I know, it seems like you shouldn’t need a how-to for drinking on an airplane. Still: this article is amusing and semi-educational for those of us often stuck in the middle seat because we booked a last minute flight and then we got on the plane and realize we forgot any reading material or headphones….not that that’s ever happened to me.

We generally order two bottles of liquor. We won’t necessarily start drinking the booze right away. We might not drink them at all. But we have them. Some people need an inflatable pillow around their necks. Some people need a word search book. Some people need Xanax and Coldplay. We need two tiny bottles of single malt Scotch nestled in the seat-back pocket.

(Or maybe gin. Really, the only time we drink gin and tonics is on an airplane. We’re not sure why. And why don’t airlines stock tequila? Seems strange to us. You can get amaretto on an American Airlines flight, but no tequila. You can get bloody mary mix. You can get cranapple. Rule: In the hierarchy of necessary beverages, tequila beats cranapple. Anyway, thank you Frontier, JetBlue, US Airways, and Virgin, all of which stock passable tequila.)

So, usually we will order the two bottles of Scotch and a cup of ice. (Not “rocks.” Seems odd to call ice “rocks” on a plane.) Sometimes we drink it neat. But if we have the sense that we won’t be getting service again any time soon, we pour the booze over the ice, so it lasts.

It’s been an absolutely chock-full year. I literally have not cooked anything more complicated than boxed mac and cheese since March, which has felt like I’m missing a part of myself. But, it had to be done. I had to devote myself to finishing law school and studying for the bar – both of which are now OVER!

I’m so excited to get this BB&B part of my life back. There hasn’t been any balance in my life for quite a few months, and feeling that balance come back is like a giant aaaaaaaaaaahhhh sigh of contentment. It feels good.

And, coincidentally, yesterday was my birthday. My mom made me a gooey decadent chocolate birthday cake, which is so good that the recipe might have to stay a family secret. It was such a wonderful birthday, filled with love and great meals and lots of champagne – exactly how every birthday should be!

With lots more change and several life decisions coming up about where to live and where to work, it feels good to return to this website, which in so many ways gives me a creative outlet. I hope you all will forgive my long absence; believe that I didn’t want to leave!; and start coming back regularly again for dinner party menus, cocktail recipes, entertaining ideas, and of course many other recipes for all sorts of yummy noshes. I’m so excited to get started again and to have the time to cook!

Sorry guys – I have been incredibly negligent due to my non-cooking life becoming completely overwhelming. Finals, graduation, moving, a wonderful vacation, my wonderful grandfather passing away, and straight into studying for the dreaded bar exam and finding out why it’s so dreaded. To state the obvious, you really really have to know a LOT of stuff.

I literally have hardly cooked in months. I miss it.

Now that I’m semi-settled in one place for a few months, I’ll be posting more. For instance, right now I have some morel mushrooms on my counter that I can’t wait to sauté in butter and taste. You’re going to laugh when you read what I’m eating them with, though – let’s say for now that this blog is going to become a lot less gourmet and a lot more Sandra Lee semi-homemade style. Which I kind of love, actually. Everyone needs shortcuts every now and then – or oftener than that ;)