Tales of the Cocktail 2009

Tales of the Cocktail 2009

This festival is for those that enjoy a good cocktail! Held annually in New Orleans, Tales of the Cocktail spans five days of teaching and learning, as well as eating and drinking, through out the glorious City of New Orleans. The festival begins July 8th and runs until July 12th.

Those that attend have the unmatched opportunity to meet award winning mixologists, authors, bartenders, chefs, food writers,and designers by participating in events such as cocktail demonstrations and tastings, dinner-pairings,seminars, mixing competitions,design expos, book signings and many other activities. Sponsored by The New Orleans Culinary and Cultural Preservation Society, this is a fund raising event par non. The organizations mission is preservation of the rich history of New Orleans bars and restaurants and the the areas unique culinary heritage.


This year, don't miss the newest event; “Behind The Bar Photo Exhibit”. The photos were taken in and around food and drink establishments through out New Orleans, illustrating the “spirit” of the city's cocktail culture. Photographers from all over the country participated by invitation. The traveling exhibit features photos were chosen by a panel of judges selected by the “Tales of the Cocktail” planning committee. The exhibit was first unveiled at The W, Poydras St, in conjunction with Art for Arts Sake on October 1st, 2008.

“Tales of the Cocktail” is a big deal. Last years event used a staggering amount of ingredients! Try six thousand pounds of ice, 350 liters lemon juice, 280 liters of lime juice, 8085 mint leaves (who counted these???), 2340 jalapeño slices (again, counted by who???), and 6 cups Goji berries! I wonder how many aspirin were taken during the festival?

If you are lucky enough to be able to attend this years “Tales of the Cocktail”; you are guaranteed to come home an expert in mixology! Besides learning the latest and greatest in food and drinks you have the opportunity to experience wonderful New Orleans! Go, eat, drink and be merry!

For more information, go to the events website: www.talesofthecocktail.com

Upcoming topics

HI! I am working on articles on the following topics:

The Chocolate Buffett and the Breakfast Chocolate Waffle at the Four Seasons Hotel in Atlanta Georgia.

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A Beverly Hills German Sausage shop that is known for its "African Sausages"!

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The 18th National Barbecue Associations Annual Educational Conference & Trade Show to be held February 17th-21st, in Austin, Texas

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I will also be posting recipes for the following:

Mile High Meringue

Fudge Tunnel Cake

Gini's Private recipe for Chocolate Rum Cake.

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I am looking for future ideas and recipes. If you help out, you will get credit for contributing. If you would like to post an article &/or recipe to this blog please let me know! E-mail me at: thefoodroadie@hotmail.com

Thanks, Gini!

Key Lime Pie & Bev's Cheese Cake

I want to share with you one of the most talented persons I know of. See her comment below for the Key Lime pie.

Ellen is owner and creator of Ellen Kennon Full Spectrum Paints. (http://www.ellenkennon.com/fspmain.htm). The paints are glorious. If you are unsure what color to use, Ellen offers personal color consultations. If you check her site out you can see projects that she has worked on and how beautiful they have turned out. You can order samples of her paint before commiting to a color, to see if it is what you had in mind. Her paints are also made of ICI's most deluxe quality paints and are certified "Green". Ellen has a full explanation of this on her site under the heading "About our Manufacturer". Her paints are easily accessible for all who need them, they are available for pick-up at ICI Paint stores, which are all over the USA.

Ellen offers a great newsletter and blog. Check them out, as well as all about her paint!

If you want to see the recipes that she mentioned, for the Key Lime pie, go to the following link http://www.ellenkennon.com/blog.htm and scroll down to July 31st, 2008. You will find the recipe for the Key Lime Pie and Bev's Cheesecake Recipe!

Delicious Banana Bread

This is one of the most delicious and moist banana breads that you will ever taste! I took a standard recipe for banana bread and tweaked it. Putting this together is really easy! Let me know what you think after you bake this gem!

Ingredients:

4 over-ripe bananas
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tsp. Baking soda
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
1/8 tsp salt
½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts
½ cup mini-chocolate chips
½ cup raisins
1 ½ cups flour

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, coat a 4” x 8 “ baking pan with oil or butter, lightly dust with flour. Set aside.

Use a mixer, or you can mix by hand with a large, heavy spoon. Cut the bananas into pieces, dropping them into the mixing bowl. Let the beater smash the bananas until they seem pasty.

Beat in egg, thoroughly.

Using a neat-durable glass measuring cup, melt butter until it reaches the the 1/3 mark. Let sit.

Deposit 1 cup sugar into bananas. Mix together thoroughly.

Beat in slightly melted butter and vanilla.

As the ingredients in mixing bowl blend, in another bowl, add the following ingredients and mix thoroughly: flour, baking soda,cinnamon, ginger, and salt.
*My tip for this process is to put these ingredients into a seal able container and shake well. They will be perfectly mixed and ready to be added to the mixing bowl.


Once dry ingredients are blended, reduce speed of mixer, and add dry ingredients slowly. Scrape the sides of the bowl frequently as ingredients are mixing.

Add any or all of the following: pecans or walnuts, min-chocolate chips,and or raisins. Beat slowly until these ingrediants are mixed in.

Pour (or spoon) into baking dish. Bake 1 hour. Insert knife to test if it is done enough, before removing from oven.
*My Tip: The knife should come out clean. If it does, immediately remove from oven. If not, bake for another 5-10 minutes depending on color of banana bread. If still fairly light you might need to bake longer. But test in increments of 5-10 minutes.