No More Mr. Nice Pie
  • About
  • Blog
  • Pies About Town
  • Pie-Ku
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index

NEGRONI WEEK

6/10/2016

4 Comments

 
Picture
At last, Etta and Frank have left the building, ushering in Mariah, Whitney and 48 of their closest warbling cronies. Why? Because it’s Ladies Night.
Oh, what a night.
 
Technically, the yearly event dubbed Girls Night Out is a retail marketing tool providing an opportunity for the ladies of the Village (not to be confused with the Village People), to support local merchants. Our favorite bakery will stay open late for everyone’s sugar and decaffeinated needs. Sorry girls, but other than the strawberry-rhubarb and blueberry pies I’ve left cooling on the Baker’s racks, I’m opting out of this one.
 
Yes, it very well may be Ladies Night but more importantly, it’s Negroni Week. The Negroni cocktail, comprised of gin, sweet vermouth and Campari has been dubbed according to Conde Nast Traveler, the ‘Cosmopolitan of the decade.’ Drinks International claims Negroni holds the number two spot of best selling classic cocktails just behind the Old Fashioned.
 
Campari is a key player in the Negroni, a bitter apéritif whose ingredients are shrouded in secrecy. The Campari brand was created in Northwest Italy and dates back to 1860. Today, Campari is garnering plenty of media attention. Negroni Week was launched in 2013 as a celebration of the flashy crimson cocktail and an effort to raise money for charitable causes around the world. The response has been overwhelming with this year’s participating bars, restaurants and retailers numbering well over 6,000.
 
This week, I was thrilled to team up with Alicia Walters of NYC’s Once Upon A Tart to create a recipe for Negroni tartlets. All proceeds benefit a charity close to my heart, Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights Aids. 
 
Personally, the Negroni is the ideal cocktail for one who is both mathematically challenged and also referred to as a One Drink Wonder. Even I can fashion a cocktail composed of equal parts Campari, gin and sweet vermouth. Not only does it pack a substantial wallop, it makes a bold fashion statement in a rocks glass with a ribbon of orange peel. It also happens to lend itself brilliantly to pie.
 
Campari is considered an acquired taste, but I acquired it early on. The long necked bottle stood tall tucked behind the doors of my father’s mahogany bar. It was a beverage he would offer with a little ice and orange, maybe a splash of soda. It sounded terribly sophisticated, a drink both bitter and sweet, something I imagined Katherine Hepburn might have sipped in the 1955 classic film Summertime.
 
Sipping a Negroni gives me the illusion that I’m perfectly tanned, attired in crisp white linen. (A more accurate description would be a white polyester apron splattered in wayward fruit.) The fantasy of a fresh pedicure peeking out of fabulous Italian leather sandals seems perfectly reasonable with a Negroni in hand. The reality of baker’s legs and runner’s toes are best kept under wraps in kitchen clogs and sensible socks. A girl can dream.
 
In an ideal summer pie, Campari shakes things up, enhancing the combination of rhubarb, raspberry and orange. What better way is there to celebrate good times? Especially when there’s  a party goin’ on right here. Come on! 
4 Comments
Betsy link
6/11/2016 11:10:29 am

You always have been the most sophisticated baker I know! (This is a pie with Gaga's name all over it!)

Reply
Rena McDaniel link
6/13/2016 01:04:47 pm

Looks like you have quite the set up there, Looks delicious!

Reply
E. Gray link
6/14/2016 09:41:23 pm

Thanks for checking out this week's post, Rena. I appreciate your comments.

Reply
Ellen Dolgen link
6/13/2016 05:24:54 pm

I saw the picture and had to read this blog! YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM..............I want a slice and a drink!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    March 2025
    July 2024
    March 2024
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    Ellen Gray

    Professional Pie-isms & Seasonal Sarcasm

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Artwork by Retsu Takahashi
© Ellen Gray All Rights Reserved 2014
  • About
  • Blog
  • Pies About Town
  • Pie-Ku
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index