Ten on Tuesday: 10 favorite cocktails

Heh. I'm not much of a drinker. No, scratch that. I come from a family of very much drinkers. And I'm a lightweight with them. But I can drink and often do, to my detriment. So this year I've decided it's a year of never mix, never worry, it's a year of "no, I'll stay at one tonight." Small children and too much responsibility.

But when I say I'm not much of a drinker, I mean I 'm not much of a mixed drinker. If someone makes me something interesting, great, but when I go to a bar, it's always the same few: bourbon and water on the rocks, whiskey and seven, or amaretto sour.

But I change my mind. I can come up with a list of ten. Note that while I loved my one night of White Russians, I will never drink them again and so they don't make this list.

1. Amaretto sours. Like koolaid for grown ups. Seriously. Way too easy to drink. Amaretto all by itself doesn't taste like alcohol and adding some orangey lemony sour sweet stuff, well, slurp it down and order another.

2. Bourbon slush. Family favorite, and while #1 is koolaid for grownups, this is snow cone for grown ups. Oh my goodness I like bourbon slush. It is part of all sorts of celebrations. I had it first when I was 10. It is a perfect way for me to lose at mah jongg all night long. But for some reason, I do not get sick on it like I do other things (like white russians, for instance). I guess I just can't drink enough of it--way too much sugar and water and juice--to really get stupid.

3. The cranberry vodka concoction my neighbor (aka Gretchen) makes. But only have one. Even if you aren't trying to only have one. Seriously. Only have one.

4. Irish coffee. Drunk and awake? That's my motto. Buena Vista, San Francisco. Mmm.

5. Sangria. But only with paella and/or tapas. Something about the combo is a good one. I can't imagine just sitting down and drinking it without food, without amazing rich tiny bits of food.

6. How could I forget...margarita. I prefer them on the rocks but I'll drink them frozen, too. Don't care if they are fru fru flavors or just the straight margarita. I used to hoover these up and drive home. From after school meet-ups. Yeah.

7. Gringo Honeymoon (lager and lime). Lime just makes beer better.

8. Manhattan. I don't drink Manhattans. But as a child, I ate a lot of maraschino cherries taken directly from Manhattans. I COULD drink Manhattans. It's just that they're my father's drink.

9. Whiskey Sour, Scotch Sour, Frisco Sour, basically, anything sweet and sour.

10. If I'm really not acting my age, I'm a fan of chocolate cake shots. My sister Bevin introduced me. I love things that are not what they are.

Is it bad that this 10 on Tuesday made me very happy?