Edible Arrangements for Dudes

thanks bro

While most of you are focused on candy and flowers and all that shit this week, I want to make sure you know about the existence of a much more important gift-giving development: Thanks, Bro—a thank you basket service just for, well…bros.

As gender non-normative as we like to be here at ES, let’s face it: you just can’t send a guy friend a fruit basket. (Aside: this is not true. If anyone wants to send me a fruit basket, I’ll gladly accept. But still.) Enter: Thanks, Bro. The New York-based service, which just went nationwide, allows you to send a thank you gift to a friend consisting of just two things: beer and beef jerky. Your bro gets to pick out what kind of thank-you beer he wants, and with the jerky you can either go the high-quality route, sending SlantShack’s Wild Rubdown Jerky, a grassfed North Dakota beef option encased in cayenne and brown sugar, which really brings out the delicate earthy tones of the—DAMNIT I couldn’t stay bro-y even for a minute!—or you can go with the “Fuck You, Bro” package, opting to send a single Slim Jim and s six-pack.

Valentine’s Special: Endless Wines

Let’s  be honest. You haven’t planned a thing for Valentine’s Day yet, and the odds that you’re actually gonna whip up some fancy-pants desserts are lower and lower by the hour. Restaurants on Valentine’s are the WORST, so we’re back to the only thing any lover (or single person) really wants for V-Day: some vino.

To mark the occasion, ES is giving you another chance to pick up some deeply discounted wines, on us. As those of you who ordered our ES Christmas gift know, NakedWines.com is an awesome new company that invests in independent winemakers. By cutting out the middlemen, they can offer bottles at a serious discount. And Endless Simmer is one-upping that and giving you $100 off your Valentine’s case of wine. That comes out to about $60 for a custom case of delicious wines, no hidden shipping fees or anything

Just click the image below (or here) to redeem your $100 voucher off of any order.

Baking for Friends: Linzer Heart Cookies

linzerheartTates

With the Beyonce Bowl come and gone, it must be about time to start focusing on the next food-obsessive holiday on the calendar.

Yes, Valentine’s Day can be dumb, but it also can be an excuse to bake up some over-the-top deliciousness, right? One of our favorite New York-based bakeries, Tate’s Bake Shop, is here to share this recipe for Linzer heart cookies from their cookbook, Baking for Friends.

Anyone who has picked up Tate’s crazy-crispy chocolate chips at a store around NYC understands that these folks know how to do cookies right. And, if you’re in need of a V-day gift, hop over to Tate’s website and get 20 percent off any cookie-centric just for being an ES-er. Use the code BLOG213 at checkout.

Tate’s Bake Shop Linzer Heart Cookies

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Weekend Eats Read: The Sultan of Olive Oil

Nick Coleman and Nadia Gasperini Rossi in the olive grove at Mulinmaria_EDIT

So you think you’re a pretty high-class foodie ’cause you know your manzanillos from your arbequinas, huh?

You have no idea.

Nick Coleman, New York’s premier olelogist (yes, that’s a thing) has dedicated his life to understanding the intricacies of EVOO, and thinks you should too.

Read: The Sultan of Olive Oil

(Photo: Narratively / Nick Coleman)

Cocktail O’Clock: Brothers’ Quarrel

cocktail

With the Super Bowl just around the corner, this drink, which comes from the W Austin, is a good pleaser. It’s manly enough for a football party (Bourbon-based) but sweet enough to please those of us who are manly enough to admit we’re in it for the taste. It also pays homage to this year’s brother vs. brother Super Bowl coaches plotl ine by mixing St. Germaine and Canton, two liquors made by two different brothers. According the legend:

The maker of Chambord liquor had two sons. He gave each of his sons a sum of money and said “I want you to take this money and go out and make a liquer better than mine. The catch is that I want you to make a liquer better than each other’s.” With the money in hand and passion in their hearts, each son created a great spirit, one making St. Germaine and the other Canton. Much like the whiskeys also found in this cocktail, an American Bourbon and an English scotch, the brother’s quarreled over which is better.

Who’s right? We have no idea, but this drink sure is a strong one!

Brothers’ Quarrel

1.5 oz Buffalo Trace Bourbon
.5 oz st. germain
.5 oz canton ginger
.25 oz pineapple

Shake all, pour over rocks in rocks glass. Then Spritz with Laphroaig and garnish with burnt lemon.

 Find more party drink ideas in Endless Cocktails.

(Photo courtesy W Austin)

Cooking with Booze: Bourbon Bananas Foster

bananas foster

It’s never too early to start planning Valentine’s Day! And single folks, it’s definitely never too early to start planning a mid-winter, anti-romantic gorge fest, right? We’re thinking a weekend staying in Vegas, ordering up ridiculously lavish steaks and tracking down various booze-soaked desserts like the ridiculously good banana’s foster at Hugo’s Cellar in Four Queens Hotel and Casino Las Vegas. It’s prepared tableside, bananas served up over vanilla ice cream and then set on fire! Who’s with us?

Or you know, either way you could just stay home and cook up your own lavish mid-winter feast. Chef Nisa Burns of Kitchenability.com and author of the new book Kitchenability 101: The College Student’s Guide to Easy, Healthy, and Delicious Food, shares a sweet, spiked dessert. This bananas foster is made with bourbon rather than rum (we like), and is actually quite easy to make.

Easy Bananas Foster with Ice Cream

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Cooking with Fabio: Drunken Red Spaghetti

Has anyone else missed Fabio Viviani? I know I’d take his crazy Italian ramblings over this year’s boring Top Chef-testants any day. Well, not to worry—I just stumbled upon his new web series, in which Fabio and his disturbingly hot mom cook up drunken red spaghetti—pasta doused in red wine and smothered in pecornio, walnuts and caramelized pancetta. I love this dish because he doesn’t add just a little bit of booze. Uh-uh. He adds enough wine to turn those noodles purple! Now that’s Italian.

Also – check out his nickle-and-dime pasta serving size trick at 2:40!

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