Happy almost Monday, everyone. I hope your bracket is in better shape than mine. I did, however, have the best weekend. Dave and I spent Saturday building raised beds for a community garden going in on North Interstate. Then, we decided we’d clean out the garage, which was a mess of tools, scraps and bikes – mostly because we didn’t have any organizational tools in place. But we went to Home Depot, got some bike hooks, peg board hooks and a few other things and now it looks AWESOME. I’m so proud. We finished the day off with a fab dinner at Radar on N. Mississippi and a big ol’ slice of pie at Random Order.

Sunday was industrious, too. I made a new dress! I’m calling it my Claire Underwood dress. I know the characters in that show are mostly despicable, but darnit if there aren’t a lot of fabulous women’s dresses. I can’t stop drooling over them. But now I have one for me.

Oh, and I made some food! Quite a bit of food, actually. And a cocktail. It’s time to talk about sours, and I’m going to start with a whiskey sour.

Which means we have to talk about something else:

You will need a raw egg. In many counties of many states, if you are served items that contain raw eggs, restauranteurs are required to tell you that raw eggs may transfer diseases that may kill you. So there, it’s true. Fair warning.

I’m eating/drinking/thoroughly enjoying them anyway.

A raw egg adds two things to a cocktail, and they both have to do with texture. First, the foam. Sours in particular will come with a nice foam on the top that is only as stable as it is because of the protein in the egg white.

The second is a velvety texture that’s in the non-foam cocktail itself. I have never found a texture quite like it, and it’s the reason I will never give up egg whites in cocktails.

There’s three things to keep in mind as you begin to make a whiskey sour.

1) You’re going to begin with a dry shake, which means that you’ll shake up the contents of the drink in the shaker without ice at first. This will allow the egg whites to form a foam.

2) This is very important! The lemon juice will curdle the egg white if you let it just sit there. So don’t – dump it all together and shake it up fast. If you see a few pieces that have curdled, do not lose heart! Run it through a fine mesh strainer before serving.

3) If your foam isn’t great or you lose it while waiting too long or doing something else, you can also achieve a foam using an Aerolatte or similar foaming stick. I’ll be honest: I used one! Darned photoshoots have a way of taking up more time than anticipated.

Here’s what you need:
1 egg white
2 oz. whiskey or bourbon
3/4 oz. simple syrup
3/4 oz. lemon juice
lemon slice for garnish
Large ice cube or crushed ice

Add the egg white, whiskey, syrup and lemon juice to a shaker and shake immediately for 2 minutes. Add in 1-2 cups of ice and shake for another minute. Strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice or a large ice cube.

Garnish with a slice of lemon.