Last night, Ken Burns’ predictably great new documentary on Prohibition premiered on PBS. (For those of you who missed it, you can catch the first episode online.) Among the fascinating tidbits: the etymology of bootlegger, teetotaler, skid row, and scofflaw, which lends its name to the cocktail created by the Varnish’s head saloonkeeper. See below for the LA Weekly article and recipe.

In our recent conversation with Ken Burns, the award-winning filmmaker with the distinctive bowl-shaped haircut admitted that many who’ve watched his and Lynn Novick’s 5 ½ hour documentary Prohibition end up with cocktail-cravings. Which got us thinking: What if we were to ask Eric Alperin, co-owner of The Varnish bar in Historic Downtown Los Angeles and Prohibition-era scholar, to suggest a suitable cocktail to imbibe while you’re learning about our country’s famously unsuccessful social experiment?

“Let me mull it over,” Alperin responded via e-mail.

Keep reading… What To Drink While Watching A PBS Doc About Prohibition: The Scofflaw – Los Angeles Restaurants and Dining – Squid Ink.

As the rampaging squirrel in our yard alerted us, it’s fig season in California! We rescued our first two (varietal: Brown Turkey, which is pretty much what they look like when ripe) from his furry grasp yesterday, and I’m pondering whether to stuff them with goat cheese and honey, or wrap them up in bacon and broil them. As I ponder this, they’ll probably just get eaten. Hopefully, there are many more to come.

If you aren’t lucky enough to have a fig tree yet (but ARE lucky enough to live in Southern California), head over to the the Huntington Library to learn how to get started growing your own fig supply. It will up your popularity, among man and rodent alike…

What: Ranch Lecture: From Twigs to Figs, by Jon Verdick, owner of San Diego’s Encanto Farms Nursery, which specializing in figs and bananas.

Where: The Huntington Library Friends’ Hall
151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA

When: Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011
7:30 p.m.

This event is free and does not require reservations.