Melt-in-your-mouth French macarons. Photo
by Oksana Shufrich | IST.

Great macarons are a memorable gift—and you can still get some in time for Mother’s Day.

This week’s Top Pick is Macaron Café in New York City: our current reigning favorite macaron.

Airy, delicate, melt-in-your-mouth sandwich cookies are made in dozens of flavors. Unlike many overly subtle macarons we’ve tried, these flavors are strong and delectable.

Macaron Café makes all the classic flavors, plus trendy favorites such as Caramel Fleur de Sel (salted caramel) and Nutella.

Check out the full review and treat yourself—or your favorite mom—to a box.

Macaron vs. macaroon: What’s the difference?

Find more of our favorite cookies and recipes in our Gourmet Cookies Section.

When it gives you a bottle of vodka and some vanilla beans, make vanilla extract.

Commercial vanilla extracts are 35% alcohol, by law. The alcohol is a neutral spirit, like vodka. So imagine how good your extract will be if you use a good-to-excellent vodka: Good enough to give as gifts!

HOMEMADE VANILLA EXTRACT RECIPE

Ingredients

You can buy top-quality vanilla extract, or you can make your own. Photo by Claire Freierman | THE NIBBLE.

 
 
Preparation

1. PREPARE JAR. Clean jar and implements with boiling water, to avoid any contaminants from impacting the extract flavoring.

2. PREPARE BEANS. With a damp cloth, wipe down the beans. Slit them lengthwise, leaving an inch at the top. The objective is to allow the flavorful seeds inside (the “caviar”) to macerate in the vodka, along with the whole pod.

3. ADD BEANS TO JAR. If you are using a jar that’s shorter than the beans, you can cut the beans in two-inch segments.

4. ADD VODKA & SHAKE. Don’t fill the jar to the rim; some water will leach out from the beans.

5. AGE & EXTRACT. Store the bottle in a cool, dark place. In 4 weeks, the vanilla will be ready to use in a pinch, but the extraction will continue to intensify the flavor for 6 months—the ideal time at which to use it. After that, the vanilla will continue to mature, like a fine wine, for years. The longer it ages, the more flavorful it will be.

6. BOTTLE. To give as gifts, use a coffee filter to strain into smaller bottles that have been washed in boiling water. Create your own label. You can include the type of vodka and the preparation and bottling dates.

7. GOING FORWARD. The vanilla beans are fully extracted after 6 months. They will dry out as the extract is used and they become exposed. You can remove the old beans and add new ones for more intense vanilla flavor; or you can start a new batch for gifting,

BOTTLES FOR GIFTS

If you start now, you can be giving your favorite bakers a holiday gift of homemade vanilla extract—made with a premium vodka, of course Here are four-ounce brown bottles. Start designing your label!

Just like the other herbs on your shelf, tea doesn’t maintain its flavor for years; it fades over time. Black, green or white, the fresher tea is, the better it is.

For your own enjoyment or for Mother’s Day gifting, you can now enjoy the freshest Darjeeling tea of the season, known as the first flush (the first plucking).

Darjeeling, high in the Himalayas, is a district and city in the Indian state of West Bengal, on the western border of Bangladesh. The tea plant’s winter dormancy period is over, and young leaves have sprouted over the Darjeeling hillsides.

Darjeeling tea is revered by many tea connoisseurs for its delicate muscatel flavor (which connoisseurs enjoy plain, without milk and sugar).

The Republic Of Tea has air-freighted a very limited quantity of this first flush tea to the U.S., so that tea lovers can enjoy the first tea of spring.

The tea comes from the Thurbo Estate, at an elevation of over 5,000 feet (Darjeeling ranges to 6,730 feet—light woolens are worn in summer). Nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, the Thurbo tea plants grow alongside orange orchards and orchid vines.

Spring 2012 in Darjeeling was unusually dry. Quality was high, but yields were low, making this tea more rare than in other years.

Rich in essential oils, the leaves have an exquisite, sweet flavor and aroma. Pronounced muscatel notes are followed with a soft astringency and a lingering finish.

A Limited Edition

There’s just a limited amount of this special reserve tea available. A 3.5-ounce reusable tin, which makes 50-60 cups of tea, is $25.00.

The tea is certified kosher by OU and certified gluten free.

Get yours here.
Find everything you want to know about tea in our Tea Section.

You don’t need a punch bowl: You can serve punch in a large pitcher. Photo courtesy Belvedere vodka.

Punch is easy to make. Essentially, five or so ingredients are mixed directly in the punch bowl or pitcher.

We have some tips, below, to make perfect punch. But first, here’s a quick look at the history of punch.

WHAT IS PUNCH?

Punch is a general term for a broad assortment of mixed drinks, made with or without alcohol. While punch generally contains fruit or fruit juice, fruit isn’t essential. An elegant punch bowl is not required: A pitcher is fine, and in many cases, it’s more practical.

Punch was discovered in India by the British sailors of the East India Company. The concept was brought to England in the early 17th century. From there it spread to other countries.

The word “punch” derives from the Hindi word, “panch.” In India, panch was made from five different ingredients: sugar, lemon, water, tea or spices and an alcoholic spirit. The word for “five” in Sanskrit is panchan; hence the name.
 
PERFECT PUNCH TIPS

1. PUNCH BOWL VS. PITCHER. Most people use a punch bowl so rarely, they don’t want to invest in one. But you can find inexpensive plastic punch bowls at party stores, which can be repurposed for salad and keeping other drinks on ice at other parties, picnics and barbeques. Here’s a handsome plastic punch bowl with a modern, squared-off shape.

2. GLASSES. You don’t need special punch cups; use rocks glasses or the plastic equivalent.

3. ALCOHOL VS. NO ALCOHOL If you’re having a mixed crowd—drinkers and non-drinkers—make the punch without alcohol and put bottles of alcohol with shot glasses and stirrers next to the punch bowl. Guests can add the amount of alcohol they like.

4. LARGE BLOCK OF ICE. For a punch bowl, block ice is the best option. It melts slowly, keeps the punch colder for longer and reduces the dilution. Here are two ways to make it (24 hours in advance):

5. TASTY ICE. If you don’t like your tap water, use spring water to make the ice.

6. CHILLED INGREDIENTS. Your punch will stay colder longer if you the ingredients—alcohol, soda, water—for several hours before serving. The more chilled the liquids, the less the ice will melt to cool down the punch.

7. ASSEMBLE ON THE TABLE. A full punch bowl is heavy to carry, and can slosh over the rim as you carry it. Do the smart thing and place the empty punch bowl on the serving table; then assemble the ingredients.

8. ADD BUBBLES AT THE END. If your recipe includes soda, sparkling wine or other carbonated beverage, add it at the last minute—ideally when the first guests arrive.

9. MAKE GARNISHES IN ADVANCE. Every punch bowl needs some garnish, at a minimum, citrus wheels. Mint sprigs or rosemary sprigs and berries add more visual interest. Except for berries, prepare the garnishes ahead of time (the day before is fine) and wrap and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve the punch. Berries should be rinsed shortly before serving.

You can make alcohol-free punch and let guests add their own. Photo courtesy GranGala.

10. REFRESH. If it’s a long event, you’ll need to refresh the punch. Sparkling punches will go flat after two hours or so; fully melted ice will dilute the punch. Have a second set of ingredients ready to assemble. Or, serve just half of the punch at the beginning of the party, and add the remainder later.
  

Lemon Tea vodka is ready to add pizzazz to
iced tea and lemonade. Photo courtesy
Belvedere Vodka.

A vodka flavor is not the same as “flavored vodka.” Vodka can be flavored with an extract, natural or artificial; or it can be infused or macerated (a longer process) with the actual botanicals (fruits, herbs, spices, etc.). Belvedere takes the long route and macerates for the finest natural flavor.

Meant to pair with iced tea and lemonade, Belvedere Lemon Tea vodka is a complex layering of black tea, green tea, chamomile, lemongrass, honey, ginger and lemon.

Unless you’re a supertaster, though, you won’t find all of that when you take a sip. Although the ingredients combine to provide the overall sensory experience, you’re more likely to find the nose and palate to be bright and citrussy, recalling lemon peel and perhaps a hint of orange (there’s no orange in the blend, but common chemical components evoke other aromas and flavors).

We enjoy more flavor-forward expressions, and found the Lemon Tea flavors to be light on the palate.

While we enjoyed the lemon peel aroma and taste while drinking shots, in a mixed drink—1.5 ounces in 6 ounces of tea or lemonade—the flavor contribution was not much different than we’d get with regular citrus vodka. (Although the citrus flavors do add a bit of pizzazz, if you’re not ready to buy a new bottle of vodka, you can also add plain vodka to iced tea or lemonade.)

The company says that Belvedere Lemon Tea vodka “is designed for afternoon enjoyment, whether you’re poolside, having a BBQ or enjoying a day at the beach.” (Nota bene: Many beaches in the U.S. prohibit the possession or consumption of alcohol.)

We like Belvedere Lemon Tea vodka for Mother’s Day gifting to moms who enjoy a spiked tea or lemonade. Two recipes—a cocktail and a punch—follow.

RECIPES WITH BELVEDERE LEMON VODKA

BELVEDERE PEACH TEA

Ingredients

For one drink:

 
Preparation

1. Build drink over cubed ice. Stir.

2. Garnish with a lemon wedge and sprig of mint and serve.

BELVEDERE SHANDY PUNCH

The Shandy is a popular summer drink, also known as an Arnold Palmer and a Half and Half. Here’s why, and the easy recipe to make a single drink rather than a punch bowl.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. Add all ingredients to a large pitcher or a punch bowl and stir.

2. Chill overnight if possible. To serve, add a block of ice (or ice cubes, if a pitcher). Serve immediately.
 
A SIP OF BELVEDERE TRIVIA

Belvedere, a luxury brand of Polish vodka produced and distributed by LVMH, is named after Belweder, the Polish presidential palace in Warsaw. That’s the building illustrated on the vodka bottle (photo above).

Belvedere is a combination of the Italian words bello and vedere, meaning “beautiful” and “to see.” In architecture, a belvedere is a building, or an architectural feature of a building, designed and situated to look out upon a pleasing scene.