Friday Night Special

"I'll have a glass of whiskey, please."

"Whiskey?"

"Yes. Do you have Jameson's?"

"No! We don't have that kind here."

"What kind do you have?"

"Crown Royal."

"Oh. Okay. I'll take that."

"You want Crown Royal?"

"Yes."

"In a glass?"

"Yes."

"Do you want anything in the glass besides the whiskey?"

"No. You'll ruin it...but I would like to have a glass of lemonade on the side, please."

"Uhh...okaaaay....so you want a glass of whiskey, neat, and a glass of lemonade?"

"Yes."

Jeez. You would've thought I wanted poodles playing the merengue.

He brought my glass of whiskey. In a stemless wineglass. A pint glass full of iced lemonade. I wasn't going to quibble, but for fuck's sake. A stemless wineglass? Really? For whiskey?

I sighed, thanked the waiter and took a long swallow from my fruity stemless wineglass. Canadian whiskey. Blended. Eh, well. The familiar burn down my throat cleared away the last of the hoarseness. When the fiery liquid hit my stomach, I felt warmer already. I set my glass down and glanced up. The folks around me, including the waiter, had been watching me in disbelief.

Apparently, they didn't believe that a woman could drink whiskey. I gave my best Jim Belushi shrug and waited for the conversation around me to begin again before I took another sip.

I finished it and ordered another, but with a side of freshly chopped basil. The restaurant owners, friends of ours, came over and wanted to see what I was making...blending Crown Royal, lemonade and basil...and they were intrigued, so I gave them the real recipe:

Crown Royal, simple syrup made from raw sugar (turbinado), the freshly squeezed lemon juice and freshly chopped basil make for an incredible whiskey sour.

"That'll be next week's drink special," the wife crowed. "What do you call it?"

"A Friday Night Special," I answered with a wink as I took a big sip from my pint glass.