DRINKING INDOORS – THE VODKA BLUSH

by Sarah Nevada Smith

There are an abundance of cocktails with devilish undertones and sentiments.

VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM AND OUZO SHAKE WITH ESPRESSO BEANS

by Haley Simonds

This shake is made using one of my all-time favorite vanilla ice cream recipes from my pastry school days.  I add an extra vanilla bean and a little salt for even more flavor.  In the spirit of Rosemary’s Baby, the fictional tannis root is substituted for ouzo, adding a boozy licorice flavor to the creamy vanilla bean ice cream.  So gooooooood!

SMOOTH CRIMINAL

by Sarah Nevada Smith

COCA-COLA CLASSIC (Hecho en Mexico)

In 1886 a pharmacist in Georgia created a drink mixing various ingredients together with a lot of sugar. The resulting recipe was the authentically American cash crop, Coca-Cola. The brand changed extensively over the next 125 years, shedding much of its grass roots-ness to become the reckoning global presence we know today. One fundamental change came in 1980 when the company altered the recipe trading out sugar for high fructose corn syrup.

JOCKS DRINK BEER

by Sarah Nevada Smith

Chimay is a Belgian Trappist beer, which means it’s brewed by monks at a Trappist Monastery. Beers of the Belgian tradition lend themselves to a sound socially just state. That being said, this sort of elite and hearty beverage seemed a fitting pairing with the jock inspired pork sandwich. Hops is the dominant taste in this dense beer, though no one really knows what that means anyways. Full bodied, full flavor, full caloric intake, what else can a growing boy want…

CHIMAY Blue Label
Silverlake Wine
http://www.silverlakewine.com/

DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER

by Sarah Nevada Smith

First impressions are important but they aren’t as important as people make them out to be, and in time, are generally turned on their head.  Sometimes the best things, people, music, movies, food, are misunderstood at first glance but often complicated things are.

MARIGOLD FLOWER ICED TEA

by Haley Simonds

The Marigold flower, also known as the Calendula flower, has a slightly bitter, sort of spicy, citrus flavor when eaten.  Add it to your salad, or in this case, make it into tea.  Hot or cold, this tea is subtle and soothing.

MICHELADA

by Haley Simonds

So refreshing.  So cold.  So weird to drink beer on the rocks? Not anymore.  This drink will make you question everything you thought to be true.  Yes, beer does taste better with ice and hot sauce.  You’ll see…

HOW TO WASH DOWN A SPOON FULL OF SUGAR

by Sarah Nevada Smith

Field Recordings Wine, Jurassic Park Vineyard

Chenin Blanc 2009

I would like to think that I’m adult enough to no longer judge a book by its cover, or in this case the wine by its bottle, but I’m not. The Fields Recordings, Jurassic Park Vineyard’s Chenin Blanc bottle is just too cool, so cool that I would to buy the bottle without ever tasting the good.  This affordable wine has a label designed with clean type strategically placed above a streamlined pointillism graphic, screaming “buy me I’m pretty.” *Note: Please read quotes in drunken Kristen Wiig voice.

NECTAR FOR MY HUMMINGBIRD CUPCAKE

by Sarah Nevada Smith

Sudwerk Hubsch

HEFE WEIZEN, Wheat Beer

Due to the complex nature of the deliciously competitive elements in the Hummingbird cake (pineapple and carrot) we opted for a traditional Wheat Hefeweizen.

A PERFECT PAIRING FOR A NIPPLE IN THE MIDDLE

by Sarah Nevada Smith

Moscato d’Asti

Sori Gramella 2010

It might come off as a little self-aggrandizing for Haley to say how amazing her cupcakes are but, holy shitballz, her brown buttercream is the new salted caramel. Something about the complex crunchiness of the frosting really ups the game and makes the dessert seem a bit gritty, and less girly than a straightforward buttercream. So to make sure we treat it right, an ideal pairing for this cupcake is a sparkling Moscato. The young wine, has an effervescent sweetness that compliments the raspberries in the cake while still allowing the frosting to stand out.