The bar

What is on the counter

current situation: two bottles, sixty photographs, nobody paying me

There are two bottles standing in the background of most of the food on this site. I never thought about it. Then somebody counted them.

Sixty photographs with a bottle in them, going back to April 2024. Patrón in 38. Sapporo in 17. I had no idea it was that many. You do not look at your own counter.

And they do not turn up with the same food. Two and a half years of this and the two bottles have barely crossed over, and I never once decided that.

Tequila is for red meat

Of the thirty-eight Patrón photographs, ten are steak and six are brie, and a few are both at once. Then all the smoke — brats, pork butts, ribs. That bottle comes out while something is still cooking. The pan heating up, the dough proving, the smoker going at six in the morning.

It even turns up next to Macadamia Nut Fudge, which I cannot defend and am not going to try to.

Three two-inch ribeyes seasoned in the pan — Three two-inch ribeyes going into the pan. Bottle already out.

Ribeye under brie and pickled red peppers with rice — Ribeye under brie. Two of my favourite things and they ended up on the same plate.

Two wheels of brie being cut on the board — Two wheels of brie going under the knife. Bottle behind them, like always.

A tray of smoked bratwurst with the bar behind — Smoked bratwurst, and behind the tray the whole bar — Patrón, Jack Daniel's, three mustards.

Sesame barbecue wings and a bottle of Patrón — Sesame wings for the Phillies game. I put the bottle in that one on purpose.

Macadamia fudge setting under a glass Christmas tree — Even the fudge. Macadamia setting under the Christmas tree, and there is the bottle, right there.

Sapporo is for pizza

This is the one that surprised me. Seventeen photographs, and five of them are pizza — more than sushi, which is only two. A Japanese beer, and I drink most of it with Cast-Iron Pan Pizza and Chicken Parmesan over Spaghetti.

Sapporo shows up once the plate is down. Cold, usually already poured into a glass, sitting next to the finished thing. Two years of doing that and I never said it out loud.

Pepperoni pan pizza in cast iron — Pan pizza in the cast iron. This is the one I want a Sapporo with every single time.

Pineapple, pepperoni and capocollo pizza cut into slices — Pineapple, pepperoni and capocollo, cut and waiting. Green bottle at the edge of the board.

Shrimp tempura roll under crumbs with a Sapporo — Shrimp tempura roll with a Sapporo already poured. This one is obvious, I know.

Thick-cut pastrami and Sapporo on a Sunday — Thick-cut pastrami on a Sunday, and a Sapporo.

Beef quesadilla with refried beans and a Sapporo — Beef quesadilla, refried beans, Sapporo. Japanese beer with Mexican food, and I stand by it.

A 42oz bone-in ribeye with boiled eggs — Forty-two ounces of bone-in ribeye. Beer that night instead of tequila. Do not ask me why.

And the green bottle nobody asked about

In thirteen of those Patrón photographs there is a second bottle next to it, green glass, and in two years not one person has asked what it is. It is Squirt — grapefruit soda — and tequila plus grapefruit soda is a The Paloma — Patrón and Squirt.

So it is a recipe now. Get the Mexican Squirt in the glass bottle, the one made with cane sugar. Thirteen pictures of a drink I never named.

What else I keep around

The Veuve is my holiday bottle. It comes out at New Year’s next to the Caramel-Glazed Apple Bread Pudding and then goes back in the cupboard until the next one. And I will tell you the pairing right now, for free: you cannot go wrong with Veuve and mac nut fudge. A slab of Macadamia Nut Fudge and a cold glass of that. Try it once in December and then come and tell me I am wrong.

And the Jack Daniel’s on that shelf is not for drinking on its own. Every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas it goes in a mug with a load of very good whole milk — that is Whiskey Milk Punch, and it is the only thing on this page that is actually a recipe. Ole’ Marge from the Bad Luck Boys Kitty Rescue is on the side of every mug I own, so you know we are keeping it real.

An empty Patrón bottle held over a sketchbook — An empty one, held over a sketchbook. I do not know what to tell you about this except that it is an honest photograph.

Two bottles of Veuve Clicquot on the table — The Veuve. My holiday bottle, and you cannot go wrong with Veuve and mac nut fudge. That is the whole tip.

What else is always in shot

Not a bottle, but it belongs here too. The same cast-iron pan is under half the food on this website. And the oldest picture in the whole archive is a rack of ribs on the patio table from 2016, eight years before anything else here, with the sauce bottle standing in it. Nothing much has changed except the camera.

A No. 6 Smithey skillet unboxed — A No. 6 Smithey, out of the box. I cook most of this stuff in one of these.

A Japanese knife from the Goat Kaboom parcel — A Japanese knife turned up in the post from Goat Kaboom. Good day.

A rack of barbecue ribs glazed dark on the patio table — 2016. Ribs on the patio table with the sauce bottle standing in them. Oldest food picture I have got and I am still making the same thing.

No arrangement with anybody, no free bottles, nobody asked for this — same as the ice cream. Counted across 2,763 archive entries: Patrón 38, Sapporo 17, Patrón and Squirt together 13, between 21 April 2024 and 5 September 2026. Everything I cook is on the recipes page; what I grow is on the garden page; and the painting, which is the actual job, is in the gallery with the originals for sale. Please drink responsibly, and obviously do not if you are under 21.