Beauty this Christmas is in the eye of the beholder, or in this case, the Buddha's Eye

The Buddha's Eye Cocktail is more than likely not an official type of Christmas cocktail but it might as well be. There is no candy cane, it's not a steaming hot buttered rum type of drink that you could associate with winter, there is no egg nog to be found.

However, for me the drink has this great green shade when matched with mint leaves for garnish that looks and reminds me of holly. Looks aside, and I am a sucker for emerald green... the second reason is that this was one of the first cocktails I have ever had when I was an imbibing youth, and it was during Christmas. It has a cool crisp winter breeze added by creme de menthe as if ice was to be forming on your breath. This is without question a winter drink.

The recipe came from a Julia Child cookbook that my mother had. I was kind of surprised that a drink would be in a cookbook. You may not have known how to cook but everyone knew who Julia Child was back in the day and the importance and respect she had for food. When I thought that suddenly a drink was mentioned by her it would have been something extraordinary, such as the 24 hours it takes to make Peking Duck or something... Drinks with alcohol weren't just simple, they could be works of art and elevated to a level of sophistication and importance.

I realized that when it came to drinking, thoughts and efforts mattered. Drinks could involve craft, they could have taste, drinks... WERE IMPORTANT.

My life has never been the same....

So I present to you this December, and no you don't have to have this just during Christmas, although it is a very winter drink... The Buddha's Eye Cocktail.