said Nickie, my friend and fitness trainer, as we fast-walked through Georgetown one morning and she talked me through a recipe for cucumber vodka with basil.  Nickie lives in Louisiana.  I think it’s important to mention this, because if you’ve seen my photo you must think she’s not very good at her job.  In truth, she’s aces as a fitness trainer, but since we work out together a couple of times a YEAR, well, you see the problem.  You might think it odd that a fitness trainer would be handing out drink recipes, but that’s Nickie.  She knows how to live.  She also knows a knockout of a cocktail when she tastes one.  This seemingly innocent drink is coolly numbing, and a refreshing counterpoint to the spicy cocktail mix recipe that follows.  (Offering a cocktail without an accompanying savory should be against the Geneva Convention.)

It took a couple of attempts to get the Birdseed cocktail mix recipe right, after seeing a version of it in a tattered magazine in the dentist’s office, and trying to commit it to memory.  (I am uncomfortable ripping things out of doctors’ office magazines if there are other patients in the waiting room. It’s petty theft, with witnesses.)  A few nights later when my husband came home and found a baking sheet of nuts and seeds cooling on the stove, he asked, in his best my-wife-is-doing-something-odd-again voice, “Are you making birdseed?”  I’ve no doubt that both birds and humans will love this mix.

Cucumber Vodka with Basil  (Bottle should be left in freezer for several hours before using)

Makes 3 cups

Prep time: 40 minutes