To lighten the mood after all this chômage rubbish, I had occasion to clear out my cellar. Child no 1 was out eating pizza with friends, child no 2 is in France, and the Burra Mem is out at a committee meeting, struggling with the Byzantine complexities of small town politics. The cellar here is in fact a utility sideboard that sits in the dining room and contains fortified wine and spirits. Wine is stored in a rack in the kitchen.
This is what I found:
Left to right: grappa, slivowitz, vodka (Pan Tadeusz, named after the Polish national epic, a present from some Polish friends), kirsch, cassis (by Breaky Bottom, good stuff), guignolet ( a black cherry substance similar to cassis), red vermouth, gin and my own home-made quince vodka, from a recipe from Jane Grigson's Fruit Book.
L to r: Pimms no 1, Noilly Prat, the Burra Mem's sherry, my sherry, poire william, genever, lemon vodka (brought back from the USSR when there was still a USSR), calavados and Drambuie
L to r: Madeira, Gammel Dansk (a Danish form of bitters), Marsala, Stones ginger wine and Crabbies, both these from my late mother's drinks cabinet, it being a favourite of hers) orange curaçao, two more bottles of cassis (why?) and Campari.
The drinks cupboard is window to the soul.