My new favorite drink
Hi there, Small Plate pals:
About two months ago, I had dinner at Masala, an Indian restaurant in Ashland, and I discovered my new favorite drink: Masala’s version of the East India Company cocktail.
It is perfect 
for hot weather. The drink is icy, refreshing, tart and tasty. No kidding. It contains gin, pamplemousse rosé, lime and grapefruit bitters. That’s it — simple but elegant and perfect for hot summer nights.
So when I returned to Vancouver, I started looking for a recipe. Most contained cognac, but Masala’s cocktail description specified the grapefruit rosé. I finally found something that I thought would work and modified it to my tastes. Keep in mind that the Pamplemousse is a sweetener.
Gin and Pamplemousse cocktail
Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice, and then shake with fresh juice squeezed from one lime, 2 ounces of gin, 1 ounce of pamplemousse rosé and a couple of shakes of grapefruit bitters
Strain into a glass filled with ice or into a martini glass. Cheers!
Janet Cleaveland
What happens when a retired journalist spends a lot more time in the kitchen than in past years? She tries new dishes and jumps at the chance to write a blog about food, family and good times. My kids are grown now, but I'll be looking back at how they learned to cook, what recipes my husband (the Intrepid One) and I are experimenting with, and how food and conversation make for happy times in the kitchen. I worked for The Columbian for 15 years as a copy editor and another 10 elsewhere, though I didn't start out as a journalist. I thought I wanted to teach English literature. My husband grew up in Clark County, and I've lived here since 1983. My kids have grown and left home. Like my husband of 52 years, our adopted chocolate Lab would never pass up a chance for a tasty meal.