The Marlene Dietrich, according to Dale, was created at the Hi Ho Club in Hollywood, circa 1930 (of course it would have been a couple few years later than that due to the pesky little matter of Prohibition). It consists of Canadian whiskey, orange curacao, Angostura bitters and fresh fruit, which is either muddled at the beginning or squeezed at the end. We muddled. Speaking of muddlers, I just read that former VP Hopeful Baby' Daddy Levi Johnston has decided not to show his muddler after all in his upcoming Playgirl photo shoot. What is the point of holding back the muddler in a nudie mag shoot? Is he saving it for something bigger than Playgirl? Does he have video? Attn Levi: There's no time like the present, and there most likely will be no second round for you.

A citrusy whiskey cocktail in which I used a nice fresh Texas orange from the Sunset Valley Farmer's Market

I digress. My point about this cocktail is that it is a light refreshing whiskey drink, and gave us a good excuse to use up some Crown Royal that had been collecting dust every since we realized we shouldn't drink Crown Royal. I imagine the reason why Dale calls for Canadian whiskey in this recipe is that during and at the end of Prohibition, my understanding is that there was a lot of Canadian whiskey on the market because that's what you could get, since it takes 4 yrs minimum to age American whiskey. Something I need to investigate is what happened to old stocks of American whiskey that were already in barrels when Prohibition started. Did it continue to rest through the "noble experiment?" Or did it get sold for medical purposes? If anybody knows please send me an email. And while you're at it, submit a recipe for the Drink Local Cocktail Contest--Deadline Sunday!