Farewell to Mad Men (SPECIAL POST)

May 14, 2015May 14, 2015 LizLocke2 Comments

Image Credit: AMC, Mad Men - Season 5, Episode 10 — Image Credit: AMC, Mad Men – Season 5, Episode 10

I generally make it a rule to not post about television series on Cinema Sips (other than those awesome made-for-tv movies I highlighted in January), but I had to make an exception for the series finale of Mad Men this upcoming Sunday night. I’m actually not sure there would be a Cinema Sips blog without Mad Men. This show was single-handedly responsible for making craft cocktails cool again, and it certainly got me thinking about the role that pop culture plays in our drinking habits. Pre-Mad Men, I was strictly a gin-and-tonic drinker (okay maybe a cosmopolitan if I wanted to get REALLY fancy), but after this show premiered, a new world of drinks was opened up to me. Old Fashioned’s! Martini’s! Mountain Dew and Vodka! I began to look forward to preparing cocktails to sip as I watched Don Draper spiral further and further down each week. And all that vintage barware! Thanks to this show, my cupboards are overflowing with retro-inspired glasses and shakers. As if holding a really beautiful glass full of vodka will make me as cool as Roger Sterling. Silly me- no one can be as cool as Roger Sterling.

To give it a proper send-off, I’m preparing an all-day marathon of favorite episodes, foods, and drinks. Here is my menu below. If you think of anything I’m missing, shout it out! Let’s party like it’s 1962.

Mad Men Menu

Utz potato chips and dip. (In a chip n’ dip of course!)
Cheese fondue with pretzels, bread, and veggies (if you’re lazy like me, you can just buy the pre-made Emmi variety).
Hershey’s chocolate fondue (recipe here) with bananas and Sara Lee pound cake (hopefully thawed).
Mini burgers with Heinz ketchup
Baked beans (it’s difficult to find Heinz in the US, but I may scour some specialty/import stores).
Orange sherbet floats (float a scoop of orange sherbet in some Tropicana orange juice with a splash of Sprite, and top with Cool Whip.)
Heineken beer

My cocktail selection is one that I’ve featured on Cinema Sips before, and I think it’s a perfect send-off to this fantastic show. A White Negroni is strong, complex, and always classy- just like the characters on Mad Men.

White Negroni

1 oz Tanqueray gin

1 oz Cocchi Americano

½ oz dry vermouth

Lemon Twist

Combine gin, Cocchi Americano, and vermouth in a mixing glass filled with ice. Stir until chilled. Strain into a chilled glass. Add lemon twist and serve.

I’m looking forward to revisiting some of my favorite episodes (“Shut the Door. Have a Seat”, “The Mountain King”, “The Suitcase”, “The Jet Set”, “The Hobo Code”, ANY episode with Miss Blankenship) and I’m really excited to slip on my best Betty Draper dress and relax on my mid-century modern sofa with a chilled cocktail. Is that all there is? Cheers!

Comedies

Reality Bites

May 11, 2015May 10, 2015 LizLocke1 Comment

Because my day job involves working at a major university, I am naturally attuned to seasonal student population shifts. Today marks the first week of final exams, which in turn means that I can actually find parking on campus again. Not that I don’t love students (there wouldn’t be a university, or a job for me, without them) but oh how happy I am to see them graduate and go away each year. I hope they move on to bigger and better things, things that don’t involve fast food or basement living, but I’m sure many of them will fall victim to a mild case of Reality Bites depression. This is of course in reference to the film Reality Bites (DVD/Download), an incredibly accurate portrait of post-college life. Even 20 years (!!!) later, the same stereotypes still hold true- the smart, creative superstar of academia who fails to find actual real-world employment, her friend who “temporarily” works at The Gap (maybe forever), the gorgeous slacker who uses his charm to mooch off everyone around him, and the “yuppie head cheese ball” who means well, but is still a sell-out to The Man and unabashedly listens to Peter Frampton. I definitely fell into the Winona Ryder subgenre, astounded that nobody in the real world cared that I aced my Genres of Film final 3 years prior. I didn’t make a psychic friend, but it was close.

Reality Bites follows four friends in Houston as they navigate the tricky waters of adulthood. Winona Ryder plays Lelaina Pierce, valedictorian of her college class, and struggling television producer. After failed attempts at finding a job in her field, she resorts to scamming her dad’s gas card (a GENIUS move) before finally meeting a corporate big-wig (played by the film’s director Ben Stiller), who wants to turn her short film about her friends into a Real World-esque TV show. The movie’s supporting cast is incredible, with hilarious and heartfelt performances by Janeane Garofalo, Steve Zahn, and above all Ethan Hawke, who plays the sexiest slacker in the history of slackers. I don’t care how much acclaim he receives for Boyhood and Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight, to me he’ll always be Troy Dyer 4EVER.

My beverage pairing this week is a tribute to anyone who’s ever been hungover, late to class, and just needs a sugar rush to get through the day. Enter- the Big Gulp. Winona Ryder extolls the virtue of this 7-Eleven beverage on a first date, while sipping from a container that is about 4 times the circumference of her arm. While watching Reality Bites, I recommend drinking an Adult Slurpee.

Adult Slurpee

2 cups cold club soda

½ cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cherry extract

1/2 teaspoon cherry Kool-Aid

3/4 cup vodka

3 cups crushed ice

Pour 1 cup of the club soda into a blender. Add the sugar, cherry extract, and Kool-Aid and blend until the sugar is dissolved. Add the crushed ice and blend on high speed until the drink becomes slushy with a smooth consistency. Add the vodka and remaining club soda and blend briefly until mixed. Pour into glasses and drink with a straw, or spoon straw if you feel like raiding your nearest 7-Eleven. (Note: It’s easy to make this one non-alcoholic- just leave out the vodka. Still delicious!)

My favorite quote from this movie is when Ethan Hawke says, “All you have to be by the time you’re 23 is yourself.” I wish I had paid more attention to that line when I was 23, instead of freaking out that I wasn’t “living up to my potential”, or worrying that I’d be asked to define irony at a job interview. So what if the only thing I really learned in college was my social security number? (TRUTH). I still managed to land on my feet, without having to sell fruit at an intersection. Cheers!

Action/Adventure/Heist

Unforgiven

May 4, 2015May 3, 2015 LizLocke1 Comment

I decided that I was embarrassingly overdue in terms of featuring a western on Cinema Sips, so fans of gunslingers and dirty saloons rejoice- this is your week! Generally it’s hard for me to get emotionally invested in a western because I’m always so distracted by the dirt, dust, and tumbleweeds. How could they stand it??!! However, there are a few films in the western genre that I actually do like, mainly because the acting and script are so good. This week’s film, Unforgiven (DVD/Download), falls into that category.

Unforgiven is the story of hired assassins that come to a small town to avenge the disfigurement of a local prostitute. In a pretty gruesome scene, her face and body are slashed by a knife-wielding disgruntled customer, and in a tale straight out of today’s college campus headlines, the perpetrator fails to be justly punished by local law enforcement. The town prostitutes all band together and come up with a $1,000 bounty for whomever can kill the cowboy and his accomplice. Retired gunslinger William Munny takes the bait, accompanied by his old partner (played by Morgan Freeman) and a hotheaded young kid. Clint Eastwood directed this film and stars as Munny, and frankly his involvement is why I gave it a chance in the first place. There’s something about that wiry, blue-eyed old man that is so darn…. sexy. I’ve already talked about his appeal in my post about The Bridges of Madison County, so I won’t bore you further. Gene Hackman also deservedly won an Oscar for his portrayal of town sheriff Little Bill. I found myself spending the majority of the movie trying to decide who was a good guy, and who was a bad guy. However, I think the whole point of the film is that nobody fits entirely into either of those boxes.

Unforgiven is a great movie to watch with a drink because many of the pivotal scenes happen in the town saloon. With a town named Big Whiskey, you know there’s got to be a lot of drinking going on. In homage to feminist prostitute Strawberry Alice, I’m making a variation on the whiskey sour. While watching Unforgiven, I recommend drinking a Big Whiskey Sour.

Big Whiskey Sour

1 oz fresh lemon juice

2 oz bourbon whiskey

½ oz simple syrup

2-3 fresh strawberries, sliced

Muddle strawberry in the bottom of an old fashion glass with a dash of simple syrup. Pour remaining simple syrup, lemon juice, and bourbon into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until chilled, then pour mixture (with ice) into prepared glass. Top with strawberry.

If you’re like me and don’t generally care for westerns or whiskey cocktails, this pairing is a good gateway. Both the film and the drink are more complex than their typical counterparts, and watching Clint Eastwood in anything is always a good idea in my book. As you’re trying to decide who should live and die in Unforgiven, remember- they all have it comin’. Cheers!

Comedies

Encino Man

April 27, 2015April 26, 2015 LizLocke3 Comments

As Cher Horowitz once so wisely said, “Searching for a boy in high school is like searching for meaning in a Pauly Shore movie.” With that in mind, please know that I find absolutely no deep meaning in this week’s film Encino Man (DVD/Download). It’s simply a funny 90’s time-capsule, where high school students were played by 25-year olds, going to 7-Eleven for a Slurpee and a microwave burrito was still a thing, and even with WAY too much hair product and baggy surfer clothes, Brendan Fraser was hot.

Encino Man is about two high school seniors (played by Sean Astin and Pauly Shore) who uncover a caveman frozen in ice while digging for a swimming pool. They thaw the ice, and a muddy Brendan Fraser emerges. Somehow, a mute, dreadlocked caveman is considered cool in high school, and “Link” (as in Missing) manages to elevate the popularity of the dorks who dug him up. They go up against the resident jock bully, and Sean Astin tries to win the heart of the most popular girl in school. Also, we get an introductory lesson into Pauly Shore-speak. I still don’t know what “weezing the juice” means exactly, and I’m not sure I want to. However, his assertion that Sweet Tarts are part of the fruit group is something I strongly agree with.

The catastrophic event that caused Link’s burial was a massive earthquake, followed by a mudslide. I don’t know about you, but I’m officially ready for frozen drink season to begin. While watching Encino Man, I recommend drinking a Frozen Mudslide.

Frozen Mudslide

2 oz vodka

2 oz Kahlua coffee liqueur

2 oz Bailey’s Irish Cream

6 oz vanilla ice cream

Chocolate syrup

Whipped cream

Blend alcohol with ice cream. Swirl chocolate syrup around inner edges of a glass. Pour frozen drink into the glass and top with whipped cream and more chocolate syrup.

This movie brings back so many childhood memories of lazy Saturday afternoons in front of the TV. I’m a little annoyed that I’m still able to quote certain scenes word for word. What other useless trivia is my mind storing? Is that why I can’t remember genuinely important things now like my bank account number or the proper ratio of Cointreau to tequila in a margarita? Too many crap movies as a kid? Oh well, the damage is done I suppose. Cheers!

Classic Films · Musicals

Funny Face

April 20, 2015April 19, 2015 LizLockeLeave a comment

With my wedding anniversary approaching this week, I got a little nostalgic and started looking back through some old photos. It was a very small affair 6 years ago, and the only things I held strong opinions on were the cake and the dress. The cake had to actually taste good, and the dress absolutely HAD to be modeled after Audrey Hepburn’s wedding dress in the film Funny Face (DVD/Download). I’m not delusional enough to think that my body AT ALL resembles Miss Hepburn’s, with her teeny tiny waste, but the dress she wears would look good on anybody. Thus a few phone calls and emails to our family dressmaker/tailor, some swatches sent back and forth, and voila- I had the dress of my dreams.

What’s ironic is that Audrey Hepburn never actually gets married in Funny Face. She plays a Greenwich Village bookstore employee, whose shop is suddenly overtaken by an obnoxious fashion magazine crew. Photographer Dick Avery (played by Fred Astaire and modeled after legendary fashion photographer Richard Avedon) spots Audrey and her “funny face” and decides that she is perfect for the magazine’s next campaign. She is flown to Paris where she models various to-die-for Givenchy ensembles and gallivants around the city, hanging out in beatnik coffee houses and staring up at the Eiffel Tower. The musical numbers in this movie are fantastic, and it’s such a joy to see Audrey dancing with the elegant and graceful Fred Astaire.

My drink this week is inspired by the magazine editor’s declaration “Think Pink!”, which is the first of many catchy tunes. Kay Thompson plays Maggie Prescott (essentially Anna Wintour before there was such a thing as Vogue Editor Anna Wintour), and she instructs her fashionable minions that pink is the next great color trend. Frankly, I like it a lot more than cerulean blue (ahem, The Devil Wears Prada). While watching Funny Face, I recommend drinking a Think Pink!

Think Pink!

2 oz vodka

2 oz grapefruit juice

1/2 oz lime juice

4 tsp Maraschino liqueur

Cherry and lime for garnish

Mix liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, then strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with cherry and lime.

I’d like to give a special shout-out to my husband for accompanying me to Target yesterday morning to snag the fabulous Lilly Pulitzer glasses used in the above photo. Any man who will get up at 7:30 on a Sunday to stand in line with a bunch of crazed women shoppers is a keeper. I guess maybe finding the right guy is even more important than finding the right dress ;-). Cheers!

Uncategorized

Mannequin

April 13, 2015July 28, 2022 LizLockeLeave a comment

How I’ve gone over a year on Cinema Sips without discussing one of the best things to come out of the 1980’s, I have NO IDEA. Sure, Roger Ebert declared this week’s film Mannequin (DVD) “dead” and full of clichés, but clearly he didn’t understand the brilliance that is Hollywood (the window dresser, not the place). I was so excited to see the title song from this movie, ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now’ referenced in the surprisingly good film The Skeleton Twins recently, and it just reinforced my opinion that this gem deserves a comeback.

Mannequin stars Andrew McCarthy as starving artist Jonathan Switcher, who creates a mannequin at one of his short-lived jobs, only to see it come to life later on in the form of Emmy, played by a young Kim Cattrall. However, he’s the only one who can see her in human form, and there are some unintentionally funny scenes of Andrew McCarthy riding a motorcycle around Philadelphia with a mannequin draped around him. The supporting cast makes this even better, with Golden Girl Estelle Getty as the owner of Prince & Company department store (where the mannequin resides), and a nearly unrecognizable James Spader as the creepy manager. It’s been years since I’ve set foot in a department store, but as a child I totally wanted to spend the night in one- raiding the make-up counter, trying on whatever I wanted, and falling asleep in the bedding department. As an adult, this dream has been amended to include relaxing in a fur-lined hammock with Andrew McCarthy and discussing cellulite with Hollywood.

Throughout the film, Jonathan and Emmy enjoy role-playing in the store’s various vignettes. Ooh they’re punk rockers! Now a mob boss and his wife! Now tennis fans! Now just naked under their fur coats! My favorite look is the cruise-wear. To that end, I’ll be making a tropical rum drink that’s totally appropriate for sipping on a fake cruise ship, with a fake sky, while Andrew McCarthy rubs Coppertone on your back, even though there is no sunshine. While watching Mannequin, I recommend drinking a Man Overboard.

Man Overboard

6 Mint leaves

2 oz Malibu Rum

1 oz fresh squeezed lime juice

Crushed ice

Club Soda

Mint Sprigs and sliced lime for garnish

Muddle mint leaves and lime juice in the bottom of a glass. Add rum and crushed ice. Top with club soda. Stir gently to mix. Add a sprig of mint and lime slice to garnish.

It’s refreshing to see Kim Cattrell before Sex and the City turned her into an oversexed caricature, and she does the best she can in a pretty ridiculous role. I love the flashy 80’s sets, the shoulder pads, and Hollywood’s amazing sunglasses (which Kanye totally stole). Come prepared with a sense of humor and a strong cocktail when you watch this, and you can’t go wrong. Cheers!

Classic Films · Musicals

The Sound of Music

April 6, 2015April 6, 2015 LizLockeLeave a comment

There has been a lot of media attention lately over the 50^th anniversary of The Sound of Music (DVD/Download). That’s all the excuse I need to watch Julie Andrews frolic through the Austrian alps with a ragtag group of drapery-wearing children. The Sound of Music is a great film for springtime, and as I drive past fields of Texas bluebonnets, I can’t help wanting to pull over and burst into “The Hills are Alive.” Thankfully, I don’t (you’re welcome, Texas). Only Julie Andrews and apparently Lady Gaga can pull this off.

The Sound of Music is about a nun-in-training who becomes the governess for a wealthy Austrian family just before WWII. The Von Trapp children lost their mother years ago, and their widowed father is a harsh disciplinarian. Since Julie Andrews is so good at handling precocious wealthy children, she plays the governess Maria. She teaches the kids to have fun, sing, dance, and melt their father’s heart. Captain Von Trapp is played by Christopher Plummer, and his secret attraction to Maria makes him pretty dreamy. Catchy songs by Rogers and Hammerstein make this a fun movie to watch, despite the creepy puppet show about 90 minutes in, and Maria’s heinous outfits. Thank heavens Captain Von Trapp briefly dates someone with style, the Baroness Schraeder. She gets a bad rap, wanting to send the kids to boarding school, but I actually really love this character. She wears gorgeous clothes, hosts fabulous parties, gets to date Captain Von Trapp, and is terrible at sports. A lady after my own heart.

We first meet The Baroness when she arrives in Salzburg with “Uncle Max”. He is the original cool uncle, and certainly no stranger to a cocktail. Unfortunately his good times are shattered when The Baroness serves him pink lemonade on the veranda. Just… lemonade. Max deserves better, so in his honor, while watching The Sound of Music, I recommend drinking a Pink Parasol.

Pink Parasol

2 oz Pink Lemonade

2 oz Deep Eddy Lemon Vodka

Club Soda

Build drink over ice, stirring gently before topping with club soda. Garnish with a pink parasol. I wonder if Marta ever got hers??

It’s hard to pick a favorite song in this stellar musical. “My Favorite Things”? “Edelweiss”?? “Sixteen Going on Seventeen”??? GAH- there are so many!! This movie makes me want to go to Salzburg and celebrate them all. Except the creepy puppet song- I can skip the yodeling. Cheers!

Classic Films

The Goodbye Girl

March 30, 2015September 21, 2023 LizLocke2 Comments

My Arthur post a few weeks ago got me thinking about another New York movie with a fantastic theme song. Alas it was David Gates, and not Christopher Cross who sang the Goodbye Girl theme, but it’s definitely in the Yacht Rock vein. The Goodbye Girl (DVD/Download) is one of my favorite films, and I’ve seen it so many times I could probably recite it line for line. In fact, it was the first movie I turned to while recovering from eye surgery a few years ago- the snappy dialogue is so brilliant that I didn’t even need to see the screen to enjoy it.

In The Goodbye Girl, Richard Dreyfus plays struggling actor Elliott Garfield, who sublets a New York City apartment from another actor acquaintance. Marsha Mason plays that actor’s recently-dumped girlfriend Paula McFadden, who is shocked to find a soaking wet Elliott at her doorstep with a signed lease. Broke and desperate, she agrees to let him move in even though he’s, as she puts it: “another goddamn actor”. Luckily, Richard Dreyfus is incredibly charming, and his performance as Richard III off-off-off Broadway is side-splittingly funny (keep an eye out for Waiting for Guffman’s Paul Benedict as the director!). Paula and Elliott butt heads at first but then of course he wears her down. Paula’s daughter Lucy is played by Quinn Cummings, who was one of the youngest Oscar nominees in history for her performance. My mother always laughs when Paula says of her daughter, “you were never four-and-a-half, you were born twenty-six.” Apparently, so was I.

My drink references one of my favorite scenes (there are so many!) when Elliott and Paula decide to make amends and go dutch on a home-cooked spaghetti dinner. He stops to buy Chianti, she gets mugged, and in the ensuing chaos spills all of her groceries in the middle of the street. Of course she blames Elliott, and the Chianti. While watching The Goodbye Girl, I recommend drinking a New York Sour.

New York Sour

2 oz Bourbon

1 oz simple syrup

1 oz lemon juice

1 oz Chianti red wine

Mix together bourbon, simple syrup, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until chilled, then pour into a rocks-filled tumbler. Slowly pour chianti over the back of a spoon so it floats on top.

It’s hard to imagine exactly what Elliott sees in Paula. She’s needy, she’s whiny, she’s “animal crackers”, and wants nothing more than to spend his money decorating their apartment (notice I said his money, not hers- Paula seems content to let a man take care of her, as soon as she can hook one). As a feminist narrative it’s a bit lacking, but I can overlook it all for ’70s-era Richard Dreyfus. Mr. Garfield, you definitely “charis” me. Cheers!

Comedies · Uncategorized

Cry-Baby

March 23, 2015March 21, 2015 LizLockeLeave a comment

I recently finished reading John Waters’ latest book Carsick, detailing his experiences hitchhiking across the US. It was difficult to finish even one page of the book without laughing, and it reminded me of what a brilliant comic mind this man has. To that end, I’m featuring one of my favorite John Waters films this week, Cry-Baby (DVD/Download).

Cry-Baby is a spoof of 1950’s greaser movies, wherein the “Drapes” face off against the “Squares”. Johnny Depp plays Cry-Baby Walker, the hot young leader of the Drapes, who falls for Allison Vernon-Williams, a good girl yearning to be bad. In a great meet-cute scene, they lock eyes over polio vaccinations in the school gym. Imagine! People got immunized and it was no big deal! (I digress). Cry-Baby is populated by B-and C-list stars galore- Traci Lords! Patty Hearst! Troy Donahue! Iggy Pop! Ricki Lake!

Johnny Depp reportedly took the role of Cry-Baby (one of his first film roles following 21 Jump Street) in order to poke fun at his teen-idol image. Well, mission accomplished. As Cry-Baby he’s sexy and funny and just the right amount of campy. It’s so refreshing to see him without weird facial hair or feathers or a Colleen Atwood costume. Watching Cry-Baby has reminded me that not only do I want John Waters to make another film, but I want Johnny Depp to be in it playing an actual human being. A stretch at this point, I know.

My drink this week has to be equal parts hillbilly and 50’s fabulous in order to truly do the film justice. I’m sure Uncle Belvedere makes his own moonshine, but I have to get by with the store-bought stuff. Of course this has to be served in a mason jar (which I assume was the stemware-of-choice at Turkey Point). While watching Cry-Baby, I recommend drinking a Lonely Teardrop.

Lonely Teardrop

½ oz Vodka

½ oz Dutch’s Spirits Sugar Wash Moonshine

¾ oz fresh lemon juice

½ oz Limoncello

2 oz Sprite

3 oz club soda

Fresh rosemary sprigs

Lemon slice

Mix together the spirits and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker. Strain into a mason jar filled with ice. Top with Sprite and club soda. Garnish with rosemary and lemon.

Not only does Cry-Baby have a fantastic cast and script, but the costumes are stellar as well. I admit to having quite a few “square” dresses currently hanging in my closet (thanks Mod Cloth!). But when Allison Vernon-Williams puts on those tight “hysterectomy pants” and makes out with Cry-Baby, I find myself wanting my own bad-girl beauty makeover. Just please don’t let Hatchet Face do my make-up. There are…. no words to describe that face. Cheers!

Classic Films

Roman Holiday

March 16, 2015March 16, 2015 LizLocke2 Comments

For those lucky enough to be on spring break this week, I have one thing to say- I’m jealous! Although I do not have the week off, I am choosing to live vicariously through Audrey Hepburn by watching the movie Roman Holiday (DVD/Download). For anybody that wishes they had just one day off to do whatever they want, this is your movie.

Roman Holiday stars Gregory Peck as reporter Joe Bradley, who stumbles upon Princess Ann (played by Audrey Hepburn) after her escape from a rigid palace life. Upon meeting her, he thinks she’s just a drunk on the streets of Rome, but chivalrous, upstanding man that he is (this is Gregory Peck after all), he takes her back to his apartment and lets her sleep on his couch. The next day, he discovers her true identity, but in order to get a juicy newspaper scoop, he pretends he doesn’t know the truth. He and his photographer friend (played wonderfully by Eddie Albert) spend the day taking the Princess around Rome. They ride a Vespa, drink champagne and espresso, eat gelato on the Spanish Steps, and stick their hands in the Mouth of Truth. Watching the princess and Joe fall in love with each other and with Rome is pure fun, and Audrey Hepburn is absolutely radiant in her Oscar-winning role.

After Princess Ann is given some sleeping medication, she sneaks out of the palace by hopping in a Cinzano truck. Of course I have to use this brand of vermouth in my drink, along with Princess Ann’s favorite beverage- champagne (or Prosecco in this case). I plan to sip this drink and pretend I’m sitting at a sidewalk café in Rome, smoking a cigarette and genuinely enjoying life (I don’t really smoke, but she makes even this look adorable). While watching Roman Holiday, I recommend drinking a Sant’Angelo Sunset.

Sant’Angelo Sunset

½ cup blackberries

3 oz Cinzano sweet red vermouth

1 tablespoons sugar

6 oz Prosecco

Stir together blackberries, vermouth, and sugar. Let stand 1 hour until juices are released and sugar dissolves.

Spoon 2 tbsp. blackberry juice and 2-3 blackberries into a champagne flute or coupe. Top with Prosecco.

This drink gets its name from the wonderful scene in the film where Audrey Hepburn visits a barge party along the banks of the Castel Sant’Angelo. I was lucky enough to walk these same banks on my honeymoon to Rome, and stumbled on an old film poster for Roman Holiday from a street vendor. Of course I had to buy it. This movie brings back memories of sweet gelato, soaking in the sun on the Spanish Steps, quietly traversing the Colesseum, and listening to the lovely sounds of the Italian language. Like Princess Ann, I will cherish my visit in memory as long as I live. Cheers!

	LizLocke on The Cutting Edge
	Kerry Dunn on The Cutting Edge
	Kerry Dunn on Slap Shot