Sipping hot cocoa brings up cozy, winter memories for me: my mom mixing up Hershey’s cocoa powder with warm milk and a dash of cinnamon (or vanilla) in her old copper-bottomed Reverewear pan. Ooh and my favorite part! The big fluffy marshmallow floating on top… yum!

I still love making My Mom’s “Old School” Cocoa when it’s freezing out. Kids of all ages love it when they need something to warm up with or to relax to.

Cocoa is the perfect vehicle for flavor experimenting from fragrant spices like cinnamon and cloves to the totally unexpected profiles like Indian curry and cardamom.

For the recipes, continue reading on Amazon’s Al Dente Blog.

On Saturday, February 4th, the Seattle Hotel Association will be hosting it’s annual “Evening of Hope!” This local non-profit and voluntary organization is made up of 58 member Seattle hotels and has been organizing the Evening of Hope since 1996 to raise money for a variety of charities.

This year’s theme will be “Heroes Among Us” and will honor the former Seattle Police Chief and current Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy R. Gil Kerlikowske and his wife Anna Laszlo.

This fundraising dinner and gala auction will be held at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel on Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. Proceeds from this event will go on to support the Seattle Police Foundation, an organization created by the honorees to promote public safety through strong community relationships.

For tickets, contact Suzanne Hight at 206-236-6167 or suzanne@seattlehotelassociation.org.

PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur announced the launch of the Best Home Bar Star Contest! They are looking for a cocktail enthusiast  to create a killer cocktail that is balanced and delicious.

Grand prize is a trip for two to the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen in June 2012 with $2,000 spending money and the opportunity for their recipe to be presented in front of thousands of attendees at the Grand Tasting Tent. Their recipe will also be featured on PAMA’s website. Wow!

The contest runs until February 29 and submissions need to include a recipe and photo of their original drink creation. Here is the judging criteria:

-Originality/creativity
-Unique use of PAMA
-Ingredient combination
-Appropriateness of the cocktail name

For a full list of rules and to enter, go to www.PAMALiqueur.com/HomeBarStar. Good luck to all those who enter!

Seattle food lovers make sure you save the date! The next tasty Foodportunity event will be on February 6^th from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. at Tom Douglas’ Palace Ballroom. Frantic Foodie Keren Brown has organized another great event full of tasty bites from a variety participating restaurants including Rover’s and Luc, The Coterie Room, Local 360, Volunteer Park Café, and many more.

Join me and other special panelists Lisa Dupar, CakeSpy‘s Jessie Oleson and Beecher’s Handmade Cheese‘s Kurt Beecher Dammeier where we’ll be available conversations and questions from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

This event is open to all food lovers from food journalists, bloggers, public relations professionals, restaurateurs, farmers, companies and all food-passionate people. Make sure you get your tickets in advanced as this will be a hot event. You can buy tickets here.

When the weather gets chilly and the sky turns grey, sunny winter citrus can be just the thing to help brighten the season!

With cold weather, comes cold and flu season. What a wonderful coincidence, then, that oranges are in season at the same time! They happen to be an excellent source of vitamin C, which helps support your immune system. Did you also know that they act as an antihistamine? It’s true! Battle those stuffed-up sinuses with as many oranges, clementines and mandarins as you can grab, peel and eat!

I love Cuties! They are sweet, easy to peel and seedless. And have you seen those cute commercials this year on TV? Cuties is also running some super fun contests – check them out at http://cutieskids.com/contests/.

Add orange zest to your biscuit or shortcake recipe and then layer in slices for a citrusy shortcake. A smear of lemon curd would be tasty to add too!

Peeled and segmented mandarins, clementines and oranges make a perfect any-time snack, but they’re more versatile than that. Cooked into hot dishes, blended up in a breakfast smoothie, layered in sweet shortcake or incorporated into a salad dressing, citrus brings a deliciously tart sweetness to the table!

My Clementine Salad with Fennel, Feta and Honey Citrus Dressing

In my Clementine Salad with Fennel, Feta and Honey Citrus Dressing, clementines are sliced into the salad and blended whole into the zesty dressing. Perfect for healthy eating!

For a quick and easy appetizer, combine diced clementines with tomatoes, calamata olives, minced red onion and fresh basil to top my d’lish Cuties Bruschetta with Goat Cheese. Great for on-the-fly entertaining!

And check out my Candied Clementines – a 14-day process I learned in Italy years ago! They are amazing to serve with cheese, cut up on ice cream or pound cake or just nibbled on!

So peel up some winter citrus and say hello to some sunshine! -Kathy

Cuties Salad with Fennel, Feta and Honey Citrus Dressing
This salad is great as a starter, or as an entrée topped with grilled chicken or shrimp. When in season, a scattering of pomegranate seeds is a festive addition.

Makes 4 entrée servings or 6–8 starter servings

1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs, trimmed
6 Cuties Clementines
6 cups spring mixed greens (about 5 oz.)
Honey Citrus Dressing (recipe follows)
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Finely shave fennel with a sharp knife or mandolin, and keep crisp in ice water for 10 minutes. Spin dry before using. Peel and cut Cuties Clementines, trim away all white pith, then cut fruit into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Set fruit aside.

Toss greens and fennel with 1/2 cup of dressing to coat nicely. Serve salad on a large platter or divide among individual plates. Top with sliced Cuties and sprinkle with feta. Drizzle with a little extra dressing if desired.

Honey Citrus Dressing
Makes 2 cups

2 Cuties Clementines, peeled and segmented
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 Tbsps minced shallots
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 Tbsps honey, like my Liquid Kitchen™ “5130” Honey
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a blender (I love my Vitamix!) and blend until smooth. Keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Recipe by Kathy Casey Food Studios®

Cuties Bruschetta with Goat Cheese
The flavors of mandarin, calamata olives and fresh basil with the creaminess of goat cheese all play off each other nicely in this easy entertaining appetizer.

Makes 20 pieces

1 artisanal baguette
Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
Kosher salt, as needed
————————-
4 Cuties Clementines
2 Tbsps extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup chopped vine-ripe tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 Tbsps minced red onion
1 1/2 tsp finely minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped pitted calamata olives
Pinch of red pepper flakes
————————-
4 oz chèvre-style fresh goat cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut baguette into 1/4-inch slices — you want about 20 nice-sized pieces. Lay out on a baking sheet. Lightly brush or drizzle bread with olive oil then sprinkle lightly with kosher salt. Bake for about 5–7 minutes, or until toasty. Let crostini cool.

Meanwhile, peel Cuties and dice 1/4 to 1/3-inch. In a medium bowl, toss Cuties with 2 tablespoons olive oil, tomatoes, basil, onion, garlic, olives, and pepper flakes. Set aside.

To serve: Smear each piece of crostini with a heaping teaspoon of goat cheese. Place on a platter and immediately divide the Cuties mixture between the crostini (drain off any excess juice).

Note: Top crostini right before serving so they do not get soft.

Recipe by Kathy Casey Food Studios®

Farewell 2011, here’s to a zesty 2012!

Another year has come and gone by so quickly! Last year was filled with exciting travels and delicious experiences. As we welcome in 2012, I hope you enjoy reading about my fun foodie adventures this year and all the new things we are up to and have on the horizon. — Kathy

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Tasty Travels

Spring travels in 2011 took my crew and me to Ocean Shores where I hosted the 5^th Annual Razor Clam Fest — and ate a LOT of chowder! Then it was off to New York to present at the  with Charlotte Voisey and Jamie Boudreau as well as Small Screen Network for our seminar, Three Mixologists — Three Cocktails — Three Ways.

My crew and me on our way back from the Razor Clam Fest at Ocean Shores!

Then I was off to Austin for the annual IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) Conference where I presented a seminar on bitters. This annual event brings in a slew of professional culinarians from all over the world. In our downtime I zipped around the city with chef pals to check out the Austin Food Trailer scene — cool stuff!

A flight of bitters for our presentation at IACP

Summer travels started off in New Orleans where I presented a hit seminar on H2O Cocktails with Tony Abou- Ganim at Tales of the Cocktail. Our seminar was picked as one of the top by our peers! H2O cocktails were so well received that there was a slew of press and blogs featuring them. Check out Difford’s Guide and Camper English’s blog Alcademics and my guest article for Liquor.com. (I’m excited to start planning for 2012’s Tales of the Cocktail — it will be their 10th anniversary — but in the meantime check out Tales of the Cocktail on Tour: Vancouver this Feb in Vancouver B.C., Canada.)

Then it was off to Newport Beach, California for the Flavor Experience Conference where my team and I presented a seminar on Creativity and Creating New Cocktails and cooked up lots of great ideas with our client Monin, including our Soda Jerk Station! Here’s what we served:

Flash Carbonated Vodka and Sour Cherry & Lime Soda

Red Velvet Milk Shake
Dark chocolate, vanilla ice cream and bites of red velvet fudge cake
topped with a cream cheese frosting whip

Pineapple Split Milk Shake
Roasted pineapple and banana mingle with vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate
topped with marshmallow whip, nuts and a cherry

Berrylicious Chocolate Chip Shortcake Bites
Bite-sized chocolate chip shortcakes smothered with summer berries
crowned with a dollop of double berry whipped cream

Cameo, Me and Heather dressed up as soda jerks during the Flavor Experience!

Fall travels took me to back to California, this time to Napa Valley to present at the Culinary Institute of America’s Worlds of Flavor conference with Paramount Citrus. Heather and Travis shook up over 4,000 cocktails that week including my Pacifica, made with fresh pressed pineapple, kaffir lime leaves, freshly squeezed Paramount lime juice, agave nectar, silver tequila and mandarin-infused vodka, then all topped with coconut foam!

Fall and Winter travels took me all-over North America from San Francisco to Dallas to Chicago to Toronto to Miami — but the highlight was my trip to France with Cointreau. But to backtrack a little bit, I was a mentor again for the annual Cointreau Bar-Star Mix-Off Competition at last year’s Tales of the Cocktail. Four finalists are challenged to create a cocktail on the fly from a table of fresh ingredients in front a panel of judges. With the help of their mixologist mentor, the finalists go at it for a chance to win an all-expenses paid trip to France! New York’s Luigi Tarantino chose me as his mentor and we were off. After much discussion, he created the winning cocktail (recipe below)! Not only did he win a trip to France but as a mentor, I won a trip to France too!

Luigi and me after they announced the winners!

The Winning Cointreau Cocktail by Luigi Tarantino

Cointreau’ling Kamikazes
Created by Luigi Tarantino (Now on the menu at Tosca Café, Bronx, NY)

1 thyme sprig
5 raspberries
3/4 oz Cointreau^®
3/4 oz Campari
1/4 oz yuzu juice
1 oz Woodford Reserve bourbon
1/2 oz simple syrup
Garnish: Sprig of thyme, raspberry

In a mixing glass, muddle thyme and raspberries, add remaining cocktail ingredients. Fill with ice, cap and shake, Strain into a martini or coupe glass. Garnish.

Citrus peels used in the making of Cointreau

Visiting Cointreau headquarters just outside of Angers in the Loire Valley was super amazing — I can still smell the beautiful orange peels as I write this!

After touring around the French countryside and eating and drinking way too much, we headed back to Paris where I was able to meet up with my Twitter friend @52Martinis for cocktails. If you’re headed to Paris in the future, be sure to check out her blog for all the best places to drink in the city.

Alfred Countreau leads us on a tour of the distillery

Then it was back to reality and the frenzy of setting up for our Annual Holiday Extravaganza & Open House at the Food Studios. Once a year we open our doors and invite everyone to come and enjoy some sips and apps and offer our “Over 21” Real Fruit Cakes made with Maker’s Mark, housemade preserves, and Dish D’Lish^® and Liquid Kitchen™ retail items as well as candies and baked goods. Whew — we had a huge turn out and it was so great to see so many friends and end the year with a bang!

One of the many d’lish goods we made for my annual Holiday Extravaganza

“Over 21” Real Fruit Cakes made with Maker’s Mark

For the new year, I’ll have to pack extra warm…
because I will be heading next month to Kiev, Ukraine to help open the brand new Fairmont Grand Hotel! Make sure you follow me on Twitter (@KathyCaseyChef) where I’ll make sure to keep you all updated with fun news and tasty pics from Kiev!

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Serious Sippin’ with the Liquid Kitchen

I’m excited to announce that we’ll be filming the 3^rd Season soon! I covered lots of libatious drinks during the 2^ndSeason, including a Zen Garden, a Platinum Sparkle (which was also feature in Food & Wine: Cocktails 2011 in which I wrote the Vodka Chapter) a Spirited Chocolate Covered Cherry Milkshake and a crowd pleasing Spiked Iced Tea Punch. Guest episodes include a spot with Tim Master of Frederick Wildman & Sons to educate us on mezcal and share his Maguey Harvest cocktail.

And if you’ve ever wondered how maraschino cherries were made — follow me on an episode that takes you from Orchard to Jar. Stay tuned to Kathy Casey’s Liquid Kitchen, for a new episode every Tuesday!

Tim Master and me getting ready to make a tasty Maguey Harvest cocktail

Want to make a cocktail at home just like the pros do, but can never find the right restaurant/bar quality tools? Look no further than my Liquid Kitchen Cocktail Kit! It’s all the equipment that I use. It comes with a Liquid Kitchen logo’ed Boston tin shaker and pint glass, a channel knife, a metal two sided jigger, Hawthorn strainer and a julep strainer. All you need is the booze, ice and you’re on your way to a faboo drink!

And to help get you started with a great winter cocktail recipe, I penned this guest article for Liquor.com. I write all about winter citrus and share my recipes for a Citrus 75 and Grapefruit Negroni.

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Libatious Reads

If you’re inclined to cozy up to a good read about cocktails, read up on my good friend Jim Meehan’s new book The PDT (Please Don’t Tell) Cocktail Book. Fashioned around the famed NY bar, it’s filled with over 300 cocktail recipes and a few behind the scenes moments of his bar.

Another couple of must have cocktail books are the “new” Mr. Boston Official Bartender’s Guide. Mixologist Jonathan Pogash updated this bar classic and added new recipes from a wide variety of other mixologists and bartenders, including my recipe for a Rosemary Clementine Sparkle.

For those of you that geek out over ingredients and like to get down to the specifics, bitters enthusiasts will love Brad Thomas Parsons’ book BITTERS and if you’ve just always wanted to know everything about vermouth then Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown’s The Mixellany Guide to Vermouth and Other Apertifs is the book for you. I got some ink in with my Tuscan Martini that has a grappa & lemon-infused dry vermouth in it.

If you’re looking for spirited news about the Pacific Northwest, then be sure to check out Sip Northwest magazine. Covering all things from new distilleries and spirits to the latest and the hottest craft cocktail bars, Sip Northwest is a new must read quarterly magazine. Make sure you check out my feature column Shake, Swizzle & Stir — this issue I shake it up with Aviation Gin and Woodinville Headlong White Dog Whiskey, and visit Liberty Bar in Seattle and Clyde Common in Portland.

Dishing with Kathy Casey – On-Air and Online

Catch me throughout the weekend for Dishing with Kathy Casey on KOMO News Radio to hear about what’s in season, recipe tips as well as neighborhood hot spots and restaurant news. Link back to my blog Dishing with Kathy Casey for everything I dish up on the show, recipes, links and other helpful info.

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Cook Up Some Fun with Cuties Citrus!

^{Photo by Kathy Casey Food Studios}

Clementine Salad with Fennel, Feta and Honey Citrus Dressing
This salad is great as a starter, or as an entrée topped with grilled chicken or shrimp. When in season, a scattering of pomegranate seeds is a festive addition. Whole Cuties are blended in the dressing for a zesty twist!

Makes 4 entrée servings or 6-8 starter servings

1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs, trimmed
6 Cuties Clementines
6 cups spring mixed greens (about 5 oz.)
Honey Citrus Dressing (recipe follows)
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Finely shave fennel with a sharp knife or mandoline, and crisp in ice water for 10 minutes. Spin dry before using. Cut peel off Cuties, trim away all white pith, then cut fruit into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Set fruit aside.

Toss greens and fennel with 1/2 cup of dressing to coat nicely. Serve salad on a large platter or divide among individual plates. Top with sliced Cuties and sprinkle with feta. Drizzle with a little extra dressing if desired.

Honey Citrus Dressing
Quick and easy this dressing can be easily doubled or tripled. It’s a snap to make in a Vitamix blender.

Makes 2 cups

2 Cuties Clementines, peeled and torn into quarters
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 Tbsp minced shallots
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt or Dish D’Lish French Seasoning Salt
2 Tbsps honey
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Recipe by Kathy Casey Food Studios^®

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Where to Catch Kathy Next

Foodportunity: Monday, February 6^th, 6:00pm — 9:00pm
Palace Ballroom – Seattle

Come join me for Frantic Foodie Keren Brown’s next Foodportunity event. I’ll be on a special panel alongside chef Lisa Dupar, Beecher’s Handmade Cheese’s Kurt Beecher Dammeier and CakeSpy’s Jessie Oleson. There will be lively conversation and lots of tasty bites offered by the Palace Ballroom, Rover’s and Luc, Local 360, The Coterie Room and so much more. Make sure you get your tickets soon and I hope to see you there!

Save the Date:
VIBE Conference – Las, Vegas, NV – March 13^th & 14^th
6^th Annual Razor Clam Festival – Ocean Shores, WA – March 24^th
Flavor Summit – Greystone, CA – April 19^th – 21^st

Cheers to a bright and flavorful 2012! — Kathy

Don’t forget to check my D’lish column with DList Magazine and my posts on Amazon’s Al Dente blog too!

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Follow on Twitter @KathyCaseyChef. Blogging: Dishing with Kathy Casey. Like on Facebook: Sips & Apps andKathy Casey’s Liquid Kitchen. Watch: www.LiquidKitchen.tv.

If you haven’t signed up for my Newsletter, you can sign up here.

Come celebrate fifteen years of Tini Bigs on January 22 at 6 p.m! It’ll be a great night full of festivities that includes a lineup of the best and most popular 10 oz. martinis from years past for just $5 each. Yowza!

One of many d’lish cocktails at Tini Bigs!

Tini Bigs (an early shaker of the Seattle cocktail scene) has birthed some of the city’s most talented bartenders as well as being known for their classic and retro cocktails. Known as “Seattle’s second best cocktail lounge,” Tini Bigs has opened every day for the past 15 years!

Fun read in the Huffington Post’s Kitchen Daily all on winter citrus! Includes my guest article for Liquor.com as a reference and some tasty January cocktails like my Grapefruit Negroni!