Time is fleeting and the days seem to be as filled with activities as Santa’s rolly-polly tummy is full of cookies late Christmas night. With every day, there are several more invitations lighting up your inbox with a promise of fun and connecting with old friends.
While so many people anxiously pounce upon Black Friday as the start of the present shopping season, I like to wait for the No Coast Craft Fair. This weekend is my unofficial kick off to all holiday festivities. Beginning Friday afternoon a crew of highly talented artisans will set up shops inside Midtown Global Market to sell their creative wares. The prices and items range from just a couple of dollars up to more expensive one-of-a-kind works of artistry. There are prints from prolific local artists to deck walls all year round and sturdy bike messenger bags that will carry your prized possessions for years to come. There are holiday cards like none other that will delight friends and family near and far. There is pottery, felted little creatures, the hippest baby gear this side of Williamsburg and more. Wear some comfortable shoes and head in hungry. This is Midtown Global Market after all and there are so many delicious dishes to choose from. (I like to bring friends and make everyone order from different stalls so we can share. Indifrites for everybody!)
After the bags are laden and the feet are swollen, the best cure for shopping fatigue is a stiff cocktail. When The Rabbit Hole first opened I drank my way through their cocktail list and fell fast and hard for one particular drink. I loved it enough that for my birthday last year (which, oh! Look! Is next week! More holiday shopping for me!) I ordered a whole batch of these for my crowd of friends as we piled into the restaurant.
Not Doing Jack in the Morning has a name more threatening than the flavor. Jack Daniels is mixed with Fernet Branca, Aperol, and Reagans. The Jack comes on all deep, dark and handsome with a shadow of danger from the Fernet. The bitterness of Aperol actually adds a touch of bright fruit to the party to balance the bad boys that’s accentuated with the orange bitterness of the Reagans. The resulting drink is so perfectly balanced between the dark and the light that I can hardly bring myself to order anything else when I visit The Rabbit Hole. It pairs beautiful with dark early evenings and a pile of kimchi fried rice.
