A Spritz of Flavor -- Fun with Seltzer in the j.

My latest column is posted on the j. website -- Click here to read it. It's all about my love affair with seltzer with recipes for a classic New York egg cream, home-made ginger ale and celery soda.

I did a lot of research into the classic Dr. Brown's celery soda (once called a tonic) and found that there used to be scores of regional celery-flavored sodas including celery cherry, celery cola and celery creme. Today's Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray seems milder to the taste buds than the one my father used to knock back with his pastrami or corned beef sandwich at Katz's Deli. I don't know if they sweetened it for modern tastes or if a celery soda just seems wrong to a child with her more sensitive taste buds. If you like ginger ale, I think you'll like my celery soda. I hope you'll give it a try.