Just in time for the holidays, another “find”, this time what appears to have been the beginning of a recipe book of mixed drinks. My mother, Helen Yonge Lind, chose a nice notebook, collected a few recipes, and then the project was set aside and apparently forgotten. I’m guessing this dates from somewhere shortly after my parents were married at the end of 1939. Perhaps it was the war that intervened? Who knows.

But you never know when a traditional recipe for “Scorpions for 20” might come in handy!

We’re in the final stages of clearing out my parents’ old house in Kahala. Things are almost all sorted into piles. Give away. Throw away. Bulky item pickup. Put into storage somewhere (mostly old genealogy notes my sister will eventually sort through). Possible garage sale. Disperse among the family.

Even among the mess, the handmade cover caught my eye.

I carefully turned to the first page.

Manhattans for 4.
Manhattan special for 2.
Scorpions for 20 people.

I was hooked.

You can click on the page below to read the recipes in my mom’s handwriting. But here’s the basic scorpion recipe that she recorded.

It starts with a gallon of oke or whiskey. That tells you something right there–Okolehao was apparently much more readily available than today. Then gather a dozen juice oranges and 1-1/2 dozen lemons. Thinly slice half the fruit. Squeeze juice from the rest.

Then combine everything, add one or two cups of sugar and a couple of bunches of mint (chopped), and let stand “at least 48 hours.”

When ready to serve, strain out the fruit, then combine in a large bowl equal parts of the fruit mix, sparkling water, and ginger ale.

Add twenty people and you’ve got a party!

There’s also a recipe for a Christmas wine punch, and a couple of clippings suggesting alternatives to martinis.