Smirnoff Kissed Caramel Cocktail Hour!

At Pie Party GE last year Smirnoff was one of the generous Gold Sponsors of the event. Attendees of Pie Party got to try drinks made with two of Smirnoff's newest flavors Smirnoff Kissed Caramel Vodka and Smirnoff Iced Cake Vodka. (Please note to enter Smirnoff's site you have to provide a birth date which will need to be at least 21 years of age to enter and view.) At Pie Party I tried the Caramel Apple Pie (made with Kissed Caramel flavored vodka) and was enamored with it. Smirnoff was so kind to offer samples for us to try. So I decided to have a cocktail hour at my place with bite-sized eats and a few close friends for a tasting!

Since drinks were going to be had I made pigs in a blanket, a blueberry buckle (a la Herbivoracious), chicken fingers, arancini balls (thanks Trader Joe's!), there were soft cheeses and multigrain baguettes, pita chips and Fritos and PopCorners with hummus, and my friend Lesley brought Dove chocolate caramels in honor of the event. My buddies Lesley and Ric, and cousin Melissa each brought a supplement for the drinks on Smirnoff's website to try and after stuffing ourselves we started our cocktail tasting.

Kissed Caramel Appletini

Made with Smirnoff Kissed Caramel, apple juice, lemon juice, and simple syrup (which I made). Everyone liked it for the most part because "It tasted like candy." The alcoholic taste was a bit sharp but not too much because the simple syrup elevated the sweetness. It was a fave of the group especially for Lesley who is not a big alcohol drinker.

Caramel Spiced Tea

Made with Kissed Caramel, strong chai tea (unsweetened), milk, and simple syrup. This was another fave. My friend Ric is a huge fan of chai tea and since the proportion of tea and milk was larger than the Kissed Caramel the alcohol taste was not overwhelming but adding the hint of caramel. It tasted like tea with a bit of caramel, so it could be dangerous because you may keep drinking and not realize how much alcohol you're having. Still darned tasty.

Caramel Candy Apple

Made with Kissed Caramel, apple juice, and cranberry juice. This drink is a shot so it's a bit stronger since it's supposed to be taken in one slog. I felt like this was a bit more alcoholic than the Appletini but Melissa, Ric, and Lesley thought the Appletini had a bit more alcohol taste to it. This may have been because the Appletini was the first we tried and after a couple breaks we were dulled by the taste of alcohol. The cranberry added some tartness to it, but either way it was a nice, smooth shot.

Detour into trying the Kissed Caramel Mule. We didn't have angostura bitters, so it was just ginger ale and Kissed Caramel. And, I learned an important lesson: Never shake carbonated drinks in a cocktail mixer or it will explode. It wasn't until I took a second stab at the drink that Melissa and Ric realized that this was the issue and by that time ginger ale and Smirnoff were on my floor, after exploding on my counter. Lesson learned. This drink, sans bitters, wasn't too intriguing, so we'll see if perhaps the bitters may have added that needed element to make the drink stand out in another try in the future.

Caramel Apple Pie

The drink I tasted at Pie Party GE. Even making it at home I LOVED it. It's made with Kissed Caramel (1.5 oz), apple cider (4 oz.), lemon juice (.25 oz), and a pinch of sea salt. Because the cider outweighs the Smirnoff this drink tastes very much like a pie in drink form. Ric and Melissa liked it (by this time Lesley had bowed out) but didn't think it stood out enough for them in the range of the drinks. I think they enjoyed some items that had that alcoholic element.

Creamy Caramel Martini (revised)

Ric was unable to find butterscotch liquor at the store near me so he got a (dark) chocolate liqueur since it seemed that may go with caramel well. This drink was strong. You pair 17% alcohol (chocolate) and 30% alcohol with the vodka and nothing to pare it down a bit and you have some serious stuff. I couldn't finish it because it was so intense, but the flavors did meld well together. It's a beverage you'd have to sip for awhile rather than drink.

Verdict

In the end the Appletini and Spiced Tea were the faves. The Tea was loved by Ric and Melissa because they are fans of chai and the caramel added a nice boost for them in terms of the overall flavor. It was milky and sweet! Lesley was all for the Appletini because it tasted like liquified candy. And my favorite remains the Caramel Apple Pie.

I would highly recommend Smirnoff Kissed Caramel Vodka and try the drinks we did. There's a good alternate for those who enjoy their alcohol sweet (Appletini or Caramel Apple Pie) or smooth and not too heavy (Caramel Spiced Tea) or strong (Creamy Caramel Martini).

Thanks again to Smirnoff for co-sponsoring Pie Party Live. I'm looking forward to making the flavored vodka cocktail hour a quarterly event at my place.

Fave Reads 2012

That time of year again. At the start of a new year we reflect on the previous and in that sense you don't only get reviews of my baked goods, those I've enjoyed in and around NYC, but also books I read this year that I thoroughly enjoyed. In 2011 my Goodreads goal was to read 50 books and I read 54. This past year my goal was to read 52 and I read 60. For 2013, the aim is 54 at minimum. And I still have about a dozen or so titles from last year's Book Expo to read.

Please note that these books are listed in no particular order.

• Easy Chinese Recipes (2011) - Thanks again to Tuttle Publishing for helping me host a giveaway of one of my new favorite cookbooks! While you don't read a cookbook per se you do experience it and when recipe after recipe is good you know you have a winner. I have made scallion pancakes a good half dozen times since August. Like I said in my review of Bee Yinn Low's book: once you make her recipes you will never go out to buy Chinese food again. It's easy, as the title says, and delicious. Seriously if you have any hesitation don't. You don't need fancy tools or anything but a handful of ingredients and the tenacity to go forth and cook!
• Days of Blood and Starlight (2012) - Pretty much anything Laini Taylor writes I will love. This is guaranteed. Last year the first book in her new series threw me for a loop, and it's sequel, Days, has me chomping at the bit for the final installment next year. I warn you Days is much darker, bloodier, and grittier than Daughter of Smoke and Bone as is the main character of Karou--still reeling with guilt when we left off in the first book. Read a page of Laini's stuff and you'll fall in love, I promise you. Just do it. Do it now!
• Live By Night (2012) - Last year I read two Dennis Lehane books and picked The Given Day as one of my faves read last year. Night is a follow-up, kind of, to that following the youngest brother Joe who was just a kid in Day. We follow Joe into his life of crime, drastically different from that of his dad and older brothers, and how he carves out a life for himself but not after lots of pain and sacrifice. As I said last year Lehane has a way with prose and especially with dialogue (I told him this when I met him at Book Expo). I'd read about the Coughlin family for years to come.
• Where Things Come Back (2011) - John Corey Whaley's debut got heaps of praise and deserved it. He won the Printz Honor, was chosen by Pulitzer Prize winning author Oscar Hijuelos as one of the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35, an honor not given to a YA book before, and a William Morris Debut Award. This book is heartfelt and well written and has two stories that you're not sure where they're going to go but ultimately see how lives can affect one another adversely or for the better. This was one of those books where I deliberately missed my train stop to keep reading. Can't wait for his next work.
• The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors (2010) - Michelle Young-Stone was at an event at WORD Brooklyn with Heidi Durrow last year and in hearing her and Heidi give such warm advice to aspiring writers I instantly wanted to read her book. I was not disappointed. Lightning Strike Survivors follows the lives of two kids (who grow into adults), and those connected to them, who've been affected by lightning. Young-Stone spent years writing this book and got her big break with her agent and in writing about these characters you feel that she knows them, has lived with them even. This is another book I didn't want to end and was a bit disheartened when I saw I was on the last page.
• The Handmaid's Tale (1985) - Margaret Atwood is a huge name in literature and in dystopian/sci-fi. My friend and critique partner Kim recommended this book to me and it's a classic. Many new tales YA especially are often based on the premise posed by Handmaid's Tale. The prose is straightforward but very visual and colorful. The ending may leave you hopeful or terrified depending if you're an optimist or pessimist (aka realist). I find the ambiguous ending and the steady way the world became something much worse for women and families a spectacular piece of storytelling. A newly released illustrated version was also released this year, kind of pricey but stunning.
• The Fault In Our Stars (2012) - Okay, who didn't love this book? It's great! Automatically hit the best-seller list and captures something devastating with wit and grace. So good. John Green is a major name in YA publishing, especially being a male writer in YA who writes fully fleshed characters, male and female, so well. Many people cried. I didn't  however it doesn't mean I didn't feel anything. When I finished it I was all kinds of choked up.
• Breed (2012) - Chase Novak (aka Scott Spencer) wrote this tale about a couple willing to go the extra mile to have kids and they do in fact losing themselves to carnal urges they cannot explain but are traced back to some shady IVF practices. I've been a fan of Spencer's work reading his NBA nominated A Ship Made of Paper and Endless Love. So when I found out he wrote it I picked it right up at BEA.
• Between Shades of Gray (2011) - Ruta Sepetys has had her book mixed up with that other Shades of Gray book this year. But hers is not a romance at all. It's a heartbreaking tale of young girl watching her family lose everything at the rise of Hitler. This is based on Sepetys' Lithuanian family who was trafficked along Europe and ended up in Siberia for years. The first line is one of the most haunting things you'll ever read in fiction, be it YA or adult focused. It's a tale that doesn't shy away from the bad parts but also gives you hope at every turn even when you're hit again and again with the atrocities. I also read the ARC for her upcoming YA book Out of the Easy. Hard times and well-written. I'd recommend it as well.
• The Night Circus (2011) - Erin Morgenstern was a huge name at Book Expo in 2011 when Night Circus first came out and it was well deserved. Her debut novel provides visual impact on every page is lovely and telling and lyrical. She has a way with description painting a literal portrait. Some may not love it but I think if you enjoy beauty and words than you'll be into this one.
• Cloud Atlas (2004) This was a book club pick and I am glad it was. The film came out in 2012 but the book is just amazing! How David Mitchell kept everything together, created such vast worlds new and old and current and languages whole new languages threw me for a loop. Admittedly the beginning sagged for me but it picked up as we went forward in time and then backwards. Amazingly structured and I learned a lot from the writing and enjoyed the typesetting design as well.
• Swamplandia! (2011) - Shortlisted for the Pulitzer in 2012 (when there was no winner in the Fiction category) Karen Russell built an interesting world. This was another book club pick but on my list since I'd read the interview Poets & Writers did with Russell around the time of publication. This is another tome that has multiple POVs, mainly Ava in first person and her older brother Kiwi in third (and I do enjoy me some multi POV books) but the language, the detail, the growth of these people and revelations they deal with are great and I see why it was shortlisted.

Other books I enjoyed reading in 2012 include Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (I agree that this'll be an American classic), A Working Theory of Love by Scott Hutchins, The Raven Boys (book 1) by Maggie Stiefvater, Blasphemy (story collection) by Sherman Alexie (Check out the story 'Cry, Cry, Cry'), State of Wonder by Anne Patchett, Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell (Yup, another kick ass female protagonist), Prodigy (sequel to Legend) by Marie Lu, and The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin.

Here's to more books in 2013 old and new! My list of what I want to read continues to grow and there's just not enough time. But the time I do spend reading I thoroughly enjoy.

#CookieTakedown 2012

Gray Sunday. Rain. Wind. Cookies. Bourbon. Brooklyn. Mid-December and the 2012 Cookie Takedown at The Bell House was officially on! In my corner, I had maple deliciousness. Shaking off the droplets my cousin Melissa and I walked into a literal smorgasbord of cookies and some serious competition. For some, or many, this wasn’t just for fun. This. Was. It.

Admittedly, I felt pretty confident about my original creation. I’d done a test batch and got thumbs up from discerning eaters in the form of my co-workers and got raves from members of my writing group. But, like anything when it comes to NYC, in smaller communities you feel like a master, but when facing the larger realm you realize how steep the competition is.

With my tin pans full of cookies I was beside women with nice tablecloths, neon colored gloves, cute zebra printed plates and a light-up sign! Luckily fellow foodie, food blogger, fashionista, and kickass mom Angela (Mind Over Batter, by the way she's also currently doing a cookbook giveaway!) had done one of the of the Takedowns before (she placed at the Ice Cream Takedown earlier this year) and brought a lovely tablecloth. She also brought some delicious Banana Bread Re-snicker-cycle-doodles. If you like banana bread you’ll love her cookie it has the great balance of bread and cookie and a perfect banana taste.

Matt Timms knows how to treat his takedowners. There were nice giveaways for all including Bulleit Bourbon, Bulleit Bourbon glasses, and a handy Anolon wooden spoon. There was free eggnog (strong stuff!) and the first round was on Matt. Winners got either a Cuisinart stand mixer and other goodies (audience choice prizes) or an electronic handmixer (judge’s choice) or baking pans (honorable mentions). Oh yeah, there were cookies galore!

Unfortunately I didn’t get to partake in as many cookies as I would have liked since I was so busy serving the masses. One of the nicest compliments was seeing people nod after taking a bite of my cookie knowing that it hit a soft spot. One attendee, who was friends with the ladies giving out Pistachio Chip Chip cookies said my cookie was the best of all! One of the ladies manning their table came over to me and said “My friend said your cookie was the best one here. And he’s my friend!” I was aghast and flattered and psyched up!

The Cookie Takedown is a major cookie bonanza. There was an abundance of salty sweets from the salted peanut butter chocolate chip cookies (one of my faves for the perfection of something simple), salted chocolate chocolate chip cookies, one of the winners of the audience prize was a sea salted chocolate chip cookie. There was a Frankencookie (peanut butter cookie atop a brownie atop a chocolate chip cookie). There were bacon cookies, Drunken Chocolate Pig (chocolate, maple, sea salt, bacon) and a cookie with maple drizzle. A Miso Awesome cookie, yes miso in cookie along with chocolate. There was the Fluffer Nutjob (which also placed) and a cookie that was smothered in fluff (homemade mallomars) hiding the bit of cookie underneath. There was chewy gingerbread and thyme toppings and potato chips with chocolate chips (pistachio chip chip) and pistachio cookies with pomegranate buttercream and...so. many. cookies!

What was my cookie you ask? I made a maple almond praline cookie. As a fan of Vermont, and especially Vermont maple, I saw that Trader Joe’s had maple sugar! I purchased some and when I found out I was no longer on the waiting list for the Cookie Takedown but an official entrant I went to Trader Joe’s and bought a crapload more in addition to maple syrup and stocked up on maple extract.

This is a chewy cookie and the maple is there but not too intense. Being that maple itself is a subtle flavor I don’t think you can overdo it, however, you definitely need a balance of maple and non-maple ingredients. I rolled the almond in grade A dark amber maple syrup and then in light brown sugar to make a sort of praline and put that in the middle of the cookie so it’d crust up while baking. Along with the chew you get a nice crunch. I got many compliments from those outside of the competition as well since I had leftovers.

Something to also note...you have to make a few hundred of these. I made close to 300 over the course of two nights. And (thanks for the tip, Angela!) made dough for five straight days and refrigerated it so I could bake over two nights rather than try and balance making dough and baking. Luckily the dough I made handled well being refrigerated for several days making baking go smoothly. I made 150+ on Friday night and 120+ on Saturday night. With maple in baked goods the flavor has to settle. You will not taste maple right out of the oven, but after everything’s been sealed for a few hours and you open that sealed container anew BAM you are hit with it. And it is wonderful.

So after two hours of serving cookies, tasting cookies, drinking some strong eggnog, and chatting with attendees and contestants the judges deliberated and Matt counted ballots from audience votes. We all gathered on stage and introduced ourselves (and our confections) and waited to hear the results.

Admittedly, I felt a bit confident. I knew the cookie was good, but being up against 29 other cookies, well, you wonder how good.

Unfortunately again, friends, I did not win. The big winner was Susan of The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen who won both the judges top prize and the audience prize for her French macarons. Yes, maple got beat out by the French. But they were well done and I don’t know if I’d have the patience to make those bad boys, especially several hundred in my own little kitchen.

Do I wish I’d have won? Sure. But mostly I wish I’d gotten to taste more cookies! Seeing everyone set up and hearing them say them onstage I was disappointed I didn’t get to try more. Lucky audience members and judges. People worked hard on their cookies and the other takedowners were super nice and complimentary. It was good vibes all around on a rainy day and warm fuzzies. My cousin had a bunch of fun and again, Matt knows how to host an event and treat his people so he made it extra awesome.

I may do the Cookie Takedown again next year, may not. I didn’t feel too stressed about it do to good prep but who knows. Maybe next year I’ll just sit back, relax, and with eggnog in one hand and a plate of cookies in the other take in all the goods.

Sidenote: Because I was so busy distributing cookies to the public I didn’t get as many pics as I’d like but here are some great ones from Brooklyn Exposed (you can see Angela and I in one!). And SeriousEats has a nice slideshow of the event.

Cover Reveals from Fiction Femme Fatale(rs)

Judge a book by its cover? I know I do, so it's super exciting to hear about and then see the covers of upcoming titles. And two of the super talented ladies of Fiction Femme Fatale have covers to reveal! Krystalyn's book Legesea will be released next year from Curiosity Quills and you can see the cover she sketched and the one that came to fruition on her blog now!

Amy will be doing a cover reveal for Gated (Random House) next Friday (yes, the date slated as the last day on the Mayan calendar) on IceyBooks. While everyone is wondering whether the world will or won't end I'm leaning more towards 'no' as I am really excited about reading Krystalyn and Amy's upcoming books and want to the world to see them as well. So, no Apocalypse, thank you.

IceyBooks will be doing some Gated-themed giveaways along with the cover revelation so stay tuned next Friday.

Congrats Krystalyn & Amy for all your hard work and the upcoming publications!

#CookieSwapNYC 2012 (Supporting WhyHunger's Campaign)

Walking into Hill Country BBQ in Chelsea one is welcomed by the woody aroma of meat being smoked. Pass by the friendly hostess and the bar, don't get sidetracked by the dessert station, and head downstairs to be greeted by representatives of WhyHunger and Bloggers without Borders. Beyond was an array of goodies and food bloggers I've connected with at local functions and via the Twitterverse. For me being part of the food blogger/foodie community is home and the best way to spend a weekend, especially a chilly and windy Sunday. Baking for them and enjoying food with them is a highlight, but to also do so for charity gets the warm fuzzy feelings going.

Cookie Swap NYC was organized by bloggers around the country with Bloggers without Borders. Bloggers without Borders has partnered with WhyHunger to promote an end to poverty and hunger throughout the nation by connecting people to affordable and nutritious foods. Fellow food blogger Lillian Huang kept many of us updated on the upcoming event. In the end forty food bloggers and food enthusiasts from the tri-state area came out to bake, talk, and share in WhyHunger and Bloggers without Borders mission.

The purpose of the Cookie Swap is, yes to swap cookies, but mainly to join people with common interest for a larger purpose. Tickets cost $40, half of which went to WhyHunger. Beyond purchase of a ticket all you had to do was bake cookies. Any kind you like! And what you get is the generosity of Hill Country BBQ's executive chef Elizabeth Karmel in providing you a tasty barbecue along with samples of their breakfast pastries and award winning cupcake! And again...the warm fuzzies!

Since I figured (and saw via many tweets) that chocolate was a popular theme I went with a recipe I'd made before. Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing. A pillowy cookie that's not too sweet but add on the brown butter icing and you  are in sugar country!

It's always great to catch up with the food blogger community and participate in not just eating but helping a greater cause. Jackie did gluten free pinenut cookies, Elizabeth (Brooklyn Supper) made a gorgeous satsuma cranberry shortbread, Angela (Mind Over Batter) made chocolate peanut butter cookies and gingerbread, Hazel (Tasty Pursuits) made Gianduja cookies, Betty Ann (Mango Queen) made purple yam ube shortbread, Abby Dodge did a deliciously ooey gooey bar, and there was more, more, and more.

It was great meeting Gail (THE Tough Cookie), Sweet & Simple's Michelle Jaffee, and Kelly (KellyBakes) in person and everyone just chatting it up and relaxing.

Hill Country BBQ, and Elizabeth, were super generous in providing the venue two years in a row, this great food spread of their succulent meats and sides, as well as a nice breakfast spread of savory and sweet items and honey butter (HONEY BUTTER!). Attendees were also provided the Hill Country NYC Food & Wine Festival (Godiva) award winning PB&J cupcake! Are there words to describe how much I loved this cupcake? Moist cake, perfect balance of jelly in said cake, a whipped peanut butter icing that did not overwhelm, and salted peanuts on top! Goodness...

Let me be honest. After all that dining and chatting and picture taking I didn't want to go home because (1) it was hard to move and (2) I wanted to take advantage of everyone's generosity and report back accordingly to the world! I only took a handful of cookies after having splurged on Hill Country (been there before and enjoyed it and certainly will be back again) so I tasted gluten free Milanos from Our Gluten Free Family (chewy and, dare I say, even better than the original), Angela's chocolate PB cookie (as always a knock out), Abby's ooey gooey bar (Abby does no wrong as far as I'm concerned), and Betty Ann's chocolate sandwich cookie (sinfully wonderful). Then there's regret at not being able to try more but my Zumba class barely worked off what I had eaten.

During events like these you realize how lucky you are to be able to indulge in great food and make it for others. So to come together for a cause to aid others less fortunate to become more educated about food and have it at their disposal is a great thing to do and promote, year-round not just during the holidays.

Bloggers without Borders has done some great fundraisers including the NYC Blogger Bake Sale that Lillian and Ken spearheaded earlier this year to also provide relief to hungry children.

To stay updated with WhyHunger's mission check out their website and connect. If you're a blogger check out and sign up for Bloggers without Borders and perhaps I'll see you at a function in the very near future.

Thanks again to all who participated and donated and organized and again huge thanks to Hill Country BBQ for the great spread and generosity.

Warm fuzzies people...