Derby Prep

I have never lived in Kentucky, I don't own a horse, I have never raced horses, but still I go through the effort to celebrate the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. The Derby makes for a good excuse to latch onto some traditions and party like it's 1947 (year selected at random). The mint julep is one of those storied traditions. The drink and its octane level were expertly described by Walker Percy (another NC notable) in the chapter titled "Bourbon" in Signposts in a Strange Land:

. . . mint juleps, famed Southern Bourbon drink, though in the Deep South not really drunk much. In fact, they are drunk so seldom that when, say, on Derby Day somebody gives a julep party, people drink them like cocktails, forgetting that a good julep holds at least five ounces of Bourbon. Men fall face-down unconscious, women wander in the woods disconsolate and amnesiac, full of thoughts of Kahil Gibran and the limberlost.

I don't know anything about the works of Kahil Gibran, nor do I know what limberlost really means, but the innocent, proper looking drink above will knock you down, confusing you on the way to the floor with a haze of sugary sweetness.

I know there are horses involved with this event, but I usually focus on the food and drink. For those of you keeping score, here's the list of Derby Contenders. It has lots of funny names and pretty colors which will be useful tools for placing bets come Derby day.