Best discovery of the weekend

Oh, Dr. Brown, where have you been all my life? I've never been a regular imbiber of sodas, save the occasional frothy mug of root beer with a slice of pizza, but upon a trip to Artie's Delicatessen, I found a new refreshing soda to love. Behold: Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray Soda.Flavored with celery seed extract, according to Wikipedia, this soda is apparently fairly easy to find in New York City, but rather obscure outside the region. I've been hoping for a vegetal flavored comeback of this sort after I first tried an inspired and subtly nuanced cocktail featuring fresh celery juice at The Alembic on Haight Street, in San Francisco. Sadly, I don't see it offered on the current cocktail menu. I'll have to see if I can recreate that cocktail, but until then, I'll be sipping Cel-Ray when I can. Anyone know where, or if it's sourced anywhere in the Bay Area?

The Cure for a New Year's Eve Hangover

The Proper Bloody Mary

In a tall glass mix the following over ice and stir well:

2 oz. top shelf gin (Hendrick's or Bombay Sapphire)
1 T Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
1 t horseradish
Juice of 1/2 lime or lemon (or equal parts)
Drizzle of green olive juice
2 green olives with pimentos intact
Generous pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 t Tabasco sauce
1 t Bubbies Pickle brine
2 Rick's Picks Mean Beans

Top off with Spicy Hot V8 or Regular V8. Garnish with lemon and/or lime wedge, fresh celery stalk and/or cucumber, pickle and mean beans.

Variation: A light drizzle of dry vermouth will add an interesting dryness and bring out both the vegetable flavors of V8 and the herbal subtlety of the gin.

Not for the faint at heart.