It's the weekend. Have a drink.

This is coming a bit late in the weekend, due to unforeseen overindulgences during the holiday. I'm going Jazz Age this week - I adore The Thin Man, and all of the ensuing sequels, and watch them far too often. They've given me unrealistic banter expectations, and now all conversation bores me. Besides being brilliant and wonderful in their own right, they also feature a never-ending tableaux of 1930's cocktails like the Bronx - basically a martini with orange juice, which was terribly fashionable in those days, and I think deserves a renaissance. The ratio is 2-1 gin to orange juice, with 1/4 ounce-ish each sweet and dry vermouth. You can get all fancy with the orange juice, or try Plymouth for the gin, to keep things interesting, but please don't garnish it with an orange slice. A little part of me dies every time I see an orange slice in a drink. A bit of peel if you must, but personally I stick to maraschino cherries. Several.

So go have a drink before the week starts, and brush up on your two-step. Try not to get involved in any gin-joint murders if you can, but if you must, dress sharply, and bring the dog along.

"The important thing is the rhythm. Always have rhythm in your shaking. Now a Manhattan you shake to fox-trot time, a Bronx to two-step time, a dry martini you always shake to waltz time."

Nick Charles, The Thin Man