Atfore

The atrium in the dowhaus has gone through several versions. It had a tree in it at one time. Debate still rages as to whether or not it was actually necessary to remove it or even regarding who said it should be removed. In any case, after the arborcide, the atrium evolved into a nearly zen-like space, as shown above and below.

See the ball in the second image? That was a neato fountain that Leslie designed herself and implemented by exploiting one of our free labor sources (aka Thelen). It was leaking water, though, and had been turned off for some time.

I got in from Taiwan last weekend, and figured nothing’s better for jet lag than sunshine, so I set about trying to tweak Leslie’s design to make this thing work. A few weeks ago, one of the other free labor sources (Walker) and I had cleaned the leaves out of the space, and I’ve been kind of focused on getting the zen back into the space.

Leslie’s second revision of the design is where I started. This one involved an in-ground garden fountain inset with pavers stacked in it to support the ball at ground level, then screens around the rest of the pool to hold up the rocks around the base. There was some speculation that the pavers and the weight of the ball were causing the leak. There is a pump at the bottom of the pool with a piece of plastic tubing connecting it to a hole in the bottom of the ball. The pump brings water into the reservoir just fast enough for it to spill over the sides.

I pulled off the ball, screen, and covering rocks, then removed the pavers. I put two three-foot angle irons across the pool, and set the ball on top of them. The pump went back in under the ball, and I replaced the screens around the ball that hold up the rocks that cover the pool. I turned it on and so far, so good. Even if the pool liner is broken, at least it’s now a lot less labor (no pavers stacked in the pool to remove) to replace it.

Here is a movie of the fountain in action:

Groovy, eh?

My husband, Chris, makes the perfect Martini. He does. Everyone agrees. Or at least everyone who has had a perfect Martini agrees. He has made them in our Airstream, in our bar at home, on Safari in South Africa (BTW that was not roughing it by any means) and on a rocky Sierra Nevada 4WD trail from the back of our Land Rover.

They are perfect. Go down like glacial snow melt. Cold, smooth perfect. mmmmmm.

Introduction

Mr. Lucky is wonderful. If you read his site, you’ll quickly move from hayseed to refined, urbane preparer and partaker of delightful libations. Having said that, there is one area where Mr. Lucky is just plain wrong. That area is the Martini. Mr. Lucky says there’s a fine drink made with Vodka that is not a Martini. I submit that the Perfect Martini would change his mind.

To call this my martini is unfair to Alessandro Palazzi of the Dukes Bar in London. If you consider yourself to be a connoisseur of the martini (and I mean the American martini–not that awful drink they have in Europe) and are ever in London, you simply must go to the Dukes and try it. At current exchange rates, it probably costs $50/glass, but it’s worth at least that.

My contribution to this little corner of mixology is better instructions on how to make it, and in a subsequent series of articles, how to get something very close to this drink anytime, anywhere, with improvised ingredients and tools.

Recipe for the Perfect Martini at Home

The key to a good recipe is good ingredients. Allessandro’s follows. Also note that successful outcomes are the result of careful planning and preparation. The Perfect Martini is no exception. The most certain way to make this martini is to use these ingredients stored in this way:

• Potocki Wodka stored in the freezer at -20 ºC (-4 ºF)
• Extra dry vermouth stored in the refrigerator
• Thick-skinned lemon
• Cocktail glasses–also stored in the freezer
• A potato peeler

When cocktail hour arrives:

1. Place the lemon and a potato peeler in the preparation area.
2. Remove the vermouth from the refrigerator.
3. Remove the vodka and glasses from the freezer.
4. Place a very small amount of vermouth (I use three drops) into the bottom of the glasses.
5. Pour the vodka in over the vermouth.
6. Using the potato peeler, take a 2 cm x 5 cm (.75 in x 2 in) peel off the lemon. Do this over the glass of vodka & vermouth–as close to the top of the glass as possible, without risking knocking over this fabulous elixir-in-the-making.
7. Express the oil from the peel into the drink-in-progress. Do this by rolling the lemon peel over the glass using your thumb against your index, middle, and ring fingers. Do this two ways: Once down the length of the peel, and once across the width.
8. Fold the peel down its length. Place it at the lip of the glass, and wipe it around the rim.
9. Toss the peel into the now-completed Perfect Martini.

There are a couple of quality checks you can perform. First, if the vodka is cold enough, the vermouth will have frozen. You can tell this by looking for little shards of frozen vermouth floating in the vodka. Second, this drink should smell like a lemon orchard if you got lemons in their proper state, peeled thickly enough and properly expressed the oil from the peel. The last check is that the lemon peel should have frozen solid. The recipient of this divine concoction should be able to remove it from the dring and clink it on the side of the glass. No clink means it’s too warm.

This drink goes very well with a mix of lightly-colored nuts like cashews and macadamias. Almonds are OK, but I think pecans are less desirable.

Notes

Vermouth: At the Dukes, they use three squirts from an atomizer filled with vermouth. I use an olive oil bottle with a rubber stopper from IKEA. I crack the stopper and shake the bottle three times over each glass. You could use an eye dropper, but…

Tools & Preparation: The Perfect Martini is an elegant drink. Don’t serve it in jelly-jar glasses. Don’t prepare it with crappy tools unless external circumstances require improvisation. I use an Oxo peeler. People enjoy watching the preparation of this delight. Give them a good show and look like a pro.

What’s Wrong with this Recipe?

The only problem with this recipe if you are at home occurs if your home is not in one of the places Potocki is available. If you can’t get Potocki, you need to know what makes it great. It’s a very pure, Polish rye vodka. Another Polish rye vodka is Belvedere. In future articles, I’ll go over other vodkas that make fine martinis, but remember, Potocki is the Real Deal.