Product Description

Cocktails of all kinds are served up in this fun and sexy guide to seasonal libations. From Mistletoe Martinis through Angel's Kisses to Starry Nights, there are sassy drink recipes for every taste, including champagne cocktails, hot toddies, punches and non-alcoholic drinks. The many tools needed to make these delightful concoctions are explained, as are the actual ingredients and the glassware to be used for the 50 inventive and in-demand drinks. The perfect book for holiday entertaining, this is also a great all-purpose holiday or hostess gift.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #595488 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 80 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In this stylish little giftbook, Strand (Intimate Gatherings) offers some 50 holiday drink recipes for the times when good ol' eggnog just won't do (though she provides a recipe for it, of course). In keeping with the season's general decadence, her "Very Merry Cocktails" section features libations heavy on the creams, juices and sweet liqueurs: the Starry Night mixes coffee and Irish cream liqueurs with vodka, and is finished off with a dusting of cocoa around the rim of the glass, while the Evergreen shakes up tequila, whipping cream and crèmes (de cacao and menthe) into a deceptively strong concoction. Her section on Champagne Sippers includes a classic Kir Royale, as well as the fun Santa Baby, which marries Chambord and champagne (with the addition of a few pomegranate seeds to "rise and fall, dancing in the champagne bubbles"). She also includes punches fit for a festive crowd-Wassail, the traditional Norwegian beverage, and 'Tis the Season Sangria-as well as non-alcoholic options like Gingersnap Punch and Hot Vanilla Cream. With bright, full-color photographs in every spread, hints on important barware and even recipes for garnishes, this book should offer plenty of inspiration for the happy host or hostess.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
Jessica Strand writes two weekly columns on food and restaurants for the Los Angeles Times and contributes to Self, Travel & Leisure and Wine and Spirits magazines. Her books include Intimate Gatherings and Baby's Rooms. Laurie Frankel's work can be seen in various publications, including Beauty Workbook and Baby Gifts.

Customer Reviews

Loved this book
I loved this book. Great photos, great recipes, and best of all... great drinks. It includes plenty of classics... and some variations that taste and look beautiful. In fact, I was just buying a few more copies for friends... and read the other reviews from our friends in Canada and couldn't believe what I was reading. Maybe they don't know how to follow a drink recipe... or should just drink whiskey straight. Anyway, I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a fun drink book to have as part of their cookbook collection. Cheers!

only for the photos
Indeed, truly awful recipes. Although each seems a clever concoction and is assigned a truly lovely and inspiring photo, the actual results are at best comparable to mouth wash. Unless you are interrogating a possible serial killer for location of body parts, I can't think of one good reason you would actually serve these drinks to human beings, or in fact anything in the primate family. Avoid. Talk to an actual bar tender for your drink recipes.

The necronomicon of cocktail books.
I had this great plan. I would host a Christmas cocktail party, brimming with fabulously festive beverages. Friends would marvel at what a clever hostess I was, and I would be a shining star. If only I hadn't relied on this book to be my silent sidekick.

Every drink from within it's pages sucked. The Christmas Kiss was dull and without flavour. The White Christmas smelled of floor cleaner, and another whose name has been forgotten tasted of it. Page after page of damning drinks, not a single one worthy of repetition.

This book is dreadful, and every single one of the author's books should be avoided like the plague. In the end I tossed the entire book into the recycling bin, disgusted with the money I had wasted, and grateful I hadnt waited till the night of my cocktail party to discover what garbage these recipes were.