Holiday Drinks, Winter Brews, Chocolate Buffet and a Cookbook Round-Up

You can find Janeen Whalen's fresh wreaths and garland at the Sunday Hollywood Farmers' Market, all the Santa Monica Markets and online DesigningEndeavors.com

Guava Jam

• 8 cups guavas, variable in degree of ripeness

• 8 cups sugar

• Juice of 1 lemon

Cut fruit in half. Place in a pan with a little water and cook until soft. Strain the fruit, leaving behind the seeds and skins. Add the sugar and the lemon juice and bring to the boil. Steadily boil until you achieve the setting test for jam. Bottle and seal.

Note: You may need less sugar when using yellow guavas.

The Hollywood Farmers' Market and The Cook's Library present:

Holiday Cookbook Signing Extravaganza

Sunday, December 7, 2003

Ivar & Selma Avenues, between Hollywood & Sunset

9-11am:

Bob Blumer - Off the Eaten Path

Suzanne Dunaway - No Need to Knead

Cindy Mushet - Desserts: Mediterranean Flavors, California Style

Martha Rose Shulman - The Best Vegetarian Recipes, The Foodlover's Atlas of the World, Ready and Waiting

Jessica Strand - Holiday CocktailsIntimate Gatherings

Diane Worthington - Seriously Simple, The Cuisine of California, American Bistro, The Taste of Summer

Clifford Wright - A Mediterranean Feast, A Mediterranean Vegetables, Real Stew, Little Dishes of the Mediterranean

Russ Parsons - How To Read a French Fry

Carl Chu - Finding Chinese Food in Los Angeles

Cooking for Company, Secrets from a Caterer's Kitchen

Neelam Batra - 1000 Indian Recipes

Patricia Greenberg - The Whole Soy Cookbook

Julie Hasson - 125 Best Chocolate Chip Recipes

Evan Kleiman - Cucina Fresca, Cucina Rustica, Pasta Fresca, Angeli Caffe

Faye Levy - Feast from the Mideast, 1000 Jewish Recipes, Jewish Cooking for Dummies

Mani Niall - Covered in Honey, Sweet & Natural Baking

Dan Strehl - Encarnacion's Kitchen

Carla Williams - Rotisserie Chickens to the Rescue!

Nancy Zaslavsky - A Cook's Tour of Mexico

Holiday Cocktails by Jessica Strand, published by Chronicle Books

Each recipe makes 1 drink

Santa Baby

• 1/2 oz Chambord

• 5 oz Champagne

• 5-6 pomegranate seeds

Pour Chambord into a champagne flute or other tall glass, then add champagne. Finish by dropping the seeds into the cocktail.

Blitzen

• 1 oz Irish Cream liqueur

• 1 oz dark rum

• 1/2 oz cr-me de cacao

• 8 oz hot chocolate (see below)

• Whipped cream

• Cocoa for garnish

Pour Irish Cream, dark rum, and cr-me de cacao into an Irish coffee glass. Add hot chocolate to within an inch of rim. Finish with whipped cream and a dash of cocoa.

Mexican Hot Chocolate

• 8 oz milk

• 2 wedges Mexcian hot chocolate

Heat the milk in a small saucepan until very hot. In a blender, place the chocolate wedges and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add hot milk and blend until smooth.

White Christmas

• 1 oz vodka

• 1 oz amaretto

• 1 oz heavy whipping cream

• Grated nutmeg, for garnish

Pour vodka, amaretto, and cream over a handful of ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake until cold, then strain into a chilled martini glass. Grate a little touch of nutmeg on top.

Gingersnap Punch

• 6 cups ginger ale

• 2 oz raspberry syrup

• 3 oz freshly squeezed lime juice

Fill a large glass punch bowl with ice. Pour in the ginger ale, raspberry syrup, and lime juice. Stir.

Cranberry Sauce

• 6 oz cranberry cocktail

• 2 oz club soda

• 1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice

• 1 tsp freshly squeezed orange juice

• Lime twist, for garnish

Pour cranberry juice into a red wineglass filled with crushed ice Add club soda and lime and orange juices, then stir. Garnish with lime twist.

Hot Buttered Rum

• 1 tsp brown sugar

• 4-6 oz boiling water

• 1 Tablespoons butter

• 1 1/2 oz dark rum

• Freshly grated nutmeg, for garnish

Put brown sugar into a glass punch cup and fill two-thirds full with boiling water. Add butter and rum. Wait until butter melts, then stir and sprinkle a little nutmeg on top.

Ellen Rose is the owner of Cook's Library, 8373 W 3rd St, Los Angeles. (323) 655-3141

Baking Books:

• Bread Bible by Rose Levy Berenbaum

• Great Cookies by Carole Walters

• Passion for Desserts by Emily Luchetti

• Four-Star Desserts by Emily Luchetti

• Bittersweet by Alice Medrich

• Home Baking by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid

• The Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard

• Sweets: A Collection of Soul Food Desserts and Memories by Patty Pinner

• American Desserts by Wayne Harley Brackman

Regional Artisan Bakery Cookbooks:

• Leslie Mackie's Macrina Bakery and Cafe Cookbook - Seattle

• Metropolitan Bakery Cookbook by James Marrett and Wendy Smith - Philadelphia (looks like Mildred Pierces Coffee Shop from the movie)

• The American Boulangerie by Pascal Rigo - San Franciso

• Dessert Cuisine by Oriol Balaguir (Pastry Chef at Ell Bulli - Spain)

• El Bulli in English! from the restaurant in Spain

Other Books:

• Aquavit by Marcus Samuelsson

• Bistro Cooking at Home by Gordon Hamersly (Boston)

• East of Paris by David Bouley

• Cooking by Hand by Paul Bertolli

• Tom's Big Dinners by Tom Douglas (Seattle)

• Flavor by Rocco di Spirito

• The Balthazar Cookbook by Keith McNally, Rian Nasr and Lee Hanson

• Craft of Cooking by Tom Colicchio

• Letters to a Young Chef by Daniel Boulud

• The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen by Paula Wolfert

• Come for Dinner by Leslie Revson

• From My Mexican Kitchen by Diana Kennedy

• Curries and Kebabs by Madhur Jaffe

• Lost Recipes by Marion Cunningham

• Ready When You Are by Martha Rose Shulman

• The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion

• I Am Almost Always Hungry by Lora Zarubin

Chef Michelle Suh's Chocolate Buffet is at the Raffles L'Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills.

9291 Burton Way (310) 278-3344

Thursday-Saturday, December 11-13 from 3-6pm

Thursday-Saturday December 18-20 from 3-6pm in the The Living Room.

Guests can indulge in decadent chocolates, truffles and holiday desserts while sipping Champagne by the fireplace. ($20.00 per person including coffee and tea, excluding tax and gratuity)

Sang Yoon is the owner of Father's Office

1018 Montana Avenue

Santa Monica (310) 393-2337

• Anderson Valley Brewing Company. "Winter Solstice". Tastes like liquid pound cake.

• Anchor Brewing Company. "Anchor Christmas". Not a stout but black in color. Nutmeg taste. Can be aged.

• Delirium Tremons Brewing Company, Belgium. "Delerium Noel" - 5 malt beer. Lots of yeast esthers. Similar to a scotch in flavor. 9% alcohol.

• Ale Smith Brewing Co., San Diego. "Yule Smith". 9% alcohol. Very hoppy. Unfiltered. Bitter. Tannic. Tastes like pine and chamomile. Leaves the palate dry.

• Unibroue, Canada. "Quelque Chose". 8% alcohol. Tastes like mulled wine. Brewed with dried cherries. Drink over ice or mulled to 150 degrees.