Christmas isn't the same since Grandmadigr passed. It used to be a huge production, with dozens, and dozens for dinner/gifts. Other than a few little things the 'rents and I get for each other, we don't do a lot gift-wise. Momdigr has a few gifts for some of those at her church, Popdigr buys for a couple of his oldest hunting buddies. For me, it's Momdigr, Popdigr, Best Friend, and that's it.

I'm thinking of making My Bartender a muddler for Xmas. She doesn't have one, and the bar won't get her one, cheapskates. If you muddled, what would like your muddler made out of?

Whatever you have on hand. Walnut would look nice. But any hardwood should do. I made one out of maple from a branch I cut out of the tree in our front yard. If you want to get fancy, you could put a piece of wood on a lathe, but really just any stick and a file or sandpaper can make a nice muddler.

Popdigr has a nice little lathe in his shop. I thought about sugar maple, it's fairly hard. Then I thought about aluminum. Then I thought sugar maple, with a fitted aluminum tip on the bidness end. Would any old aluminum be food drink safe?

Drink safe? Sure. But the epoxy you use to join the aluminum to the wood probably won't be. And if you use a machine screw to join the two together, that joint is gonna get full of gunk over time.