Yes 5/5 was days ago. But there is always room for a margarita. This could be the best one you ever made/had.
🍋🟩 ‘El Cinco de Maya’ 🍊 (The Fifth of May)
Libatious’ #169 bonus drinks beyond 100
Ingredients
Juice of 1/2 fresh lemon 🍋 Juice of 2 limes 🍋🟩 Juice of 1 mandarin orange 🍊 1/2 jigger bergamot liqueur 1/2 jigger ginger liqueur 🫚 1/2 jigger blue curaçao (for color — turns the drink a lovely green) 1/2 jigger agave syrup 4 jiggers tequila 2 jiggers Grand Marnier or orange liqueur
Directions
Pour all ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend well.
Transfer to a hand shaker and chill in refrigerator until needed.
Rim two margarita glasses with lime juice, then dip into coarse salt. Set aside.
Prepare garnish:
two lime wheels
two strips lemon peel
two strips orange peel
two small pieces of crystalized ginger
Thread garnish through a knotted bamboo skewer and refrigerate until needed.
Remove shaker from refrigerator. Add ice 🧊
“Shaken not stirred, Bond, James Bond, 007.” 🤣
Pour into previously rimmed margarita glasses 🍸🍸 half-filled with ice.
Add garnish.
Makes two libations — one to share and one for you. 😀
Why yes, there’s a lot of alcohol in this drink… but you could find Margaritaville — and perhaps your last jigger of salt! 🧂 😂
Makes two libations — one to share and one for you.
ENJOY! 😉 Drink your ‘El Cinco de Maya’responsibly! 😂
Guhday Mates, from Donnie your Aussie Katoomba travel guide
On April 11 through the morning of April 14th, 2014, we went to The Blue Mountains and rented a cottage (see last post) in Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia.
Today, I want to share with you some of the flavor of Katoomba. It was a quaint, charming and eclectic community – MY KIND OF PLACE! Besides the fact that it is located in The Blue Mountains and is quite hilly to walk the streets, it reminded me of Telluride, Colorado in the United States. Telluride is a community in the Rocky Mountains where people come to ski in the winter and it is also a hub to get to Aspen or Vale when those areas are closed to airports or other transportation, due to the weather. Although Telluride and Katoomba do not share the same type of weather conditions, it’s their common flavor that is similar to me. Telluride basically started as a ‘hippie communue’ back in the sixities. I suppose as many of them grew up and decided to get jobs and start a ski resort? 🙂
In Katoomba, there are many young people, arts and crafts, just like in Telluride. Our pictorial journey below, begins with an example of some local artwork, a mural painted on a brick wall of an abandoned garage across the road from our cottage. We saw this as we were heading into town.
Mural on wall of abandoned garage
In Katoomba, we noted many wonderful and fashionable hats on the heads of many people, young and old, male and female. ‘The Hattery,’ where I found and purchased my Akubra hat you see me wearing in the picture above, is from Katoomba. For more information about my hat in a previous post on this blog see: Hats
But Kotoomba is more than just a young/artistic/eclectic community, it is a travel destination! Katoomba is the city host or gateway to The Blue Mountains and both attract many people from around the world, every year. We noted many differnet people, accents and languages being spoken while we were here. There are several popular and international establishments and connections here. A friend from the United States informed me that soon after we returned from our trip to this area, Prince William & Kate of England were planning on visiting the following week. The English and Australian connection is just one example of many international connections.
Our first night here as we were walking to downtown for some food, some one-hundred (at least) sulfur crested cockatoos flew over our heads. Caitlin stayed at the cottage with baby Felix and she saw them fly right over our deck and into the eucalyptus trees of the Blue Mountains, right around sunset. Even though I did not get a picture of this amazing sight, in a future post, I will share pictures of four of these beautiful birds and sppecifically one that certainly seemed to want to pose for me, from the huge evergreen near the deck of our cottage.
But this night, on recommendation of a local librarian, we went to dinner at an authentic Korean restaurant. Susan and Jonathan ordered each a different entree and I chose one that is supposed to be one of the most popular among street people in Korea. Dduk Bok-ki was so incredible, both Susan and Jonathan wished they had ordered it! It was a sweet rice, shaped like tube pasta, but not hollow. It was made from rice flour and steamed. It was included in this huge plate of steamed vegetables. You could have it mild, medium or hot. I chose medium. It was inexpensive, delicious and so filling and yet, I can’t believe I ate the whole thing, even sharing a lot with Susan and Jonathan, I was stuffed with delight!
Other foods include the best coffee I have either ever had or it’s been so long, I cannot recall any better. This we purchased from a little, almost a hole in the wall, cafe from the Elephant Bean Coffee. Then there was the most incredible fresh-baked croissant from a cute little bakery, I’ve ever eaten and shared the crumbs with a local pigeon. 🙂
In another post in the future, I will share about some Australian beverages, including the chili wine we tasted and bought in Katoomba. Yes, you read that correctly, Chili wine made entirely out of 100% chili. It was sweet and hot. We intended to bring it home, but we opened it as soon as we got back to the cottage and finished it off the next day when we got back home to Camden. It was fantastic with cheese and now that I’ve come to appreciate oysters (at least Australian and Apalachicola, Florida oysters in the US), DEFINITELY WITH OYSTERS!!! I’m almost sorry we drank it with out purchasing another bottle to bring home, but “no worries,” this Australian exclusive product, has a website and this wine can be ordered online and shipped to your door!!!! 🙂
We had dinner and some chocolate at the Paragon restaurant. This place could have a post and then some, all its own. It was a mixture of Greek/Romanesque architecture and art-deco and hand carved reliefs on the walls. It does make me wonder if the garden area behind our cottage might actually be owned by the owners of this restaurant or some related family members? The food was fabulous and but of course, WE HAD TO TRY THEIR CHOCOLATE! According to their interior signage, it’s the chocolate that made Katoomba famous. I have no way to prove or disprove that statement, but this place has been here since 1921 I believe, has a US connection (the wife of the owner was from the United States), and there are many pictures throughout the place of famous people that have signed their names and have eaten here. So what does that say to you?! Some of the pictures I recognized and some I did not. Art Acord (silent film western star), Clark Gable and Peter O’Toole. So, that’s pretty telling. You can search for the Paragon Cafe online and find many interesting things. They also have a page on Facebook.
There were many unusual and wonderful things to experience in Katoomba, but time and words fail me. The best that I can offer you are some humble pictures. I hope you enjoy them! 🙂
As stated previously, Katoomba is quite hilly and it exercises your heart, lungs and legs to walk here, but well worth the effort! The air was crisp, cool and clear at this time of the year during Australia’s late fall or early winter. Days were nicely pleasant with a couple of layers of long sleeve shirts and the nights build-a-fire cool. The downtown district is home to many cafes, shops and stores from the unusual, the bizarre and the, just lovely. There are examples of fine architecture in beautifully restored or well-maintained hotels and other buildings.
There were many unusual and wonderful things to experience in Katoomba, but time and words fail me. As I said, the best that I can offer you are some humble pictures, my personal recommendation to COME HERE if you ever have the opportunity and a link to some Irish music I recorded live, on my way back to the cottage one day. I hope you enjoy all that follows here! 🙂
Mural on wall of the Three Sisters and etc., of The Blue Mountains at Echo Point
Downtown Katoomba – sure why not espresso and waffles! 🙂
The Elephant Bean Cafe (notice anyone familiar?)
The Elephant Bean Cafe (awesome coffee)
Bakery with fresh baked almond croissants. YAY! 🙂
If you must eat croissants, why not artistically!
Closeup of our table
And the pigeons enjoyed your crumbs 🙂
My first ever female street performer. She was actually very good.
Little Aussie squirrels picture, for my sister Carol Lee
Ducks or Kiwi birds in boots? I dunno, but they were cute, so I had to take this! 🙂
Clock bridge over street
Old-time informative bill
Mural of Katoomba Falls I
Mural of Katoomba Falls II
Carrington Place (hotel) Entrance
Hand carved wall, Carrington Place Entrance
Irish connection
Irish connection II
Want to Wassail me for some Mulled Wine? 🙂
The circus in town? 🙂
Paragon I
Paragon II
Paragon III
Paragon Chocolate “The chocolate that made Katoomba famous”
Chocolates I
Chocolates II
Chocolates III
Lost Bear Gallery (art gallery)
Whale out of wooden sticks in window of Lost Bear Gallery
Oh, there the lost bear is! 🙂
Closeup of found lost bear art
Nice wall
Interesting walk I
Interesting Walk II (same walk, different view)
Can you see the heart shape?
Last stop before heading back to our cottage and look what you saw and heard! :
Locals, quite possibly of Irish roots, gathered in this pub for grub, beers and cheers and playing some really nice Irish jigs. There were children present and other watchers/listeners like me. Flutes, violins, guitar, banjo, a concertina (similar to an accordion) and one gent (laddie) played the Uilleann pipes. The bar was open and run by another international connection. She was anice lady from Vietnam. It was a gorgeous day and the windows were open in the pub.
Several flutists and violinists and concertina far left
Flute player closest to me
Uilleann Pipe Player
The uilleann pipes are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as “union pipes”, their current name is a partial translation of the Irish-language term píobaí uilleann (literally, “pipes of the elbow”), from their method of inflation.There is no historical record of the name or use of the term ‘uilleann pipes’ before the twentieth century. It was an invention of Grattan Flood and the name stuck. People mistook the term ‘union’ to refer to the 1800 Act of Union; this is incorrect as Breandán Breathnach points out that a poem published in 1796 uses the term ‘union.’
The bag of the uilleann pipes is inflated by means of a small set of bellows strapped around the waist and the right arm (in the case of a right-handed player; in the case of a left-handed player the location and orientation of all components are reversed). The bellows not only relieve the player from the effort needed to blow into a bag to maintain pressure, they also allow relatively dry air to power the reeds, reducing the adverse effects of moisture on tuning and longevity. Some pipers can converse or sing while playing.
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