If You Can't Say Something Nice

Give cookbooks you don't like to someone who might appreciate them.

I wanted a Little Free Library for a long time. After one carpenter flaked (I even gave him paint!), the Sergeant built one for me. It’s been handy for this cookbook project — I don’t feel so bad about disqualifying a book and kicking it to the curb.

I started writing about a book that didn’t make the cut, and realized my negativity wouldn’t serve anyone. If a book has no redeeming features for me, better to just let it go and move on.

If I can find one thing in a book to enjoy, though, I can celebrate that. Thus:

It’s not a cookbook, and I’ve got cocktails covered already, but this will be a fun addition to someone else’s library. Someone who likes karaoke (there’s a whole section on that). I did glean this bit of bar trivia — an unusual liquor to try (or not):

Bunratty Potcheen

“This clear, powerful spirit has been around longer than whiskey and vodka and has as much alcohol in it as Bacardi 151°. But that's not the coolest thing about Potcheen (the names comes from the word "poitin" in Gaelic which means "little pot"). What makes it particularly badass is that it's both made and outlawed in Ireland. Since 1661, it's been condemned as moonshine and illegal to consume anywhere on the island. By an odd legal twist, it is legal to export the stuff, and it's just now making its way to the United States. Because of its high alcohol content, Potcheen is fun to drink, but watch out, because it tastes like something a bunch of excommunicated leprechauns would cook up in a rusty metal tub down by the river.”

Which jibes with this entertaining review, which calls Potcheen “some of the most foul stuff I’ve ever had.”

Think I’ll pass.