I adore making rhubarb pies (I prefer mine without strawberries and with a made-from-scratch crust.) But sometimes a girl needs something a little stronger than pie to get through the rest of the day. This is an especially nice way to celebrate a birthday that falls during rhubarb season. Mine is June 3rd, the height of rhubarb season and here is how I make birthday Rhubarbaritas:
Mary Sonnier's eccentric hot chocolate is an evocation worthy of New Orleans's legendary voodoo priestess, Marie Laveau. But the potion has more to do with the restaurant Gabrielle's Contemporary Creole Cuisine, characterized by enchanting complexity, bold tastes, and unusual combinations, than with the casting of spells or keeping the bayou's spirits at bay.
Muddled sage leaves echo the herbaceous flavors of gin and the astringency of grapefruit in this elegant cocktail.
Ingredients
This probably doesn't even qualify as a recipe, I'll admit, but it's so smackingly refreshing and summerlicious it deserves a whole page of its own. The story goes like this: in 1922, an innkeeper in Bavaria didn't have enough beer to accommodate the bicyclists and other guests, so he cut the beer with lemon-lime soda and it was a hit. He named it "radler," which means "cyclist." So, is this the German equivalent of Gatorade? Kinda. The beer tempers the sweetness of the soda, and the soda mellows the bitterness of the beer, and the result is fruity and light tasting and has half the alcohol of beer. In my experience, though, it's so good I drink twice what I should, so be warned. I like it with pale American beer (full honesty moment: Busch Light), but by all means, experiment with different brews.
It may not always be so easy to find aquavit in liquor stores in the United States. Although there are many fine commercially made aquavits, I actually prefer homemade "mock" aquavit. Only then do I have the opportunity to experiment with all the flavors like aniseed, angelica, wormwood, juniper, lemon zest, curled mint, etc.
Sangria
Ingredients
When peaches arrive in the market, Lynne likes to whip up a Bellini, the refreshing drink made with fresh peach puree and champagne, said to have originated at Harry's Bar in Venice in the 1930s.
This is taken from a letter Dickens wrote in 1847 where he gave his recipe for punch. This is a strong punch. Serve it in small quantities.