posted after that acidic blunt like 2 nights ago 😭 as if I was in anyway red yellow honey sassafras and moonshine I WAS tossing and turning in my bed

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Remembering songwriter, singer, and pianist Laura Nyro who was born Laura Nigro October 18, 1947 in The Bronx, NY.

As a solo artist she received critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums "Eli and the Thirteenth Confession" (1968) and "New York Tendaberry" (1969). She record a total of 9 albums.

Between 1968 and 1970, a number of artists had hits with her songs: The 5th Dimension with "Blowing Away", "Wedding Bell Blues", "Stoned Soul Picnic", "Sweet Blindness", and "Save the Country"; Blood, Sweat & Tears and Peter, Paul and Mary with "And When I Die"; Three Dog Night and Maynard Ferguson with "Eli's Comin'"; and Barbra Streisand with "Stoney End", "Time and Love", and "Hands off the Man (Flim Flam Man)". Nyro's best-selling single was her recording of Carole King's and Gerry Goffin's "Up on the Roof".

She was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2010, and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

Nyro died April 8, 1997 at the age of 49.

[The Wrecking Crew]

* * * *

Can you surry, can you picnic, whoa? Can you surry, can you picnic? Come on, come on and surry down to a stoned soul picnic Surry down to a stoned soul picnic There'll be lots of time and wine Red yellow honey, sassafras and moonshine Red yellow honey, sassafras and moonshine Stoned soul, stoned soul

One of my very favorites artists, back in the day when I was a young 20-something living in NYC.  Her songs expressed the feeling of all that. Young, female, filled with intensity, trying to make sense of how to be in the world. 

I had a small record player and I played her records relentlessly, singing along.

[sassafrasmoonshine]

Ulla Thynell (Helsinki, Finland) • Forest of Endless Sleep • Ink and mixed media

[t-underneaththeradardancing]

 more demi than - lost  captain - sassafras and moonshine - yah a kitty - a good one always -and a mimsy to u as well  and like that we caught up inna -instant   morning - jest add coffee - ghost town quiet - turn around 3x and another gone day month year - still lost and aimless when we going for formless -  a constellation made up of lights from a window - a hallelujah - anyway 

shalallalalalala yah - a grey guitar cuz we conceptual as well as symbolic tho i dont know picasso who actually i believe was called an asshole - murder right on sunrise - birdsong - missives - music  but maybe some soothe pleez - tho we may sister ray soon  come - asaf a suggestion tho again raw painful - its better than being - normal - wat kinda freex r we 

a sunday - too often psycho - and is it the begin or end  - its all - illusion - well maybe - knot sliced - real af glimpses  -moments - then again i talk to crows  believing getting stuck with needles is healing and thats b4 coffee never mind the morning - the impossible or lies we tell ourselves and how many 

mr jones and me / tell each other fairy tales ...

[resplendentoutfit]

Quirky Fashion Accessory of the Week

Frog Prince Headband • Rebecca Gardner

[sugar4thepill]

Okay you’re good in bed but Can you surry, Can you picnic!? Can you surry? Can you picnic?!!? Surry down to a stoned soul picnic 🤔 (Surry down to a stoned soul picnic) - There'll be lots of time and wine 🍷 Red yellow honey 🍯 , Sassafras and 🌝 moonshine , Stoned Soul!!!

[findafight]

Kinda want to write a one-sided ronance post S4 au (within a fix it obvs) where the older teens start actually hanging out and Stobin (eventually + Vickie)confuse literally everyone. They greet each other with cheek kisses, call each other babe (or "Stevie Baby". Listen. Robin calls him bud or buddy or bub or bubba or babe and it's like why so many B's?? Argyle is vibing with it though and joins the bud train) and one time at two in the morning had a coordinated ramble about the names of the cats they will eventually get. (Sassafras, moonshine, and Garborator)

Nancy and Steve haven't really talked about anything, other than Steve saying "hey. I'm sorry if whatever I said weirded you out. I was definitely a bit delirious and Robin and Eddie AND Dustin were all making comments about winning you back or whatever which is stupid, you made it clear where you stood with me. Which wasn't with me. That's fine. and like. Okay yeah when we were together I'd daydream about you being beside me in the motorhome but thats-- it was a daydream. I was sort of thinking I was gonna die and. I wanted to share a little dream that made me happy. And then got everything confused in my head and made it weird and I'm sorry. what I'm trying to say is I'm sorry for being weird and making things uncomfortable. I'm over you. I loved you then, and you were my first real love, and maybe if things were different I could love you like that again but. But neither of us want that or the same things out of life. And we'd crash and burn again. Plus you and Jonathan are together which is a non-starter. Cannot believe I forgot that when it was happening. Jesus. So. Yeah. Sorry for being not a great friend and hitting on you in the Upside Down." And Nancy had nodded and told him not to worry about it. He had been sort of bleeding out and planning on going back into the upside down. They could both be normal about it.

Sometimes Nancy and Robin try to have "girl time" at Nancy's suggestion because they're the only girls in the older group (sometimes. But Robin is not going to let that slip out) but it's awkward without a buffer. Robin is too nervous and rambles and Nancy is too annoyed by it. But they do get on well in group settings, and Steve and Argyle are actually the keenest to smooth over any awkwardness.

Robin laughs more with the group, and grins at Steve and smirks at Eddie and has a sharp tongue Nancy can admire. She's more comfortable with Steve around, insisting he sit beside her or on the ground in front of her so she can play with his hair. (And Nancy is shocked the first time she sees it, because Steve was notoriously protective of his "best feature", but she'd asked and he'd hummed quietly as she takes her fingers through his hair and put tiny, lopsided braids in it.) It's nice to see Robin less jumpy, and wonders what it would take to see more of the side of her Nancy only sees when Steve's around. She just wants to get closer to Robin. Wants a friend.

And somehow, beyond Nancy's notice, Steve and Robin's friend Vickie slowly joins the group. She wasn't involved at all in the spring, but has been hanging around Family Video and a movie night or two often enough that when she settles more permanently in the group it isn't a very big surprise. Eddie and Argyle welcome her in with open arms, Jonathan is only his normal amount of weary of new people, and obviously Robin and Steve are excited for their friends to be friends.

But it just doesn't sit right with Nancy. She can't pinpoint why, it just doesn't. When she sees Robin and Vickie giggling together, or having some back and forth banter that seems to feed into both of them smiling, or Steve throwing his arm over her shoulder, or Vickie leaning into Robin's space as they talk. She always sits beside Robin, Steve on the other, with Eddie beside him. It's usually a tight fit for whatever couch they're on, but the four seem happy as clams to not have any personal space. Once Argyle decided to lay across all their laps, and they just...let him. Finangled themselves so everyone was mostly comfortable.

Nancy figures she is uncomfortable with it because she hasn't ever had a close friend since Barb, and was possibly hoping she could be close to Robin along those lines. So seeing her so close with the others and mildly uncomfortable around her hurt, and seeing her and Steve incorporate someone unversed in the Upside Down into their little trauma club also hurt. Because what did Vickie have that Nancy didn't? That made Steve and Robin and now Eddie stick to her like glue? That made them want her there when she didn't know anything about what they'd been through and could probably never understand?

What made Vickie Summers so special that she's taken what should have been Nancy's place beside her friends? Because that's what really bothered her. It wasn't that Vickie didn't know, it's that Nancy felt she took her place. That Nancy wanted to be where Vickie was, and she didn't know how to ask for it. Asking, trying to talk about how Steve and Robin had bonded so well after Starcourt while she ignored them and then how they bonded with and absorbed Eddie halfway into their bizarre dynamic after vecna, would feel too much like begging or admitting that she isn't quite sure how to make friends.

Nancy is jealous. Jealous that she isn't friends like Vickie and Eddie and Steve and Robin are. That she isn't the one making Robin smile and giggle so cutely. So. She tries harder. Tries to be the friend that Robin and Eddie and even Steve deserve. She tries not to be annoyed by Robin rambling (it really isn't that bad, just. Not relevant. She likes heading Robin's voice, but thinks she could really work on having a filter.), or the way Steve always asks clarifying questions when he should really have known better, or Eddie talking half in different character voices. She thinks it's getting better, her relationship with them. But, still, Vickie is always there, glued to Robin's side almost as much as Steve is, and that always annoys Nancy. Niggles at her brain, that she doesn't deserve to be there because she didn't know what Robin had lived through and fought. Nancy did.

Eventually, Nancy figures out that she wants more from Robin. Doesn't want to be a friend she smiles at occasionally, wants to be the reason she smiles all the time. And that's terrifying. Because Nancy had never considered liking girls, never thought liking girls was a thing she could do. It was something other women did, not Nancy. She liked boys and always had, but. But maybe she always liked girls...too. maybe it wasn't something she that was one or the other. Being different in a town like Hawkins puts a target on your back, being queer in a town like Hawkins even moreso.

She's leaving Hawkins in the fall. But she thinks she wants someone to come home to. She wants Robin to come home to. Robin and Steve seem to be okay with it, from what she can glean of some veiled comments they've made that she's only caught now she's looking for them. They've made some remarks around the kids that make it seem like they'd be safe to come to, no matter what. And sometimes, some of the comments Robin makes about actresses seem a little...well. admiring.

They probably, hopefully, wouldn't hate her for this. And now Nancy and Robin have a friendship, she thinks she can. It's early July, and Nancy is going to ask Robin out.

She gets her alone, bites her lip, and asks Robin in no uncertain terms to go out on a date with her. Robin stares, mouth agape.

"oh," she says.

Nancy smiles, a little. "Yeah. So. What do you say?"

Robin blinks, and takes a shuddering breath. "Oh my god. I. Nancy I'm really flattered but I'm no-i dont- uhg. I'm dating someone." she groans, rubbing her hands over her face.

And oh. Nancy read the situation wrong "oh. Steve. It's fine! You don't like girls, thats--thats totally fine! Id just, um. That is,-"

Robin waves her hands. "No, no! I'm not dating Steve! You clocked me correctly. Definitely gay! Don't worry about that! Hah."

Something in Nancy twists. "Oh?"

"yeah. Yep. Not only am I a lesbian in a small town, I'm a lesbian in a small town that somehow also has a girlfriend." Robin says the word dreamily. Like she still can't believe it. Nancy's brain fills with static. She was too late. Too caught up with how she missed so many chances in the past, that she missed her chance now.

But Robin keeps talking. "And, like. Even if I didn't, I don't think it would have worked between us anyways. Too different, y'know?"

"what?"

Robin gestures with her hands between them. "Well, like. I like being your friend. But, I mean, I wouldn't date you?"

"why not?"

Blinking, Robin tilts her head. "Because of Steve?"

Something bubbles hot in Nancy. "What the fuck does Steve have to do with wether or not we would date?"

"Nancy. Steve's my best friend." As though that explains anything.

"yes? And?"

Robin looks uncomfortable, shifting sideways. "listen, Nancy. You're a good friend. And I've just rejected you. Maybe we should just. Ah. Leave this? I'm really sorry. I'll give you some space, just find me when you're ready?"

"no. What do you mean that we couldn't date because Steve is your best friend? Why would that have any effect on how you date?"

"it doesn't! Not really! Just. Nancy, you broke his heart. His soft, squishy heart! You kinda sorta cheated on him-details very unclear-and then just. Moved on. Pretended like nothing happened. I couldn't do that to Steve. Dating a friend's ex is a bad move. Dating an ex that broke a friend's heart is just cruel." She sighs. Looks sad. As though she isn't the one rejecting Nancy and tearing her apart for how a relationship ended almost two years ago. What did that matter, now? "You're my friend, Nancy. I like you! But even if Steve has moved on, forgiven and forgotten, and if things were a bit different given his full support for us dating if that's what I wanted, I think I'll always remember how he-- how much it hurt him."

"oh"

"I'm. Nancy I'm really sorry. I know how scary it is to put yourself out there, especially like this. It's not fair. I'm just sorry. But. It was true. Steve's the most important person to me. I couldn't ever hurt him. Not like that. Not even if he said he was fine with it."

Nancy stands and walks away. She doesn't cry until she locks her bedroom door.

[cakemagemaeve]

My li'l girl Squeaktoy Sassafras Silkyshorts wants to murder the lizard on the other side of the window so bad. Such a cute little sadist. <333

ETA: I can't believe I forgot to mention the sudden surprise appearance of Squeaky's brother Moogle Moonshine! I am such a terrible, heartless mother for forgetting him like this.

[nancydrew428]

Nancy Drew Drink Recipes

I compiled a list of over 20 Nancy Drew drink recipes (although I didn’t put smoothie, milkshake, or hot chocolate recipes). I hope you enjoy and let me know if you find any of them tasty!

Afterglow (x)

Ingredients:

1 cup grenadine

½ cup pomegranate juice

½ cup sugar

2 cups orange juice

2 cups pineapple juice

1 orange slice (optional)

Directions:

Mix.

Serve over ice.

Grenadine Directions:

Separate the pomegranate seeds from the membranes and skin.

In a heavy saucepan, cover pomegranate seeds with 1 pint of water and simmer, stirring until juice sacs release their juice, about 5 minutes.

Pour through a cheesecloth-layered sieve into a bowl, pressing the juice from the seeds. Discard seeds.

Measure the strained pomegranate juice and add an equal amount of sugar.

Pour into saucepan and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Cool to room temperature.

Add food coloring, if using. Pour into a decorative stoppered bottle.

Apple Pie Moonshine (x)

Ingredients:

4 cups apple juice

4 cups apple cider

4 cups apple juice

1 tablespoon ground or grated cinnamon

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

10 whole cloves

½ cup brown sugar

4 cinnamon sticks

1 shiny apple

Directions:

Pour the non-alcoholic liquids (apple juice, apple cider) into a large pot

Add the brown sugar + 4 cinnamon sticks

Bring the pot to a boil, then simmer for 15 mins

Once the liquid cools to a luke-warm temperature, add the moonshine!

Stir diligently and let cool (you can stick the whole pot in the fridge)

Apple Cider Directions:

Buy large jug of apple juice or "apple cider."

Pour apple juice into a large pot. Set on the stove and turn the burner to warm.

Stir in ground or grated cinnamon, honey, vanilla extract, and cloves.

Warm on low for 30 minutes or more. The juice will concentrate and sweeten, so the longer it's on there, the sweeter it will be.

Serve hot or cold, but pour the cider through a strainer to catch out those whole cloves before drinking.

Birch Beer - Alcoholic (x)

Ingredients:

1 cup birch syrup

3 ½ cups water

¼ packet wine yeast

Directions:

Add the birch syrup to the bottom of a quart mason jar. Bring the water to a boil and pour it over the birch syrup. Stir to dissolve.

Pitch ¼ packet of wine yeast into a few tablespoons of water and allow the yeast to dissolve.

Allow the birch syrup mixture to come to room temperature, and then pitch the yeast (add it in).  

Cap with a mason jar fermentation kit, and allow the mixture to ferment at room temperature for a few weeks, until visible fermentation has stopped. If you're using white sugar and birch sap, it may be done in less than a week.

Carefully pour the birch beer off into another container, leaving any yeasty sediment behind in the mason jar. Bottle in a simple flip top Grolsch bottle and allow it to age for at least a few days, but preferably 2 weeks, before

Bleeding Heart (x)

Ingredients:

1 part strawberry

1 part orange juice

1 part lemon juice

1 part pomegranate juice

Ice

Directions:

Blend.

Bleeding Horse (x)

Ingredients:

1 part strawberry

1 part orange juice

1 part lemon juice

1 part cranberry juice

Ice

½ cup sugar (optional)

Directions:

Blend.

Suggestions:

Use ¾ cups for the strawberries and juices to yield 3 to 4 drinks.

Add half a cup of sugar for ¾ cups of each fruit to make it sweeter.

To make it less like a lemonade, use less lemon or more of the other ingredients.

Bog Punch (x)

Ingredients:

2 parts pineapple juice

2 parts lemon juice

1 part orange juice

2 parts cranberry juice

4 parts fizzy water

1 orange slice

Directions:

Mix.

Garnish with orange slice.

Brown River (x)

Ingredients:

1 part pomegranate juice

4 parts pineapple juice

1 part lemon juice

4 parts cranberries

Ice

1 cherry

Directions:

Mix.

Garnish with cherry.

Connolly’s Folly (x)

Ingredients:

1 part lemon juice

2 parts fizzy water

2 parts orange juice

Ice

Directions:

Mix.

Crow’s Nest (x)

Ingredients:

4 parts orange juice

1 part pomegranate juice

2 parts cranberry juice

1 lime slice

Directions:

Mix.

Garnish with lime.

Donal’s Crow’s Nest (x)

Ingredients:

Grenadine

1 ½ cups orange juice

⅜ cup cranberry juice

3 teaspoon grenadine

2 pomegranates

2 cups water

2 ½ cups sugar

2 cups ice

1 lime slice

3 teaspoon sugar

Directions:

Buy already made grenadine or make it using the proportions listed.

Mix grenadine with everything but the lime slice and sugar.

Shake well.

Run lime slice around lip of glass.

Dip lip of glass in sugar.

Pour the drink in the glass.

Garnish with the lime.

Grenadine Directions:

Juice pomegranate.

Mix pomegranate, water, and sugar together.

Ginger Beer (x)

Ingredients:

¾ cup packed brown sugar (you can adjust to taste)

1 ½ cups peeled and minced fresh ginger

2 quarts cold water, divided

⅔ cup freshly squeezed lime juice

¼ teaspoon dried champagne yeast

Directions:

Mix sugar, ginger, and 4 cups water in saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand 1 hour to steep.

Strain syrup through strainer and funnel into 2-liter soda bottle. Add lime juice. Fill with cold water to within 2 inches of top. Cap and cool in refrigerator or ice bath until about 65°F.

Add ¼ teaspoon champagne yeast. (Reserve remaining yeast for next batch.) Cap bottle and let stand at room temperature for about 2 days, checking bottle pressure intermittently by squeezing it or releasing the cap slightly and briefly.

When ginger beer has achieved desired carbonation level, refrigerate. Serve and enjoy!

Ginger Whisper (x)

Ingredients:

1 ¼ teaspoons ground ginger

4 ¾ cups water

1 cup soda water

2 ½ bottles ginger ale

1 ½ cups lemon juice

Sugar (optional)

Directions:

Mix in bowl.

Add ice.

Suggestion:

This will be pretty bitter. To combat the bitterness, add some sugar.

Green Isles (x)

Ingredients:

1 part mint

3 parts pineapple

2 parts fizzy water

Directions:

Mix.

Lemonade Disguise (x)

Ingredients:

2 cups cranberry juice

3 1⁄4 cups water

6 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

1⁄3 cup sugar

6 ounces frozen lemonade concentrate

Directions:

Mix cranberry juice, water, cloves, and cinnamon and heat over med. to a roiling boil.

Remove from heat and let stand 5 minute.

Strain over pitcher.

Mix in sugar and lemonade, reheat as desired.

Leprechaun’s Lunch Version 1 (x)

Ingredients:

1 part mint

1 part ice cream

4 parts milk

Directions:

Blend.

Leprechaun’s Lunch Version 2 (x)

Ingredients:

Irish cream

1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

½ cup 2% milk

¼ cup sugar

2 tbsp chocolate syrup

1 tbsp instant coffee granules

2 tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp almond extract

Creme de menthe substitute

¼ tsp peppermint extract

Creme de cacao substitute

1 ½ tablespoon powdered sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup milk

Directions:

Mix.

Leprechaun’s Lunch Version 3 - Alcoholic (x)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoon Bailey’s Irish Cream

2 tablespoon creme de menthe

2 tablespoon creme de cacao

½ cup milk

Directions:

Pour the Bailey's irish cream, creme de menthe and creme de cacao over two ice cubes in a small (8-oz) highball glass or equivalent.

Fill with milk.

Stir.

Serve.

Mean Fiddler (x)

Ingredients:

4 parts fizzy water

4 parts orange

Ice

Directions:

Mix.

Minty Festival Punch (x) (x)

Ingredients:

9 cups of water

18 ounces cranberry juice

9 oranges (quartered)

14 ounces of lime juice

8 tablespoons of sugar

3 sprigs of mint

Directions:

Combine ingredients in large pot.

Heat on low.

Nancy Drew AKA Hardy Boy (x)

Ingredients:

Splash/shot white rum

1 small can ginger ale

Splash lime juice

Directions:

Pour rum, ginger ale and lime juice over ice.

Stir.

Suggestion:

Use a cocktail shaker.

Peat Bog (x)

Ingredients:

1 part pomegranate juice

1 part mint

8 parts milk

Directions:

Mix.

Pine Hill Punch (x)

Ingredients:

6 cups apple cider

1 cinnamon stick

1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg

1⁄4 cup honey

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 teaspoons lemon zest

1 (20 ounce) can pineapple juice (unsweetened)

Directions:

Put cider and cinnamon in pot and bring to a boil.

Lower heat, cover, and simmer 5 minute.

Stir in nutmeg, honey, lemon juice, zest, and pineapple juice and simmer 5 minute more.

Serve hot or cold.

Root Beer (x)

Ingredients:

1 gallon filtered water, divided

1 tablespoon sarsaparilla root bark

1 tablespoon sassafras root bark

1 tablespoon birch bark

3 star anise pods

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

½ teaspoon crushed ginger

4 sprigs chocolate mint

1 ½ cups brown sugar, packed

½ cup molasses

⅛ teaspoon ale yeast

Directions:

Combine 2 quarts water, sassafras, sarsaparilla, birch, mint, star anise, ginger, and vanilla in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Remove pot from heat, cover, and let steep for 2 hours.

Strain liquid through fine mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth into large pot. Add remaining 2 quarts water along with the brown sugar and molasses. Stir until mixture is integrated, then cover.

Let cool to 75°F, then stir in yeast and let it sit for 15 minutes. Fill plastic bottles with mixture, leaving 2 inches of space at top. Screw on caps. Keep bottles at room temperature for 36 hours, then open a bottle slowly and carefully to see if it is carbonated enough. If it is, then go on to step 4. If not, reseal the bottle and let rest for another 12 to 24 hours until desired carbonation is reached.

Place bottles in the refrigerator for 2 days before drinking. You can store refrigerated root beer for about one month.

Scarlet Slipper Raspberry Punch (x)

Ingredients:

1 (3 ounce) package raspberry Jell-O gelatin

1 (1/4 ounce) package raspberry powdered drink mix

1 (6 ounce) can frozen lemonade concentrate

1 cup sugar

3 quarts water

Directions:

Mix jell-o as directed on box in 1 gallon pitcher.

Add drink powder.

Stir in rest of ingredients.

Chill.

Smuggler’s Gold (x)

Ingredients:

2 parts pineapple juice

1 part lemon juice

2 part orange juice

Ice

1 orange slice

Directions:

Mix.

Garnish with orange slice.

The Lady Detective - Alcoholic (x)

Ingredients:

2 ounces El Dorado 12 year rum

¾ ounce fresh lime juice

1 ounce ginger syrup

2 cups sugar

1 six-inch piece fresh ginger, finely diced

2 cups water

6 to 8 mint leaves

Top with coconut foam & Bittercube Bolivar Bitters

Directions:

Add the rum to shaker tin and lightly muddle 6–8 mint leaves.

Add the lime juice, ginger syrup and shake with ice.

Double strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Top the cocktail with a thin layer of coconut foam.

Add four drops of Bittercube Bolivar Bitters in a circular pattern.

Then drag a toothpick through the drops to create a nice design. (optional)

Ginger Syrup Directions:

Place sugar, ginger, and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce to a simmer, and cook about 1 hour, until ginger flavor is quite strong.

Let cool.

Strain before using.

Store in an airtight container, refrigerated, up to a week.

The Nancy Drew - Alcoholic (x)

Ingredients:

2 ounces aged rum

1 ounce ginger syrup

2 cups sugar

1 six-inch piece fresh ginger, finely diced

2 cups water

¾ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice

½ ounce coconut cream

Angostura bitters

Directions:

Make ginger syrup first, unless you buy it premade.

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice.

Shake vigorously for 10-15 seconds.

Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Top with a few dashes of Angostura bitters.

Ginger Syrup Directions:

Place sugar, ginger, and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce to a simmer, and cook about 1 hour, until ginger flavor is quite strong.

Let cool.

Strain before using.

Store in an airtight container, refrigerated, up to a week.

[kimzplace]

SOME UNUSUAL APPALACHIAN SUPERSTITIONS & WIVES-TALES

•You’ll see ghost if you go to a graveyard at night. Folks always said they look like little lights floating around. A group of lights is the little children dancing and playing. Our Appalachian ancestors lived in a world of uncertainty. Their lives were lived unsure of their fate, of God's Will and of the harvest and of the hunt. Because of this they came up with ways by watching nature in an attempt to find some peace, some comfort, some control . . .

•To cure worms in people and animals, finely cut up some hair from a white horse and feed it to the ill in some cornbread.

•To cure snake bite, kill the snake and hold its innards against the wound.

•If a dog crawls with its belly on the ground while moaning, he is measuring his master’s grave.

•A shucked cob with the lost teeth of children stuck into it guards against bad spirits.

•If a rooster crows after sunset it is a sign of death.

•To ease a toothache, drink water from a colbalt blue glass (Erwin, TN)

• Never cut a babies nails before they’re a year old, bite them off. If you cut them off, the baby will grow up to steal.

• Rub an apple on a newborns tongue and they’ll have a sweet singing voice.

•To cure an illness, ride a donkey backwards and feed it some of your hair, taken from the crown of your head.

• If an unnamed baby gets sick, give it a name and it will get better.

• If you get a fishing hook caught in your hand, wash the hook with moonshine and stick the hook into a piece of wood three times in the name of the Trinity so the wound doesn’t fester.

•Don’t turn a wheel backwards while greasing it or it’ll bring bad luck

•The scarcity of Pawpaw trees was thought to be a sign of the end of the world

•A rabbits foot is lucky and will protect from evil spirits. But there’s no charm to it unless it’s dipped into moonshine poured into a tree stump in a graveyard. And it’s always gotta be the left hind foot.

•If a picture of someone falls by itself off the wall, it portends their death.

•To ease a toothache, drink water from a colbalt blue glass (Erwin, TN)

•Carry a piece of coal in the right pocket to remove a curse or witchcraft. Once the coal has been crushed and turned to dust in the pocket, it has been removed and the dust is disposed of in the crotch of a willow or in a river crawling westward. (Richmond, VA)

• It’s luck to find a silver coin and put it in your left pocket.

•When fishing, always thank the fish you catch or your cabinets will be bare in the coming year or season. (Roan Mountain, TN)

•Couples who marry at Watauga (lake) in May will be blessed with brave sons and loyal daughters. (Watauga, TN)

•Feed a dog gunpowder in cornbread and they’ll be a good guard dog.

•Never marry when the fish aren’t biting and never marry on a Saturday.

•Sweep on Friday and your bread won’t rise for a week.

•Cats clean their face when they’re conjuring rain storms.

•When taking a lamp outside, stick three pins in the wic and the wind can’t blow it out.

•To bring a good lover to you, toss salt into the fire every morning for nine days.

•During labor, the after birth can be brought quickly by having the mother blow into a jug or to have her smell snuff jammed into the stem of a turkey feather. Don’t wash the baby until it comes.

•If the walnuts have thin shells, it foretells a light winter; thick shells mean a hard winter ahead.

•Trees felled during a new moon can’t fold a flame.

•Wood should be felled and chopped during a waning moon.

•If a baby smiles while sleeping, they’re being entertained by angels.

•If you look at someone through a broken window, you’ll argue with them soon.

•To ward off sickness in newborns, give them a piece of fat from deer meat to suck on.

•Place a woman’s menstrual cloth in a bird’s nest and she’ll go mad and crazy

•It’s bad luck to kill a cricket

•If a woman keeps miscarrying children or they die young, she should name her next son Adam and he will live as will anymore thereafter.

•Stopping clocks in the house of the deceased to prevent bad luck for the living.

• Closing the eyes of the deceased so that he may not choose someone to accompany him to the grave.

•If you first see the new moon in clouds, someone in your family will get sick.

• It is bad luck to burn sassafras or apple logs in a fireplace.

•Knock three times on wood after mentioning good fortune so evil spirits won't ruin it.

•Two people pull apart the dried breastbone of a chicken or turkey until it cracks and breaks, each one making a wish while doing so. The person who gets the long half of the wishbone will have his or her wish come true.

•Mirrors in a house with a corpse should be covered or the person who sees himself will die next.

•You can not swim in the river during the "Dog Days" of Summer.

•So many superstitions and wives-tales around. Some of these are familiar, some I've never heard of. Our ancestors were not only superstitious, but were deeply religious! We come from a long line of strong peoples. Strong people who found a way and they paved the way, for you, for me. We are living our ancestors wildest dreams!

~~banjo~~

[sassafrasmoonshine]

Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale (British, 1872-1945) • But Mordred Laid His Ear beside the Door and There Half Heard • The Coming of Arthur • Watercolour with bodycolour on board