so what’s summer without frozen drinks? especially a summer such as this. here in the northern hemisphere, we’re practically being roasted by heat waves and record breaking temps on an almost daily basis. personally, i love it! but i am in the minority, as most love their air conditioners a whole lot more. in this respect, global warming ain’t so bad. to me, there is no greater pleasure than sitting out on my beautiful porch, enjoying the steamy night heat, sipping the frozen beverage i just whipped up. now that, my friends, is a little piece of heaven on earth. sound good? if so, go get yourself a blender and 101 BLENDER DRINKS by kim haasarud. this new book is chock full of creative concoctions, such as the “brazilian pepper crush,” which calls for cachaca, jalapeno-orange marmalade, grenadine, kumquats and of course, ice: wow! ($16.95)

the country of japan is a libra. it’s easy to see that both sides of the scales are represented in the japanese culture, which is an interesting blend of old fashioned (sometimes absurdly so) and cutting edge technology, policy and fashion. tokyo is the fashion pulse of the world. it’s where the trend hunters look to find the trend setters.

as of late, i’m a japanophile—here’s why: 1) we’ve just started exporting our COCKTAIL CANDLES to japan! 2) i’m obsessed with japan’s KANGEN WATER. 3) the other day in the big apple, i watched a japanese woman extinguish her cigarette on the sidewalk, and then pick it up and place it in the trash. who does that? 4) japan is all about the environment… they’re only the only country in the world to require the labeling of GMO food. during a trunk show at HENRI BENDEL, my japanese customer asked me not to put a henri bendel sticker on the tissue wrap because it was’nt necessary. by not using a sticker she’d help the environment that little bit… A STICKER! it should be noted though, that my darling japan does actually support some policies i’m less than thrilled about, such as their ruthless blood lust for whale meat (one of earth’s most sacred animals). but by and large, i’m just smitten with all things japan. i can’t wait to get to tokyo for my next vacation!

enter yuri kato—light years ahead of the curve, she founded COCKTAILTIMES.COM eons ago. one of the few prominent females in the bar industry, she has now turned her focus to traditional publishing with her new book JAPANESE COCKTAILS.

so what’s inside? well yuri has done a great job of listing traditional japanese libations, along with some of her original creations too. from the Hinomaru and the Echo Julep, all the way to the Yuzu Bath. not only that, but she gives all sorts of interesting tidbits on japanese culture—which gives me even more reasons to love japan: 1. CANNED COCKTAILS are sold in vending machines everywhere! 2. ALCOHOL is usually lighter in percentage, and cocktails are mixed with less alcohol as a general rule. (as the world’s #1 lightweight, i’m all over that. it would be nice to go out for a drink without getting smashed off of it. what is wrong with a light buzz? in america, we just have to overdo everything—including the percentage of alcohol in our alcohol) 3) LOVE MOTEL: how cool is that… you just walk in and rent a room with your honey—no stigmas. it’s totally acceptable!

it’s a slick book—well photographed and designed, along with some fantastic facts and recipes. you don’t have to be a japanophile to appreciate JAPANESE COCKTAILS. ($15.00) kampai!

by it at URBAN OUTFITTERS

ASCENSION is a book unlike any i’ve found in that it really goes into detail on each and every ascended master. for example, call me a caveman, but i was not aware that our statue of liberty was modeled on an ascended master! in this fascinating book, the author includes countless personal anecdotes–from being accosted by an angel posing as a trash collector, to being passed on the road by an ascended master cyclist–she’s got some luck!

unbeknownst to me, we new yorkers have our very own city protecter: the roman goddess, Libertas (laten for liberty), who is the embodiment of freedom. The author writes that while visiting mount shasta, she saw a vision of lady liberty hovering above manhattan pouring golden light on the city. so how cool is that? the big apple is a golden delicious… ironcially, that’s my favorite variety.

so to those of you wondering, what the hell is ascension? the author explains that “ascension means freedom. you can live anywhere and materialize anything. you can continue to serve on the earth plane or another plane. you can travel anywhere at the speed of thought and materialize your desires instantaneously.” pretty sweet, huh? the author goes on to ask “are you ready to live as an immortal being? after all, your higher self is as spiritual now as it will ever be, and you are as immortal today as you ever will be. your soul lives eternally. it is possible to become an ascended master right now.”

ASCENSION: Connecting with the Immortal Masters and Beings of Light, by Susan Shumsky $15.99

an alcoholic bird—a blue jay to be precise—saves the day in this off colour comedy featuring a highly personified animal film crew. author kevin shamel’s impressive imagination conjures up the likes of shittin’ rats, zombie cats, drunk birds, horny rats, masochistic pigs, evil dogs, and cinematographic chickens. all in one book. with the exception of the few non-evil critters who finally manage to save the day–and the one token innocent human–every creature in this book is a rotten little animal. this book is not for the faint of heart, but for those who appreciate a touch of dark humor and the fact that animals are much more like people than anyone realizes. i highly recommend this book—i was glued to the pages from start to finish. ROTTEN LITTLE ANIMALS $9.95

chef kathy casey has put her culinary expertise to work at that bar. her book, SIPS & APPS ($19.95), combines cocktails and appetizers. there are a lot of good recipes in the book, and it’s a hardcover which is always nice. kathy’s DOUGLAS FIR SPARKLETINI calls for a rather obscure ingredient i discovered years ago, douglas fir tip tea. my recipe, the DOUGLAS FIR TIP TIPPLE, was actually published on ABOUT:COCKTAILS and on COCKTAILTIMES. kathy’s version is titled the DOUGLAS FIR SPARKLETINI, and she uses this surprisingly delicious wild-crafted tea by infusing it in gin. to go with it, she offers up a tasty goat cheese appetizer, D’LISH PEPPADEW PEPPERS.

DOUGLAS FIR SPARKLETINI
1.5 oz douglas fir-infused gin
3/4 oz white cranberry juice
1.5 oz fresh lemon sour
splash brut champagne

shake and strain, top with champagne

infuse the gin: put fir branch into gin bottle for no more than 24 hrs. remove and discard. in the absense of a fir branch, use a douglas fir tip tea bag from JUNIPERRIDGE.COM.

still thirsty for more douglas fir? read gwen’s posts here.

the liquid muse herself asked if moi if i’d care to contribute an original cocktail to her latest book, THE BUBBLY BRIDE. perhaps you’ve heard of PREGGATINIS by natalie bovis-nelson? that was her first book. both are good reads with useful material to boot.

with wedding season right around the corner, you’d be wise to stock up on copies of THE BUBBLY BRIDE. for $16.95, every star struck lover deserves a tipple how-to as cute as this one! cheers to the happy couple…

studies show that inhaling lavender impairs our mental processing ability. in other words, it’s relaxing… good for a wedding? chill out bridezilla! it’s also kind of funny that lavender belongs to virgo, the virgin ; ) white wedding with lavender cocktails–how perfect!

CHILL PILL:
1 oz lavender bud-infused vodka
1 oz lavender bud syrup
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
lavender water spray or rinse
lavender soda

combine lavender bud-infused vodka, lavender bud syrup, lemon juice and shake over ice. prepare champagne flute with rinse of lavender water, or mist inside of glass with lavender water spray. strain into lavender-misted / lavender-rinsed flute and top with fair amount of lavender soda. stir briefly and serve. garnish with sprig of lavender or purple flower if available.

lavender vodka: infuse 750 ml vodka with 3 cups dried lavender buds (available at health food stores or online) allow to sit for several days and strain.

lavender syrup: bring to boil 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, 1/4 cup dried lavender buds and remove from heat. allow to infuse for 1/2 hour and strain. add splash vodka to act as preservative and store in fridge. note that using white sugar over raw will give a prettier pink color, while the latter will make for a darker hue.

lavender water: available at health food stores or online. for greater control and speed, i prefer misting over rinsing of glass. transfer lavender water into small spray bottle that is dark in color and store in fridge.

La Palapa just released its very own cookbook! owners Barbara Sibley & Margaritte Malfy co-authored ANTOJITOSBY, FESTIVE AND FLAVORFUL MEXICAN
SMALL PLATES, which includes several of la palapa’s best recipes. such as their ridiculously delicious MANGO MEZCAL PALOMA.

i once reviewed the astrology of La Palapa in my post here. because it opened in august, the west village LA PALAPA a is a Leo!

Barbara & Margaritte are celebrating their publication by serving complimentary antojitos and margaritas tuesday, november 10th, 5 to 7 pm:
LA PALAPA EAST VILLAGE
77 Saint Marks’s Place • RSVP 212.777.2537
(SIGNED COPIES OF THE COOKBOOK WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE $22.99)

¿Cómo se dice “appetizers”? Antojitos, of course! The north-of-the-border love affair with Mexican food heats up with this luscious collection of 75 authentic Mexican small plates, invigorating salsas, and refreshing drinks from two of Greenwich Village’s favorite restaurateurs. Barbara Sibley and Margaritte Malfy are chef/owners of the fabulously popular La Palapa restaurants in New York City, where they deliver addictively authentic Mexican fare-food for people who love fresh, soulful cooking.

Traditional and artisanal, the recipes in Antojitos were collected from Barbara and Margaritte’s many years of traveling and living in Mexico.
No one does antojitos like Barbara and Margaritte. A stylish design filled with colorful Mexican folk art and food photographs round out this spicy treat of a book.

Just in time for christmas—perfect for the latin Lovers on your list….!

today a very famous LEO signed her latest cook book for me… martha stewart has always been one of my favorite american icons. perhaps it’s because we both have a scorpio ascendant in our charts — i’ve blogged her DIY projects several times on this site. i just love her magazine, her product lines, her love for pets, her animal rights activist daughter, and most recently, her fondness for astrological libations. yes you heard me correctly… the june and november issues of martha’s LIVING magazine feature a cocktail recipe for both gemini and scorpio! i’ve been going on about astro tipples for years now, and there’s always room for another perspective on an infinitely interesting subject. hey, who doesn’t love to drink with the stars? welcome to the party martha!

MARTHA STEWART’S DINNER AT HOME is brand spanking new, and today was martha’s very first signing to promote the book. she dedicates the book “to all the homemakers in america, pressed for time yet caring for their families.” my favorite feature of the book is the way it’s divided according to the four seasons, spring, summer, fall and winter, which makes eating seasonally just that little bit easier. martha then creates 13 four course menus for each season, making sure to include carnivore, vegetarian and vegan meals among them. along the way, she highlights certain foods such as rhubarb — pointing out that this vegetable is not a fruit! vanilla stewed rhubarb, mint pesto, rosemary yorkshire puddings, minty green tea milkshakes, coffee with cognac and cardamom and tequila-soaked lemon sorbet are just a few mouth-watering recipes to be found in this handy collection. ($35)

jet setter extraordinaire, anne fritz, of the JET SET GIRLS took a peek inside my carry on bag recently. i’m flattered to be featured on such a chic lifestyle blog! here i am with my latest thrift shop find (that cost me only $1 if you can believe it?). i’m asked what’s in the bag–that i just can’t live without–during my flight. and you know what they say: you can tell a lot about a woman from the contents of her purse (or in this case, flight bag). so are you like totally DYING from curiosity or what? don’t torture yourself, check out my bag’s innards here…

VIA SHE GOT STYLE

this spring i designed a marriage sign shot glass candle for arielle & russell. their nuptuals were performed on may 2nd, making their sacred union a taurus. then this august i helped shelly & brendan realize their leo dream-wedding: “navigating by the stars.” see pics below of both weddings, but first let me explain the concept of marriage sign astrology: everything with a beginning has a sign. hence, the day on which you exchange vows determines your marriage’s sign.

the bride and groom’s sign have don’t have much to do with their marriage sign, all though their marriage sign can impact their “couple personality.” for example, my sister is a reserved, shrewd, sensitive cancer. she got married under the sign of leo and now she’s throwing parties. normally this would have been out of character for her, but not only is there a new husband in her new life, but a new celestial influence… she just gave her hubby a set of MARRIAGE SIGN SHOT GLASSES for their tenth anniversary!

for more on marriage sign astrology check out my nuptual readings, or buy STAR GUIDE TO WEDDINGS by april elliott kent, or, visit IT’S ABOUT TIMING to calculate the most auspicious time for you and your partner to get hitched. whatever you do, think twice about saying i do on saturday. the day of saturday is ruled by saturn, the harsh planet of constriction.

arielle was really into the fact that intoxicated zodiac donates a portion of their proceeds to animal-related charity–AND–that we are also environmentally friendly. soy wax candle, recycled paper, the whole nine…. let’s raise our glasses to arielle and russell… cheers!

TAURUS MARRIAGE SIGN READING PRINTED ON GLASS:
“A Taurus Marriage: Arielle & Russell
When a wedding is held Apr 20-May 20, that marriage belongs to Taurus.
Thus, this union is permanently imbued with these Taurean traits:
SENSUALITY GRATIFICATION LUXURY RELIABILITY STRENGTH
BULLISH DETERMINATION… A toast to the stellar couple… Cheers!”

below we have the leo marriage sign shot glass i designed for shelly & brendan. we actually printed leo’s celestial cocktail recipe, rose geranium gimlet, on the back instead of a reading.

we decorated the cake with constellations… one of which was leo. notice the boat cake topper…

MRS. SHELLY DIY, used compasses instead of traditional place cards. she glued the name and table of each guest inside the compass and instructed guests to take them home.

the seas were explored by starlight and compass…

a nautical globe to set the mood in cocktail hour…

instead of a lame old guest book, we found a colossal manuscript from taschen with ancient maps of the heavens and seas printed inside. every page of this incredible book was either beautiful, informative or outright awesome. guests signed their names to which ever page they saw fit. (the feather pen was from michaels.)

on the deck, we set up a telescope. this was a HUGE hit with the kids, and i highly recommend it for any wedding just to keep ‘em busy. (forgot to snap a pic, so photo credit here)

MRS. SHELLY DIY created the three-sided menu stands. on one side she printed the constellation. on the other side she listed the history of the discovery of the constellation. and on the third side (sorry i forgot to snap a pic again), she listed the menu. all the while pasting glittery, sparkly stars across the whole thing. how leo! did i mention shelly’s a leo?

a toast to this stellar couple’s future indeed! cheers shelly & brendan…