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And before we know it, it’s May. After this lockdown is over, which is planned to unfold in France on Monday, I realize I’m going to have to go back and rewrite all the posts I wrote during the last few months as in the future, people will read them and wonder what the heck I am talking about when I say “lockdown,” “confinement,” and “shelter in place.”

Or not. Unlike other blogs, I still keep the actual date on posts and recipes, since each is a snapshot in time, relating to a certain date, place, ingredient availability, or event. So maybe I should keep them as is, and let people know why I was telling people to make cookies with no eggs and only half a stick of butter? Or why they shouldn’t toss, but use, those precious radish greens to make soup. What do you think?

I’m also figuring out what to do with my IG Live videos I’ve been doing daily. It was nice to reach out to people during confinement and share a daily cocktail. And it was also a good replacement for my canceled or postponed book tour for Drinking French. But not sure how relevant they’ll be if I continue since people everywhere are heading back out and perhaps moving their lives less online, and back into the real world.

In the meantime, this spring-friendly sipper comes from The PDT Cocktail Book by Jim Meehan. Books, too, are also snapshots in time. After writing his award-winning book, Jim went on to other ventures and venues. He was kind enough to write a nice quote for the back cover or Drinking French and wrote an award-winning bartender’s manual. Phil Ward, who came up with this recipe at PDT in New York, also moved on, opening his own bar called Altar.

This vivid refresher gets its taste from two iconic French spirits, cognac and Chartreuse, which many of you have gotten to know better over the last few months. It’s a very easy cocktail to make and a good dose of fresh fruit juice does make me feel hopeful about spring. A mint leaf reminds us that things are in bloom again, too.

May Daisy cocktail

Adapted from The PDT Cocktail Book by Jim Meehan, recipe by Phil Ward To make simple syrup, heat 1/2 cup (100g) sugar with 1/2 cup (125ml) water, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Let cool and refrigerate until ready to use.
Servings 1 cocktail
  • 2 ounces cognac
  • 1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 3/4 ounce green Chartreuse
  • 1/2 ounce simple syrup
  • fresh mint leaf or sprig
  • Add the cognac, lemon juice, Chartreuse, and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker. Fill two-thirds with ice, cover, and shake vigorously until well-chilled, about 15 seconds.
  • Strain into a chilled wine glass. Garnish with a fresh mint leaf or sprig.

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37 comments

    • Clare

    Your radish greens soups is excellent and one feels agreeably smug serving it!

    • Laura Morland

    Dear David,

    Please *don’t* rewrite your blog posts — they are part of à record of an historic moment in time !

    Am going to make your amazing Bolognese sauce again tonight … I made it the second time the other day, but was unfortunately out of milk, and celery. My hubby agreed that it was still great, but not excellent, as the first time.

    BTW, I just received an email from your friends in Bourgogne that they just sold their 100th bottle of Marc… they owe some of that to you! Plan to open mine on May 11th, as I haven’t been in the mood to drink during the lockdown.

    ~ Laura, fellow Berkeleyite en confinement à Paris

      • Ina

      I agree, don’t change a thing.

        • Marla

        Yes, please, don’t rewrite. Your recipes and videos brought a lot of comfort and good humor during this bizarre time. Let it stand for history.

    • Laura Morland

    P.S. Just after writing the below, I found this in my inbox! Thrilled that my two favorite food bloggers like each other :

    https://smittenkitchen.com/2020/05/rhubarb-cordial/

    I’ve actually met Deborah in person (at Sur la Table in Berkeley), but have yet to meet you, despite the fact that we’re in the same city most of the time, and frequent some of the same places. (Although both Boulangerie Bazin and, more sadly, Le Blé Sucré are under new management since you wrote about them.)

    • Beth Wallace

    Hello David! I hope you’ll continue your Live posts. Much of the world is still in self isolation…. Where I live, in Canada, we aren’t seeing a rush to open things back up. I’ve come to scheduling my zoom mtgs around your posts :) keep em coming. Much gratitude

    • Marie

    Please don’t rewrite them! They’re excellent “snapshots” like you said

      • Anna

      People still buy copies of cookbooks from the depression and world war two rationing.

      Keep your posts as they are.

    • Ron Castaldo

    David, please do not rewrite your posts. Thet are an historical record that capture this moment in time. Moreover, they reflect the best of your humanity as you, Romain, and your engaging guests brought kindness, life and humor into our lives. We llooked forward every day at noon to feel a part of a real time, unscripted conversation. You have made a huge contribution to coping with an unimaginable situation. Merci mille fois.

    • deborah yerburgh

    I do hope you will continue your Apero time with us, many of us continue to be in lockdown and will be for many more weeks. You are so delightful, and Romain is a treasure!
    And please don’t rewrite your posts…we all must remember this time of coming together to stay at home to save our friends and families! Such a time of love and commitment must be remembered in a most positive and caring way.

    • Kathleen Moore

    Dear David,
    Your posts are perfect, and capture this moment in time. And. We don’t know what the next months will bring. Many of us will remain essentially isolated until there is (we hope) a vaccine.
    I would be so sorry if you were to discontinue your noontime (for us here on the east coast) IG Live. I schedule my meetings around it. Yesterday, though, I drove out to the countryside so I could go for a run. And I listened to you there, along the wooded paths, with the Spring’s golden green emerging.
    Nothing gold can stay (Robert Frost’s poem which I always hear in my head this time of year), but I hope your wonderful, funny, sweet, informative IG Live appearances will.

    • David
    David Lebovitz

    Thanks for chiming in. When blogging started, it was more like a diary (web-log) so when I look back at some of my old posts, some were pretty goofy, others had horribly bad photos : ) I wish I did things differently. But they were a certain place & time so I keep them. (Although I do update the photos when I remake the dish because some of the pics were laughably awful…)

    Many food blogs now are putting out “timeless” content but it’s hard not the read the room, and see what’s happening, and write about it. But maybe down the line when (hopefully!) this is well in our past, I may revise.

    • Stephanie

    I too thought about somehow memorializing our time in quarantine. I saw images on Instagram with people taking family photos with face masks. I think it was a great idea to try and capture the “esprit” during this time but then I would think well, what if we’re doing this every year? Every Spring?

    Can I just say that I really enjoyed your “Apero hour” Instagram Stories. You always managed to hit the right tone i.e. light but not too light. And the idea of making a drink at the end of the day just seemed appropriate. Not quite celebratory but something to mark the passing of another day. I also enjoyed watching you go out shopping with your attestation and showing us what you got. Even in confinement, Paris appeared charming, foreign, exotic yet strangely comforting. Thanks for sharing this time with us.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Thanks and that was sort of the idea of it; to mark this place in time, and an apéro seemed like a good way to do it consistently. Which is why I kept the theme the same but having guests to vary things up a little. Everything was shuffled around in our lives and it was nice to have something that was fun to share. I also didn’t want to ignore what was happening either, so included it in my videos and blog posts. My only regret it that when it’s 6pm here, it’s early elsewhere. But there are things one can change…but not the time! : )

    • Shira

    I don’t think I’d stop looking forward to your apéro hours after confinement. I hope you continue in some way, at least once a week. A Thursday evening? You could also change it up if you get bored and just talk or do an easy cooking demo.

    • Michèle

    Hi David! this is completely off-piste, but I’m just making your cherry jam with the first pickings from our tree here in the south of France. It looks good. And I’m using the cherry stoner you recommended a few years back that I bought before we left Kent, UK – another great cherry producing county.
    Thanks for all that.

    • Leu2500

    Don’t alter the posts. Keep them as is as a way to document history.

    • Hope

    I’ve been meaning to say how much I appreciate that you leave the dates on your posts. A blog is not a cookbook. The dates and the headnotes give a sense of continuity.
    And help me answer the question, “Is this that cake I made 10 years ago that I think was maybe David Lebovitz?”

    • Laura Loewen

    I agree about NOT changing the posts. People will (mostly) know that this pandemic happened. And is it such a bad thing, in ANY case, to be frugal and make do sometimes?
    Whether or not you continue with the IG lives, I’m so appreciative of them right now, and am slowly making my way through Drinking French, happily.

    • Jane Frost

    Hi David,
    I so look forward to your IG live everyday! I take my lunch break here in CT at noon, and make my lunch while you entertain me. Whenever you have a guest, I have begun to follow them on IG too. It’s fun to see how this world is connected through food and drinks! Look forward to you and your charming Romain on IG live even after we are no longer in confinement. Lucky me, received my signed Drinking French a few days ago!
    Cheers, Jane

    • Diana Ward

    David
    Could / would comment on the sweetness of the various aperitif recommendations in Drinking French ?
    Such as Suze , Cap Corse Blanc , Bonal , Byrrh , Lillet ( too sweet for me ) … I have enjoyed Cap Corse Blanc as it is more interesting than Lillet …

    • Claire

    I have so appreciated your IG live sessions; please don’t change the posts in any way. They have given us a little taste of Paris and France at a time when those of us in North America have to put any travel plans to Europe on hold for however long. You are a great storyteller which is why I tune in because I don’t actually drink alcohol:) I hope you will continue with them at whatever frequency works for you. Many thanks for sharing yourself, Romain and others during this difficult time.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Yes, I think it’s a good opportunity to bridge the gap between cultures and other countries with something we all have in common: food and drink. Instagram has also become a very good platform to connect with a lot of people immediately, and in real time. Appreciate your tuning in! : )

    • Tatiana Granoff

    David, I agree with all those who say leave your blog posts as is. My daughter is a librarian in the archives at the University of Nevada; she is now tasked with archiving every scrap you can imagine that reflects the university’s response to the pandemic. Someone, someday will be pleased
    to find your blog— and not just for your wonderful recipes, but for the view your posts give into this strange time.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I tend to agree. I know with blogs, a few people deleted their after they moved on, or found success in another area. That’s their prerogative and it’s true (as I mention that I’ve done myself…) that I go back and look at stuff I wrote 18 years ago and want to change it. But I mostly keep in intact. I do look at books as more permanent, but those too, reflect the times (and you’re can’t really go back and change those.) Thanks for chiming in!

    • Kathleen Taggart

    David, Who on this planet is not going to understand the words “confinement” or “lockdown?” This is truly a universal experience. As for your IG live sessions, I have not watched all, but those I have, I have enjoyed. Your tone is warm, inviting, and friendly and you are very informative. I suspect when you get back to your normal routine, you might not have time to do every night, but I sincerely hope you keep them going, at least occasionally.

    • KARIN

    You are such a special person who is funny , knowledgeable and at ease with us all. Don’t change anything and we are looking forward what you will come up in the future. There are endless possibilities.

    • susan wallace

    Please leave you’re posts as they are. Before this pandemic I was trying to remember if my grandparents who were all newlyweds and/or veterans of WW1 talking about the Influenza epidemic and can’t remember them ever mentioning it. I’m so sorry I never heard about their experiences. Yours will be enjoyed and pondered as the years go by. Thanks for your lovely sweet sharing.

    • Melissa

    Hi David, would you be able to pin the recipe on IG Live rather than spending so much time on your post? Thank you for giving me something to look forward to during these long lockdown days!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      hi Melissa, I have pinned recipes when I have guests, which I try to do when they are talking, although then I miss what they are saying. (I can’t type and listen at the same time…) So it’s a little awkward to do while I’m listening, or when it’s just me talking to folks. Maybe if there was a way to pin something before I go live, that would be the best solution!

    • Andrew

    In your own words, “you’re going to make me cry.” Whether you update your content is neither here nor there. What matters is that you were here for us. Your live apero hour has been a daily therapy session for many of us. When people mention quarantine years from now, I’ll pull out my copy of Drinking French and say “this is what got me through lockdown, David (and Romain) helped me through it.” I don’t think I’ll ever look at a bottle of Chartreuse or Suze or Dolin or Citadel the same again.

    • Peggy Linke

    I agree … don’t take out references to the pandemic, etc. It’s really part of our life now and part of history. I don’t think anyone will forget all this!

    • Anna

    People still buy copies of cookbooks from the depression and world war two rationing.

    Keep your posts as they are.

    • Paula

    Greetings from Oklahoma City! I agree with many others: leave the posts as they are, and I hope you continue the IG videos. I catch most of them live, but look for them on your FB feed if not. Thoroughly enjoy you and all your posts!

    • Jade DaRu

    David, I just made this…damn this is good. Now…I didn’t have the mint but I had some cilantro and went with it. Also delicious! Thank you!

    • OSCAR HANTZ

    I took your book my Paris kitchen from my daughter and is superb. Love your notes. Since what is left from my family lives in Paris, i follow your comments very closely. Thanks

    • Yw

    I love chartreuse and David’s cocktails with chartreuse! Oddly reminds me of the Greek ouzo a bit …I tried the cocktail and it’s a bit sour but I added more simple syrup :) very refreshing for the summer

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