Tag Archives: Maker’s Mark

Random Musings

12 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by in Christmas, Epicurean, Gift Ideas, Holidays

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Gizmo at the Nyack, NY Christmas Tree Lighting

Here I sit, feeling neglectful.  The holidays are in full swing and finding the time to pen posts isn’t the easiest of tasks.  “What?” You exclaim, “I’m penning blogs while juggling a full time job, a family and numerous volunteer activities. What’s your excuse, Rivera?!?” You ponder.  No excuse, I just embraced the fact that I’m not wonder woman a long time ago…and I’m good with that.  

We’ve been packing a fair amount of fun into the season.  Tony and his band had a Christmas concert this past weekend.  While that’s meant a lot of rehearsals for the band, I’ve been spending time with the ‘band aids’ — the band members’ significant others; all good friends with whom I enjoy breaking bread and sipping wine with. 

I didn’t properly plan today’s missive so I offer you some of the musings I’ve had over the past few days: 

Fun Socks — Thanks Maker’s Mark!

Give Me Their Budget:  I need Maker’s Mark’s marketing budget.  Actually what I experience is  only a small percentage of that budget falling into the CRM — customer relationship management — category.  Years ago I signed up to be a Maker’s Mark Ambassador.  Every Christmas they send fabulous gifts to their Ambassadors.  One year it was ear mufflers, another year a sweater for my Maker’s bottle, and one year bourbon ball ice cube trays.  This year’s gift…ta da:  Socks!  Absolutely #Fun! 

Paprika from La Tienda

La Tienda:  Above and beyond the my husband’s jeep catalog, I’m the person who receives catalogs in the family which I always enjoy thumbing through (am I aging myself?).  A few days ago, Tony received a catalog from La Tienda, a company that’s celebrating ’22 Years of the Best of Spain” which piqued my interest.  With an great assortment of  foodstuff  — from meats and cheeses to tapas offerings and custom gift boxes — I’m envisioning a few gifties for the big guy, specifically a Paella Pan, their smoked Pimenton de la Vera Paprika, a goat or sheep cheese item — the Spaniards make seriously good cheese — and perhaps a ring or two of Chorizo.  If you’re looking for a unique gift for the Spanish epicurean in your life or, your friendly neighborhood meat and cheese lover, check them out. 

Living Coral

Living Coral:  Pantone, the color folks, has come out with their color of the year.  They’ve been doing this for the past 20 years and every year, I’m fascinated by their choice.  For 2019 the Pantone Color Institute has designated Living Coral as the color of the year (PANTONE 16-1546).  They state, “Living Coral emits the desired, familiar, and energizing aspects of color found in nature. In its glorious, yet unfortunately more elusive, display beneath the sea, this vivifying and effervescent color mesmerizes the eye and mind. Lying at the center of our naturally vivid and chromatic ecosystem, Pantone Living Coral is evocative of how coral reefs provide shelter to a diverse kaleidoscope of color.”

With that colorful tidbit, I’m wishing all my readers safe travels, smooth sailings and, of course, bon appetite!

Random Musings for a Friday Night…

26 Saturday Nov 2011

Posted by in Friday Night, Holidays, Pie

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

While tired, I’m completely content.  Thanksgiving was spent in Connecticut, Higganum to be precise, which is an idyllic New England town; coupled with perfect fall weather, the day was amazing and well needed for the family.  Dinner was splendid and it was great spending time with family and friends in a warm, inviting setting.  Today, another perfect fall day, was spent at the Florence Griswold Museum and Hammonasset State Park (details to follow over the coming days) on the beach.  The holidays, and Thanksgiving in particular, should be spent with good friends and family and I’m fortunate to have been with both this week.  

As I embark upon the second half of the weekend, which, hopefully, will be as enjoyable as the first half, a few thoughts:

Still not afraid of the crust:   As I suspected, the pie was great.  While visually not eye pleasing, rustic was the term being thrown about, everyone enjoyed it.  When baking, I try to use fresh ingredients and am a firm believer in grating my spices as needed so the pie had freshly grated cinnamon and nutmeg and, even, three types of apples (rule of thumb is to use at least two).  I’m also a firm believer in doing something with the crust, whether it be an egg wash or sprinkling sugar on top; the crust does need its own tender loving care to give it that something special.

There are hidden gems everywhere:  Old Lyme, CT, where the Museum is located, is a vibrant, historic arts destination where city folk of yester year, from New York and Boston, would flock to.  It’s amazing to think of all the hidden cultural gems that abound in the Northeast.  Connecticut has a well-known antiques trail and, today, I noticed a sign for the Connecticut wine trail; Route 2 in Massachusetts is sprinkled with cultural, historical, and outdoorsy activities; and Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine are teeming with equally intriguing towns.  I’m committed, in 2012, to do more exploring of such destinations and vow to bring to you my discoveries along the way.

Plan with the sun in mind:  Traveling frequently by car between the Cape, my siblings throughout New England and my personal homestead in New Jersey, I always try to factor in the setting sun.  Few things are as annoying as driving into a blazing sun, setting oh so slowly into the horizon.  I tend to take Route 84, albeit not today, and if you don’t time it right, you spend a good hour, hour and a half, driving with the setting sun in your eyes.  The whole process is rather tiring and can turn an otherwise pleasant drive into a pain in the arse; thus, I always advise those driving to keep such things in mind.

Always have a treat on hand:  Growing up, we always had something stashed in the freezer in case someone popped in (this proved to be most helpful for my mother and Mims and has saved me on a few occasions).  Mims, and mom, always had fudge, quick breads and inevitably, a Pepperidge Farm cake or two at the ready.  I’m not as diligent throughout the year, but come fall, I’m steadfast in doing a bit of freezer friendly baking for the holidays.  Last week, I made biscotti from Ruth Reichl’s The Gourmet Cookbook and froze them in serving sized containers.  Have already taken two containers out as a quick little desert for guests.

Cinnamon Girl:  I’m a big fan of Maker’s Mark and make my own little concoction (as far as I’m aware no one else has come up with this).  Essentially, I do a Maker’s and seltzer and add cinnamon.  It’s a very simple way to get a bit of additional spice into one’s life.

Am doing some local New Jersey things for the remainder of the weekend.  My father is visiting and, I believe, we’ll either be going to Thomas Edison’s House or a farm in the Hudson Valley and, am inclined to say, we may even kill a chicken for brunch on Sunday.  Perhaps we’ll enlist the help of a few friends, one of whom, Manny, is Portuguese and an absolutely amazing cook.   Will fill you in on the details over the coming days.

Random Musings for a Friday Night…

19 Saturday Nov 2011

Posted by in Bars, Cookies, Fannie Farmer, Friday Night, Holidays, Pie, Uncategorized, Very Best Baking, Williams Sonoma

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

Friday night; the night I usually do my ‘once a week’ things (sad, used to be the night I’d go raging on the town). Blogging might just prove to be a fun avoidance from those pesky little things moving forward.

Am baking O’Henry bars and an apple pie, for youth ministry and thanksgiving, respectively. An old family recipe, the O’Henry bars are quick, easy and I’ve yet to find someone who does not like them. The apple pie recipe I tend to use, and I have a ton of apple pie recipes, is from the ‘bible,’ aka The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Given to me by my sister, who excitedly exclaimed as she presented it to me, ‘it even tells you how to boil eggs’, I find the book to be a valuable resource in my various culinary endeavors.

So, before I go embark upon my exciting Friday night, a few thoughts:

Don’t be afraid of the crust: Pie crust is easy to make and takes one’s pie to the next level of yummy. While I remember, as a kid, making crust with Mims, my grandmother, my mother was the one who introduced me to the frozen crust. “It’s so much easier than making it from scratch and just as good,” she said. And dutifully, I listened. Well, it is easier and I’m a proponent of keeping one around just in case; however, it definitely isn’t as good (sorry Mom). So, go ahead, try a crust. The bible has a few easy recipes and you won’t be disappointed.

Fresh is the way to go: We’re a childless couple, and in the food department, that’s borderline being single. My sister and her family came over once, the kids were hungry, and the only thing I could offer was a can of sardines; apple sauce, that expired 3 years prior — we may have even moved in with the jar; or rice, that wasn’t cooked. My sister triumphantly pulled a box of microwave popcorn out and, we, sadly, couldn’t produce a microwave (we even called friends). So, sometimes, it’s a sad state when it comes to the food in our house. This doesn’t bother me as we tend to buy food as we need it, whether it be from a grocery store, the farmer’s market, or the local ‘farm’ by work, DePiero’s. And, I’ve grown to enjoy this. We don’t have food sitting around aimlessly and the quality is always better than things left in the fridge for Lord knows how long. So, I say go local, go fresh. In fact, my husband, Tony, and his friend, Manny, even buy a lot of our meat as needed and I’ve vowed to go with them to the chicken farm to pick out our dinner one night…ekks.

Ice can be fun: My fine friend’s at Maker’s Mark (who have a marketing budget I would kill for) send gifts at Christmas to their ambassadors (yes, I’m an ambassador). The gifts have been great, Maker’s Mark wax stamp, they’re known for their wax bottle top; a mini shaker and bar accessories; and, last year, bourbon ball ice cube trays. Well, we loved the frozen bourbon balls and used that thing so much that it cracked apart. So, for Tony’s birthday, I got him some fun ice cube trays. Actually, what I got him was this silicone baby food freezer thing from Williams Sonoma (really?  Do people really make their own baby food?). So we have half bourbon balls and they’re fun.  Sometimes, it really is about the simple things.

FYI, Ikea also has fun ice trays, however, the main draw back is that the ‘cubes’ are little. 

Keep the basics around: I once needed to make cookies for some sort of event (thanks, Tony, for the advance notice) and really didn’t have a lot of things in the cupboard (again, we don’t keep a lot on our shelves). I pulled what we did have out and searched the verybestbaking.com website for some recipes.  Happily, I now have a recipe for amazing pumpkin cookies!

Holiday Shopping: It’s that time of year. I work in a department with few employees. Christmas time has always been awkward with gifts. However, last year I stumbled upon an amazing candy jar at Williams Sonoma. I got the assortment and used them as gifts for my colleagues, which they loved. So, I highly recommend, for those needing to buy for numerous people, these fun confectionery treats as they’re inexpensive, yummy, and a classic gift for just about anyone.

I’ll update you on my baking endeavors this weekend and hope, as we get closer to Thanksgiving, to hear about your successes, challenges, and tips and techiniques you used to keep sane…opps…I mean to make your masterpieces.