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Come Party With Me: Fast Thanksgiving - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:30:11 -0800

As much as I love cocktails made from fresh, seasonal ingredients, sometimes there simply isn't time - especially when you need Thanksgiving dinner ready in a hurry - to juice 20 blood oranges. The grocery store liquor aisle is crowded with generic and overly-sweet cocktail mixers, but there's one brand I trust for excellent mixers: Stirrings. With their blood orange flavor you can make a quick batch of blood orange bellinis.

Serve wine at mealtime. Call your local wine shop and ask them to set aside a couple of Thanksgiving-friendly bottles for you. Use their expertise to save time. You won't have to research wine pairings or stand in the wine aisle wondering what to buy. Don't forget sparkling apple cider, water, and soda for the kids. To look at the easy blood orange bellini recipe, read more.

Blood Orange Bellini
From Stirrings

Ingredients

1 oz. Stirrings Blood Orange Mixer
4 oz. dry sparkling wine or champagne

Directions

Chill a champagne flute.
Pour the blood orange mixer into the prepared glass.
Slowly top with sparkling wine. Garnish with blood orange wheel, if desired.

Makes 1 drink.

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Happy Hour: The Classic Bellini

partysugar — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 13:13:33 -0700

If you have yet to consume a bellini this peach season, drop everything you are doing and run to the nearest grocery store or high-end watering hole. Bellinis are one of my favorite things about summer - the fresh white peach puree mixed with sparkling Italian Prosecco makes for a tasty, fabulous cocktail. Oozing with chicness, this drink is simple to make and a nice alternative to a mimosa. It's the perfect Friday afternoon cocktail and a great way to treat yourself and the gals after a long week. If you don't have Prosecco substitute your favorite sparkling wine or Champagne. To see how easy they are to make, read more

Bellini
Modified from Food Network

6 white peaches, (about 1 pound, 8 ounces), peeled, halved, and pitted
1/2 cup superfine sugar, plus more for garnish
1/4 cup water
1 bottle Prosecco (750 ml or 3 1/3 cups), chilled

Stir the sugar and water in a large saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Cool completely.
Puree the peaches and in a blender with the sugar syrup until smooth. Strain through a fine-meshed strainer and into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate.
Pour about a 1/8th of the peach mixture into the prepared glass and top off with Prosecco. Stir gently and serve.

Serves 8.

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Happy Hour: Blood Orange Bellini

partysugar — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 12:43:41 -0800

Fashion Week started on Friday and I thought for today's happy hour cocktail I would do my favorite fashionable drink recipe, the Bellini. I first became obsessed with drinking Bellinis while reading Bergdorf Blondes. Typically a Bellini is made with fresh white peach puree but since it's winter I say we substitute the peach puree with blood orange juice. If you have never had a Bellini you MUST try one right now. Oh my gosh, this is the first time ever that I want to get up and leave my desk, run down to Whole Foods for some blood oranges, and stir up a Bellini for everyone in the office. To do the same, read more

Blood Orange Bellini
From Mario Batali

Champagne flutes
1 (750 ml) bottle prosecco
1 quart blood orange juice, or 15 blood oranges, juiced

Place the flutes in the freezer.
Chill the prosecco on ice for 30 minutes.
Open the prosecco and let it stand at room temperature for 5 minutes.
Pour 2 ounces of blood orange juice into each glass. Fill to within 1/2-inch of the top of the glass with prosecco and serve.

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Happy Hour: Bellini

partysugar — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:00:56 -0700

During the Summer's peach season, I love to enjoy bellinis. Similar to a mimosa, a bellini is Prosecco diluted with fresh white-peach puree. When made with perfectly ripe peaches, this glamorous cocktail is slightly sweet and delicately bubbly.

Named for the 15th-century Venetian painter, Giovanni Bellini, the drink was created at Harry's Bar in Venice sometime between 1934 and 1948. Now it is considered a classic cocktail and can be found on menus across America.

To make the peach puree, score a cross on the bottom of each peach with a knife.

Drop into a pot of boiling water for a couple minutes, plunge into an ice-water bath, and remove the skin. Chop into chunks, puree in the blender, and strain through a fine mesh sieve. For the proportions of this sublime concoction, read more.

Bellini
From Tony Abou-Ganim

Ingredients

3 ounces Prosecco or other sparkling wine
2 ounces fresh white-peach puree

Directions
Mix and serve in champagne flute.

Makes 1 cocktail.

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Come Party With Me: Gossip Girl Premiere - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:50:55 -0700

No season premiere party is complete without a special drink, especially if the show in question is Gossip Girl, where the characters seem to be constantly guzzling cocktails. All the recipes I'm making next Monday night were created by acclaimed New York City chefs: Daniel Boulud, Mario Batali, Eric Ripert - Blair and Serena have surely dined at their respective restaurants.

Not to be forgotten is Jean-Georges Vongerichten. The Frenchman came up with this Champagne-based concoction, an elegant take on the classic bellini. Instead of peach nectar, Jean-Georges uses a combination of cherry puree and yuzu juice.

Don't worry if you can't get your hands on fresh yuzu; Vongerichten recommends a mixture of tangerine and lime juice instead. To look at the recipe, keep reading.

Come Party With Me: Bachelorette - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:50:58 -0700

If you're hosting a party - like Ronda's belly dancing-themed bachelorette - that begins in the early evening and carries on until the wee hours of morning at a second location, skip the shots and hard alcohol. You don't want guests getting too wasted too quickly, and you'll save money by not having to purchase a bunch of liquor.

At a bachelorette, serve a girly, bubbly cocktail like this lavender and peach bellini. Its vibrant color matches the sunny Mediterranean appetizer menu, and the easy recipe makes a large batch. White wine and sparkling water are other good beverage options to have on hand. For the recipe to this fruity and floral concoction, read more.

Lavender and Peach Bellini
From Epicurious

Ingredients

1 part peach puree
2 parts Prosecco or another sparkling wine
1 pinch of edible, nontoxic, dried or fresh lavender

Directions

Place the puree in the bottom of a champagne glass.
Carefully pour in the sparkling wine.
Don't stir, but use a spoon to pull the puree up along the sides of the glass, so that you won't lose the bubbles.
Decorate with the lavender.

Serving size varies.

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Come Party With Me: Easter - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:50:53 -0700

Like every holiday, your Easter dinner (or brunch) should start off with a signature cocktail. A drink that uses sparkling wine is especially celebratory.

I plan on serving this concoction entitled peach and Prosecco ice. The pretty cocktail is similar to the classic bellini, but since peaches aren't in season it calls for frozen sliced peaches. It's festive, fruity, and light. The subtly sweet peach flavor will complement the freshness of the pea and mint appetizer.

To look at the easy recipe, which can be made in advance, read more.

Peach and Prosecco Ice
From Bon Appétit

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup hot water
1/4 cup orange juice
1 16-ounce bag frozen sliced peaches, thawed, juices reserved
1 bottle plus 1 cup chilled Prosecco or other sparkling white wine

Directions

Stir first 3 ingredients in medium bowl until sugar dissolves.
Blend peaches and reserved peach juices in processor until peaches are finely chopped. With machine running, gradually pour in sugar syrup; process until smooth.
Add Prosecco and blend well. Transfer mixture to container.
Cover and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours. Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep frozen.
To serve scoop a generous spoonful into a champagne flute and top with sparkling wine.

Makes about 4 cups.

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Come Party With Me: Gossip Girl Premiere - The Look

partysugar — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:15:55 -0700

You don't need to go all out with crazy decorations for a Gossip Girl season premiere party, but I do recommend cleaning your living room. A neat space will make you and your guests feel more comfortable. Give everyone their own folding tray table and floral-printed serving tray. Stripped dish towels make chic and eco-friendly napkins. Place the appetizer on a large platter, serve the pasta in bowls, and sip the bellini in champagne flutes.

A simple bouquet of red flowers mimics the pattern on the trays and completes the look.

Photo courtesy of The CW

Bellini

partysugar — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:38:19 -0700

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Happy Hour: Peach Donkey

partysugar — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:00:34 -0700

Although this cocktail recipe has a weird name, the ingredients are pretty ordinary and the flavor is absolutely sublime. It's similar to the classic bellini - because it combines peach puree with effervescence - but, thanks to the addition of vodka and Canton, it's much more potent. When blended together, the sweetness of the peach offsets the subtle heat of the ginger. The final cocktail is refreshing and easy to drink. For a rustic feel, serve in mason jars! If you can't find ginger beer, simply substitute sparkling water. Sound interesting? Get the recipe when you read more.

Peach Donkey
From Food & Wine Cocktails 09

Ingredients

1 ounce vodka
1/2 ounce ginger liqueur
3 ounces peach puree or nectar
Crushed ice
1 ounce chilled ginger beer
Peach slices, for garnish (optional)

Directions

In a highball glass, combine the vodka, ginger liqueur and peach puree; stir.
Add crushed ice and stir again. Top with the ginger beer and swizzle by spinning a swizzle stick or bar spoon between your hands. Garnish with peach slices.

Makes 1 drink.

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