This past weekend’s warm weather forced a brief moment of anxiety upon me as I had to contemplate the impending close of “Bourbon Season”. Saying ‘goodbye’ when I am not quite prepared is always awkward for me but eschewing bourbon for the season can be painful. When temperatures start to heat up I know I […]
Olive Sablés – Pierre Hermé
French Friday’s with Dorie I say with a degree of certainty that the ‘cocktail cookie’ movement is never going to be one I will join and champion across the blogosphere much less turn my party guests onto by serving them at home. Oh, they’re good. Very good in fact. Some are even great. So great you could […]
Vermouth Cocktail – Aperitivo Fantastico Just In Time!
Wow. It seems I have discovered this vermouth cocktail just in time! It is a sad irony of my ever-aging life that my cocktail preference has grown toward less mixers and juice while at the same time I am more intolerant of the alcohol itself. Imbibing any more than three drinks night and I am […]
World Championship Onion Dip
I am not ashamed of it at all and will speak about it freely with anyone yet I still find that every now and then I will have to make a very specific point of coming out, again. Evidently despite my living a genuine life there is one thing about me not easily pick up […]
Black Manhattan – Dark, Mysterious Averna!
I have been alternately sipping and staring into this deep, brooding, dark Black Manhattan cocktail for 30 minutes now and yet I still don’t know what I want to say about it. Its gravity pulls in all my thoughts and will not let any of them escape. This deep, dark drink has got to be a metaphor […]
Cheez-it-ish Crackers
French Friday’s with Dorie Haiku Catch-Up Despite the Grand Dorista Powers That Be trying to be kind with their choices of assignments from “Around My French Table” by Dorie Greenspan due to the holiday season, I have been too lazy or just unable to participate much. I managed recently to cook up these three dishes […]
Aperol Spritz – Roman Sunset in a Glass!
Check out this seemingly off-season Aperol Spritz! Every food blog post this week starts off with the obligatory acknowledgement of an “autumn chill in the air”. While all the other food blog posts turn toward stew recipes and all manner of dishes ably prepared on stovetops or in hot ovens I’m serving this refresher! For […]
Duck Fat Popcorn
Now that it has been a few years and we are now getting to be closer friends, I feel safe to share one of my most closely held secrets with you. Here it goes: Duck fat. There! I feel so much better now that I have come out to you and my secret no longer […]
The Negroni Cocktail
I have been enjoying the Negroni since I was eleven years old. Well, not exactly. “There is a thirty year age difference between us thought Mrs. Stone. Then she was ashamed of herself and by the time Paolo had emerged from the bathroom she had mixed two negronis and placed them on the glass-topped table […]
Panaché (aka the “Shandy”)
Things here have been a bit slow but I assure this dilatory state has been of my own design and is no reflection on the urgent desire I have to share a Panaché with you. I will forgo, however, the traditional (and somewhat narcissistic) exaggerated apologies many bloggers offer when they fail to post […]
Rosemary Parmesan Crackers
I ran into an old friend a couple of weeks ago while shopping at the supermarket. Her name is Rosemary and she is someone I knew back in elementary school. I happened to have some fresh rosemary in my shopping basket at the time. It was a coincidence that I found amusing so, true to form, […]
Horse’s Neck Cocktail – Bourbon Time!
Am I too late to post a New Year’s Resolution? It involves this Horse’s Neck Cocktail. Please don’t hold my resolution tardiness against me — I not resolving to be more timely in 2012 so there! No, I know better than to do something as futile as that. When it comes to resolutions I prefer […]
The Liberté Cocktail
I know its not considered correct these days to say “I need a drink”. As if “needing a drink” puts you one stop short of addiction. But fuck, I really needed this one. I mean NEE…DED. For medicinal purposes or course. I’m sure my doctor would have prescribed one (or two as the case turned […]
Rediscovering Gin: Summer Cocktail Series
Summer is nearly over and for me it is has been a summer to rediscover the refreshing delights of gin. Gin was actually the first hard liquor I ‘learned’ to drink and the gin and tonic became my drink of choice. It was my WASPy birthright I suppose and also my grandmother’s preferred mix drink […]