Friday Flashback: The Green Fairy

Mrs. TBF, Jo Mama, and I went out to dinner with Drs. Andy, Di, John, and Rammy last night. We went to a place called Balthazar (sorry, no website), and it was really good; good food, big wine list, and good service - a rare, Swiss, triple thumbs-up! The waitress even exhibited signs of a sense of humor by laughing when I ordered "...für meine liebe Schwiegermutter, ein bischen Essigsaft und ein alter Schuh!" (...for my dear mother-in-law, some vinegar juice and an old shoe!).It looks like they have a really nice outdoor seating area, so we'll have to go back for a little al fresco dining once the weather warms up a bit.

After dinner, we were all in the mood for a little more wine. The kids are all away at swim camp, so the parents had no curfew. We all took the tram back to our apartment and opened up a couple of bottles of wine.

Then, the "green fairy" made a rare appearance...

It was almost exactly one year ago when Andy and Di came over dinner. For some unknown reason, we decided to break out a bottle of absinthe that I had bought in Spain a few years back. We didn't really know how it should be served, so we decided to have it in a snifter with a couple of ice cubes...and the essence of Di's feet. It wasn't until much later, that I found out from Sal's blog that one is supposed to dilute absinthe with water at a ratio of about five to one. Oops!

Did we learn our lesson? Obviously not! Last night, we once again enjoyed the "green fairy" with a couple of ice cubes. Andy especially enjoyed pointing out the fact that absinthe is 70% alcohol...while he sipped away.

Suddenly, Andy stated that he'd had enough, and he walked into the kitchen to dump out the absinthe that remained in his snifter. A couple of minutes later, he and Di were heading home in a taxi.

I haven't heard from him today. I wonder how he's doing...