Show Me The Tuaca

I've been blogging now for almost five years. Four and half to be exact. I've written poems, posted pictures, written stories both humorous and serious. But there's one thing I've not done yet, but many of my blogging buddies have.

So today I'm going to post a recipe . . . of sorts anyway. My wife Wendy got this particular drink recipe from her sister Sue in Kansas. What I like about it is that it doesn't involve the tedious task of measuring out ingredients. Why do recipes have to have exactly a third cup of this or a half cup of that?

My wife found out just tonight that using a third cup of milk instead of a half-cup made a big difference in her no-bake cookies. This batch she cooked with a third cup of milk did not hold together and the cookies pretty much fell apart, including all four that I ate.

So this recipe that I'm about to post isn't that fickle about measuring out ingredients. However, there may be one ingredient that will be difficult to find. Well, make that two. One of the ingredients is apple cider and now that the apple-picking season is over here in Michigan, fresh cider may be difficult to come by. But for the sake of this blog, make believe it's plentiful.

The other ingredient is Tuaca. It's pronounced "two", then aca, rhymes with caca, which is something anybody who's ever changed a baby is familiar with. I'm not sure I spelled that right. My spellchecker says it's wrong and has suggested either "cache" or "cacao." I know neither of those if right.

My wife and I made a Christmas getaway shopping trip to Grand Rapids this past weekend. It felt like Christmas there in more ways than one since there was no snow in Ann Arbor when we left, but plenty piled high and deep in Grand Rapids.

We stopped at a liquor store and Wendy asked the clerk who interrupted our browsing if he had any Tuaca. He headed for his wine collection. But we said it wasn't wine, though we weren't exactly sure what it was in fact.

He said he wasn't familiar with it but would check the internet. Fine, we thought. But then he asked for a phone number where he could call us back. What?! Was he going home to look it up on his personal PC? We told him we were only in town till Sunday morning, and gave him Wendy's cell phone number.

We didn't think we would hear back from him and, in a way, we didn't. Wendy never heard her phone ring but the next morning she discovered an unplayed message on her cell phone. It was the clerk who said he'd determined that Tuaca was an Italian liquer and that they indeed did stock it. Unfortunately, the store didn't open till noon. We would be long gone by then.

So after arriving back in Ann Arbor, I went to a local liquor store, scanned the top shelf and found a bottle within a few seconds. If that clerk in Grand Rapids hadn't interrupted our browsing, no doubt we would have found it ourselves. As I purchased my Tuaca, I asked the cashier if he would have known he had it in stock if I'd asked for it by name.

"I know 99 percent of what I stock," he said confidently. Then he added, "As long as the customer pronounces it correctly." Good point. I kept telling Wendy that we were looking for "El Guapo." Don't know where I got that from, but I don't believe it's a liquer.

Moral of the story? For the salesman, leave the customer alone and he may find what he's looking for without your help.

Oh, that recipe. Almost forgot. Add a shot or so (whatever) of El Guapo, excuse me, Tuaca to a mug of hot apple cider. Stir with a cinnamon stick and top with fresh whipped cream. It's a delectable holiday potable, especially on those cold winter evenings here in Michigan.