Happy Stone House Day❣️ to my favorite stone house: The Old Stone House of Brooklyn (OSH Bklyn) — cosmically just a stone’s throw from my own household (and TFG HQ here in Brooklyn, NYC) and is rightfully considered the heart 💜 of our Park Slope community.
Each early Sunday morning on 4th Street betw 4th & 5th Ave until 2pm
🗓️ Check out their 👉🏽 amazing weekly (so
metimes daily!) events 👈🏾 that take place here, including the beloved Park Slope Farmers Market (Sundays, 9am–2pm via Down to Earth Markets).
As a Resident Food & Public History Advisor for OSH, I’m delighted to share highlights herein from one of their most amazing annual happenings that takes place in June each year…
I was so excited to feature a custom cocktail I created this year’s soirée (some folks bake special-occasion cakes — I create special-occasion concoctions! 😉) the event they festively framed as:
🌟 Rock the House 2025: A Grown-Up Benefit Party for the OSH Gardens! 🌟
…I was so excited to feature a custom cocktail I created this year’s soirée (some folks bake special-occasion cakes — I create special-occasion concoctions! 😉) the event they festively framed as:
Based on the 1920’s classic “Bees Knees” cocktail, my more unconventional concoction swaps out the gin for an amazing mezcal ….
Inspired by the reality of bumble bees as big time garden pollinators - AND the 1920s classic cocktail called the “Bee’s Knees” 🌼🐝 — to showcase the beautiful bounty of the OSH Garden Grounds, for this modern remix I made a radical change of spirit for today’s roaring Twenties by swapping out Prohibition era gin tradition with an award-winning Mezcal Artesanal called Eléctrico 🏆⚡️ , a timeless subtly smokey spirit, beautifully crafted in San Baltazar Guelavila, Oaxaca by the Maestro Mezcalero, Cirino…
This drink update was also a nod to the vibrant impact of the migration patterns of Mexican peoples in recent years and decades, and the positive impacts of Mexican culinary and cocktail culture throughout NYC — since arriving, these hardworking folks, in tandem with immigrants from many nations and others of countless cultures have been serving as the backbone of the restaurant and hospitality industries. Which also includes influential roles like chefs, bartenders, and food/drink artisans who’ve helped shape an even more flavorful, inclusive, and spirited food and drink scene here in NYC.
Oh, so I called this contemporary concoction The Eléctrico ⚡️ Garden Glow 💐🌙 — but see also below for the Spanish-language-influenced labels I came up with for the “Cocktail Coloring Bar” portion…
TFG STORYTELLING Sip by Sip:
For the drink’s narrative I connected some cosmic dots between mezcal making and beekeeping traditions: the use of calming “white smoke” 💨 in hives echoes the gentle, artful smoke stage of making real mezcal. A perfect pairing of nature, craft, and celebration.
✨ Guests also got to enjoy the “Bloom Your Buzz” Cocktail Coloring Bar I set up to optionally add-in all-natural hues (some with subtle flavors ) — to personalize their glasses and bring even more of the tints and tastes of the great OSH Gardens to their glasses🌸🌿✨🌺🌷🪴🍃.
All natural cocktail coloring options included:
🟡 GARDEN GOLD : A subtly spiced slightly citrusy stir in to further illuminates your Eléctrico Glow custom cocktail…
🔴 FRESA FRAGRANTE (Fragrant Strawberry) aka “Fresa Fields Forever": super fun with fruity floral stir notes that helps segue from spring to summer when the vibrant colors of bright red fruits & veg are in abundance…
[hearing of the hint of mint influenced this attendee’s cocktail color choice…]
🟢 VISTA VERDE: A green kiss from the garden – plant elixirs with a hint of mint make magic when they meet Electrico mezcal…
🔵 BLUE BUTTERFLY Ethereal blue, smooth and serene… this add-in makes you want to call this drink the “Bees Ease”
🟣 VIBRANT VIOLETA (aka “Play Ground Purple”): a splash of citrus to the above mentioned “Blue Butterfly “aka “Bees Ease” becomes a color considered spiritually sacred throughout Mexican history and culture – a violet hue signifying strong connection to the divine…
🔍 Public History in Action
At OSH I also get to collaborate with Executive Director Kimberly Maier, Education Director Maggie Weber, and Scholar-in-Residence , Dylan Yeats on important projects like:
Uncovering the Legacy of Slavery at OSH — exploring what happened to those enslaved here and their descendants, and how to better commemorate this important and inclusive history.
If you’re interested in supporting this meaningful work, drop a comment or make a donation to OSH and earmark it toward public history programming.
💸 Why Your Support Matters
OSH depends on community contributions—both local and virtual—to fund its:
Historical and cultural programming
Environmental education & public art
Maintenance of the lush and diverse gardens
JJ Byrne Playground and Washington Park stewardship
🎁 Your Donations help keep the good growing 🌱 . DONATE Today — it’s Stone House Day! https://theoldstonehouse.org/donate/
For info on strategic giving or sponsorships, contact Executive Director Kimberly Maier at 718-768-3195 or kmaier@theoldstonehouse.org
🎙️ BONUS: TFG Messages from the OSH Grounds
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🔴 ALSO: It’s National BEET Day Today!
A day to honor this vitamin C–, fiber–, and potassium-rich vegetable—and a personal favorite of mine for creating all-natural deep red hues in food and drink (no fake colors needed!).
I love utilizing beets as an awesome and amazing all natural source for infusing bright and deep red hues into food and drink recipes the more NATURAL way vs. opting for fake carcinogenic food colors .
Check out these 👉🏽 creative culinary applications of the versatile beet via recipes 👈🏾 I curated for Food.com
In fact, beets were the magic behind the perfect red at this year’s cocktail coloring bar!
LEARN MORE ABOUT TFG’s PATREON PLATFORM
🖇️ Check out my 🔗 LINKTREE for myriad ways to see what’s going on at a glance, stay in the loop and support the movement.