Posts Tagged ‘Valentine’s Day’

Last Minute Ideas for Delicious Valentine’s Outings from San Diego to the Bay

Friday, February 12th, 2010
Can't decide what to do for Valentine's Day? Let me play Cupid.

Can't decide what to do for Valentine's Day? Let me play Cupid.

Still pondering where to go for Valentine’s Day? Here are a few spots in Northern and Southern California planning some creative and romantic offerings.

The Bubble Lounge in San Francisco is pulling out all the stops with a jazz singer performing, a special menu of aphrodisiac foods and featured romantic cocktails by moi, The Bubbly Girl on Feb. 14. They’ve selected the Elderbubble (St. Germain, raspberry vodka and champagne) and the gorgeous Belle de Jour, a mix of Lillet Blond, St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur and rosé champage created by Jackie Patterson and featured in my book Bubbly Bar. Couples can also order a bottle of Dosnon & Lepage Brut Rosé Champagne and have it sabered open – (by the way, there’s a web site devoted to the art of Saberage). Bubbly Lounge chefs are cooking up a sexy menu of sweet roasted beets with micro greens and goat cheese, caviar from the California Caviar Company served with blinis and creme fraiche, a seafood platter with oysters and shrimp and a heart-shaped Scharffen Berger Chocolate cake. The fun starts at 6 p.m. at 714 Montgomery St.; for reservations call 415.434-4204.

The Grand Del Mar, a five-star resort in northern San Diego, is offering a seductive set of food and wine experiences on Feb. 13 and 14 that are sure to spark a romance. On Feb. 13, enjoy a three course Chocolate and Red Wine Tasting menu from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Lobby Lounge for $25 per person; Grand Del Mar Sommelier Jesse Rodriguez will stop at your table and chat about the pairings. Or if you don’t feel like chatting, pick one of the cozy corners of the Lobby Lounge, and sip Another Day In Paradise a cocktail for two featuring rose petal and raspberry infused vodka. Strawberry Chocolate Decadence, a dessert with layers of strawberry confit and dark chocolate, is also available for $19 paired with the sparkling red wine Rosa Regale Brachetto d’Acqui

The Strawberry Chocolate Decadence at the Grand Del Mar features a sublime combination of tastes at textures. (Courtesy photo)

The Strawberry Chocolate Decadence at the Grand Del Mar features a sublime combination of tastes at textures. (Courtesy photo)

If you’re craving a total culinary experience, call 858.314.1900 and make a reservation for Executive Chef William Bradley’s lavish six-course Valentine’s dinner in Addison’s dining room. The chef — a very happy newlywed — is sure to be cooking with his heart on his sleeve; seductive courses include baby sea scallops, roasted endive with caramelized pears, butter-baked salmon and pistachio nougatine with honey comb gelato. The dinner is $125 per person, or $185 per person with wine pairings plus gratuities, but hey, Valentine’s Day only comes once a year. Meanwhile at Amaya, Chef Camron Woods’ tempting dishes include winter mushroom consomme with truffled ravioli, seared Diver scallops with parsnip puree and golden raisins, and a limoncello semifreddo. That repast is $110 per person or $155 with wine pairings, plus gratuity. For reservations, call 858.314.2727

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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.

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.

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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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)

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 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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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.

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.

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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Days of Wine & Chocolate: A Valentine Dinner Feb. 11 in San Diego

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Valentine Feb 11 flyer cropped small

Every year as we approach Valentine’s Day, you hear the word aphrodisiac tossed around. Spanish fly, bananas, potatoes, strawberries, chili peppers – you name it – has been considered an aphrodisiac at one time or another in human history. But this year, I decided to research the foods that have a documented scientific effect on arousal.

Two foods that just happen to have an actual effect on pleasure and libido (the goal of most aphrodisiacs when you get down to it): wine and chocolate!

Come indulge in some of both and pick up some romantic tips on Feb 11 as I team up for a dinner class with LA chocolatier Susie Norris, the author of the hot little book Chocolate Bliss and chef Isabel Cruz of Isabel’s Cantina. I’ll be making cocktails from my book The Bubbly Bar: Champagne & Sparkling Wine Cocktails for Every Occasion (Clarkson Potter, 2009) and sharing a couple new ones for this event; for tickets and info visit www.Warwicks.com.

In case you’re curious about how these foods work to get things heated up; let me share some science. Chocolate causes women to release endorphins, those. In fact a 2007 study at the University of Sussex in Great Britain found women release four times as many endorphins – the body’s natural opiates – after eating chocolate as they do after when making out.

Wine grapes – specifically the skins – contain the antioxidant resveratrol. Researchers at Northwestern University (my alma mater – Go Cats! ) found in a 1997 study that resveratrol – most present in red wines – acts in the body like an estrogen which is a key component in sex drive and arousal.

Wow, just think what will happen after eating those two at the same time!

Even without the science, there’s something tantalizing and romantic about sparkling wine and champagne- another reason why I think these wines should be enjoyed much more often.

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Recipes for Simple & Sexy Valentine’s Champagne Cocktails

Friday, February 13th, 2009
Raspberry wine mingles with champagne in this sexy cocktail.

Raspberry wine mingles with champagne in this sexy cocktail.

When Valentine’s Day approaches, the sexiest thing you can serve is a cocktail that stars sparkling wine or champagne. The combination of hearing the cork popping and the tickly bubbles seem to inspire romance.

Whether raspberry makes your heart flutter or you prefer the sophisticated and subtle flavor of roses, you’ll find that both my Raspberry Royale and Vintage Rose cocktails delightful. These are exactly the kind of fun and creative drink recipes you’ll find in my new book The Bubbly Bar: Champagne & Sparkling Wine Cocktails for Every Occasion being released this summer by Clarkson Potter.

Raspberry Royale
Makes 1 cocktail
1 ounce Trader Joe’s Raspberry Wine
4 to 5 ounces chilled champagne or sparkling wine
1 lemon twist
1 fresh or frozen raspberry

Add raspberry wine to a champagne flute. Top with chilled champagne or sparkling wine. Twist the lemon peel over the glass to release the oils and then drop it in. Add the raspberry and serve.

Cafe Chloe infuses simple syrup with organic rose petals to make this syrup.

Cafe Chloe infuses simple syrup with organic rose petals to make this syrup.

The Vintage Rose cocktail features a lovely rose-infused simple syrup created in the kitchen of Cafe Chloe in San Diego’s East Village. If you can’t get there to buy your own bottle, then take simple syrup and add rose water from a Middle Eastern grocery until you have a flavor you like. By the way, rose has long been regarded an aphrodisiac; its essence actually helps calm the body.

Vintage Rose Cocktail
Makes 1 cocktail
3/4 ounce rose syrup
4 to 5 ounces chilled sparkling wine or champagne
lemon twist (Meyer if possble)
organic rose petal (optional)

Add the rose syrup to a champagne flute. Top with the sparkling wine. Twist the lemon peel over the glass to release the oils and then drop it int the flute. Add an organic rose petal if you’ve got one handy.

Serve them in your favorite flutes, I’m currently in love with the vintage-y Horta champagne flutes that are a steal in my opinion for $12 apiece from Anthropologie.com.

A twist of Meyer lemon mimics the lemony fragrance of my favorite lavender roses.

A twist of Meyer lemon mimics the lemony fragrance of my favorite lavender roses.

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