Category — Drinks

Have you heard of coffee percolators? I hadn’t until today, and I can’t believe how convenient they are! It keeps the coffee warm. while having a really sweet, vintage look that is perfect for brunch or company!

National Presto Presto 12-cup Stainless Steel Percolator

Farberware Percolator (4-12 Cup) FCP412

Melitta 12-cup Percolator

I just went to Vegas this past weekend and had a wonderfully whimsical meal at Jose Andres’ restaurant Jaleo in the new Cosmopolitan Hotel. One of the standout dishes was his Mussels steamed in a white wine broth. The recipe and image is via Honest Vanilla!

Here is the recipe and ingredients with suggestions by me!

Ingredients

• 1 kg black mussels, thoroughly scrubbed
• A third of a white wine bottle, or 250ml
• 4 garlic clove, minced
• 2 shallot, minced
• 2 bird’s eye chili (chili padi)
• A bunch of parsley, or 5 stalks
• A knob of butter, or 50g
• A couple drops of olive oil, or 1 tbs
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat up a large non-stick pan on medium heat with olive oil and stir fry minced garlic and shallot (This Kitchen Aid pan is deep, has a lid, and comes in a great red!)
2. Add white wine first then mussels and cover lid for 5 minutes (You’ll need a wine bottle opener like this screwpull one!)
3. Check all mussels are opened, if not continue steaming with lid on for a couple of extra minutes. Discard stubbornly unopened mussels
4. Once ready add butter, chili and parsley
5. Stir fry to coat mussels evenly
6. Add salt and pepper to taste by testing the broth (Love this OXO salt and pepper mill)

I love iced coffees. I drink them with no syrup and with a hearty helping of soy milk. The BEST iced coffees in Los Angeles are at LAMILL and after slurping one down this weekend–I figured maybe an espresso machine would be a good investment.

I’m lusting after this one:

La Pavoni

So steampunk…and so out of my price range.

And when I’m not drinking iced coffees, how cute are these cups?

Apilco Tradition Porcelain Espresso Cups & Saucers

Yum. Apple cider is always a favorite.  The Cooking Photographer has a super simple recipe that is sure to be a hit with both kids and adults. Here is a perfectly autumn themed picture from The Cooking Photographer:

Apple Cider Citrus Punch

8 cups apple cider or apple juice
3/4 cup cran raspberry concentrate, thawed
Peel of 1 orange

Warm the ingredients in a large saucepan over medium low heat. Serve immediately for warm drinks, or cool and then refrigerate for cold punch.

Yield 8 servings. Prep time 10 minutes.

A pretty Acapulco Pitcher from Crate & Barrel

A really chic CB2 Stainless Steel Cocktail Stirrer

A quirky Alessi Apostrophe Orange Peeler

My cousin just got married over the weekend, and it was perfect! It also got me thinking about really beautiful wedding china:

Vera Wang for Wedgwood “With Love” Toasting Flute, Pair

Kate Spade “Darling Point” 2-Piece Dessert Set

Lauren by Ralph Lauren “Hewitt Platinum” 14″ Oval Platter

It’s been gray and gloomy! Here are some bright colored cups to make me and you happy!

Unbreakable Polycarbonate 10pc. Tumbler Set Assorted

Cool Set Insulated Tumbler Set Of 4 16 Oz.

Four Iris Iced-Tea Glasses

Blogger Kitchy Kitchen has this amazing recipe for Black Rosemary Fizz. Kitchy Kitchen listed her photos and recipe as a summer drink, but I think it’ll be really great as a non-alcoholic beverage for a Halloween party. The deep ruby blood color is so pretty!

Here’s her pretty pitcher:

Lenox “Tuscany Classics” Pierced Pitcher

Crate & Barrel Bitty Bite Glasses

Crate & Barrel Extra Punch Cup 10oz.

Of course here at Cooking & Blogging, the best Halloween costumes revolve around food. Here are three of my personal favorites!

Mac & Cheese Kid’s Costume

Adult Peas in a Pod Costume!

Kid’s Ice Cream Sundae Costume!

In My Veins Drink Dispenser

Amazon Marketplace

$19.99

If you’ll be throwing a Halloween Party this year, you might want to consider doing some fun themed drinks.  I wanted to give you a few Halloween Drink Recipe Ideas for your bash.

My first and most obvious suggestion would be to do a red punch of some kind.  Start with some basic fruit punch, a few liter bottles of it from the store would be fine, or you could get some of the powdered kind.  Add a can of orange juice concentrate and a liter of gingerale ale.  If you’re going for an alcoholic punch, here is where you’d pour in the vodka. 

I recommend putting some creepy stuff in the punch bowl, like fake eyeballs (you can get them at your local party store) and gummy worms.  This way your guest will get more than they bargain for when they ladle their punch.

I’d also recommend doing an orange drink of some kind.  I really like peach drinks, so I’d recommend mixing peach schnapps, orange juice and a little bit of rum together.  Back in college I used to use Captain Morgan’s Spiced Silver Rum for this drink, so that’s what I’d recommend.  Cut up some fresh peaches, toss in some rasberries, and you’ll have a really delicious cocktail. 

If you really want to freak your guests out, I recommend serving one of your red drinks (be it fruit punch, margaritas, etc) in the In My Veins drink dispenser.  It is so creepy and wrong, yet perfect for a Halloween party!

If you are looking for something to make your upcoming party more interesting, think about drink accessories.  I know what you’re thinking, what are drink accessories?  Necklaces for my beer?  Not exactly – I’m talking the little decorative touches that make parties feel more festive, like drink umbrellas, decorative ice cubes and wine charms. 

Fred & Friends Ice Princess Ice Cube Trays

Pillsbury

$12.95

Throwing a luau themed bash?  You can get 144 cocktail umbrellas to put in your drinks for only $5.75 at KegWorks.com.  We threw a luau party this summer in our backyard and we put leis on all of our guests when they arrived.  It made all the guests at the party look the part, and the party looked more colorful.  You can buy leis at a place like Party City for very little money and they are reusable, so you can bring the theme out again any time you want in the future.

Cocktail Parasol Drink Umbrellas – Box of 144

KegWorks.com

$5.75