THE PARIS SPY, Maggie Hope #7, to be published August 8

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Delighted to announce that THE PARIS SPY, Maggie Hope #8, will be published on August 8, 2017. Not too long to wait! I absolutely love the cover—art, as always, by the incredibly talented Mick Wiggins. 

And here's the gorgeous full painting—"without any of those pesky words!" as Mick says...

As soon as I can, I'll post more about appearances and other exciting developments. Cheers!

MRS. ROOSEVELT'S CONFIDANTE and the great Churchill vs. FDR Martini Battle

(Reprinted from Jungle Red Writers, 11/27/15)

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL:   To celebrate the publication of MRS. ROOSEVELT'S CONFIDANTE, Maggie Hope #5 — which takes place in December of 1941, during Prime Minister Winston Churchill's historic post-Pearl Harbor visit to the Roosevelts' White House— we had our own FDR-inspired "Children's Hour." 

And we pitted (pun intended) the two great leaders' very different versions of the classic Martini cocktail against each other. 

So, let's see who wins the Great Martini Smackdown of 2015, shall we? 

I mixed both Churchill's more pristine ("bow in the direction of France" instead of adding vermouth) and FDR's vermouth and olive-brine heavy Martinis. 

Husband Noel, and our guests, Rob, Victor, and Leila, were encouraged to be candid in their reactions to each cocktail.

Here's my recipe for Winston Churchill's Martini:

Winston Churchill's enjoyment of spirits was legendary, but by all accounts, he preferred his drinks unmixed. According to various accounts he was appalled at the copious amount of vermouth in President Roosevelt’s martinis, but drank them agreeably, in the name of diplomacy.

* gin
 (according to some he preferred Plymouth, according to others, Boodles or Beefeater)

* crushed ice

Shake gin in a container half filled with chipped ice. 

Bow respectfully toward France (where dry vermouth is produced)

Strain into a chilled cocktail glass or coupe. 

Garnish with lemon peel, if desired.

  

And here are the guests' opinions of the Churchill Martini: 

NOEL: This is a really good cocktail — it would be great in the summer. You can really taste the gin but also taste the lemon. Very refreshing.

ROB: I love the simple simplicity of it.

  

SUSAN: Simple simplicity?

ROB: Simple simplicity.

SUSAN: It's elegant. Tastes like the martini at Dukes Hotel, in London. 

VICTOR: The Churchill Martini is very European — "We don't care about driving later — we want alcohol now!" It has a good aftertaste, too — juniper and citrus.

ROB: It's nice to look at the lemon rind floating around in it.

SUSAN: Rob, how many have you had?

ROB: Hey, this is my first drink!

  

LEILA: It's like a tickle in the throat, but a nice one — smooth and not harsh.

SUSAN: It almost tastes like a Gimlet.

NOEL: Is that the one with the little pickled onions?

  

SUSAN: No, that's a Gibson. A Gimlet is gin with lime and sugar syrup. It was Betty Draper's cocktail of choice on Mad Men. But that’s another blog post....Or at least another party.

  

And now on to President Roosevelt’s Martini:

President Franklin D. Roosevelt did always mix drinks at Children’s Hour and reportedly enjoyed making martinis. As far as I can tell there’s no exact recipe, but we know from his personal secretary Grace Tully’s memoirs that they were heavy on the vermouth (which was considered old-fashioned) and he was also known to add a few drops of Pernod, orange blossom water, or olive brine for flavor.

Here’s my best approximation of his martini. Enjoy!

* 2 parts gin
 (according to some he preferred Plymouth; according to others, Beefeater)

* 1 part dry vermouth

* splash olive brine




* 2 olives for garnish


* crushed ice

  

Shake gin, vermouth, and olive brine in a container half filled with chipped ice. 

Strain into chilled cocktail glasses. 

Add garnish.

Reflections on FDR's Martini: 

ROB: I do like a Dirty Martini! Did President Roosevelt invent the Dirty Martini?

SUSAN: I don't know if he invented the Dirty Martini, but he's reputed to have made and served them — much to Churchill's horror. FDR really liked to garnish, apparently. 

ROB: Well, I love it. It has a richer and plumper taste than the Churchill one.

  

NOEL: Plumper?

ROB: Plumper, I say!

  

SUSAN: I like the vermouth and gin together. It's a cocktail for heaven's sake, not just cold gin!

VICTOR: Yes, I can see how this was more popular with the American palate — less alcohol, more ingredients. It's heavier.

NOEL: This is more of a winter cocktail. 

LEILA: This is not a Dirty Martini — this is more like dirty laundry. Yuck.

SUSAN: I like it! More olives, please!

And the winning Martini is.....

SUSAN: So, which do you like best?

NOEL: I think Churchill's for summer and Roosevelt's for winter.

  

SUSAN: That's a very politic answer, dear.

  

VICTOR: I vote for the Churchill. And I'm taking a taxi home.

SUSAN: I must admit I like any excuse to eat olives. I'm going with Roosevelt's.

LEILA: Oh, olives in gin are yucky. I pick Churchill's.

ROB: Must we choose? Can't we just enjoy both? I pick both!

SUSAN: And so the Churchill Martini wins — by one vote! Cheers, everyone!

Churchill's Reaction to Reported Gay Scandal

Winston Churchill's reaction to a reported gay scandal: "Makes you proud to be British, doesn't it?"

Read the full story, narrated by the magnificent Stephen Fry, here. 

What President Obama Could Learn from Winston Churchill

What if President Obama took a page from Prime Minister Winston Churchill and appointment a coalition government? It might help. And could it possibly make anything worse?

Perhaps Obama should have kept the bust of Churchill in the Oval Office after all...

Mr. Churchill's Cigar

Fire Sale!

According to the BBC, one of Winston Churchill's wartime cigars, half-smoked, was recently sold at an auction for 4,500 BPS.

Um, ok.

Mr. Churchill's 2010 Golden Globe Nominations!

Congratulations, HBO/BBC's Into the Storm !

Nominees for the 67th Golden Globe Awards include HBO's Into the Storm for Best Television Miniseries or movie, Brenden Gleeson (Winston Churchill) for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Movie, and Janet McTeer (Clementine Churchill) for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or movie.

The movie takes look at not only Winston Churchill's leadership during World War II, but why, after leading his country to victory, he was voted out of office in 1945 (losing the position of Prime Minister to the Labour Party's Clement Attlee).

Read the Washington Post's review here.

Mr. Churchill's Brandy

Hello kittens! One of my birthday presents to myself this year was the gorgeous book, MixShakeStir: Recipes from Danny Meyer's Acclaimed New York City Restaurants. It's the gift that keeps on giving, believe me.

I was looking for a good brandy to use in their recipe for a classic Brandy Crusta, when I came across Astor Wines & Spirits's  Eniseli Georgian Brandy. Their copy says it was a favorite of Winston Churchill's.

Hmmm.

I was not convinced. First off, Churchill was a known Francophile — why would he favor a Russian brandy? And it's a clever marketing tactic, of course, linking a luxury good, such as a brandy, to Winston Churchill. But after a bit of research (all right, googling. But still....), it turns out to have a bit of evidence on its side. From Russian Cigar Clan Magazine:

IN THE STEPS OF CHURCHILL  The history has it that the first brandy distillery appeared in Armenia in 1887. Then first-guildmerchant Nerses Tairyan built on the territory of the ancient castle Sardar Khana a smalldistillery and equipped it with devices for creating brandy under classical French technology. However, the enterprise reached its hey-day in 1898, when it was acquired by Nikolay Shustov, well-known in Russia vodka and liqueur producer and seller. Soon “Shustov and Sons” partnership became appointed supplier of His Imperial Majesty’s court. Although, Shustov’s brandy was officially acknowledged not only in Russia, but in France, too, when at the International Exhibition in Paris in 1900 after a blind tasting it got the Grand-Prix and the legal tight to be called ‘cognac’, not ‘brandy’. The brandy glory did not diminish in the Soviet time. It was incredibly popular with statesmen. Winston Churchill was known to be a great admirer of the ‘Armenian cognac’, he first tasted the drink at the Yalta conference. The British Prime-Minister ordered up to 400 bottles of brandy per year, stubbornly calling it “Shustov’s”, which made Stalin hit the roof. Agatha Christie and Frank Sinatra loved this brandy, too.

Love the image of Churchill calling it "Shustov's" — just to tick off Stalin.

P.S. Here's the recipe for Brandy Crusta:

1.5 oz Brandy
0.25 oz Maraschino liqueur
0.5 oz Cointreau
0.25 oz lemon juice
1 dash Angostura bitters
Lemon peel spiral and sugared rim for garnish

Cut a lemon in half and moisten the rim of the glass with the lemon. Then heavily coat the rim with sugar. Completely peel one of the lemon halfs in a ½ inch wide piece of lemon peel. Fill glass with ice leaving enough room to place the peel in glass. Cut one of the lemon halfs in half again in order to get a quarter of the lemon. Juice the lemon quarter and add the juice to the brandy, maraschino, Cointreau, and bitters. Shake with ice for 10 seconds and then strain into prepared glass.

Blenheim Bouquet

Established in 1870, Penhaligon's is one of London's traditional perfumers, with a long-standing and august lineage.

In the late 1860's, William Henry Penhaligon left Cornwall and moved to London to establish himself as a barber. By 1870, he had a thriving business supplying perfume to the aristocracy, including Queen Victoria.

Hammam Bouquet was the brand's first offering, in 1872. Bleinheim Bouquet came next, in 1902. It was made for Lord Randolph, Winston Churchill's father, whose residence was Bleinheim Palace.

Sir Winston is reputed to have worn Bleinheim Bouquet as well, a lemon-scented men's cologne with a good dose of pine and some woody and lavender notes. It's really pretty darn fantastic, I have to say, and just as refreshing on a woman as a man.

Although the original Penhaligan's shop, on Jermyn Street in Mayfair, was destroyed in the Blitz, the line lives on after a renaissance in the 1970s. Today there's a flagship Penhaligon's in Covent Garden, plus all sorts of ritzy department stores and posh perfume boutiques carry the line as well.

A definitely different spin on the "celebrity fragrance" idea, indeed!

Thanksgiving Libations

Each year, we like to greet our Thanksgiving guests with a special cocktail. 

This year's is going to be one part sparkling wine, one part cranberry juice, a splash of Calvados floated on top, plus a lemon twist. Calvados (a French apple-cider brandy) makes it seasonal (and ties in with the apple stuffing and apple pie to come), and the cranberry juice gives a lovely ruby color to the fizz.

It's my own creation (at least as far as I know), but it's an pretty obvious take on the classic Poinsettia Cocktail — which is also equal parts cranberry juice and champers, plus a healthy tablespoon of Gran Marnier (or instead try Rhum Clement's Creole Shrubb, a spiced orange rum from New Orleans).

I can't help but hope that Mr. Churchill (who was, after all, half-American on his mother's side and claimed Native American blood) would approve. 

We'll call it the Jennie Jerome, in her honor.

Mr. Churchill's Father

Winston Churchill had a complicated relationship with his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough.

Sir Winston wrote in Life of Marlborough, that "famous men are usually the product of an unhappy childhood. The stern compression of circumstances, the twinges of adversity, the spur of slights and taunts in early years, are needed to evoke that ruthless fixity of purpose and tenacious mother-wit without which great actions are seldom accomplished."

Perhaps thinking of this, in 1898 he wrote of Mohammed: "Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong; and a boy deprived of a father's care often develops, if he escapes the perils of youth, an independence and vigour of thought which may restore in after life the heavy loss of early days."

Well, after all that, I know I could certainly use a cocktail. And, as fate would have it, there's one called The Duke of Marlborough. Named for Churchill's father? Perhaps. It's a fortified-wine-based cocktail, which would right for Lord Randolph's era.

Let's pretend that if the Duke had been alive to witness all his son's accomplishments, he would have raised a glass to him.

The Duke of Marlborough

1 oz dry sherry

1 oz rosso vermouth

1 dash orange bitters

1 twist orange peel

Stir well over ice cubes in a mixing glass. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, add a twist of orange peel, and serve.

Winston Churchill and KBO

Despite the alcohol, despite the naps, despite the baths, Winston Churchill was a work horse.

All accounts have him rising at eight, reading newspapers and attending to paperwork all morning from bed, taking the first bath of the day, then meetings and dictation, then luncheon. After lunch, a nap, then writing, second bath, dinner, and work often long, long past midnight. It was in this way that he was able to "... press a day and a half's work into one," as he's quoted saying.

During the Second World War, his constant refrain to his female typists was KPO, or "Keep Plodding On." (His male associates often heard KBO or "Keep Buggering On.") Allegedly, he would start the day saying it and end telephone conversations with it.

That tenacious attitude is integral to anything important — winning a war, finishing a novel, raising a child, battling illness, making a living, running a marathon, learning the violin.

Looking at Churchill's schedule, you can see an interesting balance — long hours of work, true, but balanced by rest and meals. (And having a staff certainly must have helped!) So, KBO, but take care of yourself as well. Then, back at it. Every single day.

KBO, everyone.

Mr. Churchill's Wit

Winston Churchill was, and still is, known for his sense of humor and witty turns of phrase. Here are a few favorite Churchillian quotes from James C. Humes's charming book, The Wit and Wisdom of Winston Churchill.

On animals: "Dogs look up to you. Cats look down on you. Give me a pig. He just looks you in the eye and treats you as an equal."

On illness: "It is a nuizenza to have the fluenza." (from a letter to President Roosevelt)

On free speech: " Some people's ideas of free speech is that they are free to say what they like but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage."

On opponents: "I like a man who grins when he fights."

On punctuality: "I am a sporting man. I always like to give trains and airplanes a fair chance of getting away."

On stupidity: "Unwisdom prevailed."

Mr. Churchill's Baths

Winston Churchill not only napped daily, but took very long, very hot baths.

They were drawn by his butler, Mr. Inces, and had to be kept at a particular temperature, measured by a thermometer.

Not only were the baths important to Churchill's well-being, but he often dictated from the bathtub (his secretary would sit just outside the bathroom, portable typewriter on her lap) and took meetings from there, as well.

There are terrific scenes in the HBO film, The Gathering Storm, and also HBO's Into The Storm with Churchill in the bathtub.

In The Gathering Storm, there's a scene with a pre-war Churchill dictating from the tub at Chartwell, while his typist is just outside. At one point he becomes irritated and throws his bar of soap out the bathroom door. Her facial expressions as she throws it back, never looking at Churchill of course, are marvelous.

In Into the Storm, Churchill is talking to President Roosevelt about the situation in the Pacific from a bathtub in the White House. (Roosevelt is sitting just outside.) When the Prime Minister is done, he rises from the tub, wraps a towel around his waist, and walks into the bedroom to address the President directly. At one point, the towel drops, leaving the Prime Minister naked.

"As you can see, Mr. President, I have nothing to conceal from you," Churchill deadpans.

The Blenheim Cocktail

Last night we had some friends over. In honor of Sir Winston, I decided to make Bleinheim Cocktails, created by Joe Gilmore of the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel in London, in honor of Sir Winston's 90th birthday.

We had over, among others, our bad-ass card-counting memoir-writing friend (Josh Axelrad, Repeat Until Rich, Penguin, 2010), who watched me carefully measure ingredients into the shaker for round two. (Just to review, we're talking brandy, yellow Chartreuse, Lillet Blanc, orange juice and Dubonnet; the recipe is elsewhere on the blog.)

"Wow," he said. "We're really talking a lot of alcohol, aren't we?" he said.

It's true. And it doesn't taste as alcoholic as it sounds — I'd characterize it as a wonderfully aromatic after-dinner cocktail, sweet but still sophisticated, with a lot of herbal overtones. All in all, it's pretty deadly.

The perfect potable for the great man's ninetieth. Cheers!

(The photograph above is of Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill and his father's, Lord Randolph's, family home.)

Mr. Churchill's Naps

You must sleep sometime between lunch and dinner, and no halfway measures. Take off your clothes and get into bed. That's what I always do. Don't think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the day. That's a foolish notion held by people who have no imaginations. You will be able to accomplish more. You get two days in one -- well, at least one and a half.

— Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill, even during the worst of the Blitz, took a daily nap. Now sleep researchers are verifying naps are a healthy way to add some extra rest to our sleep-deprived lifestyles.

I never used to nap, even when our son was born. All those people who said, "Sleep when the baby sleeps"? Yeah, I'd smile and nod, but really, I thought were crazy. Didn't they know how much I had to do?

Somewhere around my son's first birthday, though, I gave in and embraced the nap. Wow, what a difference it made!

My son's four and a half now, and while he'll nap at home, he's given it up at pre-school. I realize that the days of his napping are numbered.

However, I hope that, somehow, I'll be able to keep up with mine.

As a parent, I can attest that it's far easier to "Never, never, never give in" when you've had a nap. Winston Churchill was onto something.

(The photo above is Winston Churchill's bedroom, in the Cabinet War Rooms.)

Vintage Perfume

When writing Mr. Churchill's Secretary, it helped to think of what kind of perfume each female character would have chosen to wear (and cologne for some of the male characters, too). Whether or not the perfume's name made it into the text, it was a helpful exercise. (And also fun.)

Since the book is set in England during the summer of 1940, I deliberately didn't consider any perfumes released that specific year. My characters would have had bottles on their bureaus from past years.

If you're interested in vintage perfumes from the twenties and thirties, decants (testers) are a great way to try them. I've tried sampler packs of vintage scents from the Perfumed Court (I'm in no way associated with them or their site) and had a great time — Nuit de Noel was a favorite.

Despite the Great Depression (or maybe because of it?) many magnificent perfumes debuted during the Thirties. Many of these outstanding scents are classics and still available today:

Patou's Joy (1930)

Acqua di Parma's Profumo (1930)

Dana's Tabu (1931)

Worth's Je Reviens (1932)

Guerlain's Vol de Nuit Parfum (1933)

Of course, gorgeous classic perfumes from earlier decades were also available, such as:

Guerlain's Jicky (1889)

Coty's l'Origan (1905)

Guerlain's L'Heure Bleue (1912)

Caron's Violette Precieuse (1913)

Guerlain's Mitsouko (1919)

Chanel's No. 5 (19121)

Caron's Nuit de Noel (1922)

Guerlain's Shalimar (1925)

Lanvin's Arpege (1927)

Bourjois Soir de Paris (1928)

Winston Churchill's favorite scent is reputed to have been Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet, created in 1902 and named after the family home of Churchill's father, the Duke of Marlboro.