Tom and Jerry for Christmas

"But anybody will tell you that there is nothing that brings out the true holiday spirit like hot Tom and Jerry, and I hear that since Tom and Jerry goes out of style in the United States, the holiday is never quite the same."

While digging in to the short story collection, Murder For Christmas, I started Damon Runyon's "Dancing Dan's Christmas", a Christmas tale in typical Runyonesque fashion. I was delighted to find the above reference to the drink called Tom and Jerry. As a matter of fact, the entire story is built around the drink.

So, what's so special about that? The drink was once so popular, cartoon characters were named after it, yet today the recipe can hardly be found in even the most complete cocktail books. Why did the drink fall out of style? I have no idea, because it's delicious. I do, however, have an interesting history of the creator of the drink and how I know about it.

The concoctor of the Tom and Jerry - at least as far as we know - was one Jeremiah Clemens from Alabama. Senator and brigadier general during the mid 1800s, he opposed the South's attempt to leave the Union and, due to this unpopular opinion, was forced to move away during the War Between The States. He did return home to Huntsville, AL after the war and was buried there in Maple Hill cemetery.

Followers of my Twitter account will remember that Alabama is my home state and Huntsville is my current city of residence. Maple Hill is a fascinating and beautiful historic cemetery and one which I am very familiar with, and I have seen Clemens' headstone many a time.

Mausoleum at Maple Hill Cemetery

We Huntsvillians are up to our asses in Civil War history, and Clemens' presence would hardly make a ripple except for one thing, Jeremiah Clemens had a famous cousin, one Samuel Clemens. That's right...Mark Twain's cousin invented the Tom and Jerry. He is noted in local history books as the creator of the drink and that's where I first learned about the Tom and Jerry as a kid. Before I even learned about the Tom Collins, I knew how to make a Tom and Jerry.

By the time Runyon was writing his gangster fiction, the drink had already fallen from popularity - probably due to prohibition. 

"This hot Tom and Jerry is an old time drink that is once used by one and all in this country to celebrate Christmas with, and in fact it is once so popular that many people think Christmas is invented only to furnish an excuse for hot Tom and Jerry, although of course this is by no means true."

Since this is apparently a drink that no man can get by without during the holiday season, I discovered I must make one again. As part of my Responsible Debauchery, I am now vegan, so this recipe is the result of some experimentation to replace the egg in the drink. Single serving.

Tom and Jerry

• 1 1/2 tsp egg-replacer
• pinch of cream of tarter
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbl superfine sugar or powdered sugar
• 2 oz plus 1 tsp rye whiskey
• 6 to 8 oz canned coconut milk
• 1/2 oz brandy
• sprinkling of nutmeg

Note: The original recipe calls for light rum instead of whiskey, which you can easily use. This recipe echos later incarnations, such as those in Runyon's Christmas story with the rye. Mmmm, boozy.

    Warm the canned coconut milk in a small saucepan over the stove. For a vintage feel, sit your mug near it on the stove to warm the cup, too. While these are warming, put the egg-replacer in a small bowl and mix in 2 tablespoons water. The egg in this recipe is really for froth so you need a whisk and to beat the hell out of this stuff. I was born a poor person so I know how to beat an egg by hand. These days, however, most people do not so there's no shame in using an electric mixer. (Well, actually there is, but it's the season of giving, so I'll let you use electrics this time.)  

  Continue to beat and mix in baking soda, sugar, and a pinch of cream of tarter to help froth. Also beat in the teaspoon of rye to keep batter consistency. By now the milk should be warm. Be sure to beat the hell out of that, too. We want to see lots of froth and bubbles.

   Pour the egg mixture into your mug. Pour in 1/4 cup of the milk. Add the rest of the booze. Fill the mug with the rest of the milk and stir a little. Sprinkle nutmeg on top. Drink with a flourish.

This is a very strong drink and one can easily imagine getting drunk on the stuff and stealing a Santa suit with gangsters in a scene that must have inspired Bad Santa...at least that's what happens in "Dancing Dan's Christmas".

I will be revisiting the recipe for Christmas, making a punch bowl full for the family (ok, mostly me), and experimenting using chickpea water. As disgusting as that sounds, it can actually be used in a recipe as a good egg-replacer when it comes to froth. Vegans have dubbed the concoction "aquafaba", since calling desserts Chickpea Macarons sent people running to the hills. 

Book Review - North Alabama Beer: An Intoxicating History

Me covering the book title (facepalm) with Sarah Bélanger, Kamara Bowling Davis

North Alabama Beer is a tour through the history of beer in an unexpected place: North Alabama. The book is obviously a great read for anyone living in the area, but I venture to think it will be of interest to a wider audience of beer lovers, especially anyone thinking of taking a trip to the area and touring all the breweries we have to offer. The changes Alabama has gone through, especially in the last decade are fascinating to read about and the authors have obviously gone through extensive research and held many interviews.

The first half of the book runs through the history of beer and alcohol in Alabama, from the earliest days before Alabama was a state, through prohibition (which was a lot longer here), and out through the battles Free the Hops waged to enable the sale of local craft beer - ending up with the flourishing craft beer business North Alabama has today. The second half is devoted to stories of how the individual breweries came to be. I felt a little confused because it suddenly changes format from chronological to geographical at this point. While I hope they make this transition a little easier in future editions, it's the only complaint I managed to have about the book, so it's hardly worth quibbling over.

I'm a fan of local Huntsville history, but these ladies managed to dredge up some facts about North Alabama I had never heard before. Perhaps because of the local stigma of any history that might include references to alcohol, perhaps because Bélanger & Davis are excellent researchers, as their extensive bibliography shows. Regardless, the history of beer is the history of mankind - in North Alabama as well as Egypt. Laws and dynasties alike rise and fall in relation to our relationship with booze. This very local book has a grand scope.
This is the first published book for authors Sarah Bélanger and Kamara Bowling Davis, though I doubt you'll be able to tell. They are dropping into the local book scene like:

I bought the book from them in person and my copy is personally signed. We talked about cats and how more women need to be involved in the Huntsville beer scene. Although their main promotional touring is slowing down, they can still be found around town at events selling their book. Check them out on Facebook and Instagram to see where they are going to be next. Go and strike up a cheery beery conversation!

My signed copy

And of course, buy the book! You can purchase it from them directly or find a paper or digital copy on Amazon.

The Dionysian Ghost of Christmas Present

Vintage illustration by John Leech

Everyone is at least a little familiar with A Christmas Carol. 
Long ago, Charles Dickens wrote a ghost story for Christmas, because that used to be what you did on Christmas: tell ghost stories. And with the popularity of the book he assured the popularity of that the then dying holiday of Christmas for years to come, perhaps for the forseeable future of mankind. The book would be adapted for the stage and for the screen in many new and wondrous ways. 

But what of the ghosts themselves? Past, Present, and Future all archetypes in their own right, and of course, I'm focusing on the archetype of Christmas Present, who bares a jolly resemblance to the God of Joy, Dionysus. So,

"Come in! Come in! and know me better, man!"

From the moment we first meet the Ghost of Christmas Present, he is surrounded by greenery, ivy, wine, dead animals, and plenty - all a feasting setting familiar to the Bacchanal. 

It was [Scrooge's] own room. There was no doubt about that. But it had undergone a surprising transformation. The walls and ceiling were so hung with living green, that it looked a perfect grove; from every part of which, bright gleaming berries glistened. The crisp leaves of holly, mistletoe, and ivy reflected back the light...

References to a "grove" and "ivy" should not be lost on the Bacchante. The God Dionysus (or the Roman name, Bacchus) is the god of wine, but he is closely associated with Pan and other forest gods. Revelry is the teaching of Dionysus.

Je Jeune Bacchus by Caravaggio

Though the Spirit's eyes were clear and kind, [Scrooge] did not like to meet them.

Dionysus is often described as having a youthful, kindly face. As one of the last Greek gods to be added to the pantheon, he is much kinder and softer than the old gods who were often selfish and unreasonable in their myths. And though the Spirit of Christmas Present is often pictured in movies as being rather portly, there is nothing in the original text to lead us to this, except that he is referred to as being a giant. He is also never described as having a beard. So, in this respect the Spirit is often balrogged.

It was clothed in one simple green robe, or mantle, bordered with white fur. This garment hung so loosely on the figure, that its capacious breast was bare, as if disdaining to be warded or concealed by any artifice. Its feet, observable beneath the ample folds of the garment, were also bare; and on its head it wore no other covering than a holly wreath, set here and there with shining icicles. Its dark brown curls were long and free; free as its genial face, its sparkling eye, its open hand, its cheery voice, its unconstrained demeanour, and its joyful air.

This description might as well be of Dionysus himself, with the chest refusing to be covered and his very being radiating freedom and joy. The wreath is holly, with a short jump to the ivy and grapevines traditionally pictured around Bacchus's head. Interestingly, Dionysus and his teacher, Silenus (who was a portly man), are often confused in art as well.

Bacchus by Joachim Wtewael

The Spirit takes Scrooge on a journey through the present, opening his eyes to what is happening around him every day. He brings Scrooge to the sea at one point and we see sailors celebrating Christmas, reminding one of the fact that Dionysus always traveled by boat, and one of his more famous stories involves sailors. While they pass amongst the people, invisible, the Spirit sprinkles water on meals as a blessing from a horn of plenty. 

Dionysus brings blessing to the people in the form of wine. Through wine he brings joy...but there's also a catch to this. Too much wine also brings a kind of madness and in this madness, truth is thrust upon us. All the nasty things we hide from people are brought out when we drink. Dionysus does not bring the negativity, we do. The Spirit of Christmas Present echoes this later on in his chapter in one of the most important connections between Dionysus and the Spirit. 

The Spirit brings Ebeneezer to the home of the Cratchit's where he realizes for the first time how hard his often abused employee has it and he questions whether Tiny Tim will live.

"If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, none other of my race," returned the Ghost, "will find him here. What then? If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population?"
  Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief.

Although the Spirit bitches out Scrooge something awful after this, he uses his own words against him. He doesn't bring the nasty, Scrooge does.

Dionysus is usually regarded as a kind god, however the madness he brings can sometimes have disastrous consequences. "The Bacchae" is the story of Pentheus, the king of Thebes, and is a gruesome one, ending with the non-believer's head being torn from his body by his own mother, under the thrall of the Bacchanalia. Unlike Scrooge, he refused to learn the lesson.

The last time we see the Spirit he is shouting words of warning about man's creations to Ebeneezer and for the last time, the Ghost uses his own words against him.

"They are Man's," said the Spirit, looking down upon them. "And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!" cried the Spirit, stretching out his hand towards the city. "Slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. And abide the end!"
   "Have they no refuge or resource?" cried Scrooge.
   "Are there no prisons?" said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. "Are there no workhouses?"

In this may be the true meaning of Christmas and the true meaning of "The Bacchae". If we do not practice kindness and take it upon ourselves to help, grow, and sow seeds, doom will follow.

But we don't need to end on a downer, because the message of Dionysus and the Spirit of Christmas Present is also to remember to relax, enjoy yourself, and have a beer...or a glass of wine...or a smoking bowl of bishop. And don't take things too seriously. Enjoy life while it's here.