Smorgasbord #16

Mezcal, humility, hot air balloons, and stubbornness

Feb 02, 2024

Hello friends! Welcome to another edition of Smorgasbord, a self-service buffet of ideas. As I’m putting this together, rain is pouring outside, which is a weird ocurrence in the Southwest. Do you have any fun plans for the weekend? The Cantú men are getting haircuts, and then, all of us are going to a birthday party. Love me some birthday cake.

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Aperitif

There are two bottles of Mezcal in my booze cabinet that I neglect because this spirit overpowers the mixers I’ve tried mixing them with. I’ve made a Mezcal Old Fashioned and a Mezcal sour, but the smoky note is far too strong.

A few years ago, when the Carthusian monks announced that they are only producing a finite amount of bottles of Green and Yellow Chartreuse, I started looking for substitutes. During this side quest I stumbled upon Liquore Strega, an Italian spirit hailing from Benevento that is distilled with about 70 ingredients from all over the world. One of these ingredients is saffron, which gives it a yellow hue, similar to Yellow Chartreuse. It’s sweet, viscous and has a low ABV, which makes it a good candidate for a mixer.

I love Last Word riffs, and recently I learned of a cocktail called Naked & Famous—not crazy about the name—, created by Joaquín Simó, who describes it as “the bastard love child borne out of an illicit Oaxacan love affair between a classic Last Word and Sam Ross’ Paper Plane cocktail.” The N&F inherits the lime juice from the LW and Aperol from the PP, but switches the Green Chartreuse from the LW with Yellow Chartreuse, and uses Mezcal instead of gin as the base spirit.

The Aperol and the Yellow Chartreuse can compete with the Mezcal and the lime juice makes it bright and refreshing. It’s a good introduction-to-Mezcal cocktail if you have never had one. I wanted to see if I could take this cocktail and make it a punch.

And so, I mixed equal parts (0.5 oz) Mezcal, Strega, Aperol, and lemon juice—because it’s what I had at hand—, mixed in a glass with ice, and topped it with 2 oz of sparkling water. It came out really good! It’s dangerously easily to drink. Imagine a less boozie, herbal, tangy Aperol spritz. I guess I’ll call this one the Naked Without Shame.

Soup du jour

My oldest son is doing his first reconciliation this year, and on Saturday, he and I went on a day retreat at our parish. It was nice to spend one-on-one time with him, going to Mass, praying together, and hanging out with other families.

I also had an opportunity to grow in humility. Our pastor asked me to lead the “O Salutaris Hostia,” a Eucharistic hymn composed by St. Thomas Aquinas, sung at the beginning of the Rite of Eucharistic Exposition and Benediction. Right before we had to start singing, I forgot the melody, and what came out was a butchered version, far from the original. I felt the blood rushing to my face. However, I redeemed myself by singing—the right melody—of the Tantum Ergo and the closing hymn.

I thank God for the ability to laugh at myself. It’s a good reminder to not take myself too seriously. It’s wonderful to be a limited being that sometimes forgets things at the worst moment possible with equal parts shame and humor as the output.

Hors d’oeuvre

I haven’t read a lot of stuff on Substack. However, I finished reading the Gospel according to Matthew—with commentary—as part of my New Testament class at Kino Catechetical Institute. I have many thoughts on this but will save them for future pieces.

In lieu of links to other publications, I’ll share with you a video of my boys and I in the basket of a hot air balloon.

We went to the Arizona Balloon Classic and it was a joy to see the wonder and awe in my children’s faces. It was worth the drive to Goodyear, AZ. Who knows, maybe next year we’ll dare to fly in one of those things. Only time will tell.

Digestif

This week’s Spanish lesson is:

Cuchillito de palo.

Literal translation: Little wooden knife.

Meaning: This is what you call someone who repeatedly does something that annoys you. Someone who is stubborn and will wear people down with their request.

Example:

X: Can I have some ice cream?
Y: In a little bit.
X: How about now?
Y: Not yet.
X: Now?
Y: No.
X: Has it been a little bit?
Y: Ay, cuchillito de palo!