It’s easy to whip up a Tipsy Leprechaun, a more sophisticated stout float (a spiked milkshake) that also contains Irish whiskey and Irish cream liqueur.

The recipe comes from R Lounge, a new lounge/restaurant with a beautiful view of Times Square in New York City.
 

TIPSY LEPRECHAUN COCKTAIL RECIPE

Ingredients Per Cocktail

 
Preparation

1. GLAZE a pint glass with chocolate syrup

2. Blend the ingredients and add to the glass.

3. GARNISH with a cherry.

4. DRINK up.

5. HAVE another.

Want more spiked float ideas? Here are recipes for Chocolate Stout Float and Chocolate Stout Ice Cream

Preserve your Parmesan. Photo courtesy
Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

Store hard cheeses—including Asiago, Manchego, Mimolette, Parmesan (Parmigiano-Reggiano), Pecorino, Romano and Tête de Moine—in an airtight plastic container with a few sugar cubes.

The sugar will absorb excess moisture and prevent the cheese from getting moldy. Replace the cubes when they get soft.

If your cheese dries out, here’s a tip to save it:

Revive dried-out Parmesan or any other hard cheese by wrapping it in a damp paper towel and refrigerating it in a resealable plastic bag for a day before using. After using the cheese, return any leftovers to the fridge in the bag, without the towel.

Thanks to our friends at CampbellsKitchen.com for this helpful tip.

Find more tips in our Gourmet Cheese Section.

While we’ve had a variety of tasty dessert sauces, four brands have been named Top Picks: The King’s Cupboard, Robert Lambert Chocolate Sauces, Sassy Sauces and Somebody’s Mother’s. Except for Robert Lambert, which focuses on chocolate only, the brands offer both chocolate and caramel sauces.

The King’s Cupboard has introduced three new flavors:

The products are kosher-certified (dairy) by OU. Crème de Menthe and Irish Cream are also certified organic.

Evalon is the best cheese in the country.
Photo courtesy LaClareFarm.com.

With America’s continued interest in fine cheese, the contest has more than doubled in size since 2001. At this year’s recently concluded competition, more than 30,000 pounds of cheese were entered, representing 1,604 entries from 30 states.

Judges retasted the first prize winners from 76 categories of butter and cheese to determine the overall winners:

WHO’S THE BIG CHEESE?

 
For more information on the contest, as well as contest photos and complete results for all 76 entry classes, visit USChampionCheese.org.

Find great cheeses, recipes, and everything you need to know about cheese in our Gourmet Cheese Section.

Vanilla is the second costliest spice in the world, after saffron. Those vanilla beans are expensive; but they provide superior flavor over vanilla extract (and we mean real vanilla extract—don’t try to save money by using artificial vanilla).

Vanilla beans need to be stored in an airtight container. That’s why some beans are sold in their own glass capsule. Keep them in a cool, dark place—but never in the fridge, where they will harden.

Properly cared for, vanilla beans should last for two years or more. If your bean becomes dried out, don’t worry: As soon as it’s added to the warm milk or cream in the recipe, it will plump up.

It’s easy to use vanilla beans.

Some recipes call for the whole bean (the pod, shown in the photo). Some require only the seeds inside the bean.

If you need only the seeds, split the bean lengthwise and scrape them out. Don’t throw away the pod: It can be used in another recipe. Even if a pod has been cooked, you can dry it for 3-4 days and toss it into a canister of sugar, tea or coffee, where its flavor will infuse.

Vanilla is the second costliest spice in the
world, after saffron. Photo by Joan Vicent
Canto | IST.

All about vanilla.