Sweet Blog O'Mine

Category: Food and Drink

  • Booze You Can Use: Tequila & Cocktails Workshop

    I just returned from a weekend in Mexico to celebrate Lauren & Jorge's wedding. There was certainly no shortage of tequila; in fact, we officially toasted their nuptials with a delicious Clase Azul reposado.  It was the perfect mid-winter getaway.

    If you can't make it to Mexico, take a shorter trip to Lani Kai, where Liquor.com is holding a Tequila and Cocktails workshop this Saturday, March 10th from 2-4 pm. Proprietress Julie Reiner will be joined by Herradura ambassador Mark Drew for an afternoon of tasting, education, and snacks. $50 tickets also include a goodie bag for the road.

  • Booze You Can Use: Whisky and Women Unite!

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    Mark your calendars! On March 8th, Compass Box and the New York Chapter of LUPEC (Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails) are joining forces for the third annual Whisky and Women Unite, a cocktail party benefitting Bottomless Closet. The first one started as a piggyback on the tweetups I had been doing, and it was such a great success that they did a second event last year.

    This year, Lani Kai hosts the fête, and LUPEC members Meaghan Dorman, Lynnette Marrero, Abigail Gullo, Eryn Reece Karin Stanley, and hostess Julie Reiner will create cocktails for the event featuring the newest relase from Compass Box, Great King Street – Artist’s Blend.  The cocktails will be $8, and a portion of the proceeds will go to Bottomless Closet, which helps disadvantaged NYC women become self-sufficient through comprehensive programming and support.

    March 8th, 6-8 p.m., Lani Kai, 525 Broome Street between Thompson and Sullivan. See you there!!

  • Booze You Can Use: Broad Appeal

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    It's always fun to drink for a cause! Join LUPEC NYC (that's the NYC chapter of Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails) as we raise money the Wounded Warrior Project at our premiere of Broad Appeal, a monthly event where one of the city's best female bartenders will recruit a celebrity male barback and join forces to raise money for their charity of choice. First up, Meaghan Dorman and Michael McIlroy this coming Tuesday from 8-12 at Macao Trading Company.

  • These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

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  • Booze You Can Use: Have a Boulevardier

    Saw this in the NYT earlier this week and fell in love with the idea of a cross between a Negroni and a Manhattan. I plan to make one as soon as I get home and I promise I'll take a picture!!

    The Boulevardier

    • 2 ounces rye or bourbon
    • 1 ounces Campari
    • 1 ounce sweet vermouth

    Stir ingredients together in a mixing glass filled with ice, strain into either a stemmed cocktail glass or a rocks glass with ice, to preference. Garnish with a twist of lemon zest.

    And, as some bonus Booze You Can Use: head to Lani Kai for the all-star version of their weekly Tiki Monday this coming week from 6pm – midnight. Not only is there a fantastic lineup behind the bar, but they're raising money for charity. Read all about it below, and I'll see you there!

    "This Monday Feb. 13th – for one night only – these star-tenders (who all have done a Tiki Monday in the past) will join forces and team up in groups of two to re-create their favorite signature tropical creations all to raise money for The Barman’s Fund – a motley assortment of bartenders in NYC who pledge one shift a month for charitable organizations.
     
    The teams are as follows:
    -Adam Kolesar- a.k.a "Tiki Adam" & Joe Desmond, Rhum Rhum Room NYC
    -Phil Ward, Mayahuel NYC & Jim Kearns, Bartender & Cocktail Consultant
    -James Menite, Forino & Jim Wrigley, Brand Ambassador for Ron Santa Teresa Rums
    -Lynnette Marrero, SPEED RACK & Richie Boccato, PKNY
    -Julie Reiner, Lani Kai & Clover Club NYC & Brad Farran, The Shanty & Clover Club, NYC"

  • Weekend Wrapup

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    Plus a highlight from Thursday: the Momofuku Ssam duck dinner with Katie, Karen, Kim and Jackie – which as absolutely delicious — followed by my maiden visit to Corkbuzz. Will definitely return. Friday night I went to the Black Grouse launch party where I had some of Lynnette's amazing cocktails, then relaxed with Moxie for most of Saturday (with a few long walks and trips to the dog run, of course) after brunch with Jenn, Emilia and Vivian. I also cooked some spicy Asian wings for Sunday and did a few errands, and capped it off with a nightcap at the 8th Street Wine Cellar. On Sunday I threw some split pea soup in the slow cooker, did some writing then had lunch with Doug before heading to Brooklyn with Moxie for a tasty-as-hell Super Bowl with Colin and Jen. I had the wings in tow, and Colin whipped up some mac and cheese and his "beefy blue" potato skins. Perfect with some beer and a rye old fashioned.

  • Booze You Can Use: Have a Hot Toddy

    So first it’s cold, then it’s hot, then it’s cold again. Regardless, make yourself a hot toddy the next time you feel cold or the next time you have a cold — either way it’ll make you feel better.

    Hot Toddy
    1 1/2 – 2 oz bourbon (or whisk(e)y of your choosing, or brandy, or rum, or really whatever booze floats your boat)
    1 tablespoon mild honey (or experiment with other sweetners, like agave or maple syrup)
    2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (or just muddle a nicely sized lemon wedge with the honey)
    boiling-hot water
    Mix bourbon, honey, and lemon juice in a mug, then top with hot water and stir. Garnish with a lemon. If you’d like, add some whole cloves and/or a cinnamon stick.
     

  • Zoom

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    A bit of badassery from Booker and Dax. There were also chicharone jacks, FTW.

  • I Need Salad

    Bobo chicken at Spicy & Tasty

    Meat-heavy weekend. Saxon & Parole, noshing in Flushing (pictured above, the spicy and delectable bobo chicken from Spicy and Tasty), Fatty Cue, Davis' chipotle mole chile, and Bo Ssam. Other weekend highlights: PDT, four little dogs in my apartment, Moxie's first trip to the vet, LUPEC meeting at the Beagle, Davis' dinner party fly-by, quality time with LA visitors @LushAngeles and @Allanvkatz, drinks at Booker and Dax, and meeting new folks.  Now pass the kale, please.

    PS — getting rid of my cable tonight. Wish me luck.

  • Booze You Can Use: Have a Manhattan

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    It's Friday, so it's time for a cocktail. The cocktails I make the most often for myself at home are the Negroni and the Manhattan. They're classics, simple, easy to remember, and guaranteed to take the edge off of even the crappiest of days. The Manhattan pictured above is a gorgeous specimen made from the team behind Booker and Dax — they use high tech techniques for most, if not all of the drinks on the menu. This particular Manhattan was pre-mixed and perfectly diluted (as it would have been if stirred with ice), then sealed in a bottle in which the oxygen was displaced with liquid nitrogen, which chills it. It is then shelf stable indefinitely. Upon ordering, it is opened and served in a glass that has been chilled with liquid nitrogen.  Making them at home is much simpler, I assure you.

    Manhattan
    2 oz rye whiskey or bourbon (your preference)
    1 oz sweet vermouth (I use Carpano Antica)
    1-2 dashes of bitters (I generally use either Angostura or Bitter Truth Aromatic Bitters from my travel bitters kit)
    Stir over ice and strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a brandied or otherwise boozy cherry (preferrably homemade).