Cold Light
Some of the most amazing photos I’ve captured from this lakeside perch have come in the depths of winter, when the colors of the rising sun play off the ice on the water. Although today turned clear (and bitterly cold), the early morning sun had to compete with residual dark clouds. As it reached a space, it cast a beautiful orange reflection across the lake’s surface, all the way into Belmont Harbor.
Fairness to Small Potatoes
Aren’t these adorable?
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the phrase “small potatoes” means “someone or something that is not important or impressive.” Which would make these tiny taters very sad if potatoes had feelings.
When you hang around food enough, you’re bound from time to time to find something that’s new to you. When I was placing an online delivery order with WhatsGood on Saturday, I noticed a listing for Yellow Little Marble potatoes from the Little Potato Company in DeForest, Wisconsin.
Always curious, I ordered a bag, expecting them to be about the size of your average new potato. But when they say little, they ain’t lyin’. The largest of the potatoes was maybe the size of a ping pong ball. The smallest was about the size of the end of my thumb.
According to the company’s website, these are officially Creamer potatoes. They are bred to be small (so they are not “baby potatoes”), don’t need to be peeled (though I seldom peel potatoes anyway), and cook up quickly. I roasted a few of the potatoes with brussels sprouts, onion and bacon in a half hour.
Finally, a potato you can use as a garnish. Roast up a batch and eat them like popcorn while watching a movie.
Or maybe the world’s smallest french fries?
Cosmopolitan Meets Gin Sour
I don’t bother a lot with flavored spirits but I do make exceptions. One of them is the Cranberry Gin liqueur from Chicago’s Koval Distillery. It is super-tasty, slightly tart and makes a darn pretty drink.
According to Koval’s website: “KOVAL Cranberry Gin Liqueur offers an enticing blend of fruit-forward and bittersweet flavors, surrounded by the crisp, well-rounded notes of KOVAL Gin's signature 13 botanicals. An homage to aperitif culture, it is an excellent base for easy, enticing cocktails for all seasons - simply mix with a splash of Prosecco or any sparkling water, and a signature spritz is born! Made from all-natural ingredients sourced directly from local, organic Midwestern farmers.”
The cocktail is a Koval recipe, Cranberry Convo, which with its combination of the liqueur, dry gin and lemon bitters is kind of a mashup of a Cosmopolitan and a Gin Sour. Here’s the details:
CRANBERRY CONVO
2 oz KOVAL Cranberry Gin Liqueur
1 oz KOVAL Dry Gin
1 oz lemon juice
2 dashes orange bitters
Shake ingredients with ice. Strain and serve garnished with a lemon peel.
Green Acres used to sell mini-taters, about the size of very large ceci beans. They were considered a premium item. Many chefs just poured the whole tray into a bag. And bought them, of course. They are as cute as they are delicious. [sighs at mention of Green Acres.]