It’s less than a week away from Thanksgiving do you know what you will be cooking? If you are a last minute person like me, you find the Foodista Thanksgiving Recipe Guide super helpful. Not ready to talk turkey? We’ve got a couple great links to take your mind off menu planning.

1. Good news if you love Indian and Thai food, new study finds Curry Spice Kills Cancer Cells
2. Need a new twist to bacon and eggs? Stacey Snacks blog shows us how to make Baked Eggs in Bacon Baskets
3. Veggie art puts Mr. Potato Head to shame.
4. Playing with your food never looked so good- check out this amazing sandwich art from TOXEL.com.
5. Some strange canned food, it seems like you can put anything in a can on Food Network Humor.
6. Food & Wine magazine feature Supper Clubs that have gain cult following.
7. Start happy hour early at work by checking out some vodka porn.
8. Al Dente Blog has a great suggestion for a fun host/ hostess gift with a Lucky Break Wishbone.
9. Not everyone loves pumpkin pie, but everyone loves Thanksgiving cupcakes!
10. Still need a dessert idea? Womansday.com suggests switching it up with Four Decadent Thanksgiving Desserts

Above Photo by Suttonhoo

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Categories:	Beverages • Canned Goods • Holiday • Uncategorized • breakfast • gift ideas	Leave a Comment
Tags:	desserts • Friday Fun links • Thanksgiving

American food and beverage trends come and go, some staying longer than others and some have just refuse to go away. But when it comes to wine consumption, it seems like the trend just continues to grow year after year. What’s interesting about wine right now is the age in which it is being consumed. Twenty somethings and young thirty somethings are lining up at winery tasting bars and wine-focused restaurants eager to know more about the flavor profiles of varietals and learn which wines pair well with which foods.  Sites like Winechatr.com and magazines like Wine x magazine and WINO magazine, though great resource for anyone who loves wine, heavily cater to younger wine drinkers. And why not? According to a 2007 survey of consumer trends in the U.S. wine market, conducted by the Wine Market Council, twenty somethings are by far the fastest growing group of wine drinkers.  The surge in wine tasting parties over cocktail parties, weekend wine tastings in Napa’s wine country and the popularity of  events like 20Something- The New Vintage are just a couple of examples of the rise of younger wine drinkers. The survey also showed that 53 percent said they are spending $20 or more on wine more frequently. Is this considered a good thing? Does this rise coincide with the new food movement? Perhaps it’s because there are more wineries year after year and it is becoming just part of the norm to understand wine.  I personally believe chefs that know their wines are better chefs. Learning about wine should be as much of a requirement as learning about food and to that I say earlier the better!

Above wine tattoo photo by Rambleonsylvie

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Categories:	Beverages • Uncategorized • wine	1 Comment
Tags:	20 something wine drinkers • wine • wine trends

Recently, I posted a blog about non-alcoholic Halloween drinks for kids but as we all know, Halloween is just as much a holiday for adults as it is for kids. Instead of bringing spooky cupcakes or Halloween truffles to your Halloween gathering this weekend, mix up some creepy cocktail concoctions to share with your adult guests.

Dressing up? Bring a special potion that goes with the theme of your costume. For example, if you are going as Don Draper, you should probably bring the ingredients to make an Old Fashioned. Going as a vampire? A Bloody Mary is more than fitting. Want to bring enough for a crew? Here is a list of  Halloween cocktails that are to die for!

More Cocktail Inspiration
Cocktail Culture- Absithe Cocktail
Sloshed!- Hard Pumpkin Cider
Nightschool-Professional bartenders share their secrets
Vintage Cocktails on Facebook

Above photo by TangoPango

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Categories:	Beverages • Entertaining • Holiday • Uncategorized • cocktails	Leave a Comment
Tags:	drinks • Halloween cocktails • Halloween party beverages

While growing up Halloween trumped Christmas as the holiday I looked most forward to. It wasn’t so much the candy that had me counting down the days, but the costumes. My mother would indulge my dress-up desires and help me brainstorm what I could be for Halloween months in advance. Now even today, I look forward to Halloween and fall is one of my most favorite times of year, but besides costumes, I indulge in festive drinks and dishes. Because I associate Halloween with my childhood, it’s only fitting to post some frightfully delicious drinks for kids.

Perhaps you can think of ones I may have missed?

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Categories:	Beverages • Holiday • for Kids	1 Comment
Tags:	halloween • halloween drinks • non alcoholic drinks • October

Normally I don’t enter a ton of cooking contests, mostly because I don’t make the time,  but  PAMA Liqueur sent us an email about about “Cooking with PAMA Contest” with the Grand Prize winner receiving a trip for 2 to the 2010 FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen. Which, if any of you have heard about the Food & Wine Classic, it’s pretty foodie-tastic.

If you are feeling ambitious and like pomegranate liqueur-here is the nitty gritty:

-Create a recipe of your own using at least 3 tablespoons of Pama pomegranate liqueur. It can be in an appetizer, dessert or drink.

-Get official rules and submit your recipe and photo to Pama Pomegranate Liqueur on their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/pamaliqueur

-Enter by November 16

Above Photo by Joe M500

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Categories:	Beverages • Events • Travel	Leave a Comment
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Pumpkin beer: beer geeks love it or hate it. “Liquid pumpkin pie”, say the detractors: sweet and overly-spiced- hardly beer at all. However, many take pumpkin beer seriously. Very seriously. The Elysian Brewery in Seattle devotes an entire weekend to the Great Pumpkin Beer Festival every October; for this year’s event, they brewed not one, not two but nine different varieties.

The pumpkin beer category encompasses any style of beer brewed with pumpkin and/or pumpkin pie spices; the base beer can range from a lager to a brown ale to a stout- whatever the brewer desires. The best pumpkin beer is a fine balance between pumpkin and beer, allowing the two flavors to coexist in harmony. These are the money beers, the ones that prove pumpkin beer is more than just a seasonal novelty or pie in a bottle.

Pumpkin beers are quite enjoyable on their own, but when combined with food are a delightful celebration of autumn. Don’t throw out the usual beer pairing rules with pumpkin beers. Look for ingredients that will either compliment or contrast the flavor of beer, not compete with it. The sweetness, texture, and style of beer will dictate what recipes will work best with which foods: lighter beers tend to work well with lighter fare, while richer beers can stand up to heartier meals.

However, pairing completely contrasting flavors can also create a wonderful effect. For example, salty foods will enhance the sweetness of a sugary beer. This contrast should be a playful debate, not a fist fight: the flavors should not be grappling for dominance on your tongue. The differences between the beer and the food will coax out flavors in each that otherwise might go undetected.

While it’s tempting to couple pumpkin beer with foods containing pumpkin or winter squash, the similarity in taste will generally cause the pairing to fall flat. Instead, consider other fall favorites. Try a lighter beer with turkey, poultry and root vegetables, or darker, richer beers with stews, brown butter, sharp cheese and lamb. Adding a hint of nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice to a recipe can make an otherwise unsuitable dish pumpkin beer-friendly.

For a sharp, strong beer like Dogfish Head Punkin Ale or Elysian Night Owl:

For a sweet, strong beer like Southern Tier Punking Imperial Pumpkin Ale:

For a lighter beer like Shipyard Pumpkinhead:

Need to find pumpkin beer? Beer Advocate has a good list.

(image from Flickr user euart)

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Categories:	Beverages • Holiday • beer	4 Comments
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Once again, the Foodista team will belly up to the bar for another Drinking Lesson, this time the teacher is Erik Hakkinen, a bartender at Seattle’s infamous  Zig Zag Cafe , the same bar you will also find legendary Murray Stenson shaking things up.  Hakkinen will be stirring, muddling and mixing to a sold-out crowd tonight at the Sorrento Hotel’s Hunt Club bar. He may be young, but he has already made quite the name for himself. Check out why bar nerds are taking notice of Hakkinen.

Follow us tonight on twitter, the hash tag #drinkinglessons and we’ll also be posting on the Night School blog: http://www.foodista.com/nightschool/

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Categories:	Beverages • cocktails	Leave a Comment
Tags:	bartending • Erik Hakkinen • night school • Nightschool • sorrento hotel

In Seattle, now that fall is here, it means it starts raining. The days grow increasingly darker and the clouds rarely take a break from hanging out above the city. As a native, of course I’m sad to see the sun go for months on end, but honestly there is a big side of me that is excited to spend all evening roasting winter vegetables and drinking red wine, while a game is on in the other room. The wind and cold rain whipping leaves from the trees forces me to stay inside and convince me that it’s okay to not do anything, but cook comfort food, feed it to my favorite people and not feel guilty about staying in my sweats all day long.

Cheers to Autumn!

Here are 10 Fall Dishes We Can’t Wait to Cook

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Categories:	Baked Goods • Beverages • French • Holiday • Soup • Vegetarian • desserts	6 Comments
Tags:	autumn food • comfort food • fall food

Drinking Lessons, a Night School event continues this Sunday, September 20th with Robert Hess behind the bar at the Sorrento Hotel in Seattle. At 6 p.m. and again at 8 p.m. Hess will mix, muddle and stir for 24 lucky attendees sitting around the smooth mahogany bar at the Hunt Club that is inside the swanky Sorrento Hotel.

Seattlite Robert Hess is founder of the Chanticleer Society, author of The Essential Bartender’s Guide: How to Make Truly Great Cocktails and operator of Drink Boy.com.

Want to go? Email nightschool@hotelsorrento.com for reservations.

Can’t go but want to follow via the virtual bar? Go to http://www.foodista.com/nightschool/ on Sunday night!

Cheers!

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Categories:	Author • Beverages • Events • cocktails	Leave a Comment
Tags:	drinking lessons • night school • Robert Hess • sorrento hotel

It’s a change in the seasons. Labor Day weekend is upon us. Families are packing up the car for one last road trip, final camp out or mini-vacation before comfortably settling into school and work routines. Are you planning to go out with a bang and savor all that there is left of summer? Or are you already thinking of cool harvest nights and (gasp!) thumbing through holiday cookbooks!?

I say fire up the grill and roast those weenies with gusto! Hit the trail with a summery picnic and relish every last bit of summer that you can, because before you know it, you’ll be pulling out the sweaters from the winter clothes box and wishing for sweet summer sun. Of course for all you die-hard grillers who choose to grill in the snow, wind and rain, the changing of the weather doesn’t mean then end of grilling, it only means one thing- it must be tailgate season! Here are some recipes to take with you camping, to make for lounging in the hammock or for the back yard barbecue.

Off to the campground!

Laying in a Hammock all Weekend

Summer Barbecue Tributes

What are you planning to cook this weekend? We’d love to hear about it! Here’s what some other folks are preparing for this Labor Day weekend:

RecipeGirl Labor Day Menu

Delish Labor Day Sticky Ribs

Martha Stewart’s Perfect Grilled Veggie Kebabs

Above photo by Cape Cod Cyclist

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Categories:	American • Beverages • Holiday • Uncategorized	Leave a Comment
Tags:	barbecue recipe • camping food • end of summer • Labor Day food • Labor Day Recipes