Holiday - - Page 23

by BS

Cocktail O’Clock: Happy Repeal Day

The worst thing about Monday is that even though it’s universally acknowledged as the hardest day of the week, it’s somehow also the one on which it’s least socially acceptable to drink.

But wait a minute — us boozehounds have the upper hand this week, because Monday marks the 78th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition, which we’re pretty sure is a national holiday. Enjoy this original cocktail recipe — The Rodriguez Sour — from Kevin Diedrich of Jasper’s Corner Tap & Kitchen in San Francisco, or find your favorite poison in Endless Cocktails.

Rodriguez Sour

2 oz Partida Blanco tequila
.75 oz Lime
.75 oz Pineapple juice
.5 oz Jalapeno syrup
.25 oz Green Chartreuse

Shake all ingredients together.

Strain and pour into a rocks glass.

Garnish with slices of jalapeño.

by bakersroyale

Edible Holiday Gifts: Samoas Bark

This year let’s bypass truffles and caramel popcorn for gifting and move into something way more fun — candy bark. Well, at least we think so, and since we a have a handful of fuss-free, no-bake candy bark recipes to share, ee’ll be sharing one new recipe a week until the end of December.

Ringing in the Holiday Bark series is a Samoas Bark. We’ve taken that Girl Scout cookie favorite and simplified it to a something you can make in about 20 minutes. They are perfect when combined with other edible Christmas gifts.

We’re also pretty sure you may find this damn hard to part with once you take a bite. See that soft caramel center getting all cozy and gooey with some crushed shortbread? Well that’s just the beginning. Nudging its way into that is a layer of toasted coconuts with more gooey goodness in the form of a caramel and chocolate drizzle…yeah, go ahead, take your heavenly bite and then put it down, wrap it up and give it up because tis the season for giving.

Samoas Bark

in Desserts / Holiday 30 comments

by gansie

Giada De Laurentiis Suggests You Buy Her $99 14-Piece Knife Set

Raise your hand if you never want to hear the words “CYBER MONDAY” again? Holy crap. I scanned my emails yesterday and I bet every other one rolled in with a CYBER MONDAY deal. (Although I did indulge: NYT digital subscription.)

With these CYBER MONDAY specials come lists. Lots of lists from lots of famous people telling us to buy lots of crap. Take this gift guide from Giada De Laurentiis. She started a line with Target. The list is posted on Target’s blog, A Bullyseye View. Out of fifteen items De Laurentiis recommends, FOUR are from her own line.

Welcome to the spirit of giving.

(Photo: A Bullseye View)

in Holiday 3 comments

by Roo de Loo

5 Ridiculous Kitchen Essentials to Be Thankful For

Most of us have learned by now that the original Thanksgiving table did not feature turkey, but more likely venison, eel, and perhaps a dried gooseberry or two. A bird with an injectable marinade was probably not on the menu. Also lacking at that first harvest celebration was a non-stick roasting pan and other kitchen essentials that we have come to believe are necessary to pull off a holiday meal. So let’s be thankful that we are blessed with about 50,000 more kitchen unitaskers than those poor pilgrims. Here are our top picks for culinary inventions that may (or may not) make our Thanksgiving preparations easier, but at least they encourage us to be thankful for our uniquely inventive spirit.

1. Talking Thermometer

The age-old struggle of moist (salmonella anyone?) versus safe (how about 12 pounds of turkey jerky?) can be resolved with a device that will tell you to pull out before irreversible damage is done.

2. The Homo Sapien

Bone china in the shape of a peeled potato can help you accomplish such mammoth kitchen tasks as crushing garlic or fresh herbs. Or you can use it to pummel that annoying cousin who always makes fart jokes.

in Holiday / Lists 0 comments

by Miss K

Pumpkin Pie in a Pumpkin

Two years ago, in my very first ES post ever, I wrote about a certain pair of two-year-olds and a stuffing-stuffed pumpkin. Last year around this time, I changed things up and made a rice-stuffed pumpkin. Now Halloween is gone, twins are almost five, Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching, and I once again heard the call of the stuffed pumpkin. But what to stuff it with this time? I considered potatoes or quinoa, but those just seemed too…tame. Then, inspiration struck. Why not stuff a pumpkin with pumpkin pie? Crazy. I knew that this had major FFU potential, so I bought two pumpkins just in case. Spoiler alert: I still have the second pumpkin, uncut, on the kitchen shelf. That’s right, folks. I baked a pumpkin pie in a pumpkin. And you can too. Here’s how:

Step one: Bake the pumpkin.

When choosing a pumpkin, go with a small-to medium-sized one. Fewer bumps are ideal, or you will have to contend with holes when you peel it.

Cut the top off the pumpkin, then scrape out all the seeds and gross stringy bits. If you want, you can save the seeds and oven-roast them. Then put the whole hollowed-out pumpkin on a cookie sheet, place in a 350-degree oven, and bake until a fork goes through the skin easily. Let cool, then peel off the skin. To make the shell more or less pie-shaped, cut around the opening about a third of the way down the pumpkin until you have what looks like a bowl. Reserve the cooked part that you removed for later.

in Desserts / Featured / Holiday / Recipe / Veggie 7 comments

by gansie

The Best of the Pumpkin: A Jack O’Lantern Home Birth

Please thank the good folks of Blessed Birth Doula Services for their creative, slightly horrifying, but very on-trend, Halloween contribution: a pumpkin home birth.

Now go on, try to get back to work.

Not terrified enough? Check out the rest of our Halloween tips: costumes, cocktails, cakes and we promise, no more veggie pregnancy scenarios.

(Photo: Blessed Birth Doula Services)

in Holiday / Veggie 2 comments

by Emily

Top 10 Trick-or-Treat Fails

Everyone knows that Halloween is the most exhilarating time of year. Staying out late, dressing up in fun costumes and the ultimate excitement: free candy!

But a dark shadow is cast over these golden memories…every year, without fail, there are a few houses that just don’t GET IT. Somehow people are still handing out disappointing, bland, or downright gross “treats.”

Top 10 Trick-or-Treat Fails

10. Good & Plenty

Let’s just get this obvious one out of the way. Who likes black licorice? Nobody. Especially not kids. It tastes like gasoline, barf, trash and moldy sugar all melted together. Good & Plenty should be called “Bad & Too Much” because any amount of black licorice is too much to handle.

(Photo: Wikipedia)

9. Dots

Weird texture, weird taste, vaguely medicinal. Where’s the appeal? Tropical Dots were marginally better, but still fall in the category of “vast childhood disappointment.”

(Photo: candy.com)

8. Mounds

Wait, wait, wait. Let’s get one thing straight. Coconut is fantastic. Chocolate is a no-brainer, especially on Halloween. So why have we included Mounds on this list of shame? Because why on earth would you dole out Mounds when Almond Joys are on the table? Almond versus no almond? Almonds are delicious! Don’t deny any child this simple pleasure.

(Photo: candydirect.com)

7. Payday

Payday suffers the same affliction as Mounds. Peanuts, fine. Caramel, fine. But when there are myriad candy bars out there that have peanuts and caramel covered in chocolate, why would you neglect that?! You are not a real candy bar!!!

(Photo: candydirect.com)

6. Tootsie Rolls

(Photo: thelittlesweetshop.com)

Let’s just be honest. These are the little turds of the candy world. You may not hate Tootsie Rolls, but do some soul-searching. Do you love them? Are you excited to see someone carelessly toss a handful of these into your trick-or-treat bag? Hell no.

in Holiday / Top 10 Lists 25 comments