While people often default to their favorite cocktails, we enjoy the occasion to serve a specialty cocktail. Here’s a Thanksgiving cocktail developed by Lee Anne Wong, one of our favorite cheftestants from the first season of “Top Chef,” for Maker’s Mark Bourbon.
RECIPE: CRANBERRY MAPLE COOLER
Ingredients For 1 Drink
1-1/2 parts bourbon
1 tablespoon cranberry jam
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 drop vanilla extract
3 parts cranberry juice
Splash club soda
Fresh cranberries for garnish
Ice
A cocktail with cranberry and maple for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Photo courtesy Makers Mark.
Preparation
1. COMBINE the bourbon, cranberry jam, maple syrup, vanilla extract and cranberry juice in a shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously.
2. STRAIN over ice, add a splash of soda and garnish with cranberries.
What happens when two of Italy’s prominent brands get together? One gives the other a fashion makeover.
Disaronno, Italy’s best selling liqueur and international fashion house Moschino have launched a special edition holiday bottle concept, “Moschino Loves Disaronno.”
Moschino has adorned the classic Disaronno bottle with a red and black heart pattern (actually more appropriate for Valentine’s Day gifts, so buy them now while you can). A great gift for amaretto fans, it’s also a collectible for the fashionistas with whom you exchange gifts.
The limited edition bottle is available now for $24.99 at stores nationwide, or through 1-877-spirits.com.
Profits from the Disaronno and Moschino project will support the charity Fashion 4 Development, an African initiative sponsored by the United Nations, with the aim of developing creative strategies for sustained economic growth and development in countries worldwide.
ABOUT DISARONNO LIQUEUR
Limited edition for the holidays (or buy in advance for Valentine’s Day). Photo courtesy Disaronno.
The legend of Disaronno dates back to 1525, when Renaissance artist and Leonardo da Vinci pupil Bernardino Luini was commissioned to paint a fresco in the town of Saronno. To portray the Madonna of Miracles, he chose as his muse a beautiful local innkeeper. She repaid the honor by giving the artist a flask of the fragrant and delicate amber liquor known as amaretto di Saronno.
There are numerous brands of amaretto. But with its distinctive square stopper, Disaronno is the world’s best-selling Italian liqueur.
Amaretto is enjoyed neat (a popular pairing with after-dinner coffee), on the rocks, or in cocktails. To celebrate this festive collaboration, Disaronno has created a special cocktail:
A holiday sour, garnished with currants (often mis-identified as “Champagne grapes.”) Photo courtesy Disaronno.
RECIPE: HOLIDAY SOUR
Ingredients For 1 Drink
3 parts Disaronno or other amaretto liqueur
1 part lemon juice
7 muddled cranberries
Ice
Champagne, prosecco or other sparkling wine
Garnish: currants, lemon wheel, rosemary sprig or other favorite
Preparation
1. SHAKE the ingredients with ice and strain into a flute.
People who love to bake love the holidays. And then there are those once-a-year-bakers who only pull out the mixing bowl in November and December.
No matter which end of the spectrum you’re on, here are some tips from the American Egg Board:
TIP #1: COOKIES. If you’re making molded cookies (bells, candy canes, stars, wreaths, etc.), make sure they hold their shape. Chill the dough before cutting your cookies into shapes, and put them on a baking sheet that has been cooled in the freezer for a few minutes beforehand. This will ensure that the cookies hold their shape when baking. (Check out the different types of cookies.)
TIP #2: COOKIES & CAKES. Put a spin on your favorite classic recipes. Add dried cranberries or cherries, crushed candy canes, mint chips, toffee chips or other season-inspired mix-ins. Here’s our recipe for Cranberry or Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies with white chocolate chips.
Flourless chocolate cake is gluten-free. Photo courtesy American Egg Board.
Switch up chocolate chip cookies with dried cranberries and white chocolate chips. Photo courtesy Cherry Marketing Institute.
TIP #3: GLUTEN FREE OPTIONS. Make a flourless chocolate cake. Moist and fudgy, it’s always a hit. Here’s a recipe for a delicious chocolate-orange flourless cake from the American Egg Board.
TIP #4: SOUFFLÉS. Make sure your special soufflé doesn’t turn into a souf-flop. Separate whites from yolks carefully before beating and ensure that no hint of yolk gets into the whites. Then let the whites stand for a few minutes; they whip up better at room temperature.
TIP #5: GIFTS. Homemade baked goods are always a popular gift. These days, few people need another “incidental” gift item—candle, mug, refrigerator magnet, water bottle, whatever. Your homemade cookies are much more welcome.
QUESTIONS? The experts at the American Egg Board are happy to help.
Shoot your baking and cooking questions to the Incredible Edible Egg Facebook page or tweet @incredibleEggs; they’ll be happy to provide a solution.
Droga Chocolates was launched in 2007 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Founder Michelle Crochet grew up addicted to her mother’s homemade rocky road candy, which replaced walnuts with roasted, salted peanuts long before salt and chocolate became the rage.
Michelle became a food buyer for Williams-Sonoma, and subsequently decided to join the ranks of Bay Area food-preneurs, ultimately pairing with a business partner, Lisa Albani. They consider themselves “the perfect ingredients for a sweet and successful business.”
We tasted their holiday wares, and have a few requests for Santa:
GINGERBREAD MEN
We could eat an army of these gingerbread men. Photo courtesy Droga Chocolates.
The Jolly Gingerbread Cookie really hit the spot. As soon as we finished one, we wanted another (our gift set from Droga, while generous, included only one of the ginger guys).
In a coat of milk or dark chocolate, the artisan gingerbread, a cookie 6 inches long and 6.5 ounces, is $12.50 in a cellophane bag and ribbon. There are also smaller “gingerbread boys” for $6.95.
Two excellent flavored salt caramels. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE
SALT CARAMELS
We taste a lot of salt caramels, and not that many turn our heads. Droga’s East vs. West Salt Caramel Set hit the spot, and made us sad that there were only four caramels in each box. We could have eaten dozens of:
NYC City Caramels: chocolate espresso caramels in dark chocolate and hint of black salt.
LA City Caramels: lemon ginger caramels in dark chocolate and hint of pink salt
A four-piece box of each flavor, $13.95.
Any of these would make a more-than-welcome stocking stuffer or party favor.
MORE GOODIES
Larger portions, gaily boxed, include:
Big Bite Brittle
Money On Honey Caramels, with intense, rich honey flavor
Peppermint Peppies, dark and white chocolate with crushed peppermint
Rebel Rocky Road (Mom’s recipe)
Nutty Puddles, a turtle-like confection of roasted almonds and honey caramel
