Thirsty Thursday: Bar La Grassa White Spider

In honor of the birthdays of our pals Gary Young and Janine Skinner, we're posting (again) a great gin drink they both enjoy and drank this summer during a trip to Minnesota -- the White Spider from Bar La Grassa in Minneapolis. You can find the "drink of the week" write up here. Seems like it's a simple, shaken concoction of Bombay Gin, Cointreau and homemade sour mix. Happy Birthday friends....Cheers!

Pears for the Holidays

courtesy of usapears.org

Pumpkin and apple may be the standard stand-by when it comes to holiday desserts, but this is a great time of year for pears. Our friends at USA Pears have developed a great website for all things pears-- info on how to pick a good pear, how to cook with them, how to "pair" them with wine and cheese, and even how to decorate with them. Head over to usapears.org to find all this great information.

For those of you planning out holiday menus, here's an easy but elegant idea for dessert -- Caramelized Pears with Hazelnuts. They serve it up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but we also thought it could be an interesting appetizer served alongside a dollop of goat cheese.

Thirsty Thursday: Mapletini

 

 As we head into the holiday season filled with home entertaining, we thought we’d use this week’s Thirsty Thursday column to highlight a fun “fall-themed” cocktail you might consider serving as part of your Thanksgiving celebration.  The recipe was developed by Sandra Lee and is featured on Foodnetwork.com. 
Enjoy!

 

 

 

Mapletini

 

 

Ingredients

• 2 shots Irish cream liqueur
• 1 shot brandy
• 1/2 shot cinnamon schnapps
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• Ice
• Cinnamon stick, for garnish

Directions

Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with cinnamon stick