How to make an Aperol Spritz

The Aperol Spritz has been the summer drink for the past few years. I first tried it, in winter, in Venice, in 2005. After a day's sightseeing, we walked into a bar on the Campo Santa Margherita and saw everyone with an orange drink. What was it? 'Un spritz,' said the barman. We'd never heard of it, but ordered a couple, and enjoyed them.

Apparently, the spritz originated in Venice when it was in the Austrian Empire, and was first what we'd call a spritzer: white wine with soda. However, it evolved, with the addition of a bitter liqueur, such as Campari, Cynar or Aperol.

Now the Aperol company benefits from free marketing as everyone calls it by the name of the bitters that gives it the orange colour. And what does Aperol itself contain? Gentian (a blue mountain flower), rhubarb, bitter orange, and cinchona, a shrub or tree that's a source of quinine, which contributes to the drink's bitter edge.

On holiday a couple of weeks ago an Aperol Spritz by the sea (right) before dinner became a bit of a habit; in the Maltese heat, it was long, cool and refreshing.

After a weekend of drinking Pimm's last week I was in the mood for a long, fizzy, slightly sweet summer drink. So last night I finally got round to buying a bottle of Aperol (Waitrose, £15). I did wonder about substituting Campari but reading the labels, I realised that Aperol is about 11% ABV, less than half that of Campari, keeping the overall alcohol content of the spritz to about the same as wine.

Handily, the recipe is printed on the label – three parts prosecco, two parts Aperol, one part soda water – so no online recipe research needed. Add the traditional slice of orange to serve.

Woven wall hangings: no such thing as a new idea...

Woolly wall hangings are a quick and popular way of making a piece of wall art (instant gratification? I'm there...). Basically, take a piece of wood (twig/dowelling, straight/curved, rough/smooth, doesn't matter), then loop doubled lengths of yarn around it, leaving the lengths to hang down. If your yarn is chunky and/or has an interesting texture, you can leave it at that. If not, or you want to take a little more time, you can weave more yarn in and out of the vertical lengths.

I'd ben toying with the idea of making something along these lines for a while, but (so many ideas, so little time) hadn't quite got round to it. And then I visited Malta, went to Valletta's National Museum of Archaeology, and saw this bang-up-to-date piece, which actually dates from the Bronze Age (2400-800BC).

Back then, of course, this wooden frame was used to weave cloth, to make clothes and use for trade, not to decorate the wall. But seeing this, so similar to something we consider a new craft idea made me stop and think by the display.

And if you're wondering who said 'no such thing as a new idea', it was Mark Twain:

'There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.'