Whistle-Belly-Vengeance

No, that's not the title of a Cocteau Twins song, it's a beverage recipe from Wines and Beers of Old New England: A How-to-Do-it History by Sandborn C. Brown. I picked this up at Gibson's in Concord. They have an awesome selection of New Hampshire and New England-centric books, and I easily drop $50 every time I go there on weird little titles like this. The recipe for Whistle-Belly-Vengeance:

Sour beer simmered in a kettle and sweetened with molasses. Crumbs of browned cornbread were added, and it was drunk as hot as could be borne.

This recipe is for something called "Hot Cup:"

Warm a pint of ale; add one ounce of sugar, one ounce of mixed spices, and a glass of sherry. When nearly boiling, pour it on a round of buttered toast.

This sounds like something created by mistake, like some old bonneted lady tripped over the hearth and spilled the ale onto some toast and decided to call it "Hot Cup."

Anyway, this book is awesome. The opening line of the preface: This book is written for people who like to go to folk museums, who like to collect antiques, who like to renovate old houses, and who like to drink. I love an author who knows his audience! I'm definitely going to try some nasty old recipe from this book, so stayed tuned for details in a future post!