My Take on B & B

There was a time when I fortified myself with a classic cold weather beverage, a B&B (for those uninitiated, that would be Benedictine & Brandy)...herbal, warming, alcoholic, what's not to like? Well, actually, if you have decided to imbibe one or two of these on an empty stomach, there's plenty not to like! Sweet, sticky, & headache-inducing are three adjectives that come to mind. Perhaps I over-indulged. My new version of this would be Blood Orange & Bourbon in a delicious marmalade. It's pretty, it makes amazing toast, it works perfectly with cheeses, & you can make lovely jam tarts out of it. My old cocktail couldn't do any of that. Before anyone gets agitated & writes that 'blood oranges are not local', I know. Neither are Meyer lemons, or clementines or Seville oranges or grapefruit. It's Winter in the Northwest & citrus is a good thing, regardless of local or not! It wards off scurvy, it probably wards off depression, it smells good, you can eat the rind in marmalades...it's what's happening in the kitchen of Pink Slip Jam! And, if you are of the mind to want a cocktail at breakfast but it wouldn't be too seemly, then have some B & B on your morning English muffin. It will make you happy.