One Less Problem Without You (33 page)

1 large (thumb-size) knob of ginger, peeled and chopped

¾ ounce Angostura bitters

4 cups water

Combine ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil until reduced to 2 cups, then cool and strain the ginger out. Drink tepid for nausea.

TWO DRINKS

 

Rebound Tom Collins

Poor Tom. Always a groomsman, never a groom. But he's quite amusing and can be an excellent distraction while you nurse your broken heart.

2 ounces dry gin

juice of ½ lemon

1 ounce rose water

1 teaspoon superfine sugar

4 ounces club soda or seltzer water

Put gin, lemon juice, rose water, and sugar into a classic Collins glass. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Fill the glass with ice and add club soda or seltzer water. Serve.

ONE DRINK

 

Broke and Boozy

You can't buy happiness, but usually you can buy booze, no matter how ill-advised that might be. When things are low enough, it helps!

1 ounce white rum

½ ounce rye whiskey

½ ounce brandy

½ ounce grenadine

½ lemon, freshly squeezed

Garnish: lemon slice

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add all the ingredients. Shake until thoroughly chilled. Strain into a chilled glass, garnish with lemon slice, and serve.

ONE DRINK

 

Give That Diamondback

This is serious.

Chartreuse is known as a digestive, and, as such, it has miraculous effects on an upset stomach and jangled nerves. And if you've got to give that diamond back, there's no doubt your stomach is upset and your nerves are jangled.

Since this is a drink that requires no ice, chill your glass in the freezer—or by filling with crushed ice that you pour out—before serving.

1½ ounces rye whiskey

¾ ounce applejack

¾ ounce yellow Chartreuse

Combine the ingredients in a mixing glass and fill the glass with ice. Stir well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.

ONE DRINK

 

Violet Femme

Strength is the word here. As in this elixir brings strength! Look at the protein in here! Why, it's a meal in and of itself!

Since this is a drink that requires no ice, chill your glass in the freezer—or by filling with crushed ice that you pour out—before serving.

1 egg white

2 ounces dry gin

1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 ounce crème de violette

Shake the egg white briskly in a cocktail shaker for forty-five seconds, add ice, then remaining ingredients, and shake another ten seconds. Strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass and serve.

ONE DRINK

 

What Ails You Cardamom Chai

This is a comforting warm chai to quell an upset tummy or cheer a chilling heart. You may use milk or any milk substitute you like. Cashew milk works particularly well.

Crush the cardamom pods with the bottom of a juice glass; they need to be cracked, not pulverized.

6 cracked cardamom pods

2 whole cloves

¼ teaspoon cracked pepper

½ teaspoon peeled and chopped ginger root

2 cups boiling water

1 tablespoon honey

Milk or milk substitute, to taste

Place cardamom, cloves, cracked pepper, and ginger in a teapot, cup, or jar and carefully pour the water over them. Steep for fifteen minutes. Strain; add honey, then add milk if desired—and enjoy.

TWO DRINKS

 

Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Absinthe today is not quite the same as the famous absinthe of old, yet people still do report a certain heady high from it. Also, like Chartreuse, it's a digestive that eases symptoms of tension.

1 ounce absinthe

½ ounce lemon juice

1 sugar cube, preferably raw sugar

2 ounces water

Pour absinthe into a glass. Balance a spoon across the rim and put the sugar cube on it.

Mix 1 ounce water with lemon juice and pour it slowly over the sugar cube, so the liquid saturates the cube. Then pour another ounce of water, allowing the contents of the spoon to spill into the absinthe, creating a cloudy mix.

Serve.

ONE DRINK

 

Lemon Sage Tisane

Another nerve tonic; this one goes way back to ancient times. Smells delicious and is extremely refreshing when iced.

½ ounce fresh sage leaves

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel (avoid the bitter white rind)

4 cups boiling water

2 tablespoons sugar

Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon

Place sage and lemon peel in a teapot, cup, or jar and carefully pour the water over them. Steep for fifteen minutes, then add sugar, stir, and cool. Strain the mixture into a pitcher, add lemon juice, and serve.

FOUR DRINKS

 

Last Word

Sometimes everyone needs the last word.

Since this is a drink that requires no ice, chill your glass in the freezer—or by filling with crushed ice that you pour out—before serving.

1 ounce dry gin

1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice

1 ounce maraschino liqueur

1 ounce yellow Chartreuse

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add all ingredients. Shake until thoroughly chilled. Strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass and serve.

ONE DRINK

 

ALSO BY
BETH HARBISON

If I Could Turn Back Time

Driving with the Top Down

Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger

When in Doubt, Add Butter

Always Something There to Remind Me

Thin, Rich, Pretty

Hope in a Jar

Shoe Addicts Anonymous

Secrets of a Shoe Addict

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BETH HARBISON
is the
New York Times
bestselling author of
If I Could Turn Back Time; Driving with the Top Down; Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger; When in Doubt, Add Butter; Always Something There to Remind Me; Thin, Rich, Pretty; Hope in a Jar; Secrets of a Shoe Addict;
and
Shoe Addicts Anonymous
. She grew up in Potomac, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C., and now divides her time between that suburb, New York City, and a quiet home on the Eastern Shore. Visit
www.bethharbison.com
. Or sign up for email updates
here
.

    

 

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CONTENTS

Title Page

Copyright Notice

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Diana's Drinks

Also by Beth Harbison

About the Author

Copyright

 

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

 

ONE LESS PROBLEM WITHOUT YOU.
Copyright © 2016 by Beth Harbison. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

 

www.stmartins.com

 

Cover design by Olga Grlic

 

Cover photograph of cocktail by Herman Estevez Studios

 

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

 

Names: Harbison, Elizabeth M., author.

Title: One less problem without you / Beth Harbison.

Description: First edition.|New York: St. Martin's Press, 2016.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016012742|ISBN 9781250043825 (hardcover)|ISBN 9781466842205 (e-book)

Subjects:|BISAC: FICTION / Contemporary Women.

Classification: LCC PS3558.A564 O54 2016|DDC 813/ .54—dc23

LC record available at
https://lccn.loc.gov/2016012742