Cooking with Wine and liquor

I ran across a recipe for Limoncello cake and didn’t want to buy a whole bottle of it, not that I could find it anywhere around our area anyway. So I found directions for making Limoncello itself and will share both recipes next week.


 My Joy of Cooking published in 1964 has several pages of directions for making Martini’s and many other cocktails. It also lists drinks made with wines and liquors. We grew up in the era of Cocktail Parties and they seem to be coming back in style. Not everyone cares for wines to drink and like all things, styles in drinks and foods come back around. I can remember my grandmother who was a strict teetotaler making Dandelion and Elderberry wines to give away and she always put brandy on her fruit cakes.

As a teen, I baby sat a lot for a group who did the cocktail party bit. No one ever came home drunk, maybe because there was always lots of nibbles served at these parties.

After World War Two, life became so much easier and everyone enjoyed the time for more leisure and also many of our sons and brothers had served overseas and brought home new food ideas. Cooking with wines and beer and liquor became much more popular. France and Italy and most European countries have cooked with these beverages for many decades.

We are going to give you some of our recipes that we use and I am sure you have some of your own. Both Sue and I keep Sherry and Cognac and wine on hand to cook with. A small amount will add depth to your soups, broth and gravies.

As Julia Child would say “Bon Appetit”