The Dark Shadows Daybook: July 4

By PATRICK McCRAY

Taped on this date in 1967: Episode 280

Its party night at the Old House! We begin to learn about the family politics of 1795. At Collinwood, Carolyn is worried about the politics that could break out in her own family. Especially with Burke Devlin there. Having assembled the group at the Old House, Barnabas toasts the past with claret cup for all! Church bell rings. The candles flicker. Everyone feels an eerie presence in the room. Roger wonders if it were a ghost. He suggests that they hold a séance to contact it, and lleads the ceremony. He seems to have no luck, and just as they are getting ready to break up, there is a chill. The candles extinguish themselves. The doors blast open, and VickI goes into a trance.

Welcome to one of the most interesting, almost self-contained, and classic episodes of the entire 1,225 chapter story. There is romance, envy, hope, worry, nostalgia, and of course, a mysterious blend of the paranormal.  If you know a hater of the show, this is one of the episodes that will contradict all of their assumptions. Given that the 1795 storyline is right around the corner, they could have costumed everyone exactly as they would later be dressed in the flashback. Wisely, they did not. Everyone is just a little bit off, giving the production team a surprise to prepare for the audience. Barnabas has more baggage than O’Hare on Christmas eve. Nevertheless, he pours a mean draught of claret cup, as my friend Peggy remembered with fondness. What is it? Dig:

3 oz Bordeaux Style Red Wine
½ oz Sherry Wine
½ oz Triple Sec
¼ oz Maraschino
1 tsp Simple Syrup
½ oz Lemon Juice
Dash Angostura Bitters
Top Club Soda

Instructions: Combine all ingredients, except club soda, in a shaker tin with ice. Stir until well chilled and strain into a highball glass with fresh ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with cucumber, mint and optionally strawberries, blueberries or other fruit.

Now, if you wanted to do the ultimate claret cup garnish you could use the petals of the claret cup cactus. The flowers of this cactus are edible and so is the highly prized fruit the cactus produces. (ripped off from www.artofdrink.com)