Birds, Books and Bourbon

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to the Irish and to everyone who enjoys eating corned beef and cabbage and drinking green beer. Those aren’t really my cup of tea – so I invented a green cocktail of course instead. A green-capped aquatic bird and an Irish romance complete our bird time trio this week.

A couple of Mallard ducks appeared at my boarding barn this week. Maybe we will be blessed with a clutch to add to our gaggle of Canada geese and the resident Great Blue Heron. Mallards are members of the “dabbling ducks” family, which feed in the water by tipping forward and grazing on underwater plants and seeds, rarely diving.  During breeding season, they prefer aquatic insect larvae, earthworms, snails and freshwater shrimp. They are very docile and often found in urban ponds and backyards and will readily accept handouts of human foods. The male is easily identified by his iridescent green head, yellow bill, and brown/grey body. The female has a mottled brown body with a blue-green wing section and a duller bill.

Some fun facts about Mallards (the pair above was taken at the National Zoo some years ago): They can be found all over North America and Eurasia (including Ireland) Almost all domestic duck breeds trace their ancestry to the Mallard, and in some regions the Mallard variants have established distinct species such as the Mexican Duck and Hawaiian Duck. While generally monogamous, “extra-pair copulations” can occur with multiple males chasing a female and forcing themselves on her. Only the female is responsible for incubating eggs and raising the ducklings.

My cocktail creation this week is a combination of a whiskey sour and a sidecar. To make a green drink without food coloring, out comes the Blue Curacao again though it is hopefully tempered by the other flavors here. I used an Irish Whiskey (FYI “whiskey” comes from the Irish uisce beatha, meaning water of life). We tried Writers’ Tears (how fitting for our blog!) at our local Irish pub and found it to be very smooth and also easy to drink neat or on the rocks. I used Grand Marnier though you could substitute a different triple sec or orange liqueur. I made it as a Boston Sour with an egg white, which can be substituted by aquafaba (chickpea water) or omitted if desired, though it helps with the smooth mouth feel and presentation. Dry shaking before adding the ice is essential to create the foamy topping.

Gather your ingredients: Irish Whiskey (Copper Pot Writers’ Tears), Grand Marnier, Blue Curacao, Lemon, simple sugar, egg white, shamrock clover for garnish. Shaker, citrus squeezer, scale or jigger/ measuring spoons, and a sour or coupe glass for serving.

The Lost Girls of Ireland is the first installment of the Starlight Cottages series by Susanne O’Leary. Amazon describes it as a “heart-warming and feel-good page-turner set in Ireland.” Since my husband was cleaning the deck during my scheduled bird time, I will have to take their word for it until I can start reading tomorrow 😉 Enjoy, and remember to please drink responsibly 🙂