Category Archives: Bottoms Up

I don’t fancy myself much of a mixologist. So when clients ask me to do specialty drinks for their parties, I usually outsource to one of my more talented bartenders. But last month when I took on this Easter lunch, the host was insistent. For his Italian family, it wouldn’t be Easter without a vat of a very very alcoholic cocktail.

Since he made it clear that his family really liked their liquor, I tried to find a punch-like recipe that could be made in bulk without too much blood, sweat, and reaming. I came up with this minty take on a classic Moscow Mule.… Continue Reading→

When most people think of pink lemonade, it conjures a certain type of nostalgia: tales of sidewalk stands, precocious marketing tactics, hot summer days, innocence and early entrepreneurship. For me, not so much. When I take a sip of pink lemonade today – the Minute Maid, red dye no. 37 kind – I think of college and vodka, off dance floor make-outs and vom-seshes.

You see, back in the day – like, throughout my tenure in higher education – I battled long and hard to balance my need to be a cool party girl and the truth that I was indeed a musical theater nerd.… Continue Reading→

I don’t get asked over to other people’s apartments for dinner that often. And especially not by my secret friend crushes. But a few weeks ago, the universe sent some magic my way, and I found an invitation in my inbox from Julia Turshen.

Julia and I have a similar freelance, cobbled-together career, except that everything she writes is featured in way better publications, and everything she cooks is served to way cooler people. We’ve run into each other a bunch of times around town, and needless to say, I’ve been crushin’. Hard.

When the email arrived, I wanted to make a good impression.… Continue Reading→