oh yes, after all of gemini’s birthday celebrations last month, she needs a good systematic cleansing. she might have had only one birthday last month, but you can bet she celebrated it at least twice. one for each twin and then some i’m sure. all those appletini’s can wreak havoc on your liver and be murder on the diet… lucky for gemini that mercury rules celerac!

hey, how do you like that glass? it’s INTOXICATED ZODIAC’S reusable candle votive!

CELERY SIPPER:
1 oz gin
1/2 oz limoncello
1 oz fresh squeezed green apple
1 oz fresh squeezed celery
handful of juiced parsley
1 oz lime juice
1 oz agave

stir all ingredients very well and pour into ice packed glass.

THANKS TO SIDEWALK SHOES FOR HOSTING WEEKEND HERB BLOGGING.

i know, i know, i blogged pammy pie for her birthday last year. the big one, where she proclaimed 40 to be the 20… but i can’t help but blog her again. she’s the bomb! this year she got one helluvah b’day gift… a meatless tommy lee. tommy—a typically attractive libra who just wants to go with the flow—had been rebuffed one too many times by pam. it was when lee’s thoughts flowed to vegetarianism, that he finally won her back. what better way to melt cancer’s heart than to make her personal crusade your own? she’s his. lock, stock and barrel.

ECORAZZI sums it up well, “Listen up chicks and dudes — if you wanna bag yourself a veggie you can try the typical flowers, candy and mushy love note route, but trust me, nothing says I want to jump your bones more than putting down the drumstick. ” so, now where’s my vegetarian prince? i’m waaaiting….

VIA ECORAZZI

oops… we’re in the constellation of cancer now but happy belated birthday to gemini! who is more gemini than angelini jolie? and now, her gemini twins? angelina apparently went about her business promoting two films during the last weeks of pregnancy as if she wasn’t preggars at all. typical gemini… more energy than god. impossible to tie down… just ask brad. i think she’s rejected his proposal for marriage at least twice now. she’s out there angie… the duplicity of her sun sign, the twins, was apparent long before she got pregnant with twins. one day she would be filming a blockbuster hollywood movie, and the next she’d be feeding starving babies in africa. what a dichotomous life. rags in africa to riches hollywood and back again in fast footed, lightning speed, geminian style. happy belated birthday to the ultimate gemini, angie

TAILOR NYC is the edgiest bar in new york without a doubt. and i’m certain it’s one of the edgiest in the world. the cocktail menu is magnificently creative, and in my books originality always scores high. i went there a weekend or two ago and ordered their MUSHROOM MARGARITA and LOVAGE SOUR. if you’re new to lovage, know that it’s one of the Medieval herbs now experiencing a renaissance. it was very herby and woody and refreshing. pretty much what i expected it to taste like. the MUSHROOM MARG was earthy and also good. again, just what i would have expected, and now i know what to do with that portabella mushroom rum i’ve been infusing for a year! PORTABELLA DAQUIRUI coming right up…

the joint was cooly decorated with relecs from the past, not unlike the decor at DEATH & CO, another one of New York’s hip watering holes. our waiter sported an old fashioned waist coat with a 10 inch handlebar mustache to go with it.

while the pickins are slim for vegans, the kitchen did manage to scrounge me up some mustard gnocchi, which provided an interesting flavor, but not one that i would go back for seconds of.

perhaps the most interesting part or TAILOR’S interesting menu is their SOLIDS selection, on which MARTINI GROOVE recently raved. meaning, taking a liquid libation into solid form by adding gelatin. again, i couldn’t eat it. (i just want to know why none of these so-called highly creative chefs use a jelling agent other than gelatin. it is completely possible to use seaweed based gelling agent, so stop being lazy and get to it foodies! geez, enough with the cow hooves all ready).

anyway, below are some of the wilder concoctions off the menu, and i’ll be going back soon to taste the BAZOOKA which i’m bummed i didn’t get to. sometimes having wheels isn’t so cool.

BEET SANGRIA: red wine, brandy, triple sec, oj, beet juice, orange salt

PAPRIKA PUNCH: rum, bell pepper lemonade

BAZOOKA: vodka, bubble gum cordial, house sour

LOVAGE SOUR: gin, lemon, lovage aquavit

THE WAYLON: bourbon, smoked coke

PASTIS FRAICHE: vodka, anise hyssop (another medieval herb), lemon, absinthe

KUMQUAT CAIPIRINHA:cachaca, kumquats, turbinado, soy caramel

HOUSE SPECIALS: pumpernickel raisin scotch, cedar bourbon, grapenut shochu

VISIT TAILORNYC.COM

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how awesome is it that my favorite whore is posing in a martini glass? i love that. the same belle du jour that i have mentioned here before has struck it rich.

when they said writing a blog takes you places, boy did they mean it. it took belle from prostitution to blogging to authoring to cable tv. and i’m not talking about the adult fun after hours channel, but primetime showtime. go belle! there are some who don’t believe belle is real, but is actually a fictional creation. no hookers can be that happy, they say. honestly, i don’t know what’s true. what i do know is that whoever is behind belle’s writing and antics make it hilarious and entertaining.

prostitution is the oldest profession around and it should be legalized here in the states. but until it is, i guess we’ll have to make do with our happy, and now very rich, hooker in SECRET DIARY OF A CALL GIRL on SHOWTIME mondays 10:30pm.

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lavender is ruled by mercury, the same planet that watches over the zodiacal angel, virgo. and like an angel heals, so does lavender.

can’t sleep? place a drop of lavender oil on your pillow. got a rash? rub some lavender oil on it. pets love lavender oil, put a drop in their litter box or on their bed. lavender has become a modern symbol of healing and purity; a guardian of goodness. nature’s nurse, if you will. so who wants to play doctor with virgo? we should all be so lucky!

in this lavender libation, those virgoan petals take the inherent goodness of this classic cocktail to another level… a subtly fragrant one. care for a nightcap? this tipple will bring some particularly sweet dreams…

if you’d like to try your hand at growing lavender, it prefers to grow in sunny, well drained soil. if you can get it to grow, it’s amazing stuff to have in the garden! in the dead of winter, there’s nothing better than a vase of dried summer lavender. and the bees, well they just love it…

LAVENDER BEES KNEES

1.5 oz gin
.5 oz fresh lemon juice
5 sprigs fresh lavender OR 1/2 tsp dried lavender
1 spoon honey

*** Mix hot water and lavender in bowl. Let steep for five minutes. muddle as well to augment flavor.

*** Whisk in honey, strain into another bowl.

*** Add lavender honey syrup, gin, lemon juice; strain into cocktail shaker with ice and stir extremely well.

*** Strain into a cocktail glass.

VIA EHOW

THANKS TO KALYN’S KITCHEN FOR HOSTING WEEKEND HERB BLOGGING.

i’m a martha fan. i love reading all her mags, and was so bummed when her latest one, BLUEPRINT, failed. but her LIVING magazine seems to be eternal, and it certainly is full of eternally good ideas. here’s one i liked from her last issue…

TREE COASTER:

martha uses white birch disks to best absorb the stain. but any found wood will do, as long as it’s sawed into smooth disk shapes. now you know what to do with your christmas tree trunk next year!

Materials:
• Sanding block
• sandpaper in fine or medium grade
• foam brush
• colored wood stain
• clear matte polyurethane

1. lightly sand the top surfaces of each disk.
2. with the foam brush, apply wood stain. wipe off any excess with a paper towel. let dry. repeat until desired color is achieved.
3. with a paintbrush, apply 1 coat of polyurethane. let dry.

you know those wine and spirit and champagne bottles that are just so beautiful and unique you can’t bear to throw them in the recycling bin? or the garbage (gasp) because many of them can’t even be recycled…

well, the pack rat i am, i know that scenario all too well. so good news fellow trash hoarders… now we can put those perty bottles to a legitimate use, other than keeping the dust off our shelves.

just one more way to upcycle our trash, compliments of the awesome SUNDANCE CATALOG by robert reford. ($20 each)

the caffeine that is present in all varieties of tea, with the exception of herbal, is due to a martian presence. yes, the alien’s first planted tea several thousand years ago on planet earth. j/k…

which planet is always full of fight? mars! caffeine is a martian quality, it will keep you going all night long… just like the influence of mars keeps aries going all life long. this sign is always on the go, and always looking for a, shall we say, challenge? the energizer bunny should really be an energizer ram.

so, long story short, tea is an aries. (unlike coffee, who due to it’s dark color is ruled by saturn, and partly by aries).

this month’s MIXOLOGY MONDAY theme is bourbon… i found this recipe over at COOKS.com and it’s delic!

BOURBON FREEZE

2 black tea bags
1 c boiling water
1 c raw sugar
3 1/2 c. water or ice
6 oz fresh squeezed orange juice
6 oz bourbon

(if you are in a hurry, just substitute a couple trays of ice in place of the water and serve immediately).

thanks to SCOFFLAW DEN for hosting MIXOLOGY MONDAY.

pisces sweet pisces… when they are good, they are very good. but when they are bad, they are very bad. i guess this can be said about everyone, but with pisces it always seems to be more so.

more enjoyable. more fun. more seductive. more addictive. more cool. more sensual. more thoughtful. more intelligent. more captivating. more and more wonderful every day until it’s just not. and then it’s more painful, more alienating. more simplistic. more naive. more boring. more treacherous. more elusive. more withdrawn. pisces is the duplicitous fish whose compassionate nature attracts others easily.

i love pisces, and seem to draw them out… feeding my addiction to seafood i suppose. inevitibly pisces will decide that suddenly they don’t love me, and i’m left baffled and wounded. but, their’s is sweet nectar worth shedding some blood to taste.

honeysuckle is a pisces due to it’s invasive property of overtaking the lawn on which its planted. it spreads, like jupiter, the planet of expansion. way back when, jupiter ruled pisces. now that we identify neptune as pisces’ ruling planet, jupiter is still considered pisces’ co-ruling planet. (due to it’s delicate white flowers it also has a lot of mercury in it, making it partly virgo and gemini).

this is an amazing fragrant tipple, probably one of my faves. the strong floral scent of pisces’ honeysuckle sour will intoxicate you more that the alcohol itself. enjoy one with a pisces and you will have found happiness. at least for a while ; )

HONEYSUCKLE SOUR

1.5 OZ GIN
2 OZ SIMPLE SYRUP
1 OZ FRESH LIME JUICE
15 HONEYSUCKLE FLOWERS

MUDDLE HONEYSUCKLE FLOWER IN BOTTOM OF MIXING GLASS WITH LIME AND GIN. AFTER FLOWERS ARE WELL MACERATED, ADD GIN AND FILL GLASS WITH ICE. STIR VERY WELL. REMOVE ICE CUBES (I USED A FORK). STRAIN INTO MARTINI GLASS USING A SMALL FINE METAL SIEVE. PRESS FLOWERS INTO MESH TO GET ALL THE LIQUID OUT. GARNISH WITH A HONEYSUCKLE BLOSSOM.

THANKS TO JOANNA’S FOOD FOR HOSTING WEEKEND HERB BLOGGING.