Champagne and Cream: Yes, you can

Continuing the sparkling adventures of New Year's lead-up's, now a visit with a cocktail hero of sorts: Champagne Flip. Like nog; but made of champagne.

Possibly you are thinking this is what comes of a tipsy host late in the evening when he stands above the bar, surveys the potential combinations with an imagined stomach of steel that will give way by morning, and begins an ill-fated chemical experiment.

I cannot speak to how this thing originated. It could very well be just as you suspect: The lovely remains of a spirited evening in a castle in post-revolutionary Champagne when someone should have called the carriage two hours before and carted 'ol Pierre home before he took to frothing egg whites.

Let's say it is; Far better than discovering it was developed in the corporate office of Korbel over a marketing meeting, eh? Yah, so let's cling to romance, you and I. And make a noggy-something out of champagne and canapes from truffles and this will be a wonderful, wonderful, if slightly unrealistic, new year.

Champagne Flip

There are many creamy champagne cocktail recipes that call for egg. This one is delightfully frothy and quite nice strained into a flute.

3/4 oz Brandy
2 - 3 dashes Cointreau
1/4 ounces cream
1/4 ounces sugar syrup
1 egg yolk
4 ounces sparkling wine
1 pinch nutmeg

Shake brandy, Cointreau, cream, sugar syrup and egg yolk over ice cubes in a Martini shaker. Strain into a champagne flute, and carefully fill with sparkling wine. Sprinkle with nutmeg.

(Follow FDA guidelines for avoiding salmonella in the use of raw eggs.)


Recipe: Avalon Wine, Photo courtesy: Taste Austraila

History in the Mixing: The Seelbach

It never hurts to turn back the clock when you can. Just a touch. What better time than New Years when we would break it full stop to hold off another year passing? This year we can raise a glass to the Seelbach, a four-star hotel on the National Historic Register located in Louisville, whose ownership was sold on December 21st, 2009 to a multi-national group of US and Chinese investors (I know, I know).

A quick tutorial on the Seelbach Cocktail follows. Anyone for quick trip to Louisville to grab a cocktail in the new year?

Possibly also some cheese? The Seelbach's Oak Room has been selected one of the ten best locations in the United States to eat cheese. Ranking among such culinary hitters as Charlie Trotters, Picholine, and Joel Robuchon, it has been hailed by Southern Foodways Alliance for its commitment to the exclusive purveyance of southern artisanal cheeses.

The Seelbach Cocktail
as tested by Blushing's one and only cocktail authorities at Cocktail Hacker
Seelbach Hotel, Louisville, Kentucky, and published in Vintage Cocktails and Spirits, 1917

Cocktail Hacker's orgin notes: "Named for, and created at, the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, KY the Seelbach Cocktail sounds like a seriously delicious libation. This drink is an old one, dating from 1917 and had been lost since before Prohibition. As noted in Vintage Cocktails and Spirits (of which there is a new version) this drink was rediscovered in 1995 by the hotel’s restaurant director and was set to be offered in the hotel with the ingredients remaining a secret. At the urging of the Regan’s the recipe was allowed to be printed in their 1997 book New Classic Cocktails."

1 oz Bourbon
1/2 oz Triple Sec
7 Dashes Angostura Bitters*
7 Dashes Peychaud's Bitters*
5 oz Champagne

1) Build in the order given in a champagne flute
2) Garnish with an orange twist

* Just be forewarned: I like champagne cocktails on the bitter side. You might reduce the bitters if you prefer less pucker, as it were.


And now, a quick pictorial review from the time period in which The Seelbach Cocktail was created and the modern circumstance; at a gallop, naturally.

Seelbach Hotel, ca. 1910 - 1917

"The 1907 addition to The Seelbach in Louisville, Kentucky, included a German rathskeller made of Rookwood Pottery created in nearby Cincinnati, Ohio, by workers hired from the Art Academy. Rookwood Pottery was founded by Maria Longworth Nichols (later Mrs. Bellamy Storer Jr.) in 1880.

According to "The Seelbach Hotel, A History of Louisville Tradition" by J. Theriot in August, 1988, "In making this expensive type of pottery, decorations were drawn by hand on the clay before firing, making the design part of the ware. After baking, various glazes were added in subsequent firings. The floors, columns and walls of the eighty-foot square room were made of the pottery. The ceiling is fine-tooled leather."

To complement the room, The Seelbach Realty Company's president, Charles C. Vogt, presented the hotel with a $10,000 gift, a Rookwood-faced clock. Such a collection of Rookwood was very rare and, today, The Rathskeller is one of only two surviving ensembles of this art form.

The Rathskeller (ratskellar, a German word meaning restaurant in the town-hall cellar) was built in Bavarian tradition. The Seelbach's Rathskeller menu offers this description: "As a matter of fact the Rathskeller in every essential, artistic detail, is a reproduction of the underground drinking and council hall of one of the famous castles on the Rhine."

The graceful arches supported by noble columns give a cathedral-like effect. The archway pillars are encircled with Rookwood pelican frescoes, a symbol of good luck, and the ceiling above the bar is covered with hand-painted 24K gold leaf leather detailing the signs of the zodiac.

The Rathskeller achieved immediate popularity. The July 1912 edition of Hotel Monthly describes it as having a "seating capacity from 300 to 400." Not only was it a beautiful nightspot, conveniently located for the after-theater crowds, but it was also one of the first air-conditioned rooms ever built. The Seelbachs vowed to keep the room at least 10 degrees cooler than the outside summer temperatures. To do so required 40 tons of steam-produced refrigeration every 24 hours.

When the hotel was sold to Abraham Liebling, one of the first improvements was for the managers to lease a corner of the first floor to Walgreen Drugs. The Seelbach welcomed this renovation. Since prohibition and the nationwide ban on alcohol sales, the first floor bar had closed and The Rathskeller was little more than an extension of a restaurant. With the drug store on the main floor, the restaurant simply found a home downstairs in the basement.

Several years later after prohibition ended, management moved the restaurant back up to the renovated first floor and closed The Rathskeller for extensive changes. In April 1934, it re-opened with a 56-foot bar staffed by six bartenders. With these renovations, the basement bar moved into a new era. Instead of simply providing a stopping place for late-night theater patrons, The Rathskeller would now offer its own musical and dramatic entertainment featuring local bands and occasional first-run theater.

When Walgreen's lease expired in 1941, management opted to open a new nightclub, tentatively called The Seelbach Café-Bar. The club took away from The Rathskeller and in 1945, when the Legionaries offered to rent the basement, including The Rathskeller, for a members-only club, the managers agreed.

Today, The Seelbach's most treasured heirloom, The Rathskeller, with its dramatic design, lighting, and hand-carved architectural details, is again operated by The Seelbach and is available for private events."

- Katz

Modern photos of the Rathskeller appear below.

* The estimated 4-ton marble bar was removed during The Prohibition.

Seelbach Hilton today

In the arsenal: French 75

I thought we would revisit one of my favorite cocktails for your New Year's celebration, the French 75.

"There are numerous stories about the origin of the ‘French 75’ cocktail which became famous in later years. The most popular legend surrounds the World War I Lieutenants who would carry cognac in their canteens to get them through the long days and cold nights in the trenches. Taking advantage of the local French Champagne which was abundant and accessible, the soldiers would use the spent French 75 shell casings laying about them as drinking vessels and eventually concocted a potent cognac and champagne mixture now known as the “French 75”; a cocktail with as much kick as its namesake canon."
- Culinary Adventures

French 75

Shake with cracked ice
1-1/2 ounces of dry gin
fresh juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp. powdered sugar

Pour into glass with ice cubes, fill with sparkling wine. Add a twist of lemon peel.

Cocktail Class of 2010

There are some New Year's when, for all the world, I will not miss the click of my heels against New York City pavement. Not many; New Year's will always be a New York holiday to me. But this year, I will be in the Canaan Valley on my baby girl's first ski trip. Not wearing a dress, maybe not even awake when the clock strikes midnight.

Nonetheless, it is my professional and friendly obligation to shove you out into the night in something both show-stopping and playful.

Now look, I love a Little Black Dress in limited application with a lot of showy jewelry; it does well by many figures and is a practical choice. Black also lacks a real sense of adventure and is easily forgotten (my former colleagues at Donna Karan have long-range weapons trained on me as you read, I am certain of this). It is to be a new year, and a new day. Now is the time to reach for something with a little color or twinkle.

Incase I have not swayed you, your LBD's are included herewith, along with my hopes this it will be a fabulous party to begin the best year of your life. Wear it like you own it.

Behnaz Sarafpour

Marc Bower

Ralph Lauren

Ports 1961

Tibi

St. John

Mark and James by Badgley Mischka

Lotusgrace

Herve Leger

Gucci

DVF

Carmen Marc Valvo

Armani Collezioni

Donna Karan


Lotusgrace

She owns the night

Possibly the only two pairs of shoes fashion, as both profession and pursuit, will ever agree upon...

Mirrored slingbacks, Jimmy Choo, here



Lance, Jimmy Choo, here

Not inexpensive, but two more graceful nocturnal workhorses you will never meet.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Entre nous: Christmas, 2009

Admittedly, I forgot pictures of both dinners and myself asleep on the couch but I thought you might like to come on in for a minute and visit. What do you say, will you come?

We took the over-land route to the stable across a few acres through a foot of remaining snow to deliver treats to Fletcher and pals, per Princess Magnificent who would hear nothing of using the driveway.

This is my official capacity: Ring leader. Shown here: A small portion of my circus.



One or both benevolent members of the road show are always at my heel. No Achilles, you need not tempt yourself.



You recognize this, I know. This is the first year my oldest child really knows what is happening. It's important Santa goes for the full ride. He digs chocolate chip, peanut butter cookies, with fleur de sel. Yah, Santa is pretty swank in the sweet tooth.

We were behind on this as naps ran much later than usual. But nonetheless, they baked during Christmas Eve dinner. No problem. Dinner, you ask? Lobster Newburg, tiny potato souffles, broiled tomatoes.


Santa came and turned on every single light in the house! And somewhere Little Augury and The Aesthete are certain they will have to come over to hang the drapes under the cornices as I complain bitterly they will only get in the way of the view.

Do not ask about the star on top of the tree. It is not a long story and very tragic. A new wound.

After we opened all the gifts and opened every single Santa toy and every secured part, we walked again. These are my lions in winter.

It was warm enough during the day. This is the mist rising from the hills. Though we arrived for Christmas only two days before from New York, Middleburg was suffering under the weight of winter for a week and half, it finally began to give way.

A painless lunch, Ruth Reichel's Matzo Brei, a big salad, artisan rolls, and a pinot noir. Matzo Brei: I will post the recipe for you. It is an outrageously underrated dish, and you need to ease into Christmas dinner, no?

Right, Christmas Dinner. The truth is, I did not take a lot of photos. This is the first time my girls have had a Christmas with Josh and that was the focus of this Navy family. Normally, I tell him from a world away how his babies are learning to walk, talk, and open gifts. Normally, Santa eludes him. But you see, this time, he was there for the light in their eyes, for the cookies, for their squeals. I got a little lost in that somewhere.

Dinner: Prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, roasted vegetables, pureed vegetable gravy. Who cares? What mattered was Daddy at a Christmas table. A Christmas novelty.

Night came. Morning followed. I was out with the dogs again.

A little impatience enters every life; mine caught here. Don't hold it against me.

I don't even remember what I was needing to accomplish which was moving too slow. The sun began to set at the front of the house...

And then it was done. For my baby girls, and their magical age, I wish I could hold on. This clock, lower right corner, how do I stop the freaking thing?

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merriest of Christmases to you

Hoping it is filled with all the magic of childhood.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Last minute shopping: A sport for the clever

Oh, Baby. Say it isn't so. Say you did not not not leave this shopping thing until now. Oh, my.

Alright, because I adore you, I am here to help (hopped up on a dose of caffeine so inadvisable and grotesque I hesitate to mention it lest you think my style has been taken prisoner by Starbucks - but no problem, hold me down, I've got you covered). Let's hope these fine retailers are nearby...


Kate Spade, Westbury Opus, at Nordstom, and on mark down.


L'Occitaine, Home Fragrance in Verbena and Rose, retail finder for the US and UK here.


I would love a really heavy throw. Ideally, it is in 6-ply heavy gauge cashmere. However, if I step out of Wonderland for a moment, Pottery Barn does a fine job of creating things under which one can nestle and nestling is something I believe in.
Pottery Barn, assorted throws


It's gorgeous and every home needs one, if not for it's actual purpose, then for a dozen others. Williams-Sonoma, The Martini Pitcher

Williams-Sonoma, Nespresso Automatic Espresso


Williams-Sonoma, Children's cookie and cake decorating set


Apple, iPod Touch


The Bolter, Frances Osbourne, available at Barnes and Noble; "Perhaps nothing is more seductive than the fascinated contemplation of distant shames." writes one reviewer of a granddaughter's biography of Idina Sackville's romp through men and Kenya. At the top of my read list...


The Museum of Innocence, Orhan Panuk, available at Barnes and Noble, "One of the trickier subjects in fiction is that of the hapless suitor, besotted with love, locked in a lifelong obsession with a woman he can neither leave nor have. Yet, for all the perils of that soupy scenario, great literature has come of it. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote memorably of just such a man in "The Great Gatsby"; William Styron, in "Sophie's Choice"; Gabriel García Márquez, in "Love in the Time of Cholera"; and Mario Vargas Llosa, in "The Bad Girl." Now, adding to those triumphant chronicles of the lovelorn, comes Orhan Pamuk's mesmeric new novel, "The Museum of Innocence." - Marie Arana for The Washington Post


The Imperial Cruise, A Secret History of Empire and War, James Bradley, available at Barnes and Noble. James Bradley, author of Flags of our Fathers, recalls the diplomatic mission that President Theodore Roosevelt sent Secretary of War, William Howard Taft on in 1905. Traveling across the Pacific, Bradley reports that Taft made 'secret and unconstitutional' agreements on Roosevelt's behalf that permitted Japanese expansion into the Philippines and Korea and denial of a once promised protection of Korea by the United States.


Nigella Christmas, Nigella Lawson, available at Barnes and Noble. I am certain Nigella needs no introduction...

Good luck in these last moments before the festivities begin, my hopes are with all of you for a fabulous holiday.

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The Hostess: Catherine

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A curious and interested young mother and recently retired fashion executive with an interested eye for life and home style.

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