Stardust

“Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground” – Theodore Roosevelt

See a star and think by Kyoko Hoshino

The stars evoke a universal feeling of wonder and awe, and provide a common global reference point reminding us all of our humble place in the universe.  These thoughts and more may have served as inspiration for Kyoko Hoshino of the Karakuri Creation Group in Japan when she created her “See a star and think” box for their exhibit on “space”.  The box is a straightforward affair crafted in walnut and magnolia woods, but has a starry sky motif on the front reminiscent of a constellation.  The box is meant to be interactive, perhaps best opened on a cool, clear night with the sky full of twinkling lights.  You may even discover the secrets of the universe inside, who knows?  Like much of Hoshino’s work, her star box has a gentle elegance to it and a simple beauty.

Is that Betelgeuse I spy?

“Human folly does not impede the turning of the stars” – Tom Robbins

Let’s have a starry-eyed space cocktail we can sip on while staring into the milky depths.  The secrets of the universe may actually be quite a bit more delicious than you would have thought.  A few years ago, astronomers at the Max Planck Institute in Bonn and Cornell University in New York, using the 30-meter IRAM radiotelescope in Spain, began to decipher the compounds which make up the Sagittarius B dust cloud at the center of the Milky Way.  They found ethyl formate floating about – the chemical which gives raspberries their delicious scent.  It’s also responsible for the flavor of rum.  It looks like there was the mother of all parties out there and we never got the invite.  Not to be deterred, Martin Cate, the owner of famed rum bar Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco, drew inspiration from this interstellar revelation.  His “Center of the Galaxy” combines a richly layered rum with raspberry liqueur for an out of this world experience.  It’s one of the most delicious cocktails I’ve had in a long time – probably because it took light years to make.  It's kind of ironic, knowing how heavenly it smells out in space, if only there was air to breath.  Cheers!

Center of the Galaxy by Martin Cate

Center of the Galaxy by Martin Cate

2 oz Demerara rum

½ oz lime

½ oz rich simple syrup

½ honey syrup

¼ oz raspberry liqueur

1 pinch cinnamon

Shake together with ice and strain into a favorite glass. Garnish with raspberry, lime, and interstellar space dust.

My God, it's full of stars ...

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