Beverages
Entertaining: Build a Bloody Mary Bar
Entertaining: Build a Bloody Mary Bar Nothing says brunch more to me than a Bloody Mary (although a mimosa is a close, close second). And, the way I see it, nothing screams “Party!” more than a do-it-yourself Bloody Mary bar. Although my recipe for a Feisty Bloody Mary is killer in my
Entertaining: Signature Cocktails – Top Shelf Margaritas
Entertaining: Signature Cocktails – Top Shelf Margaritas I’m pretty ticky about margaritas. Although I have been known to choke down a freakishly-green, cloyingly sweet, watered-down travesty at a few local Mexican restaurants, it just baffles me that they serve such sub-par ones –
Entertaining: Signature Cocktails - French 75
Entertaining: Signature Cocktails - French 75 While Adam and I were waiting for a table at McCrady's restaurant in Charleston a few years back, after seeing the very chic lady next to me order one, I, too, ordered a French 75 cocktail. Not only because I thought it sounded chi-chi and cos
The Stock Pot: Morning Fruit Smoothies
The Stock Pot: Morning Fruit Smoothies I’m a firm believer in breakfast and, for the most part, I alternate my daily morning meal between bacon and eggs and smoothies. On the smoothie days, as the blender whirs and moans, I almost always remember the first smoothie I had ever tasted. Sp
Entertaining: Signature Cocktails – Champagne Cocktail
Entertaining: Signature Cocktails – Champagne Cocktail Nothing screams “special occasion” more than hearing the cork pop on a bottle of champagne. And, certainly no glitzy New Year’s Eve celebration would be complete without clinking glasses filled with the luscious sparkling wine
Entertaining: Signature Cocktails – Classic Cooked Eggnog
Entertaining: Signature Cocktails – Classic Cooked Eggnog Every year around mid-November, it swoops in as the harbinger of the holidays - the tall quarts lining grocery store refrigerated shelves, gracing us with its presence for a few wintry months. This rich, sugary, boozy blend that
Entertaining: Signature Cocktails- Pear and Pomegranate Bellinis
Entertaining: Signature Cocktails- Pear and Pomegranate Bellinis It was November 1989, I had recently graduated from journalism school and because I was too chicken to move to New York to become a writer, I stayed put in Chapel Hill (Go Heels!) and made my folks really proud by landing a
Entertaining: Signature Cocktails – Feisty Bloody Marys
Entertaining: Signature Cocktails – Feisty Bloody Marys The Bloody Mary was created in 1921 by a bartender named Pete Petiot (thanks, Pete!) at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris. When he skipped over the pond to the United States in 1933, he brought his Concoction-That-Helps-Us-Hang-On wi
Entertaining: Signature Cocktails - Cuba Libre
Entertaining: Signature Cocktails - Cuba Libre Remember that scene in the 1988 movie, Cocktail, where Tom Cruise's character gets absolutely slaughtered on his first night at his bartending gig and everyone's screaming drink orders at him, including the impatient waitresses, one of whom y
Prep School: D.I.Y. – Homemade Grenadine
Prep School: D.I.Y. – Homemade Grenadine I promise I’m not getting all “Martha” on you guys with homemade this and homemade that (although homemade is so much better!). It’s just that certain things lend themselves so beautifully and easily to the Do-It-Yourself category. And th
Entertaining: Signature Cocktails – My Perfect Manhattan
Entertaining: Signature Cocktails – My Perfect Manhattan I’m a big believer in signature cocktails for parties. I think it makes the occasion more special and adds old-school glam to get-togethers (not to mention that it saves you the time and money of having to fully stock a bar). So
Watermelon-Mint Fizz
Watermelon-Mint Fizz Fizzy Logic: “Two watermelons cannot be held under one arm.” –Turkish Proverb No wonder early explorers used watermelons as canteens--and with good reason, too: they’re 92% water (so, it’s not just a clever name), making these fruits,
Sweet Tea
Sweet Tea Steeped in Tradition: "Would you kike some iced tea? It's the house wine of the South." Dolly Parton as Truvy in Steel Magnolias I was twelve, visiting my cousins up North, sitting in a little diner when it happened. We were all perusing the menu when the waitress pad
Mexican Hot Chocolate with Homemade Vanilla Marshmallows
Mexican Hot Chocolate with Homemade Vanilla Marshmallows Marshmallow World: "It's a marshmallow world inthe winter; when the snow comes to cover the ground. It's time for play, it's a whipped cream day I wait for the whole year round." - 1949 song by Sigman and DeRose Continued
It's really about us, my husband, Adam, and me (Cheryl), and mostly it's about the food. 
