The Thinking Girl’s Guide to Drinking, A Book Excerpt

Just in time for the holidays, Chef Ariane Resnick has a new book, The Thinking Girl’s Guide to Drinking. In her book, she provides tips on how and what to drink when you are out with friends or entertaining at home. And best of all, Chef Resnick provides recipes for two delicious drinks you can make at home. Cheers!

Let’s Drink!

That’s why we’re here, right? Whether you opened this book because you love cocktails but not hangovers or because you don’t drink booze but still want to serve beautiful, interesting beverages to your friends and family, I’ve got you covered. Although the healthful properties of the whole foods I use as mixers are generally agreed upon and established via scientific research, the wellness community has many conflicting opinions about alcohol. Let’s review a few of the big concerns the health world has.

Toxic by products from fermentation: some health professionals claim that clear alcohols have less toxins than colored ones and put white wine on a higher pedestal than red wine – and beer. My thoughts: base you spirit choice on how each makes your unique body feel. Every alcohol has toxins, no question! Even with the antioxidant properties, cardiovascular health value, and other scientifically proven pluses of various wines and spirit, the toxins still exist. But we all react differently to different ones. Personally, I can drink red wine all night, but a single glass of white and I’m asleep in thirty minutes. So I drink red and pass on the white. Easy as that. Choose what your body most approves of.

Let’s Prep!

In a perfect world, at the end of the night, you’ll feel as if you consumed just the right amount of alcohol. You’ll be feeling nice and relaxed but nowhere near sloppy, and you’ll awake bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morn. In case you think that perfect world doesn’t exist or you don’t know how to navigate it yourself, let’s talk about what to do before, during, and after drinking so that you awake regret free. Drinking water continuously is a given, of course.

When you know you’ll be having an evening out, be conscious of what you eat at dinner, and choose foods that are higher in protein and that don’t have a lot of refined carbs. The more refined foods you eat, the more “soakable” food there is in your system and the more alcohol it will take for you to feel a buzz. Choose carbs, like root vegetables or whole grains, that are higher in fiber. If your goal is to feel buzzed on a budget of just one or two drinks, aim for a lower-carbohydrate dinner. Conversely, if you know it will be a long night and you want to try every cocktail in this book with a group of friends, eat a filling dinner higher in fibrous carbs and keep snacks on hand. Either way, avoid excess fats late in the day, as alcohol will be metabolized first and those will get stored.

The Christmas Cocktail

4 strawberries + 1 for garnish
12 fresh mint leaves
1/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
2 ounces vodka
1/2 ounce lavender syrup
2 dashes rhubarb bitters
sparkling mineral water, to fill

The Lady Slipper

3 oz Pedro Ximinez
1/4 oz creme de cacao
1/2 teaspoon chocolate extract

Excerpted with Permission from The Thinking Girl’s Guide to Drinking by Ariane Resnick with Brittini Rae (Regan Arts) © Ariane Resnick.

Want to read more?

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