Hummer

My mother never met this man, but she would have liked him. After all, he invented her favorite adult beverage. When I worked at Hudson's restaurant mom used to stop by with her friend Bernadette (who introduced her to this drink) and they would order a couple and talk and laugh for hours.

This is Jerome Adams, who has been working behind the "Cris Craft Red" bar at Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit for many years. In 1968 he created one of Detroit's most famous alcoholic inventions: the vanilla ice cream, Kahlua, and rum concoction he named the Hummer. One of the early tasters said the drink was so good it made him hum. I don't know about that, but it made mom and Bernadette very chatty.

You can order Hummers around the world now. In London, it's called a Detroit Hummer. In Germany, it's called a Sir Jerome in honor of its creator.

I will forever think of my mom when someone mentions this tasty glass of heaven.