Alabama-born LeNell Smothers defines herself first and foremost as a bartender, but she's been called many things -- most recently, the proprietress of LeNell's liquor store. She's owned her own whiskey label called Red Hook Rye and has been recognized by her home state as an honorary Colonel. Other interests include gin, sin and men.
I drink rosé year round. Get over the idea that it's a flimsy soda-pop wine meant for picnics. When in doubt for food pairing, I often go with the pink. Rosé can be so versatile, even as an ingredient in a cocktail.
You can still find Bordeaux bottles every now and then, labeled claret, that are dark, dry, "serious" rosés. For my cocktail feature this week, I strongly suggest picking up a bottle. If not Bordeaux, look for a rosé made with Bordeaux grapes like cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc or a malbec that's so dark, it's almost a light red.
Rosé ain't for wimps. Neither is this cocktail named after Rosie, the American icon who represented the many women who went to work in factories to help us make it through World War II. Toast all the beautiful and strong women in your life who make this world a better place!
Get the recipe for Rosé the Riveter after the jump. ...
Times are tough, but that doesn't mean we should stop sipping on drinks like this stylish sangria. In fact, an uncomfortable economic climate might be just the reason to sit down with a lavish-looking cocktail or two.
This sangria from REC(ession)IPES is made using rosé, crème de cassis, strawberries, raspberries and pineapple, and sparkles with seltzer. It's even somewhat nutritious, thanks to all of that beautiful fruit. Best of all: It costs less than a dollar per serving to make. We'll have three!
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Local fruit exchanges in California allow neighbors to share their bounty and let no lemon, plum or persimmon go to waste.
Here we are at the start of the idlest season of the year, when it's so hot you have to relax, when the produce is so bountiful you can't help but gobble it, and when life gets simpler and so should your wine.
Which brings me to rosé, the ultimate summer wine. Why? Because rosés, made from red grapes but drunk chilled and fresh like white wine, are pretty, refreshing and incredibly evocative of some of the best summer fruits -- and the newest releases are hitting the store shelves right now.
When President Obama took over the White House last month, the wine world was abuzz with, well, the buzzword of his administration: hope. Storyafterstory declared him to be the savior, the messiah, of wine. He would rescue the White House from its teetotaling predecessor and bring the cellar back to its glory.
My two cents? Obama has bigger things to worry about. But 200 years ago, when the country was a lot smaller and depressions, world wars, and recessions were unimagined events of the future, Thomas Jefferson did not. After touring Europe, Jefferson returned home convinced that our county could produce wines on par with Europe's best. He imported vine cuttings form some of the best vineyards in Europe and planted them at his Virginia estate, Monticello.
Jefferson actually put wine on par with national issues, saying, "By making this wine vine known to the public, I have rendered my country as great a service as if I had enabled it to pay back the national debt."
Sometimes, it has to be done. Maybe you're celebrating something. Maybe you're entertaining a client. Maybe your editor just chopped up your interview and you want to kill everyone. What am I talking about? Drinking at lunch.
Drinking at lunch can be dangerous. Some people get bad headaches from it, even from a glass of wine. It's really best to drink at lunch only if you're going to have time for a nap, but since that isn't realistic, make sure you have Advil at your desk - it might not hurt to pop a couple as a preventative measure.
Don't scare your clients, and don't knock yourself out. Avoid hardcore drinks like martinis, and avoid drinking your night drink during the day; it's likely to make you tired because your brain is used to having it before sleep. If you're particularly prone to afternoon headaches, it's a good idea to drink something involving juice or coffee to try and trick your brain a little.
In addition to headaches and naps (and wildly inappropriate crying jags), drinking at lunch can also cause raucous laughter, the closing of deals; the alleviation of unbearable tension, and a more carefree afternoon to follow.
My picks for what to drink at lunch ( In moderation) are after the jump...
Hendrick's Gin is 44% abv. / 88 proof and is distilled in Scotland. I tasted Hendrick's for the first time around 7-8 years or more ago when I stopped by the New Hampshire state liquor store on my way to vacation in Maine. What attracted my attention was the same thing that everyone else in the world notices about Hendrick's. The squat, very dark brown that it's almost black, apothecary style bottle. That and then I noticed the price. It was on sale ridiculously cheap because it had just made it onto the shelves and was being first introduced. I had heard of it just recently and been wanting to try it and at half the normal price this was a steal. So I bought a bottle and figured that if it was good I could pick up a few more on sale when I headed back to NY, something which I later did.
The aroma is quite big, with a strong hit of juniper, followed closely by its star ingredients out of its various botanicals; cucumber and rose. The sharp, piney scent grabs you first but is quickly mellowed by the sweet, vegetal cucumber bottom notes and floral rose top notes. Then as it warms and opens up you get faint layers of spices coming in to play.
The taste is a medium juniper, again mellowed by the cucumber, and perked up with the rose petals. It is a soft and smooth gin, coating your mouth and tongue in soft, aromatic warmth, feeling sort of like a mouthful of warm, freshly made English custard. The mouth feel is very comforting and that softness of warm custard just jumps into my head. After the first hit of flavors you then get hints of citrus and herbs, and a very mild note of spearmint and rich chocolate and coffee. It has a long finish with semi-sweet layers of flavors following each other through your palate. The end is dry and aromatic and stays with you for several minutes.
Over the years I have had Hendrick's many times because it was one of the more easily available premium gins to locate, and helped start the trend of the new styles of gin. The first year or so they had some inconsistency with the product. Three bottles in a row would be excellent, then the fourth would taste like chemicals and benzene. Those issues were cleared up and they seem to be producing a consistently good product. This is a fine sipping gin, and if used in a martini you should make it very dry.
Although they only account for a small portion (probably less than 10%) of the champagne market, the imports of rosé champagnes spiked hugely last year. So it's safe to say that restaurants, bars and liquor stores across the country will be making the increasingly trendy bubbly much more accessible. The pink color of rosé is obtained by adding about 15% red wine to regular champagne, giving it an entirely new flavor profile to complement its look. Servers and restaurant owners say that the drink is contagious, that when one glass is poured suddenly everyone else wants one, as well. And there's nothing wrong with one extra glass of champagne. Forbes picked their top ten pink champagnes, listed here by price, any one of which would go well with a romantic dinner or dessert.
I don't work for Zyliss. I have used and own several of their products.
There are plenty of ways to peel garlic. If you are a garlic lover, then you probably add finely minced or pressed garlic to a dish shortly before serving, thus preserving much of the racy flavor we garlic lover's crave. If you're looking to simply peel garlic for chopping, I recommend a roller or your bare hands (cut the butt off, pinch the clove and remove skin). However, try the Asian Rose pressed onto hot pizza, or directly into creamy soups. My uncle brought me some Asian rose earlier this summer, grown in Napa. Hadn't tried it, won't forget it. I haven't had much luck growing my own...but I do use plenty, and this is the tool I turn to. If you have another press that you swear by, let me know and I'll check it out.
Rosé wines, the ones that are pink, have long been the object of a bit of snickering amongst oenophiles. They've been labeled as too sweet and too cheap, but in recent years, rosés have improved in quality. They are being embraced not only by wine connoisseurs, but when once "club-hopping hipsters and tastemakers" were sipping Prosecco and Cosmopolitans, now it's rosé.
In the past, rosé was often made with grapes harvested for other wines and doesn't age, making it less credible than reds and whites and hard to take seriously. However, wineries around the world have begun to harvest rosé-specific grapes. Needless to say, rosé quality has improved.
Who's been seen drinking the pink? Alex Kapranos, the lead singer of the rock band Franz Ferdinand, Pamela Anderson, and the MisShapes, a group of three influential Manhattan party promoters and DJs in New York.
If you want to try, here are a few suggestions:
Domaines Ott is the most recognizable brand of rosé and the top seller around New York's restaurant and club scene. The trendsetting rose was bought by Champagne Louis Roederer, the maker of Cristal Champagne, two years ago. However, it is rather expensive, ringing in at about twice the price of most rosés.
Just note that, according to some, "The rule is it's pretty much rosé exclusively all summer until the end of the season, around late September. By then we're all so rosé logged that we're happy to dry out for a while."
A selection of
pink champagne to drink this Valentines Day; as recommended by the Mail on Sunday newspaper.
Classy Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque Rosé1999 £76 "As
delicate on the palate as to the eye" Laurent-Perrier Grand Siecle Alexandra Rosé
1997 £185 "full of character and finesse" Krug Rosé £160 "the
best bottle of them all, vibrant, with wild berry flavours and perfect balance"
Snazzy Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Rosé 1999 £46.50
"Elegant" Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé £32.75 "refined bouquet and body
that punches above its weight" Lanson Noble Cuvee Rosé £44.95 "with the
smell of old roses and sour cherries" Gosset Grand Rosé £32.95
"mouth-filling, fruit-heavy, gently scented, carnation-pink fizz" Taittinger Prestige
Rosé £35.99 "strawberry-tinted wine" Laurent-Perrier Cuvee Rosé
Brut £37.95 "fresh, full-bodied all pinot noir saignée fizz"
Sassy Lanson Rosé Label Brut Rosv £29.99 "pale pink
roses with gentle red fruit tastes" Moet and Chandon Brut Imperial Rosé £28.99
"emphatically pink" Alexandre Bonnet Brut Rosé £13.99 "a big biscuity
bargain"
Mark Bittman writes about the current woes of everything 
When President Obama took over the White House last month, the wine world was abuzz with, well, the buzzword of his administration: hope. 
Sometimes, it has to be done. Maybe you're celebrating something. Maybe you're entertaining a client. Maybe your editor just chopped up your interview and you want to kill everyone. What am I talking about? Drinking at lunch.
Hendrick's Gin is 44% abv. / 88 proof and is distilled in Scotland. I tasted Hendrick's for the first time around 7-8 years or more ago when I stopped by the New Hampshire state liquor store on my way to vacation in Maine. What attracted my attention was the same thing that everyone else in the world notices about Hendrick's. The squat, very dark brown that it's almost black, apothecary style bottle. That and then I noticed the price. It was on sale ridiculously cheap because it had just made it onto the shelves and was being first introduced. I had heard of it just recently and been wanting to try it and at half the normal price this was a steal. So I bought a bottle and figured that if it was good I could pick up a few more on sale when I headed back to NY, something which I later did.
Although they only account for a small portion (probably less than 10%) of the champagne market, the imports of rosé champagnes spiked hugely last year. So it's safe to say that restaurants, bars and liquor stores across the country will be making the increasingly trendy bubbly much more accessible. The pink color of rosé is obtained by adding about 15% red wine to regular champagne, giving it an entirely new flavor profile to complement its look. Servers and restaurant owners say that the drink is contagious, that when one glass is poured suddenly everyone else wants one, as well. And there's nothing wrong with one extra glass of champagne. Forbes picked their 
I don't work for Zyliss. I have used and own several of their products.
Rosé wines, the ones that are pink, have long been the object of a bit of snickering amongst oenophiles. They've been labeled as too sweet and too cheap, but in recent years, rosés have improved in quality. They are 
A selection of
pink champagne to drink this Valentines Day; as recommended by the Mail on Sunday newspaper.
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