3 September Saturday

And just like that, my toes had touched two waters, Lake Erie and the Pacific Ocean, inside of a week. The lake was warm and still and clear. The ocean, a chilly, foamy, briny, jungle. Whenever I get sea water in my mouth, I taste olives, warm martini maybe. The lake tastes like something that tastes like water or has some properties of water, or maybe a liquid you might find on another planet that robots did a tinkle in. When you accidentally swallow Lake Erie water, a jolt goes through the mind. Is this the fatal drink?

Aside from sampling the local water, there is much to be enjoyed from the local foods here in northern Southern California. There have been a lot of honey stands and shops opening up and a number of local honeys in grocery stores; I´ve decided to use honey exclusively as the sweetener in baked goods this month, isn´t that precious? OK, so anyway, I mentioned this to the lovely person behind the counter at Santa Barbara Hives, and I was allowed to sample their four honeys. Of the four, I really liked the avocado honey and bought a small jar of it.

My travel companion and I then went to get a frosty pint as it was a sweltering 78F, and on tap was an Avocado Honey Ale from Island Brewing Company. For the sake of the experiment and your entertainment only, I will sample the two back to back and together. Btw, I don´t know if the ale is made with exactly this honey.

First, the ale. This is heavenly smooth, not sweet or cloying at all, it is very mildly herbaceous with a toasty nutty finish. It is so good. Now the honey. The honey has a very similar quality and that is it has a smooth creamy finish that coats the throat, there is no ¨flowery¨ tang at the back of the throat that many wildflower or clover honeys have. It is magic in the mouth. Now, together.

OK, now Benji, that´s too much. It´s too much Benji, too much!!

I was able to correct it with an additional teaspoon of honey. It almost takes on the quality of an adult soda where is the honey is the syrup.

Hmmm…I don´t know that the folks at Island Brewery intended for their beer to be drizzled with the honey it is made from. At any rate. Here´s an invention I do recommend:

take some of deeeeeelicious pepperoni bread leftover from yesterday that is still unbelievably soft and fresh tasting, spread a slice of that with some cream cheese, then spread a little fig jam on that, then munch on that with a tankard of creamy coffee. I am determined, god as my witness, to make pepperoni bread a breakfast staple across our nation. This is my first goal.