Posts Tagged ‘saucy sisters’

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Drink Spring! Let us Pour you a spring cocktail

Wednesday, March 28th, 2012

Five years ago these wine girls signed up for bartending school.  Yup.  Classroom, books, exams and all.  For fourteen days we mixed, counted, spilled, blended, broke, dumped, shook, sprayed, stirred, strained and, yes, poured hundreds of cocktails.  Even memorized the recipes for 100 of them – down to amount of ice, type of glass, ounces of alcohol, and even what kind of garnish.  What a test of our brain cells.  For our final, we had to make twelve drinks in eight minutes as they were “ordered” by our instructor.  They could have been any of the hundred drinks.  We both passed and received our “Mixology Certification,” which is only valid for five years.

So it’s time to renew.  Last Sunday we headed back to school to take our  state exam.  In preparation, we spent time behind the bar and stirred up some new cocktails.  With the warm spring weather, we leaned toward drinks that are colorful and refreshing and called them our “Vernal Libations.”  Here’s a toast to you and Spring!

Springtime in Pear-adise

½ oz. Pear Schnapps

½ oz. Pear flavored Vodka

½ oz. Pear Nectar

Champagne

Pour schnapps, vodka and pear nectar into a champagne flute.  Fill with champagne.  Garnish rim with a strawberry.

Key to Happiness

1 oz. Lime flavored Vodka
½ oz. Crème de Cassis
½ oz. Key Lime Juice

½ oz. Orange Juice
Sparkling Wine

Shake Vodka, Crème de Cassis and Key Lime Juice in cocktail shaker filled with 1/3 cubed ice.  Strain into an ice-filled highball glass.  Top with Sparkling Wine.  Garnish with lime twist.

Key limes are also called the Bartender’s Lime.  They’re aromatic and very juicy, with a stronger and more acidic flavor than Persian limes (the common grocery store lime).  Key limes are grown in the Florida Keys, West Indies, and Indonesia.  Mostly known for use in Key Lime Pie, the fruit of the Key Lime is perfect for cocktails with vodka or rum.

Spring Fever

1 ½ oz. Raspberry flavored Vodka

½ oz. Curacao

¼ oz. Lime Juice

3 oz. Cranberry Juice

Pour all ingredients over ice in a mixing glass.  Stir and strain into a martini glass.  Garnish with lime wedge.

Cheers!

Barbara & Beverly

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Wines for the Golfing Dad

Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

I was out looking at Father’s Day cards today.  Cards I could get for Paul and sign from our dogs and cat.  I didn’t find anything that knocked my socks off – so I guess I’ll have to up the ante and buy a gift.  One thing I know for sure:  it won’t be wine.  Paul is not a wine guy.

My Dad was the wine guy.  (I know, it’s hard to believe the Saucy Sisters had a Dad who was into the vino.)  He was no elitist collector of fine wines.  He liked value priced wines that he could drink today.  We used to have daily telephone conversations around cocktail hour, and the subject of his new wine find always came up.

Discovering new wines was a passion.  His other passion was golf.  If our Dad was still alive, I’d buy him a bottle of wine with a golf connection.  As it turns out, professional golfers like their wines.  Here are some of my suggestions in case you too have a wine-drinking golf fanatic dad.

Ernie Els Big Easy 2009

Ernie’s nickname “The Big Easy” suits his wine too.  He earned the moniker because of his big size yet easy swing and gentle character.  This full-bodied red from South Africa is powerful yet comfortable to drink.  It’s mainly Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.  $23

Nick Faldo Selection Sauvignon Blanc 2008

When Nick was asked what kind of wine he wanted his name attached to, he said, “I’d just like a wine to open now—nothing to lay down, really.  Nothing stuffy about it, just very drinkable right now.”  Nick first thought about producing a wine during a 2002 trip to Australia.  And that’s where his wines come from.  $14

Greg Norman Estates Sparkling Wine NV

“The Shark” is big into wine with production in both Australia and California.  His enthusiasm must have rubbed off on his daughter because she’s both a chef and wine professional.  They have a new cookbook out that offers recipes that pair well with their wines.  This non-vintage bubbly is from South Australia.  $17

David Frost Estate Par Excellence 2003

Unlike other golfers who lend their names to a brand, David’s family has been in the wine business in South Africa for over 60 years.  In fact, his father’s vineyard was the first place David hit balls.  This cleverly named wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec.  $35

Arnold Palmer Chardonnay 2009

This legendary golfer who made the game what it is today got officially connected to wine while playing tournaments at the Silverado Resort in Napa in the 1980s and 1990s.  So it should come as no surprise that the grapes for this Chardonnay come from Napa Valley and Santa Barbara County.  $15

Luke Donald Claret 2006

“Claret Jug” is the nickname of the trophy given to the winner of the British Open.  The world’s number one golfer is surely hoping to win it next month.  But if he doesn’t, he still has his personal claret – a Bordeaux style blended red wine – to comfort him.  $40

I can find something about each of these wines that reminds me of our father.  It could be hitting golf balls with him in the back yard like David Frost (even if our yard wasn’t a vineyard).  Or the time we went to the U.S. Open at Baltusrol and were part of Arnie’s Army.  But in the end, I think I’d have to choose the Greg Norman Sparkling Wine because of the father-daughter connection.  I’ll never forget all the parent-child golf tournaments we played in.  And our own version of the Claret Jug that we brought home.

Barbara – Saucy Sis 1

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Table’s Set: Rose Tomato and Chives Highlight Plate of Hors d’oeuvres

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

I think the best food decorating trick I ever learned was how to make a tomato rose.  Really.  It’s so versatile.  You can use it on a single plate, on a platter…or on top of other foods like a spread or even a block of cheese.  It’s my backup for all food presentation occasions.

The other night I put together these salmon hors d’oeuvres when friends were coming over:  wafer-thin crackers, goat cheese and smoked roasted salmon.  (The salmon may have been the headliner here, but the crackers and cheese are two of my absolute favorite foods and stole the show.  The crackers – or “crispbread” according to the makers – come from 34°.  I buy the goat cheese every week at the Franklin, TN Farmer’s Market from Noble Springs Dairy.)

The appetizers tasted delicious, but they looked pretty drab on the plate all on their own.  So out to the garden I went and snipped some chives.  (As pitiful as my garden is, even I can’t kill chives.)  Then I picked up a paring knife and a Roma tomato and got to work on the rose.  You can find detailed instructions for creating a tomato rose on our Tips page.

Believe me…If I can do it, you can do it.

Rose Tomato and Chives Perk Up the Presentation

Rose Tomato and Chives Perk Up the Presentation

Saucy Sis1

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Flag Cake for Fourth of July

Monday, July 5th, 2010

I won…I won!  My neighborhood had its annual Independence Day parade and picnic, and my entry came in first in the Most Patriotic Dessert competition.

(If you could see our “parade,” you’d laugh.  Residents decorate their tractors, trucks, antique cars, bicycles, golf carts – and even their dogs – in red, white and blue to march a few blocks on the way to the picnic.  Being the good sport that she is, Beverly participates with us every year.)

This is the first time that there’s been any kind of contest.  So when we heard about the Most Patriotic Dessert challenge, our competitive spirits surfaced.  Originally, we had planned to make Beverly’s Red, White & Blue 10-Minute Trifle because the traditional English dessert had been one of George Washington’s favorites.  And because Beverly likes to make desserts with booze in them.

As luck would have it, Beverly and Marc came down with a debilitating flu.  The last place Beverly wanted to be was in the kitchen.  So I was on my own and decided to make something that I’d done before:  a Fourth of July Flag Cake.

Directions:

  • Bake a sheet cake.  My pan was approximately 11”X15”.  Choose any flavor you want.  I chose almond.
  • Cut pieces from both long sides of the cake to resemble “waves” of the flag.
  • Cover the cake with white icing.  I usually cover this cake with whipped cream, which makes it taste like a strawberry shortcake.  But because it was going to be sitting outside in the hot sun, I substituted a traditional white icing of confectioner’s sugar, shortening, flavor extract (vanilla and almond in my case) and water.
  • Draw a square in the icing with a knife in the upper left hand corner to be the blue field of the flag.  (It helps to look at a photo of the American flag to get the stars and stripes right.)
  • Pipe some of the icing around the perimeter of the cake and around the square to contain the fruit so that it won’t fall off the cake later.
  • Cut tops off the strawberries and slice them vertically about 1/8” thick.
  • Overlap strawberry pieces to form 7 stripes on the cake.
  • Place blueberries on the cake to form the blue field.
  • Pipe white icing between the rows of strawberries to create the white stripes and on top of the blueberries to form the 50 stars.

What did I win?  No trophy, no medal, no certificate…but lots of goodwill from the neighborhood kids.  Which I hope will come in handy around Halloween.

Saucy Sis1

Flag Cake for Fourth of July

Flag Cake for Fourth of July

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