It is Valentine’s Day, which seems like the perfect opportunity to make a nice sweet drink with some depth and complexity then follow it up with an even sweeter story of incredible depth and levels of complex beauty only dreamt of by mortal man. I could do that. Sondheim would have us believe the “opportunity is not a lengthy visitor” that can be missed before you even realize it has arrived. Of course, he would take at least an hour and a half before revealing that wisdom just after intermission. So, in the spirit of cutting to the chase and not beating around the bush, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make the P.S. I Love You.

We aren’t doing a history of the drink tonight, mainly because I could not find one. It appears to have sprung fully formed into the world. I heard that it was found wrapped around one of those arrows Cupid shot at a random Pinterest board, allegedly. So, I guess we are going to jump straight to the making, nothing wrong with that.

Grab your tins and pop in 3/4 of an ounce of Irish Cream, I chose Five Farms; 3/4 of an ounce of amaretto, I used DiSaronno; 3/4 of an ounce of rum, I chose Appleton Estate; 1/2 an once of coffee liqueur I went with Songbird; 3/4 of an ounce of half and half and a dash of Break Up Potion from Dude, Sweet Chocolates. Add ice and give it a good shake to Dylan’s classic “To Make You Feel My Love“. When well mixed, strain into a chilled coupe, dust a little cocoa powder over the top and garnish with a gorgeous strawberry rose, preferably one carved by your own true love.

It’s sweet, but complex, with a depth of flavor that is not surprising, considering the ingredients. They are all pulling in the same direction, with each one bringing its own strengths to the table. If one of these ingredients were missing, this drink would fall down, but with all of them working in harmony, this one sings. Funny how that works, huh? Everyone working toward a common goal, not always agreeing, not duplicating effort, but working together to make a life. I like that.

My grandfather used to say that how you fare in life is about 90% who you decide to share it with. He was right and I am lucky, but y’all already knew that. If you are interested in the whole story of “how we met“, I wrote it all down as a Valentine’s gift for her on this day, a dozen years ago. Nothing has changed much, except we moved a mini-us into the spare bedroom and we’ve had lots more adventures. She’s still the cream in my coffee and I am the bitter to her sweet. Rather than writing about how wonderful she is and how lucky I am, I’d rather sign off and go spend some time with her, hopefully we can keep warm as this winter storm moves in. You stay safe, stay hydrated and stay sane, my friends.