Material acquisitions

Item 1: Yet Another Juicer
Up to now I've been using a lovely, classic, wooden citrus reamer on my lemons and limes. Effective, yes. But it also results in a lot of pulp and seeds in the shaker, hands covered in acid, and much difficulty in measuring as the juice ends up everywhere. So I got one of these.
Effective, keeps my hands dry, and the juice goes where one would expect, not all over the counter.

Item 2: Silicone makes everything better (almost)
I'd almost perfected the plastic icecube tray twist and shake, just enough to upend the cubes, not so much that they end up on the floor. Almost. But since silicone seems to be the be-all-end-all in kitchenware these days...it was time to modernize. I was not disappointed. Not only can I get four trays in the ice compartment instead of two, the cubes slide out individually with a push on the bottom.

Item 3: It's all about the bitters these days.
My dear friend Julian just arrived today for a summer-long stint on this coast. He brought with him three wonderful things: pictures of expensive accessories, pictures of cute animals (both in the Barney's New York catalogs) and a beautiful brown bottle of Regans' Orange Bitters No. 6. It's late tonight, but tomorrow there shall be Manhattans.