Champagne Desserts

We are officially in the year 2011.. yay! I wish everyone peace, good health, and harmony for this new year. Even though we are so busy, schedule time with family and friends and enjoy these champagne desserts.

Recipes:
Berry Gratin with Champagne Sabayon 
Champagne Granita
Champagne Frosted Cupcakes
Champagne Sabayon
Sparkling Baby Cakes
White Peaches and Raspberries in Champagne Syrup

Happy New Year's Eve!

Hope everyone will be celebrating tonight to bring in the New Year! I know that people all around the globe follow different traditions for New Years Eve. I wanted to share a little Spanish tradition that my family always adheres to at exactly 12 pm. Right at the very moment when the ball drops, and the clock strikes midnight, each person eats 12 red grapes. Each grape is meant to give you good luck for each month of the New Year. You should give it a try! 

 photo source: grapes

If you are celebrating out (in a restaurant or otherwise), place 12 grapes in individual zip-lock bags and bring them for all of your family & friends to enjoy!  Wishing everyone good luck in the New Year! 

All About Champagne...

Since champagne is the beverage of choice on New Year's Eve, here’s a quick guide to make your champagne selection easier:

• Brut: extremely dry (less than 1.5% sugar)
• Extra sec or extra dry: dry (1.2-2.0% sugar)
• Sec: slightly sweet (1.7-3.5% sugar)
• Demi-sec: sweet (3.3-5.0% sugar); dessert wine
• Doux: very sweet (over 5.0% sugar); dessert wine

We all know that champagne should be served chilled (refrigerate for two hours before serving). But be careful not to over-chill your champagne; otherwise you will dull both the flavor and the bouquet.

To keep your champagne sparkling after the party is over, use an inexpensive metal champagne stopper. If you don’t have one of those handy, drop a stainless-steel needle or pin into the bottle, then fasten a balloon over the top with a rubber band. This will maintain the effervescence for about two days.

1. Pomegranate-Rosemary Royale

2. Crimson Spice Champagne Cocktail 

3. Raspberry Sparkler 

4. Sparkling Sangria 

5. Pomegranate Champagne Cocktail 

6. Sparkling Passion-Fruit Aperitifs

7. Framboise Spritzers

8. Sparkling Rosemary-Peach Cocktails

9. Rossini Bellini

10. Cran-Raspberry Spritzer 

11. Champagne Limoncello Cocktails

12. Sparkling Cranberry Blush

In lieu of champagne, you may want to try a sparking wine, here are five to try.

Tortes

Christmas craziness has ended; gifts have already been hastily ripped opened and enjoyed. But because holiday parties don’t end on Christmas day, I’m going to continue to share some great holiday desserts. Hopefully you will share one or two of these with your guests! 

The Recipes: 

1. Gingerbread Linzertorte 

2. Flourless Chocolate Torte

3. Raspberry-Almond Torte 

4. Chocolate-Pistachio Torte

5. Strawberry-Chocolate Meringue Torte

6. Almond Torte

Wine Label Printables

Wine is a great gift to bring over to a holiday party. Choose your favorite brand and personalize your bottle with a festive label. Just pick your label below, print on adhesive-backed paper, cut and stick them on your bottles.

Print the "Making Spirits Bright" label 
Print the "Drink & Be Merry" label
Print the "Cheers to the New Year!" label

Here are some more options... 

For the labels in the picture above go here to get the free printables. Print on paper, cut out the labels and wrap them around your favorite bottle, adhering with double stick tape.

If you don't have a favorite wine or can't decide which one to gift, take a look at this list of good gift wines at every price.

The Biggest Tree of All...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with their families! On this day, the day after Christmas, my family usually heads into the city to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.

Breathtaking!

Source: Rockefeller Tree

What do you do with your family for Christmas weekend?