Must

Earlier this week the BF and I went to dinner with some friends in Venlo, NL at Chez Philippe. The restaurant was filled with an assortment of odds and ends that the chef (Philippe) had acquired over the years, including a small carousel that was scattered throughout the restaurant. It's too bad it was so dark in there or I would have pictures to try and explain how odd and yet totally appropriate it was.

Chef Philippe is a French man living in the Netherlands for many years and running a restaurant the way he thinks it should be done. Which means you come in, sit down, chat with him and the staff and eat what he wants to serve you that evening. If you must have something off the a la carte menu, they will easily oblige, but the set menu for the evening is the only way to go. Oh my, the four course meal was fantastic and the service was top notch. If you ever find your way anywhere near Venlo, this little restaurant is worth stopping for and enjoying a few hours full of food and wine.

Have a great weekend.



Read - Think of Oyster like Netflix for books. For $10 a month you can sign up and get access to all you can read. With a selection of over 100,000 books I am sure there is something that you haven't read yet. It's only in the beginning stages, but sign up now and hopefully you will score that invite in the mail shortly.

Drink - It's fall and it's time to bust out the fig infused bourbon to make a fig manhattan. Don't have fig infused bourbon, check out everything you need to do to have to make it at Boozed and Infused. It's the perfect welcome to fall drink.

                

Image via A Subtle Revelry

Make - 5 different breads that are perfect to make for fall care of A Subtle Revelry. I am dying to make the sweet potato one. It sounds delicious!

Image via HuffingtonPost.UK & Getty

Investigate - Could the Jack the Ripper case finally be solved? Interesting information in this century (plus) old serial murder mystery that has never been solved. Check out this HuffPost article and judge for yourself.

Bubbles

I love champagne, cava, prosecco and sparking wine. If there is a celebration to be had the Veuve (which is one of my favs under $40) must come out. It may be followed by a slightly less expensive version, but the first glass is the only one that matters anyway, right?

The other day I had a friend ask me if I had a champagne cork. For those of you that don't know what this is, it seals the bottle to keep the bubbles for an extended amount of time. I of course have one, but can you guess the amount of time it has been used overnight? About 2 and that's only because we left the house to continue the party elsewhere. Seriously who saves the most delicious drink on earth for tomorrow? Just writing this makes me want to pop another cork!

With summer here and people coming over with things to celebrate, not only should you keep a chilled bottle of bubbles in the fridge, but I have gathered a few of my favorite accessories to go with your bubbles of choice.

The Glassware

Image via Hillside House

I have several different types of champagne glassware, but while I was in New Orleans I decided I wanted a plain set of vintage coupe champagne glasses to add to my bar collection (apparently I had forgotten about the fancy decorative ones I had already, but you can never have to many ways to drink champagne) and went searching the internet. On Etsy I came across the Hillside House and her lovely items. The above glasses are the one that I ended up getting and they arrived in perfect condition (along with a few other purchases!). I immediately opened a bottle of champagne and tried out the glass. It worked! Yay!

The Chiller

Image via Amazon

You can not be expected to actually go back to the fridge to refill your glass, but you want to keep the bubbles cold and this Waring Pro PC100 wine chiller has you covered. If it's ability to keeping the precise temperature for 33 different varietals of wine doesn't grab you then perhaps it's portability will. If that doesn't float your boat, try this. It's cheap and easy and what I currently use. It just needs to be thrown back in the freezer.

The Food

Strawberries and champagne are a natural pairing. It just works. I once had a bartender serve me champagne and strawberries with just a small bit of black pepper over them. It's unreal how the flavors truly mingle with the pepper added. Give it a try you might be surprised at how yummy it is.

The Saver

Image via Crate and Barrel

If you must, this is the one I recommend.


What's your favorite way to drink bubbles?

It's the thought that counts

I have always been pretty big on making gifts for people in my life for the holidays and I hope people enjoy receiving them. I put time, effort and lots of thought into every gift because I think that the homemade touch is just so much more personal. That's the whole point of gift giving anyway right? I am thinking of you, love you or thought you would enjoy this. Well at least that is what I think it should be.

Throughout the year I am constantly on the look out for great ideas that look like they would be fun to do and receive. This year these are the items that have caught my eye and have been tested for approval.

Sweet Tea Vodka
I know this is more of a summer type booze, but I say sweet tea is all year round. When it's 15 degrees out and you're desperately wanting to be anywhere but there, you can turn up the thermostat and party like you are on the beach with this easy and yummy concoction. It's all in the imagination. This is easy to whip up and people love it when you infuse your own booze. It's like they think you know magic or are Susie homemaker and they will thank you. Only you will know that it takes very little effort and time.

Ingredients

1 bottle (750ml) of decent, but not expensive vodka 

4  tea bags

1 cup water & 1 cup of sugar to make a simple syrup

Directions

Pour vodka into a pitcher or jar and add tea bags. Steep for 30 minutes to 1 hour or until it is nice caramel brown.

While vodka is doing its thing with the tea make the simple syrup by heating water to a boil. Add sugar and stir until fully dissolved. Remove from heat and cool.

Once vodka and tea are properly mixes add simple syrup to vodka to taste. If you want you can always make more simple syrup to make it sweeter!

You can even get a little crazy and add
some hazelnut syrup to it. YUM!

Irish Cream Liqueur 
I think alcohol is a great gift (for those that do drink) and this one is absolutely so yummy you may not even get around to giving it away. The recipe and directions are so incredibly easy it's ridiculous not to try it. The recipe can be found here, but after trying it a few times I have come to add a little more whiskey and only use really good dark chocolate syrup to give it that rich and decadent taste. It blows the commercial liqueurs out of the water. You will not regret whipping this up.

Peppermint Candy Sugar Scrub
I am a sucker for scrubs. I have made my own in the past and really love them. I found the idea and recipe here and it is an excellent one if I do say so myself. I used coconut oil since I had it in the house and I love it. I think I may like it better than almond oil. Next time I am going to try a coconut lime scrub. I am sure it will smell heavenly!

Rosemary infused Olive Oil
I have done this one for the last few years and always make sure I have enough left over for me. This is a great oil to use in everyday cooking to give it just a little added hint of rosemary to your dinner table. Plus it looks pretty when presented as a gift.

Heat olive oil over medium heat with the ratio of 5 sprigs of rosemary to each cup of oil until warm (5-10 minutes). Remove from heat and cool. Add sprigs to bottle and pour olive oil in. Keeps up to 1 month in the refrigerator.

I would show you what they look like, but
they are gone.

Fluer de Sel Caramels
While I suggest every single one of the items above, if you only do one, do this. Holy cow, these are the best caramels that I have ever made. They are so good that when my mother and I first did them we went back out to the store to get more supplies to make another batch. I don't even think that first year I actually gave anyone more than one or two. They are addictive in the best way possible. Recipe is courtesy of Ina Garten and can be found here. I suggest doing this with two people, because things can go wrong if you aren't paying attention. There is one crucial step where you have to do two things at once and if you are busy tending to one the other will burn.

FNO

For years I worked a corporate suite at the US Open Tennis event during the semi-finals and finals week in NYC, which if you are not aware is immediately followed by Fashion Week NY. While I never was able to sit front row next to A-Dubs aka Anna Wintour I at least got to explore New York during Fashion's Night Out. For me FNO is basically a free pass to spend a stupid amount of money on things that I am convinced I need because I have consumed a few cocktails. The next morning I usually feel a little guilty, but then purge my closet of a few items that I donate to a good charity and then all is right in the world again. At least that's what I tell myself.


It all started four years ago when V (my FNO partner in crime) and I were walking down 5th avenue and checking out the shops. We knew FNO existed but it was the first year out so we had no idea what to expect. Then there it was, a curious smell of cheap boy toy cologne half a block away, followed by ear splitting music and then finally the half naked Abercrombie & what's it boys in the flesh. This is when we knew that this was more than just a get out and shop event, this was marketing genius. The boys were posing near the front entrance of the door and those who dared to enter could have their photo taken with them. As tempted as I was to have this happen, V convinced me that I couldn't have my first FNO experience be a place that only has clothing sizes for midgets and tweens. So with a wave and a giggle to the boys we continued on down the street ending up at Prada, which in our estimation would be quintessential FNO party. Boy were we wrong. We ended up standing around with a whole bunch of people exactly like us, sipping drinks and pretending that we can afford to even shop there (no amount of alcohol will convince me that the Prada 2009 is worth that amount of money). After we finished our drink it was decided that the best parties would most likely be downtown, as opposed to midtown, but that was going to take too much work (you know, getting a cab and then deciding where to have it take us) so we decided to duck into our favorite restaurant and have some fantastic wine and tapas. Much better than having to pretend to like some ugly shoes just for some free champagne.

The next year we perfected it and so did a lot of the retailers. It was loads more fun and there were way more celeb and celeb wanna be's out and about to keep us entertained. Then the following year my corporate event didn't need us anymore onsite. So last year was my first year not in NYC for FNO. Of course I kicked it up at a party near me in Seattle, because I do still enjoy champagne and a good evening of retail therapy, but it was just not the same.

This year I was a little sad that I wasn't in the US for FNO. I had thought about heading up to LA for a few parties I was invited to, but being in the Netherlands makes the trip to LA a little hard. Then I started noticing online that the FNO has spread to other cities and countries, including Amsterdam (September 13). While it's not quite the same star studded level that NYC & LA seem to put on, it is still quite impressive with fashion shows and sales galore. Which if you think about it is all that matters, unless of course you are into sipping champagne at every store and gawking at Kimye, which is actually what V and I would have been doing if we were in NYC this year.

Last night was FNO NYC and instead of spending it at the local shops I ended up polishing off a bottle of champagne with the BF and the BF's mother while shopping FNI, Fashion's Night In. Which is basically just shopping online, but the perk is that I find it way easier to say no to items online than in person so I had no guilt this morning. Next year who knows where I be. I officially have a year to plan and save.

So did you do anything FNO related or did you stay in and watch the DNC or VMA's?

Long Walks on the Beach

Last night my mom and I strolled along the waters edge, getting our feet good and sandy and watched the paddle boarders, wind surfers and kids playing in the waves. We completed our evening with some good Mexican food and I happened to come across a skinny margarita that needed a friend. Ole!

yum

I am participating in August Break and it's ending too soon!

Summer Drinks

I love having parties and I love drink stations with themes. This one was lemonade, ice tea and the option to spike it (or not) with either sweet tea vodka or regular vodka. Yum!

Pick your poison.

I am participating in August Break. Enjoy.

Summer Lovin'

I have been in full on summer mode since I stepped foot in California last week. The weather has been exactly what you would expect in Southern California which does nothing but make we want to pretend I am on vacation 24/7. This means I have been thinking about barbecues and fun summer cocktails all weekend long. So when not outside playing in the sun this weekend, I came across a few things that I have to try and thought you might be want to take advantage of them as well.

This one happens to be one of the best sangria's I have had in a long time, but I haven't had the pleasure of partaking in this in awhile. Good thing Kimpton finally spilled their 5 o'clock wine hour Sangria recipe. Now I can whip up this sucker at home.

Kimpton Summer Sangria

1 3-L Pinot Grigio
1/2 bottle of 1.75L Christian Bros. Brandy
Juice of 7 lemons
Juice of 5 limes
2.5 cartons of finely diced strawberries (or two pounds-ish)
1 bunch of basil
2 lbs of watermelon (pureed)
2 cups of granulated sugar

Mix all ingredients and let it sit for a few hours. The longer it sits, the better it gets!

This next one comes care of one of my favorite blogs, Britney.Herself. She, like me, enjoys mixing fruit and alcohol. In a safe and moderated manner of course. This was one something that I pretty much hit myself on the head, going how in the world did I not think of this before!! Follow the link above or here are the instructions for the Walking Margarita:

Slice your watermelon and place in a baking dish and cover with a shot of tequila per piece (yeah it's that serious!). Cover and refrigerate three hours (preferably overnight). Right before you serve dip the edge in some salt. Instant margarita.

Should you happen to be in Southern California and at my house this summer I am pretty sure you will have both of these at some point during your stay!

Also if you come here, I might take you here.

The Mothership

I have talked about Nordstrom on this blog more times than I can count. I have posted things you can buy there almost weekly and recommend them to everyone who will listen. I follow them on twitter, Pinterest, Facebook (and lucky me they follow me back) and participate in surveys on a regular basis for them. In short I LOVE Nordstrom. The other night a girlfriend and I were meeting each other for a quick drink. She was feeling a little sick that day so we were going to make it an early night so everyone could get some rest. Fast forward three drinks, dinner and a little too much fun and you end up at the Nordstrom Flagship shoe department with little care about the cost of a good shoe (What? I got three jobs.). I tried on so many super fabulous shoes and then picked a perfect pair of summer shoes by Stuart Weitzman.

Exhibit A - Also soooo comfortable.

As soon as everything was purchased we decided to celebrate the acquisition of our new shoes before heading home.  While sitting in the restaurant I couldn't resist taking my shoes out of the box for a quick admiration glance. That's when I found this:

I am aware that the cost may be ridiculous for some.
We all have our things.
Anyway, if you can't see what is going on, what I was charged
does not match the sale price on my shoe. I actually think
these were marked down early for the half yearly sale that
didn't start, at that time, for a few days.

So I tweeted this picture to Nordstrom and here is the DM conversation that took place:

I modified the size of the tweets so this wasn't a super long picture, but I didn't change anything in the actual tweets.

I think this all speaks for itself and I had no idea that I could love them even more. I walked in the store in Fashion Island and didn't even need to say a word outside of my name. They are amazing!

Thank you Michael, Theresa & Nordstrom. I will always be a shopper for life!

Taste's Like Summer

I have been waiting for the perfect warm afternoon to make cucumber lemonade, a recipe that I have been holding on to for years, but recently uncovered during the move. As luck would have it the perfect afternoon has arrived and I happened to have all the ingredients on hand. I whipped up this batch super quick and couldn't believe how delicious and refreshing it was. This is now officially my virgin summer drink of choice (I have to have a distinction, because a cool rosé on a summer day is still number one) and highly recommend that the next time you are looking for something new to sip while sitting on the deck, lawn or beach you give this a try. Trust me now and you can thank me later!

Cucumber Lemonade

2 cucumbers
3/4 cup of sugar
1 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice
4 cups of water

Blend the cucumbers and sugar together (you may need to add a bit of water) then add the lemon juice and water. Stir, Chill and Serve. Yum.

Blend

Squeeze

Bottle & Chill

Enjoy

How I can find a reason to drink for all occasions even when sick

I am sitting on the couch today because yesterday I actually got some things done and now I am coughing my lungs out. I am pretty sure I will be needing these in the future so today I am taking it easy and watching TV. Enter the Today show. I love Matt, Al, Natalie and Ann (her uncomfortable interview style is sometimes hard to watch although I do love most things she does). One segment on the Today Show is where Willard Scott does his 100th birthday solutes. Nothing cracks me up more than when a little old lady says she attributes her longevity to a shot of whiskey every night or as with today one lady simply said it was vodka. We will just have to guess as to the quantity and mix. So this got me thinking about cocktails for the sick, even if it doesn't cure me it will at least make the day suck less. While there are many out there (it's actually a little disturbing that so many people have the same idea) this is my favorite, courtesy of Angel's Share in NYC's East Village. I don't have the exact measurements, but it will be fun to experiment.

Warm Water
Cloves, Cinnamon and ground Ginger
Honey
Sherry
Brandy

I think I will take whole cloves, cinnamon and soak in the warm water with the ginger for a few minutes. Then add the honey, brandy and sherry to taste. It truly sounds yummy and if doesn't lessen the chest rattling cough it will at least let me nap.

Oh and just to make sure you don't do anything stupid please don't mix OTC medications (or prescriptions for that matter) with alcohol.

This is way to many products I am sure, but this is what keeps me going at the moment.

Second day of Christmas

Seriously this is a real thing in the Netherlands. When I ask why they have two days of Christmas, no seems to know, but it's a day off work so everyone just goes with it. You don't get more presents though (bummer) just another day to hang out with your family.

So today is another day with another big family dinner. Being such I thought today's post would be all about cocktails as they tend to help make the day go by easier. You may not be needing these today (like me), but you may want to try them for New Years Eve. It's fun to try something new or old every now and again, you never know if you are going to find your next go to drink.

The classic Champagne Cocktail. Yummy and simple.

This is called the Ninth Night and I must say will be made today. Delicious.
The link above is a jerk. Here is the recipe:

The Ninth Night
2 oz. SKYY Infusions Citrus
1 oz. Triple Sec
1 oz. white cranberry juice
Lemon-lime soda
Lime juice

Combine SKYY Infusions Citrus, Triple Sec, and cranberry juice in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into tall rocks glass with fresh ice. Top with soda and lots of fresh lime juice. Garnish with blue ribbon around the glass.

Read more: Holiday Drink Recipes - Christmas Drink Recipes - Cocktail Recipes - Marie Claire 

The Red Hot Chocolate. I don't know why, but I really want this now.

Cheers to another day of Christmas. 

And that's how I consumed a gazillion calories

This weekend was full of all sorts of fun stuff that I did with my parents. We went shopping at the farmer's market and the mall, saw my niece play some Fall Ball and checked out the most amazing store I have ever been to, Total Wine. They have practically every type of alcohol and wine you could imagine. All they need to add is a cheese section and I would move in. If you are in the vicinity of one you must check it out. They have wine tastings and classes and did I mention almost every type of liquor you can imagine? Including whipped cream vodka that we used to make all sorts of fantastic, calorie filled, totally decadent drinks like chocolate martini's, espresso martini's and coconut cream pie martini's. They were delicious, but should only happen once in awhile if you don't want to buy bigger clothes.

After much testing we did have a clear winner of the evening, the espresso martini. Unfortunately it was after lots of tries so I totally forgot to take a decent photo. But just for you here is the winning recipe courtesy of my dad:

The Anderson Espresso Martini Special

2 oz. Double Espresso Vodka (or a coffee liquor)

2 oz. Whipped Cream Vodka

1 oz. half and half

Pour all into a shaker with ice. Shake and serve.

Seriously yummy. 

Also not to be out done mom made a coconut bread pudding that was out of this world. Recipe can be found here.

We had coconut pie ice cream too. That's just how we roll.

Jack and I approved.

Total Wine is truly awesome. You can take photos with Jack!

Jon Hamm is dreamy

So, while I am sad that Mad Men has yet to return to TV, it is still everywhere. Banana Republic came out with it’s"Mad Men" collection, the show was nominated for some Emmy’s and the other day while in Anaheim I had one of the most fabulous martini’s ever and thought of Mad Men. If you are not familiar with the show it is set in the early 60’s and focuses on an advertising firm on Madison Avenue in NYC. There is a lot of incredible costumes, cocktails, affairs and smoking. Please return to TV soon Mad Men, I miss you Don Draper. I love martini’s and whenever I order one I think of Mad Men and not sure why. The characters don’t usually order those often, but my brain still puts the two together and I figure whatever I like them both and no one gets hurt. James Bond just isn’t my thing. (excluding Daniel Craig of course). Sexy man...I'll stuff blue cheese olives for him any day of the week!

So when I have a martini (which is not terribly often, but my friend Jamie likes them too so when we go out it’s trouble) it varies on what you get depending on the place and the bartender. I ask for a Kettle One or Grey Goose dirty martini with olives (I have tried the gin version and it’s just not the same). Since Jamie was with me this business trip there were martini’s and they happened often. They ranged from crazy dirty swamp water to little to no olive juice to the seriously most fab martini ever at Morton’s. Let me explain.

The mix of olive juice to vodka was superb. Not too much not too little. Enough for a taste, but not to over power. Then came the crowning glory, the blue cheese stuffed olive. I am not talking about some left over blue cheese stuffed in a supermarket olive, but a high quality creamy blue cheese put inside an olive that had not been sitting out on the bar for hours, days or weeks, but was most likely kept in a jar to retain it’s firm, but not hard texture. It probably cost $15-$18, but it was soooo worth it. I am going to recreate this blue cheese stuffed lovely, but think it requires some research on the best olive and blue cheese to use. I will keep you updated on the results. In the meantime go to Morton’s or recommend your favorite martini bar, I could totally use a drink.    Shaken, not stirred. Cheers!

Happy Hour

So earlier this week I had mentioned I was making strawberry vodka for the Labor Day weekend. Well to make sure we were on the right track I of course had to taste test so I knew what I was serving people was not awful. Let's just say it was pretty darn fantastic and went perfectly with the lovely weather we have been lucky enough to have here in the Pacific Northwest.

I found the recipe via Pintrest and it came from Shutter Bean. The recipe is so simple and easy, all you need to do is cut strawberries and pour vodka in a jar. Basically if you have ever served a cocktail at home you can do this. If you can't pour liquid or cut fruit I am pretty sure this isn't a good idea for you. I love how it came out and think this would be a great little gift for or something fun to bring to a party or BBQ.

Here are some pictures of the final product and the cocktails I made last night.

I just washed and reused the vodka bottle
because it was so perfect!

I also froze the left over strawberries in ice cube trays
with water to make the drinks pretty.

Yummy! I only wish I had a sprig of mint.

In other news Martha Stewart is still crafty and I want to make this necklace.

This is pretty cute and easy to DIY.
Martha Stewart

Thank goodness for Friday and a 3 day weekend! I hope you all have a happy and safe weekend!