A Good Girl Gone Bad?

Coppercraft from Holland, MI area at the Michigan Distilled Event

I have recently mentioned my Dutch Calvinist roots--my formative years spent strictly within that sub-culture, dating back to the 50's.

I had no television, I did not know what pizza was. I ate real food raised on my farm.

And I went to church every Sunday. Twice.

There were lots of rules about Sunday observance. Not like the Jews--or Pharisees, but still...

My parents were good models for following the rules, without being tyrants. We had occasional Sunday picnics at Lake Oakwood, hoping that church people would not see us there. We mostly went to church, napped, read, studied, played our brass instruments outside on the lawn, and read the church publication The Banner--after enjoying a big Sunday noon dinner, invariably meat and potatoes and something from our garden.

And there were plenty of rules about what a good Christian girl should not ever do.

My mother cautioned me to just never take that first drink--like I was doomed to bad things or addiction with even one sip of alcohol. My Dad would (at least on one occasion that I recall) cool a can of beer (which he must have found somewhere) in a pail of well water--and drink it. I wonder if he indulged when he attended the World's Fair in Chicago as a single man of 23? As far as I know, my mother never had an occasion for even a single sip. Except that Mogen David Concord wine was served at Communion! I totally forgot about that. Now we have Welch's grape juice.

My mother hated smoking. When the reports came out in the 60's (including the Surgeon General's report in 1964) about the serious health risks of smoking, she encouraged my brother to write an essay on the evils of smoking, which eventually was published in a "Young Calvinist" publication.

(When my mother first met the (future) husband and found out he smoked cigarettes, there was hell to pay!)

Dancing, movies and card playing were also things "of the world" which I only stumbled into gradually and with discretion. I could attend the prom, but not dance. I was allowed to go to movies like The Sound of Music in early high school and by the time I was a senior I was sneaking into the summer drive-in in the trunk of my Ford Falcon (got in free!) to watch whatever was playing at the time. By mid-high school we actually purchased a television, although Sunday viewing was initially restricted (the husband could only watch Lassie for a time) and then gradually expanded (like when my father discovered Gunsmoke!)

And so gradually we became more and more a part of the world and its culture. Worldly!

I have not given up on all of the things I learned growing up rural in a Dutch Calvinist church. But I also learned things from my public high school friends, whose rules were slightly different. My good friend Jan invited me to her Halloween party--in her church! And Sheri had a (girls) sleepover party in her trailer, where alcohol was consumed late into the night. And cards were played at the sleepovers. And once I made an appearance (not to drink) at a "keg party" and got called in to the pastor's office. Someone must have tattled on me.

I still almost never mow the lawn on Sunday, but mostly because I like Sunday afternoons to be laid back and quiet--for me and my neighbors.

 And I still go to church. Once.

And I never dance. But mostly because I really can't!

And I never have smoked (at least never inhaled) but I have been drinking moderately since high school.

But I broke the drinking rule by the time I was 16 or so and by age 18 I had had my first legal drink, while on a college band tour in New York City.

I graduated from Peach Schnapps in high school and Harvey Wallbangers in summer school to Mogen David Party Punch wine mixed with Ginger Ale (really!) in our first Oak Park apartment--to now seeking out the latest and finest craft brews available in Michigan or occasionally enjoying a bottle of fine red wine--even from France!

But my mother would perhaps be stunned to learn that I had been to every brewery in the area in 2015! I had to. It was My Year of Beer!

And now--a distillery event! Distilleries have been popping up as fast as breweries in Michigan!

Yes, last night I went to a Michigan Distilled tasting event. At least 20 distillers were represented from all over the state. J. had won two $40 tickets from the local radio station, so we had to go!

Crack fries and Slow's pork and Mad Cap coffee were available for a fee, but a nice young couple soon to be married in New Orleans gave us their unused drink cards as they left, so we continued sampling in our small plastic cups (below) until finally calling the husband for a ride home! I picked up a hot order of "crack" fries to make it worth his while!

I mostly tried gin concoctions. I learned about the Swedish Aquavit, usually flavored with dill or caraway. The Long Road Distillers Aquavit is an award winner.

The white Russian cocktail with heavy cream went down very smoothly. One bottle had my Dad's name on it, Mel, so I sampled it. Neat. It is a very rare product. I seem to recall it was good, but my palate for fine distinctions is undeveloped. Yet!

To tell the truth, I didn't take notes and some of the night is a bit of a blur, lol. It was fun meeting the vendors and sharing in their spirited enthusiasm for their products. A young man in Kalamazoo has been rehabbing (saw his book of photos) an old building where he is distilling, but is not yet ready for a tasting room. Two distilleries will soon be open--within blocks of Bell's Brewery.

One of the two founding owners of New Holland Brewery in Holland, MI was missing the one year anniversary party of their Grand Rapids location and gin distillery (The Knickerbocker) to be at this event.

I do have a few photos--to help me remember!

This must have been the Wiseblood cocktail!

Oh yes. The week before, we attended a cigar event out on the patio of Cork. (Never again!) But what a hoot! I will include one (rare) photo of me in my casual smoking attire--my new silver Whitecaps cap from the night at the ballpark.

J. took this one of me ...  I was just trying to keep the dumb thing lit!

If only my mother could see me now! A rebel without a cause. When my goody-good cousin asked me recently, at our July birthday lunch, what I did for fun, I told her that I go out drinking with my friends. Next time she asks I will tell her I go out smoking and drinking with my friends! I think I decided to participate in the cigar night thing just so I could shock her with that answer! She was the daughter my mother sometimes wished she had instead of me, even though my Mom (and my Dad) adored me. So now, I suppose, I rebel against my cousin--instead of my mother! LOL.