Dramas

Apartment 7A

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Image credit: Apartment 7A, 2024

Spooky season is upon us, which is probably great news for some, and terrible news for those of us who don’t enjoy feeling afraid. For one month a year, I am forced to go outside my comfort zone and try new (read: scarier) types of movies. Sometimes, as in the case of Rosemary’s Baby, it works out. I don’t watch this classic and lay awake thinking about how the Satanists are coming to kill me; I lay awake thinking about Rosemary’s cute dresses. When I heard there was a new prequel to this beloved film, I was intrigued. Would it be scarier than the original? Would it be as stylish? After watching Apartment 7A (Disc/Download), I’m happy to report all the elements I loved about the first one survived the dreaded Hollywood IP churn. This movie is good.

Shocking absolutely no one, a gorgeous psychological thriller directed by a woman and featuring beautiful sets and costumes got a straight-to-streaming release on Paramount+. Why? Because Hollywood execs still don’t understand what female viewers want. In Apartment 7A, Julia Garner plays injured Broadway dancer Terry Gionoffrio, and trust me when I say if you were impressed by the 1960s-era production design of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, you will be impressed by Apartment 7A. Lots of wild costumes, sets that evoke a Powell & Pressburger dream sequence, and even a rousing climax set to the music of The Ronettes. Hell, even Satan is bedazzled! Jim Sturgess fills in for John Cassavetes, playing a sleazy Broadway producer instead of a sleazy husband, and Dianne Wiest does her own spin on the role made so famous by Ruth Gordon. But really, it’s Garner who steals the show. She creates a unique character, totally separate from Rosemary, who seamlessly inserts herself into this world we already know so well. Yes, there are Tannis Root and Vodka Blush winks scattered throughout, but this story stands on its own. Where fractured ideas of motherhood and domesticity were the driving force behind the original, here it’s professional ambition. What would you give up to have the career that makes you feel most alive? Can women ever really “have it all”?

As mentioned, the Vodka Blush makes a resurgence here, and you can find the recipe for that in my original Rosemary’s Baby post. However, we also get a new cocktail introduced in Jim Sturgess’s fabulous mid-century modern apartment, the classic Old Fashioned. I’m making a syrup with fresh ginger root (not Tannis root) to give this one a little kick, because sadly, his Old Fashioned also has quite the kick. While watching Apartment 7A, I recommend drinking a Ginger Old Fashioned.

Ginger Old Fashioned

For syrup:

1 cup Sugar

½ cup Water

¼ cup peeled, chopped Ginger

To make the syrup, combine sugar, water, and ginger in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for approximately 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it steep for about 20 minutes. Strain out solids and let the syrup cool.

For cocktail:

2 oz Bourbon

¼ oz prepared Ginger Syrup

3 dashes Ginger Bitters

Orange peel

Pinch edible glitter

Dehydrated citrus ring

To make the cocktail, place a large ice cube or sphere in a rocks glass. In a separate mixing glass, add the ginger syrup, bourbon, ginger bitters, pinch of edible glitter, and fresh ice. Stir to combine and chill. Strain into the prepared rocks glass, and express the oil of an orange peel over the glass. Garnish with dehydrated citrus.

I suppose one good thing about Apartment 7A going straight to streaming is that I can immediately watch it at home with the perfect cocktail, and consequently share it with my readers. If you’re wondering why there’s glitter in my drink, it’s because this particular incarnation of Satan is so sparkly. A bold choice, but I love it! Stylish outfits, stylish apartments, and cocktail parties of the occult—this is the kind of horror I can get behind. Cheers!

Action/Adventure/Heist · Classic Films

The Flight of the Phoenix

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Image credit: The Flight of the Phoenix 1965

Completing my month of “Desert Movies” (a theme I never imagined I’d tackle, but stumbled into and embraced): a Jimmy Stewart classic that was new to me, The Flight of the Phoenix (Disc/Download). Featuring a terrific opening credits sequence that’s equal parts cheesy and thrilling, this movie’s tone is all over the place. But like that busted old plane, it comes together in the end.

Serving as a bridge between ensemble war dramas of the 1950s and the disaster flicks of the 1970s, The Flight of the Phoenix features a seemingly incongruous cast but takes itself seriously enough that you wouldn’t put it in the same category as say, The Towering Inferno. It’s Classic Hollywood (Jimmy Stewart, Ernest Borgnine, Richard Attenborough)-meets-New Hollywood (Peter Finch, Ian Bannen, etc.). It’s a pilot from an analog era crash-landing with an engineer from the emerging digital age. Through these contradictions, the film stays interesting and engaging, even when the scenery doesn’t change a whole lot. We’re there for the acting and the script, not the desert vistas and sunburns. Admittedly, things drag a bit in the middle as the crash survivors attempt to turn the scraps of their old plane into something flyable (before dying of dehydration or getting killed by Libyans), but the exciting climax makes the wait worthwhile. That, and the terrific Connie Francis song “Senza Fine” that’s so out of place, yet incredibly welcome.

Before the plane crashes, the passengers and crew are both getting a little wild with the booze. Ouzo is the drink of choice in the main cabin, while Dickie Attenborough is imbibing something else on the flight deck. I found a great recipe for a classic cocktail that uses Old Tom gin, which very well could have been in his bottle, and my garnish is a Medjool date because that’s all the food these poor men had. Just… dates. While watching The Flight of the Phoenix, I recommend drinking a Phoenix cocktail.

Phoenix

1 1/2 oz Old Tom Gin

1/8 oz Bénédictine

2-3 dashes Orange Bitters

Orange Twist

Medjool Date

Combine gin, Bénédictine, and bitters in a shaker filled with ice. Stir to combine and chill, then strain into a Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with a twist of orange, and a skewered date.

It’s thrilling to watch Jimmy Stewart in the cockpit, given his decorated career as a military pilot during WWII. You get the sense that he truly loved filming these scenes, and he looks totally at home even when flying a scabbed together piece of fuselage. Yes, Jimmy’s a great actor, but he’s even better when the real hero inside of him shines through. Cheers!

Dramas

The English Patient

LizLocke1 Comment
Image credit: The English Patient, 1996

It may have been a Seinfeld punchline, but after watching all traces of passion slowly fade from movies over the last twenty years, the BIG ROMANCE of The English Patient (Disc/Download) is no laughing matter to me. This is what I want from Hollywood. This is what I’m not getting from Hollywood. Bathtubs and candlelight, frescoes and caves. Enough drama to rival a soap opera.

Directed by Anthony Minghella, this lengthy WWII epic slots nicely into my favorite film genre: “Beautiful People in Beautiful Places”. Ralph Fiennes plays a brooding cartographer exploring the Saharan desert, who meets the great love of his life (Kristin Scott Thomas) while searching for an ancient cave. Unfortunately, she’s already married to Colin Firth, but it doesn’t stop them from starting a torrid affair. Things take a bad turn when war breaks out, and the desert suddenly becomes crowded with Nazis. Without spoiling too much, Fiennes ends up badly burned when his biplane is shot down over the desert, and he spends most of the movie bedridden, scarred, and recounting his tale to a kindhearted French-Canadian nurse (Juliette Binoche). The movie does a great job of balancing flashbacks and present-day, and while it’s too long for my liking at nearly three hours, the individual scenes never drag. These are actors are the top of their game, and Minghella showcases them in stunning light.

Although champagne is on the menu in many scenes, I prefer to mix up something that’s a little more refreshing for those sand-filled days and nights. I found a version of this cocktail in a delightful book gifted to me by Karie Bible of The Hollywood Kitchen (Hollywood Cocktails by Michael O’Mara Books), and it’s a fitting choice when you’re watching a wounded man get strapped to a camel. While watching The English Patient, I recommend drinking a Desert Healer.

Desert Healer

1 oz Dry Gin

1/2 oz Cherry Heering

2 oz Orange Juice

5 oz Ginger Beer

Orange wheel (garnish)

Combine first three ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a tumbler filled with fresh ice. Top with Ginger Beer, and garnish with an orange wheel.

Hollywood lost a tremendous talent when Anthony Minghella passed away in 2008, and I sometimes wonder what kinds of movies he’d be making today, had he lived longer. I assume they’d be wonderful character-driven stories about people in bygone eras, but maybe he’d have found a way to make our current world beautiful too. Like Ralph Fiennes’ character, I yearn for a time when someone’s ability to find passion in the world around them mattered more than their name. Or, how many tickets executives thought they could sell. Cheers!

Dramas

There Will Be Blood

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Image credit: There Will Be Blood, 2007

There are some movies, no matter how many times I try to watch them, and how many people encourage me to “give it another chance,” I will never enjoy watching. Apocalypse Now is one, Down With Love is another. Before this week, I would have put There Will Be Blood (Disc/Download) on that list. That’s how much I disliked it the first time around. Seventeen years later (eight of them spent watching a self-serving, spray-tanned false prophet rise to political power), and I’m ready to revise my opinion. Turns out, There Will Be Blood is a great movie.

I can’t even explain how much of a relief it is to feel this way. For years, I’ve had to qualify my adoration of Paul Thomas Anderson’s movies with, “They’re all perfect! Well… except for There Will Be Blood.” At long last, there is no caveat; I finally “get” this movie. Maybe I had to fall in love with Daniel Day-Lewis as Reynolds Woodcock: fussy couturier of The Phantom Thread before I could love him as Daniel Plainview: prospector, oilman, and all-around greedy sonofabitch. Whatever the reason, I simply can’t get enough of his performance. The voice, the movements, the intensity; I’m all in. I particularly love the moment when Daniel realizes his nemesis, small-town preacher Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), is just as much of an opportunist and performance artist as he is. In the span of a few seconds, you see his expression change from one of boredom, to skepticism, to recognition. There can be only one liar-in-chief on these oil fields, and it’s almost inevitable that the other one is drained dry before he even knows what happened.

Speaking of draining, most people are familiar with the famous line, “I drink your milkshake!!!”, spoken to illustrate the point that the land below an untapped oil field has already been drained. You could certainly mix up a boozy milkshake for this movie, but I prefer to make a drink that speaks to a rough, bloody life on the California oil fields at the turn of the 20th century. I use Liber & Co.’s Blood Orange Cordial in so many cocktails, and it’s perfectly on-theme here. While watching There Will Be Blood, I recommend drinking a Blood Sacrifice.

Blood Sacrifice

2 oz Bourbon

1 oz Lemon Juice

½ oz Blood Orange Cordial

¼ oz Apricot Liqueur

¼ oz Cinnamon Syrup

2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake to combine and chill, then strain into a glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with a dried citrus wheel.

My only lingering complaint with There Will Be Blood is the lack of female characters, especially because Anderson has an incredible skill for writing complex women into his films. However, in viewing this movie through the lens of the last eight years, it’s easy to understand why. Any woman in Daniel Plainview’s life would be a mere accessory. He’s not capable of thinking about women as actual human beings; he’d only turn some lucky lady into a show piece or pawn, allowing her no agency of her own. Frankly, I’d rather watch no woman than that woman. But to sum it up, if There Will Be Blood was low on your Paul Thomas Anderson list before today, I urge you to give it another chance. I’m certainly glad I did. Cheers!

Dramas

Thelma & Louise

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Image credit: Thelma & Louise, 1991

Put two women in a Thunderbird convertible, add a gun, a bottle of Wild Turkey, plus a young Brad Pitt, and you’ve officially got one hell of a road trip. Thelma & Louise (Disc/Download) is a flick that only gets better with age (and by that, I mean my age), and better still with a cocktail!

Starring Susan Sarandon as uptight waitress Louise, and Geena Davis as beaten-down housewife Thelma, Ridley Scott’s road trip classic begins by showing us two women in desperate need of a vacation. It’s kind of sad that their lifeline is a fishing trip in Arkansas, but the joy on their faces as Louise peels away in that vintage convertible shows that sometimes it doesn’t matter what the destination is; all that matters is the going. Unfortunately, things take a dangerous turn in a roadhouse parking lot, and suddenly Thelma and Louise are on the lam. Their list of felonies grows, as does the frizz on their windblown hair, and by the end, you don’t see how they’re going to get out of this. But somehow, they manage to keep going, and their joy and love for one another remains frozen in time. One perfect moment in a soaring Thunderbird convertible.

Speaking of Thunderbird, my cocktail is inspired both by Louise’s penchant for margaritas, as well as that extremely sexy car she drives. By swapping out the rum for tequila in a Jungle Bird, you can make a tasty, on-theme beverage. While watching Thelma & Louise, I recommend drinking a Thunderbird Margarita.

Thunderbird Margarita

1 ½ oz Reposado Tequila

1 oz Campari

1 ½ oz Pineapple Juice

½ oz Lime Juice

½ oz Simple Syrup

Lime wheel (garnish)

Combine tequila, Campari, pineapple juice, lime juice, and simple syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Thelma & Louise was Brad Pitt’s big break, and lordy what a Hollywood entrance he made. He is 100% movie star from the first moment he struts onscreen in a cowboy hat and tight jeans. By the end of the movie, I’m really glad Thelma has one night of bliss with this handsome grifter, if only so her awful husband could find out about it.  Revenge is the real happiness at the end of this long road. Cheers!

Action/Adventure/Heist · Classic Films

King Kong

LizLocke1 Comment
Image credit: King Kong, 1933

I’ve written before about my love of Kong, Godzilla, Indominus Rex, and pretty much any large prehistoric creature that roams the jungle and has a complicated relationship with humans. I’ve also written about my love of Tiki cocktails, so this week, I’m combining my two favorite things with the original 1933 King Kong (Disc/Download) and a banana-flavored tropical concoction.

For many years, my only relationship to the classic King Kong was knowing that Sandra Dee calls it a “wonderful old horror number” in A Summer Place, using it as a cover for why she has to stay out so late with her boyfriend. They have to watch it twice! Frankly, if the choice is between a double feature of Kong and Kong, or losing my virginity to Troy Donahue, I’d go with the ape every time. The movie is that good! For those familiar with the Peter Jackson 2005 remake, the original is extremely similar to that version, but isn’t bogged down by pacing problems. I’m sorry Mr. Jackson, but you don’t need three-and-a-half hours to show us how a giant ape was taken from his island and set loose in New York City. In 1933, they kept the character backstories tight, they kept the dinosaur fights to only the essentials, and they didn’t waste a lot of time once Kong hit Manhattan. Although stop motion animation is no match for our modern visual effects, it still blows my mind how ahead of its time this movie is. I feel the power of Kong’s strength, just like I feel his vulnerability, whether I can see every strand of hair on his head or not. That’s true movie magic.

One of my favorite cocktail trends of 2024 has been the resurgence of banana liqueur. I’m seeing it in so many things, from Spritzes to Old Fashioneds, making every drink it graces feel like a vacation. If you want to take a trip to Skull Island, try mixing up this Eighth Wonder of the World cocktail.

Eighth Wonder of the World

1 ½ oz Aged Gold Rum

¼ oz Kahlua Coffee Liqueur

¼ oz Banana Liqueur

½ oz Orgeat Syrup

1 ½ oz Pineapple Juice

¾ oz Lemon Juice

Dash Angostura Bitters

Pineapple garnish

Combine Rum, Kahlua, banana liqueur, orgeat, pineapple juice, lemon juice, and bitters in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a glass filled with fresh crushed ice. Garnish with a pineapple wedge.

If I had to pick a favorite iteration of King Kong, it is undoubtedly this original 1933 version. Not only does it feature the sensitive beast I know and love, but there are dinosaurs, an ocean crossing, a short runtime, and a feisty Pre-Code heroine. Fay Wray isn’t your average damsel in distress; she’s a survivor. It’s no wonder beauty killed the beast. Cheers!

Classic Films

Notorious

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Image credit: Notorious, 1946

As a rule, I hate August, but if I must suffer through it, at least I’ve got Hitchcock Week at the local revival cinema. This summer, I had the best intentions: I would skip the big movies I’ve seen a thousand times in favor of finally watching Notorious (Disc/Download), a movie I’d never seen. And then… it got hot. Very hot. So hot that leaving my house became an impossibility. I finally admitted defeat, popped in a Criterion disc, and fixed a drink. Even in a heat dome, Hitchcock Week marches on.

Starring Cary Grant as a government agent, and Ingrid Bergman as the honey trap he sets for an underground network of Nazis in South America, Notorious is a tense, sexy thriller set in Rio de Janeiro. Grant’s Agent Devlin recruits Bergman’s Alicia after her father is convicted of being a Nazi spy in Miami (Imagine! A Florida judge actually trying and sentencing a guilty man for treason! What a time to be alive!), and the two fall in love before she gets her assignment: seduce suspected Nazi Alex Sebastian (Claude Rains) to gain information about his acquaintances and plans. Devlin lets her go through with it, Alicia assumes the agent didn’t really love her after all, and she succeeds to the point of marrying Sebastian. However, Devlin is never far away, even when things become more and more dangerous for her. No spoilers, but a scene involving a wine cellar had me clutching my glass so hard I feared it would break.

Speaking of alcohol, there is a lot of it in this movie. You could certainly pop several bottles of champagne (be careful not to run out!), but I prefer to try a Brazilian classic. While watching Notorious, I recommend drinking a Rabo-de-Galo.

Rabo-de-Galo

1 ½ oz Cachaça

¾ oz Cynar

¾ oz Red Vermouth

Dash of grapefruit bitters

Orange twist (garnish)

Combine Cachaça, Cynar, Vermouth, and bitters in a shaker with ice. Stir to combine, then strain into a glass filled with large ice cubes. Garnish with a twist of orange.

Someday, I still hope to see Notorious on the big screen, preferably when it’s not over a hundred degrees and I don’t have a long walk over scorching sidewalks to the cinema. Watching at home with a cocktail is still fun, but be sure to put away all your devices and pay attention: you won’t want to miss a single look between these two glamorous spies. Cheers!

Action/Adventure/Heist

Jurassic World

LizLocke1 Comment
Image credit: Jurassic World, 2015

Lately, I’ve been thinking about reboots, and what makes them successful or disappointing. Planet of the Apes has managed to knock it out of the park decade after decade, while the recent Twisters left me yearning for literally any connection to my beloved Twister, beyond the basic existence of tornadoes in the Midwest (they couldn’t even throw in one flying cow or Tori Amos song???). It’s my opinion that Twisters struggles with the one thing this week’s Cinema Sips pick Jurassic World (Disc/Download) does so well: telling a new story on the bones of the old one.

If you know me at all, then you know I’m obsessed with the Jurassic movies. I even flew to Hawaii just to visit some of the filming locations of Jurassic Park and Jurassic World (well… also to drink Mai tai’s), and the giddy excitement I felt at seeing the claw marks in the Indominus Rex paddock was the same excitement I felt as a ten-year-old, watching a man in a port-a-potty get eaten alive by a T-Rex. Jurassic World doesn’t try to re-invent the wheel. It’s still a movie about a theme park where dinosaurs run amok, even with all the new safety precautions. There are a plethora of nods to the original, including the old logo, the old jeeps, the old night-vision goggles, and even the old T-Rex. It doesn’t have the entire original cast, but we get to see one familiar face in the form of BD Wong’s morally ambiguous scientist. Yet among all this old stuff, there’s still new family drama, new romance, and newly trained raptors. Nostalgia is powerful, but even more so when it interacts with the modern world.

One fantastic new addition to the cast is the late, great Jimmy Buffet, who runs screaming out of a Margaritaville when the pterodactyls get loose. Jimmy is of course double-fisting a couple frosty margs, which sounds like a great idea to me. Let’s kick it up a notch with some hatch peppers because this movie has a terrifically creepy title credits scene featuring a tiny dino hatching from its shell. While watching Jurassic World, I recommend drinking a Hatch Margarita.

Hatch Margarita

2 oz Hatch Chile-infused Reposado Tequila

1 oz Lime Juice

1 oz Orange Liqueur

Hatch pepper, lime slice (garnish)

To flavor the tequila, combine a cup of tequila with 1 TBSP chopped hatch chile peppers. Let sit for approximately 3-4 hours, then strain the peppers out. In a shaker with ice, shake together tequila, lime juice, and orange liqueur. Strain into a glass filled with fresh ice, and garnish with a sliver of hatch pepper and lime slice.

When it comes to reboots, I am one hundred percent in favor of winks to the past. It reminds me of what it was like to marvel at these dinosaurs that looked so real, and of how loudly I screamed in a suburban Ohio mall cinema when Laura Dern experienced that raptor jump scare. Jurassic World gives me that same childhood thrill while raising the stakes now that I’m an adult. Life, and movies, still find a way. Cheers!

Classic Films · Uncategorized

Mandalay

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Image credit: Mandalay, 1934

My recent discovery of the classic Pegu Club on a Mississippi library lounge menu brought me to this week’s film Mandalay, a stylish Pre-Code gem starring Kay Francis and directed by Michael Curtiz. Lucky for us, we don’t have to travel far to go on a cinematic journey with cocktails.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Pre-Code movies are the best. Mandalay exemplifies all the hallmarks of what I love most about these movies through Francis’s character Tanya. Left penniless by her deadbeat boyfriend at a brothel in Rangoon, Tanya is forced to work as a “hostess” to all sorts of nefarious characters. Eventually, she draws the attention of the local police, who politely suggest she board the next boat out of town and not come back. Her destination: the cool, green hills of Mandalay. But before she can get there, she meets and falls for an alcoholic doctor on the ship, who is on his own journey to a fever-ridden area just beyond the city. Unfortunately, Tanya’s ex is also on the ship, and she’s forced to do some less-than-legal things to extract herself from his web.

Circling back to the Pegu Club cocktail, this was the signature drink served at the Pegu Club in Rangoon to British officers and businessmen. I can absolutely imagine it being served at the gentleman’s club in this movie, and “Spot White” probably would have enjoyed a few in between clients and jam sessions on the piano. While watching Mandalay, I recommend drinking a classic Pegu Club cocktail.

Pegu Club

1 ½ oz Gin

¾ oz Orange Curaçao

½ oz Lime Juice

1 dash Angostura Bitters

1 dash Orange Bitters

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a chilled coupe glass.

Eventually, Tanya and the doctor decide to atone for their sins by going to the dangerous part of Mandalay together, and their fate is left up to the viewer to decide. My opinion? Hot Doc cures the fever, they live happily ever after, and Spot White wears a new Orry-Kelly gown every single day from then on. Also, giant hats. Cheers!

Children's · Comedies

The Ugly Dachshund

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Image credit: The Ugly Dachshund, 1966

Childless Cat Ladies, meet Childless Dog Lady. Defying cinematic norms of the 1960s, as well as conservative politicians of today, the Disney live-action classic The Ugly Dachshund (Disc/Download) bravely exposes the reality that not all families look alike, and motherhood comes in a lot of different forms. It’s a story that was just as contemporary then as it is now, and I’m thrilled to be watching it again with a cocktail!

Starring Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette as the happily married, child-free owners of purebred show dogs, The Ugly Dachshund has essentially become my blueprint for adulthood. Sure, the movie is a fun romp about an adopted Great Dane who grows up with a litter of tiny dachshunds, but from my viewpoint, it’s also about female agency. Pleshette’s Fran doesn’t need to have kids in order to create a home. She’s allowed to marry a handsome artist and spend her days pursuing her passions, taking photos of her dogs, and setting out drinks and snacks on handmade pottery. As someone who spends most of her days doing exactly this, I can confirm—it’s a wonderful life. I’ve never for one second felt that I’m missing out on something. Also, as a firm “adopt don’t shop” girl, I appreciate that while the movie talks about champion dogs and purebred lines, it also makes space for a pup in desperate need of a family. I think Brutus the Great Dane lucked out when he landed a spot with two loving parents and a bunch of mischievous dachshund sisters, and they lucked out when they got the sweetest, most protective big brother.

It wouldn’t be a classic Disney movie without scene-stealer Charles Ruggles, who you might also remember from The Parent Trap. This wonderful character actor had a huge career spanning from the silent era all the way up to the 1960s. The Ugly Dachshund was one of his last films, and I love that he goes out on a high note as kindhearted veterinarian Doc Pruitt. If you want to drink like Ruggles, then I suggest following his own recipe for an Old-Time Martini, which has just been reprinted in Jenny Hammerton’s 1933 Celebrity Cocktail Book, featuring a collection of recipes from a cocktail contest at the Del Mar Hotel. The book is available for purchase on Etsy, but as a special treat to Cinema Sips readers, I’m sharing the Charles Ruggles Old-Time Martini recipe here.

Old-Time Martini

1 dash Angostura Bitters

2 dashes Maraschino Liqueur

1 pony (1 oz) Old Tom Gin

1 wine glass (2 oz) Dry Vermouth

Two small lumps of ice

¼ lemon (wedge)

Shake and strain into a large cocktail glass into which has been placed one-fourth slice of lemon, and serve.

This book would be a great addition to any home bar, and I know I’ll be using it to mix up some drinks for my favorite classic films. In the case of The Ugly Dachshund, it’s pretty fabulous to sit down after a long day, make myself a strong cocktail, cuddle up with my dog, and watch a fun, lighthearted movie where females make the difference.  Cheers!