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Oscar Worthy Cocktail & Popcorn Recipes for That Academy Awards Party

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

Edible flecks of 24K gold add some dazzle to the Golden Glow, a perfect cocktail for Oscar-viewing parties.

Sorry to be posting this just hours before everyone starts strutting down the red carpet at the 82nd Academy Awards, but sometimes a blog is at the mercy of technology.

I’ve got some great recipes for a star-studded, sparkling cocktail called Golden Glow and delicious gourmet popcorn that will be the hit of your party. The night they hand out the golden statues called Oscars for the best work in movies this year has become a lesser national holiday, with people planning viewing parties, voting for winners and even creating costumes to match their favorite characters.( I’m still a little freaked out remembering the time a female co-worker showed up looking like Truman Capote’s long lost twin.)

Everyone knows it wouldn’t be an Oscar party without bubbly. While champagne and sparkling wine have the power to make any occasion even more special, for Academy Awards parties star chefs like Wolfgang Puck make it even more fabulous. Each year, cases of 24K edible gold leaf get shipped up to Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, to add sparkle to Oscar Party desserts and cocktails.

I created the Golden Glow sparkling cocktail, spiking a base of Iron Horse brut sparkling wine or brut champagne with Goldschläger – an Italian cinnamon flavored liqueur with edible gold flakes – and Bärenjäger a German honey liqueur. Both are easy to find at any well-stocked liquor store. And if you really want to give your party the Midas touch, Sur la Table cookware stores sell a little shaker of edible gold flakes for $26.

Edible 24K gold flakes like these from Sur la Table will be adding sparkling to drinks, desserts and other foods at Oscar parties this evening.

Golden Glow
1/2 ounce Goldschläger Cinnamon Liqueur
1/2 ounce Bärenjäger Honey Liqueur
4 ounces Iron Horse Brut sparkling wine
a dash of Angostura bitters

Shake up the Goldschläger bottle to mix up the edible
gold flecks in it then add 1/2 ounce to a champagne
flute. Add the Bärenjäger. Top with the chilled brut
champagne or sparkling wine. Finish with a dash of
Angostura bitters.
Makes 1 cocktail

Of course, popcorn is a must for watching a movie, so it makes sense that on a glitzy night like this to serve the ultimate in popcorn. Plus popcorn is very budget-friendly and your guests will love eating these buttery, crunchy kernels spiked with some special seasonings. The Recipes section on my web site www.thebubblygirl.com shares ideas for a few different ways to make what I call Posh Popcorn. The Spicy Popcorn and the one with Black Truffle Oil and Parmesan are two of my favorites. But with a slightly sweet cocktail like the Golden Glow, I’d go for the Five-Spice Popcorn which is drizzled with butter, brown sugar and warm spices.

For your Oscar Party, follow my recipes and dress up your popcorn with parmesan, truffle oil or Chinese Five Spice.

For your Oscar Party, follow my recipes and make Posh Popcorn with parmesan, truffle oil or Chinese Five Spice.

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Tags: Academy Awards, Golden Glow, Oscar Cocktail Popcorn Recipe, Party, Posh Popcorn, The Bubbly Girl
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Absinthe Cockails: Killing Me Softly for MxMo

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Inspired by Death in the Afternoon, this modern champagne cocktail Death in the Afternoon teases with just a hint of absinthe.

Of course, we all know now that absinthe doesn’t cause blindness or madness or any of the other evils ascribed to this high-proof spirit back during the run up to Prohibition. But outside of cocktail geeks and urban bars with pretensions of authenticity, I don’t see this spirit becoming the next. big. thing.

A couple years ago on a visit to the Absinthe Museum of America in New Orleans which is excerpted in the slide show at the bottom of this post, a fellow visitor succinctly summed up the real problem with the Green Fairy. ” I love buying different bottles of absinthe, I just don’t like drinking it.” I have to admit I feel the same way. After I got over my fascination with Good & Plenty, licorice is something I like in small doses.

It was different back around the turn of the century in Europe where it became the drink of choice for creative types ranging from Oscar Wilde to Toulouse Lautrec, according to The Absinthe Buyer’s Guide. Anise flavored spirits are still popular and plentiful in Europe, the list at Licorice.org includes Pernod, pastis, ouzo, Sambucca, anisette and Pacharan I tasted in Spain’s Basque region.

It may have been in this licorice-loving context that Ernest Hemingway created his potent absinthe and champagne cocktail called Death in the Afternoon. His book Death in the Afternoon is considered one of the best books ever written about the deeper meaning behind bull-fighting in Spain. Hemingway borrowed the book name and contributed the drink made of a jigger of absinthe poured into a glass of champagne to a humorous collection of cocktail recipes by writers that was published in 1935, according to Absinthe Online.

I love the evocative name Death in the Afternoon; but since I think a little absinthe goes a long way, I fashioned Killing Me Softly, which I included in my book The Bubbly Bar. Besides being a tribute to the fantastic Roberta Flack song, it’s a delicate cocktail that leaves just a hint of licorice flavor lingering on the palate.

Killing Me Softly

1 sugar cube
1 teaspoon absinthe
1/2 ounce St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
4 ounces chilled brut champagne
1 thin slice lemon

Place the sugar cube in the bottom of a martini glass. Swirl the absinthe and elderflower liqueur in a cocktail shaker with ice to chill quickly and strain over the sugar cube. Top with the brut champagne. Lightly squeeze the lemon over the top of the drink and float on top.

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Tags: absinthe, Absinthe Museum of America, cocktail, Death in the Afternoon, Ernest Hemingway, recipe, The Bubbly Bar
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Real Aphrodisiacs for Valentine’s Day Drinks: Passionate Pomegranate

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Not only does the pomegranate suggest fertility, it also boosts libido.

A red orb with all those juicy seeds inside, a pomegranate just suggests fertility and promise. It’s thought to be the tempting forbidden fruit that seduced Adam and Eve in the Bible. In the Greek myth, Persephone was forced to spend half the year in the Underworld after she was tricked into eating a few pomegranate seeds during a visit to Hades. All in all, these myths make the pomegranate a pretty fascinating and tasty fruit.

We’ve all gotten word that pomegranates are chock full of healthy antioxidants, vitamins and minerals which scientific studies show can help reduce wrinkles, lower blood pressure and prevent heart disease. Pomegranate is also a great source of folic acid, which is an important nutrient for pregnant women. If you’re trying to get pregnant, it turns out pomegranate can help in that department too. A researcher at the University of California found that pomegranate is good for men with erectile dysfunction and prostate health. And a study at the University of Sussex (another sex study from the UK, hmmm) found that drinking pomegranate juice increases the libido in women and even more so in men.

Featured on San Diego Fox 5 my cocktail called Kismet – which means fate – is sure to get something started with this combo of pomegranate, passion fruit and ginger which is great or heating things up. To make a non-alcoholic version, substitute pomegranate juice for the Pama, ginger juice for the ginger liqueur and sparkling water for the wine. Kismet was one of the romance enhancing cocktails I featured on San Diego Fox 5 this morning.

With tangy pomegranate, passion fruit juice and ginger in the Kismet Cocktail, it's sure to stir something up.

Kismet

1 ounce Pama pomegranate liqueur
1-1/2 ounces passion fruit-orange juice
1/2 ounce ginger liqueur
3 ounces sparkling wine
3 pomegranate seeds

Add Pama pomegranate liqueur, passion-fruit juice and ginger liqueur to a champagne flute. Top with chilled sparkling wined. Garnish with the pomegranate seeds.

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Tags: aphrodisiac, bubbly, ginger, Maria Hunt, passion fruit, pomegranate, recipe, Sparkling Wine, The Bubbly Girl, Valentine's Day
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Real Aphrodisiacs for Valentine’s Day Drinks: A Taste of Honey

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Besides being sticky and sweet, honey is endowed with vitamins and minerals that help humans produce sex hormones. (Courtesy Photo)

It’s so easy to take honey for granted: sweet, cloying and sticky stuff without much personality. But it’s always been one of those foods, along with strawberries and whipped cream that shall we say has plenty of sex appeal.

The term honeymoon comes from the Viking tradition of leaving newlyweds alone for a month to get to know each other. They were encouraged to drink lots of mead – wine made from fermented honey – as it was considered an aphrodisiac. Even today, Indian bridegrooms are given honey on their wedding night to increase their stamina.

It turns out honey contains boron, a trace mineral that’s important for a number of different body functions including hormone production. Boron helps increase estrogen levels in women as well as testosterone levels in men and women, which is important for libido. Honey also contains B vitamins which play a role in estrogen production and another natural substance called chrysin that helps keep testosterone levels constant. For more details, read up on boron at Organic Facts.net and Gynecomastia.org

But enough of all that. Now that you know what’s in it, here’s a charming little cocktail I created that makes good use of honey and damiana extract, another natural aphrodisiac found in the supplement aisle at Whole Foods.

The Bee Charmer tempts with honey, lemon, lavender and a bit of bubbly.

The Bee Charmer

small section of honeycomb
1-1/2 ounces Barenjager Honey Liqueur
1/2 ounce bourbon whiskey
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce egg white – the real thing, not pasteurized
pinch dried lavender (optional)
2 drops damiana
2-3 ounces brut sparkling wine or champagne

Put the honeycomb in the bottom of a champagne coupe or small cocktail glass. Add the honey liqueur, bourbon, lemon juice, egg white an lavender if using and damiana to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake hard until will chilled and frothy. Add the bubbly to the coupe, then strain the contents of the shaker into the glass. Garnish with a couple lavender blossoms.

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Tags: aphrodisiac, cocktail, honey, lavender, recipe, Sparkling Wine, The Bubbly Girl, Valentine's Day
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Real Aphrodisiacs for Valentine’s Day Drinks: Watermelon

Friday, January 29th, 2010

Watermelon has scientifically proven effects on libido, making it a great Valentine cocktail ingredient.

Every year when Valentine’s Day rolls around, lots of foods start getting mentioned with the label “aphrodisiac” attached to them. Shopping for foods that have been thought to have an effect on passion would take one to every aisle of the supermarket: strawberries, steak, avocados, potatoes and oysters have all had their day in the sun.

This year, I decided to research food that have a scientifically documented effect on libido or blood flow, which is generally what an aphrodisiac is all about. Over the next few posts, I’ll be sharing recipes for drinks made with foods that can help put you in the mood.

It turns out that watermelon is good for more than cooling off in the summertime; this juicy fruit is also being called “nature’s Viagra.” A study at Texas A & M University’s Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center found that watermelon contains a substance called citrulline that helps blood vessels relax, just like Viagra. For more details, check out this post at Science Blog.com.

Watermelon is delicious mixed with all kinds of spirits; I created this cocktail called Watermelon Kiss using NUVO sparkling vodka and brut rosé sparkling wine. It just may do the trick this Feb. 14.

The Watermelon Kiss cocktail is sweet and juicy, just like a kiss.

Watermelon Kiss
1 tsp pink peppercorns, crushed
1/2 tsp. pink decorating sugar
1-1/2 ounces watermelon juice
1 ounce NUVO sparkling vodka
3 ounces brut rose sparkling wine
dash orange bitters

On a small flat dish, combine the crushed pink peppercorns and the pink decorating sugar. Moisten the rim of a champagne flute with a wedge of lemon. Press the glass in the pink peppercorn/sugar mixture to coat it. Pour the watermelon juice and NUVO into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until well chilled then carefully pour into the prepared glass. Top with sparkling wine. Finish with a dash of bitters.
Now make another one for someone special.

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Tags: aphrodisiac, cocktail, desire, drink, love, recipe, science, study, Valentine, Valentine's Day, watermelon
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The Bubbly Girl Drink of the Week: Spicy Sparkling Cider Recipe

Monday, December 28th, 2009

spicy sparkling cider 3
I get lots of questions about sparkling wine and champagne at my web site The Bubbly Girl. Some times they’re asking my opinion of a certain wine, or whether it’s alright to drink an old bottle of champagne they’ve been saving – I always say yes to that one; you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised. Other times they want me to help divine the name of a wine they liked from a few flavor clues.

I got one of those questions the other day from a woman who had been served champagne at wedding that tasted just like apple cider. Since champagne is made from grapes and many people are trying to save money at a wedding, it’s very likely what was served as “champagne” at this nuptial was closer to a sparkling cider like Martinelli’s than Moët.

But the question got me thinking about the delicious bright and sweet taste of fresh apple cider made from fall apples. If you have a juicer, try making your own apple juice sometime – it’s nothing like the flat and sugary golden liquid that comes in glass jugs and juice boxes. The closest thing to making your own is getting fresh apple cider in a soft plastic jug.

The season and the cider inspired this cocktail I call Spicy Sparkling Cider, which is a mixture of fresh cider and sparkling wine. I used the Domaine Ste. Michelle Brut, though an extra dry style of bubbly would work if you like a sweeter drink. It’s spiked with Navan, a natural vanilla cognac by Grand Marnier and warm spices like cinnamon, star anise and ginger. Spicy Sparkling Cider is a fun individual drink – we had it before Christmas Eve dinner- but would make a delicious punch as well garnished with whole crab apples bobbing on the surface.

Spicy Sparkling Cider

2 ounces fresh apple cider (don’t use anything from a glass jug)
1.5 ounces Navan Vanilla Cognac
1 sliver cinnamon stick
1 sliver candied ginger
1 star anise (optional)
3 to 4 ounces brut or extra dry sparkling wine, chilled
slice crab apple, cut crosswise to show the star
Add the cold apple cider and Navan to a rocks glass or small stemless wine glass. Add the cinnamon stick, ginger and star anise, if you’re using it to the cider-cognac mixture. Let the spices rest in the cider-cognac mixture for a 5 to 10 minutes to give them time to release their flavor. Top with the sparkling wine, garnish with the apple sliced and serve right away.
By Maria Hunt, author of The Bubbly Bar: Champagne & Sparkling Wine Cocktails for Every Occasion (Clarkson Potter, $16.99)

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Tags: apple, cider, cocktail, cognac, Domaine Ste. Michelle, Navan, recipe, sparkling, The Bubbly Bar, The Bubbly Girl, vanilla, wedding
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Bubbly Girl Drink of the Week: The Winter Shandy

Friday, November 20th, 2009

The Winter Shandy features Crispin hard cider, Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur and Meyer lemonade.
I discovered the Shandy cocktail in Chicago, a tangy blend of lemonade and a local brew. I did think it odd that the bar – which shall remain nameless – was serving such a summery drink in October. A Shandy struck me as a perfectly refreshing summer cocktail

According to my historic cocktail books, Shandy is short for Shandygaff, which was a mix of beer and lemonade, according to Tom Bullock in his 1917 cocktail book Ideal Bartender. Sometimes it was done as a blend of beer and gingerbeer too,

I decided to create a version of this refreshing drink perfect for those sunny days in autumn and winter. Since the season means apples and citrus, I decided to use hard cider as a base for my cocktail since I’d been sampling Crispin’s Natural Hard Apple Cider which has a taste of a crisp apple soda finished with just a touch of natural honey. Crispin’s hard cider comes in a variety of styles from a cloudy old fashioned hard cider in a brown bottle to a clear and crisp brut style to a light hard cider for people who might be watching their weight. The lighter ones are designed to be served over ice, kind of like a soft drink.

I plucked a couple Meyer lemons off the tree, made up some lemonade and created this drink.

The Winter Shandy
2 to 3 ounces chilled Crispin’s Natural Hard Apple Cider
2 to 3 ounces fresh Meyer lemonade
1/2 ounce Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur
small piece candied gingerroot
lemon zest, for garnish

Add the chilled cider and Meyer lemonade to a pilsner style flute or rocks glass. Add the ginger liqueur and stir to combine everything. Drop the candied gingerroot into the glass. Garnish with the lemon zest.

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Tags: apple, cocktail, Crispin, ginger, hard cider, historic, Shandy, Shandygaff
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Bubbly Girl Drink of the Week: La Mattina Appassionata

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

Mattina Appassionata
I just did a fun Saturday morning radio interview with Mario Martnoli and Amy Strong of the “Food & Dining” show on KLAA AM 830 and are they ever Italo-philes! We talked about buying hand-blown champagne flutes in Venice, sipping cocktails made with Aperol and the Lemon Ice, a delicious digestif cocktail from The Bubbly Bar made with prosecco, vodka, lemon sorbet and fresh mint.

Our conversation got me thinking about all the lovely sparkling wines and liqueurs that come from Italy. When I’m mixing a cocktail, probably the first wine I think of is prosecco, the sparkling wine from the Veneto. Wines made from the prosecco grape have such a delicate quality with soft bubbles and hints of green apple, minerals and white flowers.

I recently received a sample of a new one called Passionne di Fiore.It’s a likable little wine, with lots of fresh green apple and hints of underripe peaches in its aroma. It’s a spumante style of prosecco, meaning it has about 4.5 to 5 atmospheres of pressure in the wine; a frizzante style of prosecco is softly sparkling and has just 2.2 to 2.5 atm of pressure. I also liked that it’s available in the 375 ml size which is perfect for making a couple cocktails for brunch.

The same company that makes Passionne di Fiore prosecco also makes a unique liqueur called Fragoli. It’s a wild strawberry liqueur that I wrote about here a few months ago after I discovered it at the W San Diego. Fragoli actually contains the little Italian wild strawberries called fragolini di bosco.

Since Mario, Amy and I were talking about good cocktails to serve to guests, I decided to create a brunch cocktail called La Mattina Appassionata (Passionate Morning in English) that mixes some of the flavors I love from Italy.

La Mattina Appassionata
1 ounce Fragoli
splash Aperol
juice of 1/2 tangerine
4 ounces prosecco

Add the Fragoli, Aperol and tangerine juice to a flute, straining out any seeds. Top with the chilled prosecco and serve immediately. Cin cin!

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Tags: Aperol, brunch, cocktail, Fragoli, Italy, KLAA, Maria Hunt, Mario Martinoli, Prosecco, recipe, The Bubbly Bar, The Bubbly Girl
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Moet & Sugar Cubes: The Bubbly Bar Los Angeles Launch Party at The Edison

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

moet champagne cocktail
Last week I met up with some new and old friends in Los Angeles at The Edison for a Bubbly Bar book launch party that featured Moet & Chandon Champagne. In case you haven’t been, The Edison is a unique night club venue in downtown Los Angeles set in an old private power plant. Many of the old power plant fixtures like doors to coal furnaces remain, but the place has been plushed out with velvet sofas, original vintage style light fixtures and movie screens that show old sepia toned movies.
Members of the Medill Alumni Club of Southern California at The Bubbly Bar launch party in LA. <

Besides lots of friends, the party in the Tesla Room drew members of the Medill Club of Southern California, media Los Angeles including Lori Corbin, the Food Coach from KABC, Michael Reel of Reel Urban News and Natalie Bovis-Nelson, The Liquid Muse and Michael Jenkins Brown of South Bay Foodies. I only wish Julia Fitzroy, the lovely and super busy Moet rep who made the party possible, had been able to make it down.

I'm flanked by Annie Kuo, president of the Medill Club of Southern California, Liquid Muse Natalie Bovis Nelson.
The featured drink was Champagne Cocktails which guests could customize. The capital C “Chamapagne Cocktail” is the original drink made with champagne, dating back to the mid 1850s. This was a time when champagne had an undisputed association with luxury and slightly decadent living; it was also known as chorus girl’s milk. The simple recipe for a Champagne Cocktail is a dousing a sugar cube with aromatic bitters before dropping it into the glass. As a variant, I infused sugar cubes with a variety of flavors including La Fee Absinthe, PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur, Angostura Bitters, and Stirrings Blood Orange Bitters.
A silver tray held sugar cubes flavored with Angostura bitters, absinthe, PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur and blood orange bitters so guests could make their own style of Champagne Cocktail.

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Tags: Champagne, Los Angeles, Moet, Moet & Chandon, Party, The Bubbly Bar, The Bubbly Girl, The Liquid Muse
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Archive for the ‘Bubbly Girl Cocktail Recipes’ Category

Oscar Worthy Cocktail & Popcorn Recipes for That Academy Awards Party

Absinthe Cockails: Killing Me Softly for MxMo

Real Aphrodisiacs for Valentine’s Day Drinks: Passionate Pomegranate

Real Aphrodisiacs for Valentine’s Day Drinks: A Taste of Honey

Real Aphrodisiacs for Valentine’s Day Drinks: Watermelon

The Bubbly Girl Drink of the Week: Spicy Sparkling Cider Recipe

Bubbly Girl Drink of the Week: The Winter Shandy

Bubbly Girl Drink of the Week: La Mattina Appassionata

Moet & Sugar Cubes: The Bubbly Bar Los Angeles Launch Party at The Edison