William Faulkner’s Hot Toddy
The perfect drink for Christmas night by a roaring fire. And, according to Faulkner’s niece Dean Faulkner Wells, it cures everything from “a bad spill from a horse to a bad cold, from a broken leg to a broken heart.” Here, as told to The Great American Writers’ Cookbook, are directions for making Faulkner’s hot toddy via Ms. Wells…
“Pappy alone decided when a Hot Toddy was needed, and he administered it to his patient with the best bedside manner of a country doctor.
He prepared it in the kitchen in the following way: Take one heavy glass tumbler. Fill approximately half full with Heaven Hill bourbon (the Jack Daniel’s was reserved for Pappy’s ailments). Add one tablespoon of sugar. Squeeze 1/2 lemon and drop into glass. Stir until sugar dissolves. Fill glass with boiling water. Serve with potholder to protect patient’s hands from the hot glass.
Pappy always made a small ceremony out of serving his Hot Toddy, bringing it upstairs on a silver tray and admonishing his patient to drink it quickly, before it cooled off. It never failed.”
(Again) Found on Maud Newton’s blog.
