Feria de San Fermín (in Cascadia)

In honor of the annual event in Pamplona, I whipped up a nice Spanish paella last night. As usual, I imbibed throughout the whole process and forgot the peas! Nonetheless, it turned out to be a fantastic dish - the color, aroma, and taste of saffron is one of my favorites.  So, too, is Rosé...

Last Night's Paella

No, we didn't have the traditional Albarino or a Rioja Blanco to compliment the dish, so we made due with this nice French (Rhône) Rosé.  We don't get too uptight about that kind of stuff - mixing countries of origin and cultures at the same time. We are American, after all, and, as such, are used to bastardizations borrowing the best from what any particular culture has to offer. (If mixed breed dogs are better, why can't the same theory be applied to food?)

The accompanying wine.

  

I say don't limit yourself! Leave all that pretentious BS at the door.  You just might get gored if you don't.

"This wine is too good for toast-drinking, my dear. You don't want to mix emotions up with a wine like that. You lose the taste."

- Chapter 7, The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway

a Northwest Twist on a Classic Cocktail

First, let me say that it's really hard to beat a good London Dry gin, but in the spirit of keeping libations local, try this recipe:

2 oz. Washington Dry Gin (from Dry Fly Distilling out of Spokane, Washington)

Tonic water

Splash of Campari

Squeeze of lime (a germaphobe I know said not to throw the lime in your cocktail - it takes up room and it's full of bacteria!  I'll take my chances.)

Hemingway drank these while on safari in Africa, but he used Gordon's Gin. Source: "True at First Light" 

If you're in search of another local Cascadian favorite, check out Dry Soda for their all-natural, low calorie sodas. "Lavender" is the author's favorite because it reminds him of his prurience in Provence, but each of their flavors are unique and make excellent cocktail bastardizations mixers for gin, vodka, and tequila.

"In the sweet summahtime" Bob Seger, Night Moves

The Importance of Being Ernest

If you want to catch a glimpse into the ugly preppy of the 1930's, read Hemingway's "To Have and Have Not."

the first edition cover

It's an earnest look at the American social class system of the 1930s in all of its ugliness glory. It still resonates today as it depicts the tired working class just trying to make it in this world and the sniveling privileged class who tread all over them.

(Oh and it has sex, boats, booze, and beatings in it, too. Hard to find fault with that!)

Ernest Hemingway

BEST. AUTHOR. EVER

Ernest Hemingway was a man - a real American man. He liked his drinks cold, his women hot, and his guns loaded. He was "Less is More" before "Less is More" was cool; scholars called his writing style "The Iceberg Principle" - there is more than meets the eye, calling the reader to use his or her (but mainly his) imagination. He had a style that resonated throughout the 20th Century and beyond.  In fact, his writing style could translate easily into the Twitter tweets of today.

inside La Bodeguita del Medio - La Habana, Cuba   2010

"Papa" may not be "preppy," per se, but his style is timeless and is much emulated by the sartorially-minded, traditionally-inclined, and preps in Pugetropolis. So, what's all of this have to do with searching for a prep sensibility in the USA's Pacific Northwest? Well, if one were playing "6 Degrees of Pugetropolis Prep," one could posit the following: A) Hemingway's final resting place is Ketchum, Idaho B) Ketchum is in the vicinity of Sun Valley C) Sun Valley is popular amongst preps, bon vivants, trads, etc. D) Idaho is in the Northwest E) Pugetropolis is in the Northwest... you see where I'm going with this!