tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post7528246246083533012..comments2024-03-25T22:59:30.053+00:00Comments on Desperate Reader: Classic German Baking with RumDesperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-76587463415732952812016-12-19T19:57:02.644+00:002016-12-19T19:57:02.644+00:00Thank you! It was a lovely birthday, not even marr...Thank you! It was a lovely birthday, not even marred by my mother's dog being so pleased to realise I'd spent the night and was still there in the morning, that she jumped up and accidentally head butted me, splitting my lip in the process! Desperate Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-11899492302635629032016-12-19T19:21:08.627+00:002016-12-19T19:21:08.627+00:00Well now, I have probably missed your birthday so ...Well now, I have probably missed your birthday so I can but hope that you had delicious celebrations.<br /><br />That was an interesting exchange between you and J Haggerty which I enjoyed greatly.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-62993269772690474812016-12-15T14:38:42.107+00:002016-12-15T14:38:42.107+00:00I agree. Public moralists always fall from grace. ...I agree. Public moralists always fall from grace. Straight into the tabloids.<br />Dean Martin said, 'I once shook hands with Pat Boone and the whole right side of my body sobered up.'<br />I spent several months in Catalonia, in the summer of 1970.<br />There were drinkers at every cafe table, in every town and village.<br />But I never saw a drunk. Not even at 3 a.m.<br />Enjoy a well-deserved glass or two at your birthday party.<br />J Haggerty<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-86106452787371159602016-12-13T18:38:14.912+00:002016-12-13T18:38:14.912+00:00Thank you for the birthday wishes. The questions y...Thank you for the birthday wishes. The questions you ask about Rum are one reason I find the world of alcohol interesting. In this case it's the way it raises all sorts of historical and sociological questions - a way of looking at history that's very human in the end. I try a lot of things (in a work context that means spitting) but I don't drink very much at all, and when I do it's always about quality rather than quantity. Alcohol is dangerous if underestimated or overindulged in, but in moderation can be a great pleasure. Moderation is key! Desperate Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-64393799305919281372016-12-13T02:17:19.594+00:002016-12-13T02:17:19.594+00:00Happy Birthday to Desperate Reader. I wish you man...Happy Birthday to Desperate Reader. I wish you many Happy Returns, and thanks for all the fascinating posts. <br />Even the Blog List on your page has taken me to other realms, those realms of gold.<br />As a latecomer to blogs and the internet, I have only just discovered Desperate Reader.<br />Rum rather frightens me as a subject. <br />I had no idea that rum rather than kirsch was a staple of German baking. <br />Would rum have come in from the Baltic ports to the Hanseatic cities? <br />Might rum have been an exotic drink during bitter German winters?<br />Perhaps the taste of molasses made them think of sunshine and the Caribbean.<br />I can almost see Martin Luther as an occasional rum drinker. He needed to lighten up.<br />How about Goethe? Or the Kaiser?<br />In A Moveable Feast, Hemingway writes of ruined 'rummies' in Paris. Why was rum so cheap then?<br />My elder brother lived in Los Angeles for over 20 years and is a heavy drinker.<br />On a trip home to Scotland he 'fixed' me a drink as they say over there.<br />It was dark rum with soda, a little ginger ale, a generous squeeze of fresh lime, ice and a lime twist.<br />'If I had drunk this as a young man,' I said, 'I would have been as big an alcy as you are.'<br />A lethal drink.<br />We were watching a video of Room At The Top that night, a favourite movie of mine.<br />For several years after I would follow Simone Signouret and Laurence Harvey with a large rum and lime.<br />Happily I broke that lethal habit.<br />The great thing about reading is it can only be done sober.<br />J Haggerty<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com