A Long Story About a Short Drink

Growing up in Massachusetts, one of the best go-to places for ice cream was Brigham's .
In New England, nothing says "hometown" like Brigham's.
 Wellesley, Newton, Arlington, Needham and many more towns were home to a Brigham's.
In fact, there was one right in the center of my town, making it easy to stop in for a mocha almond cone with jimmies or a black and white frappe.
(There was also Bailey's, but that's a whole 'nother post.)

Now if you are from New England, you'll have no problem understanding what I just said. If you are not from these parts, here's an explanation...

Jimmies are what you might call "sprinkles".  At Brigham's , the jimmies were not just sprinkled over the top of your cone. Oh no...the scoop of ice cream was dipped head first right into the bowl of jimmies, providing the most jimmies possible per square inch of ice cream. And they were FREE!

A frappe is what you might know as a milkshake. If you ask for a milkshake at an ice cream shop in Massachusetts, you will literally get milk that has been shaken, with syrup. If you want ice cream in your "milk shake", you need to order a frappe. A black and white frappe has vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup and milk. I believe the word comes from the French frappe, meaning "to strike, or beat". By the way, when requesting one, the "e" is silent.

Brigham's also had the best topping ever for a hot fudge sundae - salted pecans. Why oh why does no one offer these today?

And back in those days, Brigham's also had a candy counter. You could point at the chocolates you wanted and the server (wearing a blue paper Brigham's hat) would fill up a white cardboard box with them. Orange creams, wintergreen patties, coconut haystacks and my favorite - Belmont Twigs, which was like a cross between a Butterfinger and a Heath bar.  They might have been created at the Brigham's in Belmont, MA, which was one of the most popular and is still there today. If only I could get my hands (mouth) on a Belmont Twig now!

It might seem superfluous, but Brigham's also served food, including a classic grilled cheese on white bread. Yes, you could have a frappe to go along with your sandwich. But really, the best choice was a raspberry lime rickey. A squirt of raspberry syrup and soda water with a couple of limes squeezed into it. On a hot summer day, there is NOTHING more refreshing than a raspberry lime rickey.

So in honor of the long weekend and the start of the summer season (though not quite yet in Maine), I have created an adult version of Brigham's raspberry lime rickey. I hope it will keep you happy and refreshed all summer long.

Raspberry Lime Trickey

In an old-fashioned glass, muddle a few fresh raspberries. Add a few ice cubes.
Pour in 2 oz. raspberry flavored vodka and 1 oz. Rose's sweetened lime juice.
Fill to the top with lime flavored seltzer.

Enjoy. Grilled cheese sandwich optional.
Pass the Belmont Twigs.

The Way Life Should Be - not just a marketing slogan

Yesterday was Bob's birthday, a little north of 50. For once, I did not obsess for days about what to make. There's a recipe I cut out of the New York Times magazine years ago, and this was the perfect opportunity to finally try it. It's actually called "The Way Life Should Be" which, as most of you know, is code for Maine and all that it entails. So of course it contains lobster. Lucky for me, Day's is still open for the season. Yes, a pound of lobster meat is an enormous splurge. Yes, I could have cooked the lobsters myself, then shelled them. But I am lazy when it comes to things like that. I can rationalize just about anything, so here's how I figure it: this is Bob's birthday present and it's more delicious than a flannel shirt. Plus, we get to share it.

A pound of picked lobster meat with pasta will feed 4-6 people, including one who just got home from 2 hours of football practice. Making this dish with the prepared lobster meat was ridiculously easy. It goes like this:
In a large bowl, mix together the juice of 2 lemons, 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 cloves chopped garlic, some crushed red pepper, a big handful of chopped herbs (I used parsley, mint, basil). About an hour before serving, add the lobster meat and do not refrigerate. Cook, then drain a pound of pasta (linguine is good).
At this point, if you have non-seafood eaters in your family, remove enough pasta for them to have with sauce from a jar. Don't tell them what they're missing.
Pour the lobster mixture over the rest of the pasta and mix well. Some snipped chives make a nice garnish. That's it!
I served it with a Caesar salad, with homemade garlic croutons.
Elegant, simple and so easy - the way life should be.



For dessert we indulged in peanut butter sundaes, one of Bob's favorites. My sister-in-law, who is an excellent cook, had given us some homemade fudge sauce. I made a peanut butter sauce with Skippy, corn syrup (that's right corn syrup - you just can't make some things without it), a little butter and vanilla. We put both sauces on top of vanilla ice cream (light ice cream of course) and finished the creation with chopped Reese cups and whipped cream.

I can't recommend eating this way every night, but for a birthday, it's just the thing to make you feel like a kid again.