YumSugar

Come Party With Me: Super Bowl - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:48:31 -0800

Beer and football go together like peanut butter and jelly. You must have beer at your Super Bowl party. If you are playing a football-related drinking game - everyone choose a player, each time that player comes into contact with the ball you drink, if he fumbles or scores you chug! - stock up on a bunch of bottles and ice to keep them cold.

Have water and sodas on hand for those who choose not to partake in the drinking festivities.

Serving margaritas is a wonderful idea, but why not liven things up by offering two team related cocktails? Give guests rooting for New York long island iced teas. Offer New England fans glasses of Boston punch. Want these dangerously delicious recipes? Just read more.

Long Island Iced Tea
From Taste

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
3 cups ice cubes
1/3 cup chilled vodka
1/3 cup tequila
1/3 cup white rum
1/3 cup gin
1/4 cup Cointreau liqueur
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup chilled cola

Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Cook, without stirring, for 3 minutes or until syrup thickens. Remove from heat and set aside for 15 minutes to cool.
Divide the ice evenly among serving glasses.
Pour over the vodka, tequila, rum, gin, Cointreau, sugar syrup, lemon juice and cola. Serve immediately.

Print recipe with images | without images

Boston Punch
From Virtual Cities

2 cups apple cider
1 cup brandy
1/2 cup dark rum
1/2 cup curacao
Juice of 2 lemons
One 750-ml bottle of champagne
1 liter seltzer or club soda
1 teaspoon sugar

Chill cider, brandy, rum, curacao, lemon juice, champagne, and seltzer or club soda.
Combine cider, brandy, rum, curacao, and lemon juice with sugar, stirring until sugar dissolves.
Just before serving, pour over a block of ice in a punch bowl and stir in champagne and seltzer.

Serves 6-8.

Print recipe with images | without images

Must Read: It's About Time

partysugar — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:15:09 -0800

If you live in the Boston area you may be familiar with Chef Michael Schlow.
A James Beard Award-winning chef, Schlow owns three wildly successful restaurants: Radius, Via Matta, and Great Bay. Although I've never dined at one of Schlow's establishments, I recently got my hands on his cookbook, It's About Time ($24.71).

Different from most cookbooks, this tome is not separated into courses. Instead each section represents a specific time - be it a cooking time (Time to Eat and Now) or a time in one's life (Time to Celebrate). To find out more about this excellent cookbook, read more.

Pros:

Unlike some cookbooks by restaurant chefs, this publication is totally accessible to the home cook.
There's something for everyone, from the busy mom desperate to feed her kids healthy food fast to the culinary bachelor looking to impress his latest fling with cooking expertise.
You really get to know Michael Schlow as a chef and as a person. In some aspects, this book is autobiographical.
The recipes use common ingredients and feature classic techniques that the home cook will be familiar and comfortable with.

Cons:

The organization of the recipes is hard to follow. The ingredients are listed on the far side of the page and instead of numbering the steps, the instructions are in an easy-to-get lost bulleted list.
Some of the recipes require cooking gadgets - like a mandoline - that most people might not own.

Recipes: There are over 150 recipes that cover every course from appetizers to cocktails to dessert. While the majority are simple, a few are complex with seemingly endless steps. Still, there are plenty that I am interested in making:

Steamed Prince Edward Island mussels with spicy tomato and herb broth
Yukon gold potato soup with shrimp, bacon, and potatoes
Secret agent raspberry bars
Clams in broth
Veal Milanese with arugula, tomato, and red onion salad
The Schlow burger
Jimmy's dancing punch
Homemade ravioli
Individual lemon sabayon tarts

Imagery: The book is filled with pictures, big and small, of the dishes, of the process of cooking an item, and of the ingredients. However, some are in color and others are in black and white; some are centered on the page and others are coarsely chopped out of the book. These inconsistencies aside, the photos are beautiful and mouth-watering.

Overall Rating: This book was a very exciting find, and I look forward to experimenting with Schlow's recipes. While it would not be my first choice for a novice home cook, it would make a great gift for a cookbook collector or foodie who loves recipes.

Must-Read: Food and Wine Cocktails 2008

partysugar — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:00:13 -0700

As bartenders raise the bar on the quality of cocktails, it's no wonder I've become interested in doing the same at home. At happy hour, I no longer want to make a simple rum and coke, instead I prefer to experiment with exciting combinations and fresh, seasonal ingredients.

Recently I purchased Food and Wine Cocktails 2008, an informative, paperback full of classic and modern recipes from the nation's hippest bars and restaurants. From wine spritzers to whiskey drinks to party punches to bar snacks, nothing is overlooked or forgotten. To see what I think of the book, read more.

Pros:

The book is small, so it sits perfectly on a bar.
It's packed with everything you need to know about the art of cocktail making. There's a glossary of spirits, mixers, and other important ingredients, a diagram of glasses, and over 150 recipes.
A brief description of the bars and restaurants, along with the details on where each is located, accompanies the recipes making this book a nightlife guide as well!

Cons: Many of the spirits used in the recipes are expensive and or hard to find. If you aren't interested in creating the perfectly-stocked home bar, perhaps this isn't the best cocktail book for you.

Recipes: The recipes are straight forward and simple to follow. The book covers everything from:

The building blocks - simple syrup, homemade grenadine
The basics - dark and stormy, sazerac, etc.
The exotic - blackberry Cabernet caipirinha, Thai boxer
Party friendly - kill-devil punch, Boston tea party

Imagery: There are glossy, color photos of many of the drinks. Beautifully photographed, these images look delicious and refreshing.

Overall Rating: This is one of my newest, most favorite cookbooks!

Top 10 All-American Cocktails

partysugar — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 06:18:38 -0700

With the biggest holiday of the summer just two short days away, you might be scrambling for a fun cocktail recipe. Well lucky for you - and me! - reader hvnly34 bookmarked a couple of festive drinks. It looks like the fabulous folks over at Fine Living have put together a patriotic list of the top ten All-American cocktails. With names like American Punch and Summer Beer Cocktail, you are sure to find something tasty to serve your guests. I totally want to shake myself a Boston Pops Martini - it's garnished with cherry pop rocks and will be a sure fire conversation starter. To take a look at the top five drinks - have you heard of any of them? - just read more

The top five All-American Cocktails:

Boston Pops Martini
4th of July Shooter
Artillery Punch
Tropical Sky
All-American Whiskey Stone Sour

If the top five have peaked your interest, be sure to check out the rest of the list.

Come Party With Me: Super Bowl - The Look

partysugar — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 03:18:31 -0800

Instead of decorating in red, blue, and white - which are the team colors for the Patriots and the Giants - at your Super Bowl party, use green and brown to evoke the colors of the field and ball. But, before you begin to decorate, make sure the TV is in a central location with plenty of comfortable seating. Next turn to the table and set up a food buffet.

Cover the table with a green Astroturf tablecloth and place a brown suede runner down the middle. Sprinkle shiny football confetti all over the suede runner. A versatile pilsner glass can be used for beer, soda, long island iced tea, or Boston punch.

Serve the nachos in individual red and white paper trays and stack brown plastic plates nearby for sandwiches and empanadas. Don't forget festive football napkins.

Give beer drinkers a football insulator so their hands don't get cold. A football clapper makes a fun favor, especially if given at the start of a party.

Source