Alone Together: Liza Paul
May 7, 2020
Simple pleasures are the things I find myself really savouring these days. Beyond every day music, some days sunshine, and laughter at any moment, food and drinks are the things that are getting me through. I am so fortunate as to be able to indulge almost every culinary whim that strikes, so I will share some with you in the hopes that maybe some of them will bring you happiness, too.
These days I try to pretend that I’m at a cottage and that’s why I don’t go anywhere. I am seized by random urges to make perfect snacks at odd moments: melba toast with fluffy cream cheese, a perfectly portioned sliver of smoked salmon, fresh lemon and a sprig of dill has been a big winner—satisfying on so many levels. The creamy, the crunchy, the sour, the savoury. gotDAMN that snack does it for me. Side note: melba toast is the bomb. I forgot about melba toast! I LOVE MELBA TOAST!
Also: strawberries. chocolate dipped and rolled in chopped walnuts and eaten while the chocolate is still warm. Just warm, though—I made the mistake of biting into one while the chocolate was hot and the burn on my tongue haunted me for days.
Also: ackee and saltfish and a golden piece of toast with salted butter and avocado on the side. bonus: if you skip the toast, it’s ketogenic! hahahahaha what even is that. this is the apocalypse. no one cares.
And the cocktails! i don’t think i’ve ever been so dedicated to cocktails in my life. that’s a lie, actually. i’ve always been dedicated to cocktails. i just haven’t had so much time and opportunity to dedicate to the singular pursuit thereof and also been in the x-tendamix position of not needing to drive anywhere ever. if you are in the mood to make yourself something fancy and you happen to have the seven ingredients you’ll need on hand, the recipe for my current fave awaits you at the bottom of this essay. and if you are looking for recipes for any of my other favourite isolation food and drink, hit me up. i’ve got time to share.
bougie berry bevvie* (i just made that up. call it whatever you want)
one large sliced strawberry
juice of half a lemon
1.5 oz gin
.5 oz st. germain elderflower liqueur
splash of rose
soda water to top
ice
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the strawberry, add the lemon, the gin, the elderflower, the splash of rose and then some ice. Stir it. Taste it (do you like it? does it want more of anything? Add it! now is the time!). Strain it into a beautiful glass over ice (the type of beautiful glass you choose is entirely up to you—whatever lights you up), top with a splash of soda and get to sippin’.
*note: you’ll probably want to drink more than one (recommend!), but be aware that once you start drinking these, you might develop a hot foot and want to go somewhere. you can’t go anywhere. you’ll be drunk. you might get careless and practice unsafe covid hygiene. chill. listen to another song. keep your crease at home.
— Liza Paul
Liza is the Café/Bar Curator and Manager at The Theatre Centre
Alone Together is a series of shared stories by The Theatre Centre. Over the next several weeks, our team is going to offer you some of our own personal joys, those things that nudge us, the arms that extend to us in the dark, those things that catch our hearts off guard. And we’d love to hear from you in return… what’s blowing your heart open these days?