The Aperol Fizz is similar to the popular Italian drink called the Aperol Spritz or Sprizz, except that it swaps the club soda for tonic water. I really liked the extra bittersweet tang from the tonic water, and think you will too.
June 6, 2023
While the concept of monarchy is fraught, it’s always sad when a family must say goodbye to a beloved mother and grandmother. And while I never visited Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth II was a familiar figure growing up. Her face was a familiar one on Canadian money, and I remember the gold and silver silhouettes of Queen Elizabeth II on colorful Trinidadian postage stamps on letters from friends living on the Caribbean island. Queen Elizabeth’s favorite cocktail was Dubonnet and gin, a taste she acquired from her mother. Here’s how to mix up the Queen’s cocktail, which sounds like a sweeter, less intense version of a Negroni, which pairs gin and Campari. But what does one drink to say goodbye to a monarch? Celebratory champagne and mourning don’t seem to go together. Yet those sentiments share a glass in the historic champagne cocktail known as the Black Velvet. The Black Velvet,…
September 19, 2022
Unpacking my leftovers from Thanksgiving 2019, I found a surprise in my bag: a bottle of pomegranate molasses. It wasn’t mine, but since no one else had claimed it after the mass cooking session, our hostess Jill decided I needed it. I put the stowaway on the high kitchen shelf along with the rose water and orange blossom water, and pretty much forgot about it unless I needed something behind it. But in the spirit of using what I have in the house, I decided I’d figure out what to do with that bottle of pomegranate molasses. The thick, dark red syrup has a deep flavor similar to molasses along with the tang of pomegranate. This year, I’m planting a pomegranate in my garden. If you have room, the pomegranate is one of the prettiest bushes you can imagine. The flowers are bright coral-red trumpets with a burst of yellow…
May 6, 2020
Of all the spirits, my favorite is rum. I love the way they’re made in so many styles, with flavors that reflect their origins. Few other spirits have a subculture devoted to them. Rum inspired the tiki movement, which celebrates a mythical, tropical land that doesn’t exist except in the minds of expats. But mostly, I love the flavor of dark rums from the Caribbean. An old rum has all the deep, dark and delicious nutty, candied, brown sugar, spicy notes of an old whiskey, but for a fraction of the price. So late this summer, I went to my first Rum Fest in San Francisco. It’s pretty festive with men and women in vintage tiki attire, tropical plants and leis. But it’s a serious exploration too, with seminars on rhum agricole, and creating sustainable distilleries. But most people came for the chance to taste favorite rums from all over…
October 12, 2019
It seems I have thousands of pictures of champagne and sparkling wine cocktails on my poor overworked MacBook. But that’s part of why I love Pinterest, because it collects all sorts of inspiration, and so beautifully. Here are five fabulous cocktails from my Bubbly Cocktails board on Pinterest, along with links to the recipes. Be sure to follow me for more! 1. Sloe Motion This cocktail from The Continental Midtown in Philadelphia was featured in Saveur. Though the recipe is just three ingredients, quite often simple things have the most impact. Love the licorice garnish! 2. Campari and Orange Sparkling Cocktail I find Campari’s bitterness tough to take on its own. But when I tasted a cocktail by Paul Mant at Quo Vadis, which mixed the Italian aperitif with orange, lemon and champagne, it started a whole new chapter. This easy drink from Cooking Light will show you…
December 28, 2013