Creative Culinary – Denver Colorado Food Blog – Sharing food through recipes and photography.

A Classic Manhattan Served with Mushroom Paté

by Creative Culinary on January 27, 2012 · 15 comments

I recently started working with The Daily Basics, an online lifestyle magazine where I’ll be their cocktail/appetizer contributor each month. Either a cocktail or appetizer will be shared here on Creative Culinary and the companion will be featured on their site. This month, I was inspired to make a Classic Manhattan, which became the tale of ‘finding the perfect glass.’ The receipt of a shipment of family heirlooms and the one unique glass I wanted the most having been broken was the beginning of that tale. It was exasperating but along the way it also was the perfect example of someone going the extra mile…I hope you’ll go read the story but I have to give a shout out here to Scott, the manager of YaYa’s in the Denver Tech Center. Without Scott, those gorgeous glasses would not be featured here and I’m indebted to him. Forever!

Meyer Lemon Peasant Boule for #Baketogether

After months of sweets and other indulgences, our wise #Baketogether leader Abby Dodge decided a simple bread would be something all of us might be craving. She was so right. When she said simple I couldn’t imagine any bread THIS simple. I’ve seen bread novices and talented aficionados alike claim the ease and never-ending possibilities [...]

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Cuba Libre – Not just a Cocktail but a Story of Bacardi, Coca Cola and Cuba

This is a simple cocktail but it’s one of my favorites; simple to make and so refreshing it’s something I can drink year round. The truth is that long before I ever tried a Cuba Libre I was long hooked on Coca Cola with a slice of lime. Somewhere along the way (of course not [...]

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Red Lentil Soup with Ham and Curry

When I was growing up we never went out to dinner. With six kids I can imagine it would have been prohibitively expensive but more than that I can imagine my parents did not anticipate it as fun trying to corral all of us in a restaurant. Thankfully my mom was a good cook…though in [...]

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Grapefruit, Lime and Maraschino Martini

The winter solstice this past year was December 21; when the sun reaches the most southerly declination. It marks the day of the year with the least hours of daylight; the official start of winter. Though we can certainly anticipate more winter weather in Colorado, for me the winter solstice also signals the beginning of [...]

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Cranberry and Croissant Bread Pudding with Champagne Zabaglione Sauce

My grandparents are from all over; I’m a mixture of German, Scandinavian , English and Irish. So would someone please tell me why I love all things Italian? My theory is that a female in the family made a clandestine visit to Italy once, came home after a fling with a handsome Italian man and [...]

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Bacon and Caramelized Onion Tart and the Best of 2011

Hello and goodbye. That time of year when we look at the past 12 months and search for accomplishments and meaning and face toward the new year with both anticipation and maybe some trepidation. Did we accomplish all we wanted to; did we grow, provide, serve enough? Will we make changes to how we manage [...]

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French 75 – An Elegant Champagne Cocktail for New Years Eve

I wanted something a bit unique for New Years; something more than ‘just’ a glass of Champagne but not what has become my standard of adding Champagne to a liqueur either. I’ve done that a lot over this holiday season with the Cranberry liqueur I made. I love it but it was time for something [...]

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Ferrero Rocher Milk Chocolate with Hazelnut Cake for New Years

I first made the original version of this cake WAY back in 2009. It was a recipe on the cover of Bon Appetit magazine as a Peppermint Chocolate Cake and it was perfect for a Christmas dessert. As I shared in that post, it was the start of a special relationship with Abby Dodge; a [...]

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