On Champagne Day, a toast to Charles Heidsieck

Oct. 26 is International Champagne Day. Let’s celebrate by raising a glass to Charles-Camille Heidsieck, the visionary businessman known as Champagne Charlie, who traveled from France to America 160 years ago, forever elevating entertaining on this side of the pond.

Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve NV is blended from equal proportions of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, including 40 percent reserve wines, and aged for at least 36 months in chalk cellars excavated by the Romans in the 2nd century, a practice Heidsieck established in 1851.

The result is a deep golden champagne with persistent bubbles. It tastes of fresh bread and lush, exotic mangoes, with a frothy finish that is reminiscent of a creamy tart topped with ripe cherries.

I’d serve this as a welcome to guests, a liquid bellwether of a lovely evening to come, or perhaps with raw oysters as a first course. Expect to pay around $50 a pop for this bubbly.

You also should anticipate keeping a bottle chilled at all times in anticipation of having something wonderful to celebrate. After all, isn’t that what champagne is for? Thanks for reminding us, Charlie.

This holiday, we’ll be showrooming

It isn’t even Halloween yet but more than half of us – 51 percent – have already mapped out our holiday shopping plans this year, making lists for gifts we will buy with cash we already have socked away, according to Accenture’s annual study.

The Accenture Holiday Shopping Survey predicts consumers will spend an average of $582 on holiday shopping this season;  23 percent will part with more than $750. Half (52 percent) expect to increase their spending by $250 or more.

A mere  5 percent of us will be extravagant — and only 8 percent expect to splurge.

What I find fascinating is the notion of showrooming. That is the term for finding a product in a bricks-and-mortar store, searching online for the best price and then making the purchase electronically. According to the study, 56 percent of shoppers are planning that strategy — and 27 percent of them say they would likely make the purchase online, using their smartphone or tablet, while they are still out shopping.

That’s not welcome news for the folks who actually stock the shelves and explain products    to shoppers, only to have them save a few bucks buying online from merchants who have fewer buildings to maintain — and fewer human beings to pay.

Still that yearning to dash to the store hasn’t faded away altogether. This year’s survey also found that more consumers — 53 percent — plan to shop on Black Friday, sharply reversing a three-year trend. In 2011, the survey concluded that only 44 percent of respondents were interested in shopping on Black Friday, down from 47 percent in 2010 and 52 percent in 2009.

The Sweet Book of Candy Making is a dandy read

Think of the world as a big, glossy lollipop.

If you can make lollipops at home, you rule the planet, right? The ultimate sweet deal.

You can be the king or queen of your kitchen — and the most popular folks in town — by crafting your own glorious candies from such humble ingredients as sugar, cream and corn syrup.

Learn easy-to-make, fabulous-to-behold treats in The Sweet Book of Candy Making (Quarry) by Elizabeth LaBau, a Los Angeles-based pastry chef and confectioner who is the guide to candy at About.com.

LaBau will tempt you with recipes for such classics as English toffee, chocolate truffles  and peanut brittle. Readers will be wowed by how simple many of these delights are to make. And if you goof, she includes troubleshooting tips for such culinary challenges as rescuing ganache.

Already, I am thinking ahead to the holiday and the homemade gifts I can make. Hmm. Sea salt caramels, embellished with chocolate? Red velvet fudge with cream cheese frosting? Or passionfruit marshmallows?

The biggest challenge will be giving away the treats before we fall on them like wolves, howling in a marzipan forest. Teeth bared. Drooling copiously.

Free spaghets at Buca di Beppo

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. But occasionally, you can get a side dish.

Oct. 25 is World Pasta Day and to mark the special occasion  Buca di Beppo, the family-style Italian restaurant, is giving free spaghetti a twirl.

Thursday, all patrons who present a World Pasta Day coupon and purchase any Buca small or large pasta, baked pasta or entree will receive a free side serving of spaghets with their choice of meat sauce or marinara sauce.

But the freebie doesn’t stop there. Guests will also get a one-pound package of Rummo-brand Italian Pasta, uncooked, of course, to take home and cook at their leisure. (The fine print: the offer isn’t good with any other discount. Enough already.)

In addition to the one-day event, Buca di Beppo is serving up a family-style feast for four people for $40 through Nov. 11. The dine-in only deal includes salad, garlic bread and choice of spaghetti marinara, fettuccine Alfredo, baked ziti or ravioli al pomodoro all in a Buca large size, which is humongous.

World Pasta Day was rolled out in 1995 as an international celebration of pasta. In Roma. Where else?

Cocktails with Don Julio

Typically, folks try to avoid repossession.

Unless it’s the cocktail hour and they are enjoying a Repossession, the classy mixed drink crafted from Tequila Don Julio 70 Añejo Claro, the clear spirit that is made from mature,  ripened blue agave selected by hand from the rich, clay soils of the Los Altos region in Mexico.

This cocktail serves up the crystalline flavors of premium tequila, with the freshness of pineapple and sweet bouquet of elderflower liqueur. It’s clearly more desirable than the repossession that follows missing a couple of car payments.

Don Julio makes a range of wonderful tequilas that can be enjoyed straight from the bottle, on their own. This cocktail doesn’t dilute the pleasure of the tequila and results in a lovely presentation. Here’s the recipe:

Repossession

Created by New York Mixologist, Leo Robitschek
Ingredients:
1 1/4 ounces Tequila Don Julio 70 Añejo Claro
1/3 ounce Elderflower Liqueur
2/3 ounce Fresh Pineapple Juice
1/3 ounce Fresh Lemon Juice
1/4 ounce Cane Syrup

Preparation:
Combine Tequila Don Julio 70 Añejo Claro, elderflower liqueur, fresh pineapple juice, fresh lemon juice and cane syrup into a cocktail shaker. Shake well.
Strain contents into a cocktail glass.

Ideal Serving Glass:
Shapely stemmed cocktail glass

Yield:
1 drinkie

Free food at ShopRite

The deals this week at ShopRite are delicious. Free food!

I clipped coupons from the circular for gratis groceries, including staples many of us buy every week: a pint of grape tomatoes, a head of iceberg lettuce, a three-pound bag of yellow onions and a five-pound sack of white potatoes.

Not buy one, get one free. No mail-in rebate for free merchandise. Just plain free, with a $25 purchase.

Of course, every shopper in the store wanted in on the deal. But there were plenty of freebies to go around in well-stocked displays.

With all the money I saved, I treated myself to lobster for dinner, on sale for $5.99 a pound and steamed in-house by the nice folks in ShopRite’s seafood department. Who knew grocery shopping could be so yummy?

 

Neon Museum to light up Vegas

After 15 years of anticipation, the lights are going on at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas, an attraction dedicated to the preservation and celebration of some of the city’s most distinctive architectural landmarks.

The doors officially open on Saturday, Oct. 27.

This museum glows in the dark. It is home to a collection of more than 150 neon signs dating from the 1930s, the largest collection of neon signage in the world. And where else but Vegas?

At the two-acre outdoor museum Neon Boneyard, iconic signs from the city’s most celebrated properties — including the Moulin Rouge, the Desert Inn, the Flamingo and the Stardust — are displayed along signs from bygone restaurants, hotels and businesses. How electrifying!

The museum’s new visitors’ center is the recently rehabilitated La Concha Motel lobby, the seashell-shaped, Mid-Century Modern architectural masterpiece designed and built by architect Paul Revere Williams. Originally constructed in 1961 on Las Vegas Boulevard South, the La Concha lobby was saved from demolition in 2005 and moved to its current location in downtown Vegas in 2006.

Bill Marion, who chairs the museum’s board of trustees,says the attraction will bring culture and revenue to the community.

“There is renewed interest in ‘old’ Las Vegas and in the rediscovery of the historical downtown area,” says Marion in a statement. “The Neon Museum will play a major role in this renaissance by bringing new visitors to downtown Las Vegas, by creating additional opportunities for tourism growth and by adding to the ongoing economic revitalization of the area.”

Tours last 45 minutes and will be available to the public every half hour starting at 10 a.m., with the last tour departing at 4 p.m., every Monday through Saturday. Tickets are $18 for adults; $12 for students with ID, senior citizens, veterans and Nevada residents. Children ages 6 and under are admitted free. Tour capacity is limited, so purchase tickets in advance through the Neon Museum’s website. The La Concha Visitors Center will be open Monday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Both facilities are located at 770 Las Vegas Blvd. North, Las Vegas.

Keeping both feet firmly on the ground

Life is all about connections.

These days, I’m connecting with Juil clogs, my new favorite fall footwear.

The closed-back clogs, christened Copenhagen, are good looking, with wood-toned heels and trim, and brown leather uppers. (They also are available in black.)

What you don’t see is Juil’s exclusive copper conductors, embedded in the footbed and outer soles, which are believed to channel antioxidants from the earth into our bodies and return us to a natural state of being with every step we take. Synthetic shoes with rubber soles don’t conduct electrons.

So when the good folks at Juil contacted me and asked if I would be interested in giving their footwear a try, I was intrigued. This sounds interesting! And who better than an active scribe to put shoes through their paces?

In my writing life, I spend a lot of time on my feet. So I put Juil to the test, at work and at play.

My conclusion? These clogs are so comfy I can dash to an interview, grab a cup of coffee with a source, chase down a quote and then head off for drinks with the girls.

And when my feet feel great, the rest of me tends to follow.

The folks at Juil understand that footwear that is good for you also can be attractive. You could wear the maker’s Brio sandal, available in metallic pewter and other color choices, to a cocktail party. I call it the Yogurt Principal. We all started eating yogurt when producers figured out how to make something that is healthy also taste great.

Sworn off leather? Juil also offers vegan and cork sandals and clogs.

Footwear is sold in whole sizes, 5-11 for women and 7-13 for men. Wear a half size? Order the next size down for sandals and the next size up for clogs.

Prices range from $125 for sandals to $165 for closed back clogs. Standard shipping and returns are free.

Behind the walls at Eastern State

Most folks do their best to stay out of prison.

At Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, people pay to get in and get an up-close and personal look at one of the nation’s most notorious prisons.

Around Halloween, Eastern State is more popular than ever as aficionados of gore flock to Terror Behind the Walls, the fright night that raises money to preserve the crumbling walls and historic character of the big house.

As prisons go, Eastern State started out well, thanks to Ben Franklin and other reformers who believed incarceration should help to mold prisoners into better people. Prisoners had their own cells and private exercise yards, the better to reflect on their misdeeds. They ate fresh veggies and had their choice of coffee, tea or cocoa at breakfast. You can see the skylight in Cell Block 5, photographed in 1998 by Elena Bouvier.

Visitors can see that spirit of reform didn’t last. The prison got crowded. Inmates doubled up in dark cells. And the petty thieves originally locked up at Eastern evolved into a den of hard-core criminals.

It’s fascinating to walk the corridors of Eastern and peer into ruined cells, as well as the posh, restored digs once occupied by gangster Al Capone, who served time for carrying a concealed weapon in a Philly theater. Capone got a cell equipped with Oriental carpets, an easy chair and a radio. Eastern’s baseball team got new uniforms.

You can tour the prison seven days a week, except Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s. Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $8 for students and children. (The tour is not appropriate for kids under 7.)

Terror Behind the Walls is loud and scary, just the kind of Halloween treat guys age 16 to 23 would enjoy. It is way too graphic for children, so take your 12-year-old on the historic tour instead. Tickets are $40. But you can get a deep discount buying online, where the price drops to $25.