Back to the Backyard.

I have sad news, and also happy news. My gig at the Kitchn is ending...because I've started working for Apartment Therapy full-time, as their Assistant Editor. (You should check it out, because it is the greatest website of all time. Except maybe for this one.) This is especially good news for you, because it means that the Backyard Bartender will be getting a little more love.

While I'm dreaming up new cocktails to delight you, here are a few treats from the end of my tenure at the Kitchn. Such as:

The Hot Toddy Project, Parts One, Two, and Three: a whole week's worth of ways to drink hot booze. All delicious, of course. This may not be super seasonally appropriate anymore (it is 85 degrees here (although it is almost always 85 degrees here)), but you can file this one away for future use.

There's also the his and hers gin and tonics, a schmancy re-mixing of these earlier his n' hers variations from the backyard. Originally conceived as a Valentine's day post, but delicious pretty much any time, I promise. Gin knows no season.

You may think you've had a Hurricane if you sipped some koolaidy concoction at Pat O'Brien's, but you haven't had a real New Orleans hurricane until you've made it the original way, with just dark rum, lemon, and passion fruit syrup. Passion fruit syrup is a bitch to find, so try Amazon if you're thinking about making this recipe.

I fell in love with Dowton Abbey, just like everyone else, so then of course I had to make some Downton Abbey cocktails. There are champagne cocktails for Sybil, Edith, and Mary, but I think the Edith might be my favorite.

And finally...start yourself off with a new bar for the new year. (It is no longer the new year, but it was when I wrote this post.) My list of 12 bottles any home bar should have turned out to be very popular and very controversial. (Most people thought two bottles of tequila was overkill, to which I say, hey - I really like tequila.)

That's all for now. But look for new cocktails, coming very soon to the Backyard Bartender.