Leftover Cranberry Sauce Mimosa

You can eat cranberry sauce, or you can drink cranberry sauce.

Every holiday should involve a good brunch that includes some version of a mimosa. Since our tummies are reserved for turkey on Thanksgiving day, my brunch occurs the morning after (and/or the day after that, and/or the day after that).

Not only does the recipe below meet one’s daily mimosa requirement, it also provides a creative way to consume some Thanksgiving leftovers. I’ve only tried it with homemade cranberry sauce (which in our house is chunky, and typically includes fresh grated ginger and a dash of Grand Marnier or orange zest), but I’d be curious to know if canned jellied cranberry sauce also dissolves in sparkling wine.

Now if someone can only find a way to get leftover turkey into a cocktail….

Leftover Cranberry Sauce Mimosa

5 ounces sparkling wine or champagne

1 teaspoon cranberry sauce

orange wheel

Place cranberry sauce in a champagne flute. Sloooowly add sparking wine (or it will bubble over!) while stirring.  Garnish with an orange wheel.

The Wiggins Cocktail

I'll have a Wiggins Cocktail or three.

Congratulations to the Wiggins family, the innovative owners of La Tourelle Resort and Spa in Ithaca. This week, they received the Howard Cogan Tourism Award for their contributions to tourism in our community.

You probably haven't heard of the Wiggins family, unless you live in Ithaca. I've met them, and they are lovely. But I admit I've never visited the spa. When I have time to relax, I get as far away from town as I can. Preferably somewhere with no cell service, and no people. And lots of booze.

Howard Cogan, on the other hand, is practically famous worldwide. He's the guy who created the slogan "Ithaca is Gorges," now plastered on our cars' bumpers and across our green T-shirt chests, allowing us to find like-minded individuals when we are traveling in other parts of the country. Don't wear your "Ithaca is Gorges" T-shirt outside of this area unless you want to make friends with other displaced Ithacans who will run up to you and hug you, leaving their patchouli aura on your Ithaca clothing.

The Ithaca Visitor's Center commissioned Felicia's to make a cocktail in honor of the Wiggins family, with the only guideline being red wine as one of the ingredients. Leah created a red wine syrup with cocoa, cinnamon, mustard, and orange zest, which was slowly added to a glass of champagne. I know, mustard? Really? Really. A festive cocktail with a delightful and delicious complexity. The drink will be on our Lounge menu at least through the holiday season.

2011 Champagne Trends Greet New Years Eve

As New Years Eve approaches, Amelia Sauter looks back at a few of 2011’s trends in bubblies: Cava, rosé, and classic cocktails.

Cava is the new champagne. I heard it on NPR, so it must be true. Cava is the term for sparkling wine made in Spain the old fashioned way á la méthode champenoise, which calls for secondary fermentation in the bottle. If you find yourself staring at the selection of sparklings in a liquor or wine store, you can’t go wrong with a Cava, and you might want to buy it while it's cheap; Cava’s quality is often superior to its champagne counterparts in the $8 to $12 range.

Second, rosé is back. Up until recently, the last effervescent rosé I drank was a Bartles and Jaymes wine cooler in 1988. This year when the clock strikes midnight on December 31, I’ll be toasting the arrival of the 2012 with a local Finger Lakes sparkling wine, Goose Watch Pinot Noir Brut Rosé. A close second in my book: Dibon Rosé Cava, which we occasionally pop open at the Lounge and guzzle in the kitchen.

Lastly, classic cocktails are still center stage, and the Champagne Cocktail is one that will never die: sugar, bitters, and champagne; a perfect ménage a trois. And if you make it with a Cava or a rosé (or both), your friends will think you're the trendiest person in town.

For a locavore Champagne Cocktail recipe, check out Amelia's post on Edible Finger Lakes.

Beer Mimosa

Maybe I'm too lazy, or maybe I'm too busy, but whatever the reason, I simply haven't jumped on the beer cocktail bandwagon yet. Leah's definitely had her hands full with incoming produce from our awesome farmer: scapes, black caps, and soon, plums.

Those black cap (black raspberry) cocktails are CRACK. We've gotten a lot of people completely addicted to them, and now they want, want, want and we sell, sell, sell. Stop by the Lounge this week for a fix.

But back to beer. Typically, I'm a purist. I like my gin on the rocks with no mixer, my wine in a glass with no spritzer, and my whiskey swigged straight out of the bottle. Beer is no exception. So when Frederic at Cocktail Virgin (Slut) announced that this month's Mixology Monday theme is beer cocktails, I knew I had some work to do.

Or not. Because the day before I read Frederic's post, I actually made a beer cocktail. It wasn't on purpose. I was just too lazy, I mean, busy, to go out and buy champagne when I had a craving for a mimosa. I opened the fridge, and next to the orange juice was a can of PBR, beckoning me to take a risk.

Ice cold PBR and orange juice. Weird, or genius? It worked for me. The recipe is complicated. so pay attention:

PBR Mimosa, aka The Lazy Girl

PBR

orange juice

champagne flute

Open the can of PBR. Take a swig from the can. Fill your champagne flute halfway with PBR. Chug some more beer from the can. Add orange juice to the PBR in a champagne flute, take a sip, and proclaim loudly, "This is the shit! It tastes just like a mimosa. Who needs champagne?"

Big Red Cocktail

In honor of the Big Red basketball team reaching the Sweet 16, Leah created the Big Red Cocktail, including antioxidant superfood to make you Ivy League smart.

We're offering nerd specials at the Lounge this weekend: bring in a Rubik's cube for $1 off any drink; solve it in under three minutes and your drink is free. Yes, I went to Cornell. A long, long time ago. Yes, I can solve a Rubik's cube, but it usually takes me a few weeks (I majored in social work).

The New York Times gave this weekend's discounts in Ithaca some press, but they didn't mention the name of our celebratory Big Red Cocktail. Sure, we could have called it the Big Red Martini, or maybe Big Red Punch, but Big Red Cocktail has such a nice ring to it, and it will likely cause a pile of unintended hits on my blog, increasing readership and impressing publishers who will then beg to get their hands on my witty memoir and pay me a sizable advance. Go Big Red!

Big Red Cocktail

1/2 ounce Lillet
1/4 ounce Cointreau
1/2 ounce cranberry juice
1/2 ounce pomegranate juice
1 ounce champagne
orange twist

Shake Lillet, Cointreau and juices with ice. Pour into martini glass and top with champagne. Garnish with an orange twist.

New Year's Eve Champagne Cocktail

What are your resolutions for 2009? Forget the typical eat less junk food, exercise more, keep a journal. What if everyone made meaningful New Year’s resolutions this year? What if the people in power watched the ball drop on the telly on December 31 and turned to their loved ones/advisors/body guards and said, “Let’s resolve to make a difference in 2009. Let’s stop global warming. Repair the financial markets. End poverty. Achieve world peace.” We can make powerful resolutions as individuals, too. We can vow to walk instead of drive. Buy locally. Hug the people we love. Act compassionately toward strangers. Laugh more. Yell less. Recycle our batteries. Bring our own mugs to the coffee shop. Plant trees. 2009 brings with it a lot of anxiety about the state of the world. But it also brings hope that things can get better. Let’s raise our glasses of bubbly and toast together to make a difference in 2009. Cheers!

State Street 75
½ ounce Citrus vodka
juice of ¼ lemon
¾ teaspoon of sugar
champagne or sparkling wine
orange twist

Shake citrus vodka, lemon juice and sugar with ice. Strain into chilled champagne glass. Sloooowly top with champagne. Garnish with an orange twist. *For a slightly different flavor, try adding a dash of angostura bitters. Yum.

Beets and Champagne in a Festive Cocktail

I can’t say that I am fond of beets. It’s not that I mind eating things that taste like dirt; I am a self-proclaimed potato whore. I just think beets taste odd. I can accept a handful of shredded beets in my salad, and I’ve always had an affinity for tangy Harvard Beets. But beets in a cocktail?

Unfortunately, if you want to use local produce to make cocktails in the winter, your options are limited. So beets it is. Suck it up.

Now for the good news: This sparkling cocktail tastes amazing. The essence of beet is there, but it blends seamlessly with the warm, comforting flavors of cinnamon and maple syrup. A hint of cayenne pops in your mouth with each bubble.

It’s a lot of work; the beets need to be roasted, shredded, simmered and strained. The end result is worth the effort. I recommend the Spiced Beet Bubbly in place of your standard brunch mimosa to add some color to your morning, or as a festive addition to your afternoon holiday party where it is sure to extract some oohs and ahhhs.

Oh, and the color: A deep fuscia. Which means it will stain your clothes/carpet/counter. My own personal motto is, “If it stains, I will spill it.” Don’t wear white when preparing or drinking this cocktail.

My hesitation about beets? Gone with the first sip. The Spicy Beet Bubbly is shamelessly loved by beet whores and non-beet whores alike.

This post is written as part of Mixology Monday, whose December theme is "spice." You can check out more spicy recipes at this month's host's site, Tiki Drinks and Indigo Firmaments.

Spiced Beet Bubbly

750 ml bottle of champagne, sparkling wine or sparkling cider
20 ounces fresh beets (2 large)
20 ounces water
3/4 cup maple syrup
3/8 tsp cinnamon (1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp)
1/4 tsp cayenne
pinch mace

Roast beets:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pierce beets six or eight times with a fork or knife and wrap in aluminum foil. Place foil-covered beets on baking sheet in center of oven. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until tender. Remove from oven and allow beets to cool fully in the foil.

Spiced beet syrup:
Unwrap beets and shred with food processor. Place shredded beets in sauce pan, including all of the juice. Add enough water to cover beets (about 20 ounces of water). Cook uncovered over medium heat for 15 minutes. Do not boil. Add maple syrup, cinnamon, cayenne and mace. Simmer uncovered over low heat for another 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool fully. Strain, and compost the beets (or taste them - maybe you can use them in another recipe! For this cocktail, we use the syrup.)

To make cocktail:
4 ounces champagne, sparkling wine or sparkling cider
2 1/2 tablespoons spiced beet syrup
twist of orange peel

Pour sparkling wine into a champagne flute. Slooooowly add spiced beet syrup. Garnish with orange twist.

Serves 8. Beet syrup will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Recipe created by Leah Houghtaling , cocktail chef at Felicia's Atomic Lounge, Ithaca, NY with taste-testing input by her sidekick, Amelia Sauter, who also authors this totally awesome Felicia blog plus a humor blog of her own.

Photo by Leah Houghtaling.

Bellini

With harvest time in full swing, Felicia will dedicate her next few columns to cocktails one can make with local ingredients. Felicia likes to think of herself as a locavore, a person who buys her fruits, vegetables and other items from farmers near her home.

Today’s choice of beverage fruits: peaches and blueberries. Unable to make it to the Farmer’s Market this week, Felicia bought her peaches at Brownies produce stand on Route 96 near Perry City Road. Brownies has amazing fresh-picked corn and a variety of other local or almost local produce. One bite of a peach, and Felicia had an obscene amount of juice running down her chin. Felicia found equally juicy (though not as messy) large, plump blueberries at Grisamore Farms in Locke.

After eating a few peaches and most of the blueberries, Felicia turned herself to the task at hand: the Bellini. The Bellini was created in the 1940’s in Venice, Italy and traditionally uses white peaches. The peaches (white or yellow) can be whirled up in a food processor with the skins on, and Felicia recommends trying one of the many local sparkling wines available in our region. The blueberries can be pureed with the peaches, or added as a garnish. This Bellini makes a lovely addition to brunch, or can be served before dinner during cocktail hour.

Felicia Bellini

1 ounce peach puree
3 ounces sparkling wine
Blueberries

Pour peach puree into champagne glass. Slowly add champagne. Garnish with blueberries.

Your Anise Cocktail

Felicia made another new cocktail and the critics (that would be you all) are declaring it fabulous. Felicia concocted a red wine-based simple syrup with star anise and some other spices; a splash of this syrup is then added to a glass of champagne. Felicia was going to call this drink “Red Anise Champagne” but for some reason that name seemed to bring up graphic images for some people. So for those of you have difficulty saying the word “anise,” Felicia has dubbed this drink “Star-Struck Bubbly.” If you tend to cringe at the flavor of licorice, fear not. The anise subtly harmonizes with vanilla bean and cinnamon to create a unique – and incredible - experience for your palate. Seriously, a little anise never hurt anyone.

Happy New Year from Felicia!

New Year’s Eve: a time for reflection, a time for resolutions, a time to drink. Felicia lives in the moment so reflection is not her forte. Yep, last year was great. There. Done reflecting. Regarding resolutions, Felicia never makes them because they usually lead to disappointments. Do you really want to eat less cookies, find a therapist, or go to the gym daily? Felicia didn’t think so. Now booze…that is how Felicia celebrates the new year. Here is the perfect champagne cocktail to add some bubbles to your mood and some years to your life. Lovers of the pomegranate claim that this superfruit can prevent heart disease, cancer, arthritis, diabetes and tooth decay, among other illnesses. Add it to some champagne with a touch of bourbon and you have a veritable fountain of youth. Why not make the resolution this year to live life to the fullest? Happy New Year from Felicia!

Pomegranate Champagne Cocktail for Two

6 oz brut champagne or sparkling wine
½ oz Knob Creek bourbon
1/8 ounce sweetened lime juice (Don't use Rose's! Click here for our own sweet lime juice recipe)
1 pomegranate
2 champagne glasses

Pour ¼ ounce of bourbon and a dash of sweet lime juice into each glass. Cut pomegranate into eighths. Remove the seeds from one eighth and divide them between the two glasses. Remove the seeds from another eighth and smash them with the back of a spoon before dividing them between the two glasses. Pour 3 ounces of champagne into each glass. Toast, drink, stay healthy!