Mad Men Day

We're definitely sending Mad Men out in style! On Wednesday we had a mini-Mad Men NYC tour, starting with lunch at Keens Steakhouse, followed by the Mad Men exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image, and topped off with a few lovely libations at Sardi's. We'd be broke if we tried to live like TV characters every day, but these old school spots are some of our favorite things about New York. Every single thing Keens serves is a slice of heaven!

Keens Steakhouse: Pub Room

Sidecar at Sardi's

A little windblown and soaked at this point in the day, but that didn't stop us!

Millionaire Megan

Mad Men is on tonight, which always puts me in the mood to create cocktails! Here's a new one I just created, inspired by Megan's status as a newly-divorced millionaire, the Millionaire Megan. Hopefully we won't have to create another one next week for the newly destitute Megan!

Millionaire Megan

2 oz vodka

3/4 oz Apri apricot liqueur

1/4 oz Galliano L'Autentico liqueur

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

3 dashes of grapefruit bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Lunchtime Picnic

This coming Tuesday's episode will be all about brown bagging in style and how easy and inexpensive it can be to make a lunch to take to work or school that you will truly enjoy, with no lines, hassle or spending $10 for a sandwich! And now that the weather is becoming nicer it's even possible to create a picnic for your mid-day break! A mini-vacation in the sun? Yes, please!

Coming Attractions

Here are a couple of "behind the scenes" shots from our next two episodes. We engaged in a little "guerrilla filmmaking" in NYC and on the train, both of which would be frowned upon if anyone was paying the slightest bit of attention.  Fortunately they weren't!

Virtual Mad Men Finale Party Recap

The creators of the Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook, who hosted the fabulous Virtual Mad Men Finale Party of which we were delighted to be a part, have posted a recap of the online party and I'm excited to say we won second place in two categories! You can read all about it here! We're thrilled to be able to add "award winning" before "webseries" to our title! #PartyLikeAMadMan

DIY Cocktail Extras

The seemingly little things, like fancy rimming sugars and salts, real maraschino cherries (as opposed to the ones soaking in red dye and HFCS) and bitters can take your cocktail from good to heavenly.  Not coincidentally, these items can also be pricy!  $20 for a jar of maraschino cherries?  Yikes!  Well, I'm pleased to report there is good news on that front!  I blogged here about making your own rimming sugars and salts, which requires virtually no skill at all.  And here's a recipe from the Food Network for making your own cherries, which requires the upfront investment of a bottle of maraschino, but you may have one in your bar already.  If you don't, you'll have a new ingredient to play with!  The Aviation is a great cocktail!

Bitters require a bit more of a time investment, as you have to collect the various ingredients and they have to steep for several weeks, but once you begin making your own you can save a fortune.  Fortunately, there is an entire book on the subject that is available for about the cost of one bottle of bitters!  

Have I mentioned that these items make great gifts for your favorite tippler?  Bottoms up!

Betty Crocker Hostess Cookbook

The Virtual Mad Men Finale Party inspired me and I remain all about "Mad Men," food and drink-wise. In this shot of Betty Draper Francis' kitchen you can see that her copy of the Betty Crocker Hostess Cookbook is within easy reach of the stove.  

That book happens to be a favorite of mine, so I pulled it out and have chosen a few dishes to make. I started last night with Lobster Newberg, which sounds fancy, but in this case mainly involves canned and prepared ingredients.  Betty Crocker suggests serving it in heart croustades, for Valentine's Day, but I opted for mashed cauliflower. I have to hand it to Ms. Crocker (yes, I know she's not a real person, but she's real to me) - it was good, particularly since I bumped up the spices quite a bit. If only we had some friends dropping in for bridge night or a light supper and charades... 

Bon appetit!