Malty Fruit Mocktail

The upside of back pain: the mocktail – discovering creative alternatives to wine. I don’t know how it happened, but my back’s messed up. Finally, on Mr. Hollywood’s expert urging, I went to the doctor. Wow, they’ve got good drugs. The doc put me on some kind of steriodal anti-inflammatory. I’m feeling so much better already that I actually drove without pain-panting and rolled over on the bed without yelping. Things are looking up!

But like most effective meds, this one advises against also drinking alcohol. So I’ve had to get creative about my wind-down bev of choice. I do love wine, the earthier-, stonier-, bone-dry-i-er the better. And I still love wine. But it’s been great fun discovering other mashups that deliver grown-up good taste. Here’s one I’m sipping as we speak. Bonus: it uses leftover sparkling wine, and a local-made vinegar that I can’t seem otherwise to love. This combo? I’ll have to restock ingredients soon. It’s that delicious.

The Malty Fruit Mocktail

If I were a self-respecting recipe shaper, I’d give absolute measurements. Truth is, this is totally a matter of taste. I went about even with the sparkling juice and sparkling water, then added some serious double splashes of malt vinegar to get the balance I was looking for. I started with just a drop of vinegar until I was virtually pouring it in. It transforms the drink.

1/2 C. (4 oz.) sparkling juice (I used an apple-pomegranate mix)

1/2 C. (4 oz.) sparkling water (I used lemon flavored)

1/4 C. (2 oz.) malt vinegar

Meanwhile, I’m devouring the award winning cookbook (and so much more) by “the Sioux Chef.” I alternate between reading the book and browsing how to identify such things as purslane and hopniss. I’ve already put in an order at Edible Landscaping for hopniss tubers. Can’t wait to plant!