Cointreau

• Kate Moss raised over $300,000 for Comic Relief after reading an excerpt from Fifty Shades of Grey on the radio. [Telegraph]
  

• "I tried to approach the bottle design as I would when I dress a beautiful woman," Alexis Mabille said of the bottle he specially created for Cointreau. [Elle]
  

• Gucci has tapped Italian businessman Lapo Elkann to design a collection of made-to-measure clothing with creative director Frida Giannini. [Vogue UK]
  

• Beyoncé is rumored to have asked Julien Macdonald to design the costumes for her upcoming Mrs. Carter tour. [Grazia UK]
  

• Steven Alan has opened its first home boutique in New York City. [T Magazine]
  

• Meanwhile, Thom Browne will debut his first flagship store outside of the US in Tokyo on Saturday. [WWD]
  

• GQ has announced the best new menswear designers in America, who will design capsule collections for Gap this October. [GQ]
  

• Leslie Fremar tops the list of Hollywood's 25 most powerful celebrity stylists, with Petra Flannery and Rachel Zoe following closely in spots two and three, respectively. [The Hollywood Reporter]
  

• John Malkovich has launched an exclusive collection of Summer clothing and accessories from his label Technobohemian. [Yoox]
  

• Karl Lagerfeld never lets his professional guard down — even when he sleeps. [Harper's Bazaar]
  

The best part about living in Northern California this time of year is that while everyone else is mourning the loss of Summer, the Bay Area comes to life with impossibly blue skies, a cornucopia of tomatoes, figs, melon, and late-Summer stone fruit, and — finally! — some warm, sunny afternoons. And then, to top it all off, cocktail week enters the picture, too.

San Francisco Cocktail Week started five years ago as a way to honor the heritage of America's colorful cocktail culture, both in the Bay Area and elsewhere. The weeklong festivities are filled with parties, cocktail-making classes, and historical seminars.

Can't make it to San Francisco? I'll be here to report back what I learn on everything, whether it's how to sip tequila or the science behind tasting cocktails. To poise myself for next week's rigorous bar exams, I hunkered down with the Cointreau Cup, one of the official cocktails of next week's event. With its floral aromas and slight effervescence, it was perfect for this time of year. To see the recipe, keep reading.

A couple of weeks ago, I came across an article about cocktails through the ages that truly piqued my interest in historical drinks. Since then, I've been trying to pass the proverbial time by touching on all the tipples mentioned.

San Francisco has no shortage of Prohibition-era bars, and I've enjoyed Sidecars, Old-Fashioneds, and Manhattans on many occasions. But until now, I'd never heard of a White Lady.

The White Lady has a contested past. One legend says it was first invented in 1919 by Harry MacElhone, as a tribute to the actress Mata Hari. Others point to Harry Craddock, an American in London at the time, who later published the 1930s bartending bible, The Savoy Cocktail Book. Regardless of who invented it, a White Lady is delicious: a frothy, tart sucker punch of a drink. For the recipe, keep reading.

Each March, I bake my favorite uncle a cake for his birthday — but this year, I was at a total loss about what to make. It had to be transportable (he lives an hour away) but also unique. That's when I remembered a special cake that I'd tried awhile back.

"This is going to sound weird," a friend told me when she'd brought it over, "but this cake is made from olive oil and rosemary, and it'll blow your mind." She was right!

The earthiness of the rosemary, nutty olive oil, and bright citrus elements really complement one another. The refined cake turned out to be perfect for his understated birthday celebration. Enjoying a piece is like eating a sliver of sunshine. Read more for the recipe.

I'll be watching this year's Academy Awards from a friend's couch, but I've found the perfect drink to sip while getting dolled up for the affair. As a fan of the original sidecar, I couldn't miss the opportunity to try out a sparkling variation of the classic. This version contains all the elements of a traditional sidecar — brandy, orange liqueur, and lemon — but a splash of seltzer and a coarse sugar-coated rim give it an ethereal lift. The beverage itself contains little sugar, so the candylike rim adds a welcome sweetness. With its gilt hue, it's the ideal tipple to serve at an Oscars viewing party. For a cocktail that's worthy of its own golden statue, keep reading.

This week — the span of time when one has barely recovered from Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas hysteria has not fully begun — I've decided to dine in a manner that's as pared-down as possible. After all the roulades and triple chocolate pumpkin pies, there's something nice about a dinner of roast chicken and butternut squash.

The same goes for cocktails. I've been sipping a drink, the white Cosmopolitan, that possesses an elegant simplicity that most beverages don't have. It tastes nearly identical to the popular favorite, except it gets its gin-clear appearance from white cranberry juice, which is made from berries that are harvested before they turn red.

The result is a libation that's mysterious yet familiar, and glamorous while also practical. Learn how to make it when you read more.