From cocktails to grand gala dinners, the habits of Canberra will change in an instant at 8pm on Wednesday night.
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At Bar Beirut, master cocktail shaker Soumi Tannous has concocted a Matildas Mimosa.
A standard mimosa is white sparking wine (Champagne ideally) with orange juice.
But he's added vodka and blue curacao, the orange-flavoured liqueur which is blue in colour and which reacts with orange juice to go green.
The result is a fizzy drink which is gold and green - and, in his words, "dangerous".
"The idea was a celebratory drink, and what's better than a mimosa to celebrate," he said.
"The magic is in mixing the blue curacao with orange-based mimosa in a flute, and that layers into the perfect green and gold colour."
![Bar Beirut owner Soumi Tannous, with his creation, The Matilda Mimosa. Picture by Elesa Kurtz Bar Beirut owner Soumi Tannous, with his creation, The Matilda Mimosa. Picture by Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/pMXRnDj3SUU44AkPpn97sC/45811c5a-bbd8-4985-9c76-e878c8929e9d.jpg/r0_134_3776_2257_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Matildas Cocktail
Soumi Tannous's recipe (drink responsibly - unless they win)
- Ingredients: a single shot of vodka (into the flute first)
- topped up with two shots of orange juice (or to taste)
- topped up with the Champagne (three shot equivalents)
- finished with the blue curacao until it turns green and gold
If a spirit-based drink is too much, try a doughnut.
The Corner Market on Marcus Clarke Street turned its doughnut machine into a Matildas tribute machine churning out four boxes of donuts. Each donut was allowed five minutes to cool and then the yellow icing and the green sprinkles were added.
![The Corner Market's Veronica Olmos, Rebeca Sotomayor and Katherine Olmos with their Matildas-inspired doughnuts. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong The Corner Market's Veronica Olmos, Rebeca Sotomayor and Katherine Olmos with their Matildas-inspired doughnuts. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/steve.evans/4b004ca6-c5c2-43ca-b632-d8e52e70506a.jpg/r0_281_5500_3385_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
They were selling like hot cakes and by mid afternoon, every box had gone.
"We sold out, so then we made three more packs," Hannah Hewitson said. "We made them to support the team."
And the Canberra Writers Festival was due to start on Wednesday evening with a grand gala dinner at the National Museum.
It was a tough choice for guests: they had paid $150 for a ticket but, on the other hand, one of Australia's great sporting moments would be happening elsewhere as they tucked into the desserts.
A solution was found: a big screen and an early start for the talk by celebrity chef Elizabeth Chong.
"Our dinner commences at 6.30pm and we have juggled the program," the literary guests were emailed.
"You can then sit back to and enjoy delicious food with convivial company with the Matildas playing on the big screen.
"It would be un-Australian of us to not do it this way, one very excitable room which we can share together."
The festival's Liz Nield said: "We wanted to make sure that people got the best of both worlds."
The Dendy cinema will show the game. "Coverage starts at 7.30. Go Tillies!" as the cinema puts it. Tickets are $15 and that includes a "medium combo" (medium popcorn and a soft drink).
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The cinema bills the coverage as ending at 9.50 - but that seems to assume no extra time and decisive penalty shoot-out. Would they dare close the cinema before the result?
Many of Canberra's bars were sold out.
Ben Alexander at The Dock in Kingston was thinking hard about a play-list to wind up the English. Top of the list was "I still call Australia home".
"It's the fastest we've ever been booked out," he said. The quarter-final on Saturday was the previous fastest. Many there then immediately booked for Wednesday.
He was planning screens outside, taking the total throughout the venue to 14. There would be a non-drinking area for fans outside who would, he thought, be rugged and beanied up.
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