Although these herbs are different I use them often times interchangeably. The many uses of Thai basil and cinnamon basil goes on and on.  I typically use them in Thai food , like soups, sautés and sauces, but one of my favorite ways to use the herbs are in syrups and in drinks.  The syrups can be used to flavored baked goods, stir fry and in COCKTAILS!  The Ger-Nis Sunday Supper Club fell on my birthday this spring, and the supper club was also a pseudo birthday party- kind of a bittersweet idea for me as I am trying to transition into better work-personal life separation.   As a lady who works too much, the idea to combine the two seemed natural to me, and overall I like the idea still on some level. I’m sure it was a protection mechanism for not exposing myself to the idea that I didn’t have many friends right here in Brooklyn because of my lack of Sustenance in my own life.  I realize that in the coming years I need to have a bit more separation between some personal events and work.  It’s where I have always gone wrong in the past several years, trying to make my personal life business related, but the truth is that I learned they are separate and there needs to be space between the two.  My personal life should be filled with love and loving friendships, and my professional life should be filled with people that I have a mutual respect for- creativity and works related stuff!  Work can have people that I love and that have loving friendships within it, but they are working with me due to professional reasons, and the separation is important.  I learned a lot of lessons that night, drinking this drink that I came up with for the supper club!  It’s my birthday antidote for growth, and truly fitting- seasonal, springy and tantalizing beyond belief!!

Apéritif de Lillet Cannelle Basilic
Makes 1 cocktail

Ingredients

1 ounce cucumber infused gin
2 ounces lillet blanc
½ ounce blood orange juice
½ ounce cinnamon basil syrup (recipe follows)
Garnish with cucumbers marinated in cinnamon basil and lillet blanc
Cinnamon basil leaves for garnish

Directions

In a shaker filled with ice, combine gin, lillet, blood orange juice and cinamon basil syrup. Shake well and strain into a lowball glass filled with ice or a martini-style glass. Garnish with a lillet-soaked cucumber and cinnamon basil leaf.

Cinnamon Basil Syrup
Makes 1 cup syrup