Hello Friends,

Yesterday, I interviewed Nancy Silverton for the Library Foundation of Los Angeles at the Jonathan Club. I started the conversation by acknowledging what the LA Libraries meant to me as a child. I was one of those kids who would walk home from my local branch with the maximum number of books allowed for the week. The idea of running out of words that took me to new and different places was unimaginable. Maybe it was because my world was a bit difficult, but for whatever reason my natural childlike curiosity was constantly stoked and fed.

All this is to say there is a direct line from that bookish child to the host of Good Food. I was made for this work which has reading and research as its base, and it continues to feed and teach me about the world that is different than my own. I have you to thank for that. I consider all of you a part of my community, but those of you who choose to support as members are especially dear.

As I mention in the last box below, listeners who donate meals to our local food banks have given over 2.5 million meals. One of the reasons we can support so many in this way is that during our pledge drives, we double the meals. So if that speaks to you, please join. And instead of taking a gift, choose meals.

BUT, if you've done that in the past and are looking for another gift for that special person in your life, consider donating a minimum of $32 a month and take the "GOGO." Get one subscription for yourself and another to give away. The gift I'm zeroing in on for you is the legendary NYT Cooking subscription. It is an enormous recipe archive that I lean on every week. Even if I don't make the recipe I look up, I use it as a benchmark for others I'm considering. I do this often for my pieces with Madeleine Brand on Press Play and with the weekly recipes I share with you in this newsletter. Plus, you really can't beat the community notes on NYT Cooking. They're a combination of useful variations, hacks, and hilarity.

Whatever reason you choose for supporting us, thank you. Truly.

Grateful Evan

Make this fermented version of egg nog for your New Year's celebration. It's rich and delightfully alcoholic with bourbon, brandy, sherry, and rum. You may wonder how an egg-based recipe lasts for a year, but that's the magic of fermentation (and alcohol). Cheers!

Nicola Nice's book was such a surprise for me. When you think about cocktails in history, who do you imagine making and serving them, and where? It's inevitably a man in a bar, right? This, despite the fact that the majority of our cocktail consumption takes place at home. Dr. Nicola Nice wants to introduce us to the hostesses who shaped cocktail history. Her book, The Cocktail Parlor: How Women Brought the Cocktail Home, takes a look at how women shaped cocktail culture. Listen to the segment with her Manhattan in your hand.

In her book, Liqueur: A Global History,  Lesley Jacobs Solmonson explains how liqueurs went from the hands of the apothecary to those of the mixologist. She opens the book with a quote from author Polycarpe Poncelet, who wrote, "I look on a well prepared liqueur as a species of musical air." What a sentence!!! Lesley shares a recipe for the cocktail Silk Sheets made with the little known red colored liqueur Alchermes.

If you're looking to avoid alcohol or just wish to moderate your use, turning to a well-made shrub is a good option. Shrubs are made by macerating fruit with vinegar and sugar and then adding a bit of water. You can drink them as is or use them in cocktails. Balo Orozco is the alchemist behind Sunset Cultures. His shrubs and kombuchas are delicious. In fact, I need to acquire more now. One of my favorites is his Strawberry Fennel Flower kombucha. Find Balo at the Hollywood Farmers' Market or his products online. I can't wait to taste what he does with the passionfruit.

I know it can be easy to tune out when we come to you on air for support during our pledge drives. But we wouldn't do it if you weren't actually, really the way we manage to accomplish all that is KCRW. Listeners like yourself have allowed us to send money for 2.5 million meals to our local food banks. It's a meaningful circle. If you're able, please join it.