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The Saint Paul Farmers market is one of my favorite places to spend time on the weekends. I love that all of the products are actually grown, produced or handcrafted here. I know when I visit the various stands that the person I am talking to most likely procured the food they are selling me. Each time I visit I am getting seasonal, fresh ingredients.

My first trip to the farmers market, on opening weekend yielded herb plants for my garden, bedding plants for my flower beds and some perennial plants for an area of the garden that I expanded this season including Jack in The Pulpit and some unique variated Hostas. The farmers market is a great place to get your plants as you will only find products that they have grown in our area so you don’t have to worry about buying something for the wrong garden zone that might not last through one of ourMinnesotawinters.

Along with my flowers, I found a new discovery, Brook Pine Trout from Todd Thomas of Brook PineMinnesota. I first bought this trout from the refrigerated section of Golden Fig in St. Paul. I could not resist that pink meaty flesh that looked so plump and tasty in the package. I had roasted it with salt and pepper on a piece of parchment paper at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes until the flesh was firm to touch. I topped my filet with some wild ramp butter and it was so clean and fresh tasting I was thrilled. I ate fish every day that week on salads, on top of a bed of arugula sprinkled with lentils and goat cheese and in a trout salad with lemon, chives, and diced red pepper that I ate on crackers. I was thrilled to find the same Brook Pine Trout at the Farmers market and to talk to Todd himself. When I asked where Brook Pine is he told me it was near Grantsburg and PineCity and that it was home to less than 200 people. I happily bought another 2 lbs of trout filet’s and have been on week two of my trout binge.

Try it for yourself!

Smoked Trout Spread

1 lb smoked trout picked clean of bones
1/3 cup celery
¼ cup cream cheese
1/3 cup light ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons lemon juice and zest of a lemon
½ teaspoon hot sauce
½ cup green onions – both white and green parts
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon chopped dill
1 teaspoon horseradish

Pulse first 6 ingredients in a in food processor until mixed. Hand mix remaining ingredients. Serve on crackers or with celery sticks.

As a gardener, I always have a fresh crop each spring of pink, rosy fat rhubarb stalks. Rhubarb looks like a celery stalk but it’s pink and looks a little wild with its huge green leaf. I had already made Rhubarb Strawberry crisp, Rhubarb muffins and was running out of rhubarb when I hit the market to refresh for the annual Rhubarb Custard Pie that we must make every year.

Rhubarb Custard Pie adapted from the Betty Furness Westinghouse Cookbook 1954

Make the dough:

1 ½ sticks butter cut into chunks
3 cups flour
1-teaspoon salt
1-tablespoon sugar
6-8 tablespoons water

• Cut the stick of butter in half the long way and slice again into about 14 chunks
• Put the flour, sugar and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and pulse 8-12 times more.
• With the machine running pour the ice water tablespoon by tablespoon into the feed tube of the processor and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form into a ball.
• Dump out on a board dusted with flour and gather into a ball
• Refrigerate 30 minutes or freeze 15 minutes
• Cut the dough in half
• Roll each piece on a well floured board into a circle about 12 inches around making sure it doesn’t stick to the board (alternately you can roll between two pieces of parchment paper)
• Fold the dough in half and place in a deep dish 9 inch pie pan and unfold to fit in the pan
• Roll the top crust
• Cut into strips about ¾ inch wide to create a lattice crust
• You will refrigerate the strips until ready to use and weave them over and under each other to create a lattice crust.

 Make the filling:

6 cups of rhubarb cut into ½ inch pieces

Dump into the rolled crust mounding the rhubarb

Make the custard mixture:

Mix together the following ingredients

• 4 beaten eggs
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1-cup brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg

Pour the custard over the rhubarb

Add the lattice top

Bake at 400 degrees for 50-60 minutes

Let cool for 20-30 minutes before serving so the custard sets up.

ENJOY!

www.StPaulfarmersmarket.com

290 E 5^th Street
St Paul,MN55101
651-227-8101

There is nothing cozier or more comforting than a giant bowl of homemade baked macaroni and cheese. My mom would make us macaroni and cheese when we were sick at home with a winter cold. Hers was filled with elbow macaroni and colby jack cheese and she would top it with saltine crumbs that would brown in the oven and create a crisp crust that you would shatter with your spoon while getting the creamy layer of cheese and noodles beneath. There is nothing good for you about macaroni and cheese as its loaded down with butter, milk, and cheese but oh does it make you feel good.

When the wind is whipping outside or it’s a rainy blustery Spring Day in St. Paul– make baked macaroni and cheese. I make mine with whole wheat noodles so I can pretend It’s reasonably healthy. If you want to make it a complete meal, versus a guilty pleasure, add some sliced cherry tomatoes with bacon, ham or prosciutto. If you have lots of dribs and drabs of leftover cheese feel free to add them. You can use Cheddar, Goat, Blue, Swiss, Jack even hunks of cream cheese can be thrown in the sauce before you mix in the noodles.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

• 21/2 cups milk (low-fat is fine)
• 1 pound whole wheat shells, corkscrews or rottini
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter plus 1 tablespoon to grease pan
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 21/2 cups grated cheese, like sharp cheddar or jack or a mix
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup or more bread crumbs, preferably fresh

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Mix the butter with the flour on low heat and stir for two minutes in a large saucepan with a wire wisk
3. Add the milk and add dried mustard and continue wisking . When small bubbles appear along the sides, about 5 minutes later, turn off the heat.
4. Cook the pasta to el dente
5. As soon as the mixture becomes smooth, add the cheese and stir.
6. Pour the sauce over the noodles, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Use the remaining 1 tablespoon butter to grease a 9 x 13-inch or similar-size baking pan and turn the pasta mixture into it. Top liberally with bread crumbs and bake until bubbling and the crumbs turn brown, about 20 minutes. Serve piping hot.

Enjoy!

When I was at Shamrocks the other day, I saw something I have never seen before in a restaurant. They have a Lobster claw game called “the Lobster Zone”.  I think the first time I ran into a claw game was at Chuckie Cheese, when my daughter was about 3.  The Claw is a game where you maneuver a robotic arm that has a claw attached that you can use to pick up things and put them in the winner bucket. Your prize gets dumped into the winner bucket and you reach into the machine through a door where you claim your prize. Typically when you play the claw you are playing for stuffed animals or candy. I recall at Chuckie Cheese that we may have spent $20 for my daughter to end up with a pile of Sweet Tart packets in her quest for that fluffy white Teddy Bear with the pink bow.  I even recall that a few years ago a toddler crawled up into one of these games at a Chuckie Cheese. The allure of the toys, inside the machine, was so strong he got up inside the machine and started waiving at his mom; I swear that is a true story.

If Lobsters are your idea of a special dinner and you enjoy the thrill of “catching” your own meal– this Claw game is for you. At Shamrock’, in the back of the restaurant is a LIVE lobster tank. The way it works is for $2 you get a chance to grab a lobster with the claw and have it for your dinner. For $2 you get 60 seconds to maneuver your claw and try to grab a live lobster.  If you hook one, the kitchen at Shamrock’s will serve it for your dinner at no charge with lemon and butter as sides. If you would like salad and steamed vegetables added to your meal that you worked so hard for they will charge you an additional $6. Lobsters in the tank are 1.25 – 1.5 lbs. each and a sign on the machine explains that the lobsters are dropped gently on a towel where they will wait for you to notify your server to retrieve them from the machine so they can get on with the business of steaming them for your meal. If your squeamish maybe you just try your hand at the Claw and get the server to throw yours back in the machine versus the pot!

Shamrocks Bar

651-228-9925

995 7th Street West in St Paul

St Paul, MN

www.crshamrocks.com

Groveland Tap is one of my favorite St. Paul neighborhood bars. “The Tap” as most people call it is located at 1834 St Clair Avenue in the Mac Groveland neighborhood of St. Paul. There are a few tables outside for patio dining but most of the action happens in the bar. The ambience is very much like you would expect at a neighborhood “Tap” with lived in wood booths mixed with tables with vinyl bar stools. Craig, the manager of this fine establishment, maintains a jolly atmosphere – you’ll always walk away with a smile! Craig knows my family by name as well as most of the cheerful neighborhood regulars.

The “Tap” is the kind of place you can do a football draft with buddies or visit after a neighborhood play date with the kids. I used to love watching the TV show “Cheers”.  On “Cheers” when Norm would come into the bar the patrons of the bar would yell “Norm” well… this could really happen at the “Tap” and I am always keeping an ear peeled for someone to yell, “Stephanie.”

The Tap is owned by the Blue Plate Restaurant Group.  Blue Plate owns the Highland Grill, Longfellow Grill, Edina Grill, Scusi, Three Squares Restaurant their newest spot, The Lowry, in Uptown. These folks know their way around a neighborhood bar. The “Tap” is full of, you guessed it… beer taps – over at the bar and they also have a cask beer selection every day as well as tons of bottled beers. I have been introduced to some of my favorite beers at the “Tap” including Surly Furious, Fulton’s Lonely Blonde and my new favorite summer beer called Magic Hat Number Nine that is hoppy and citrusy with hints of grapefruit.

The menu at The “Tap” is primarily bar food but don’t let that fool you – this is good bar food. Most of the menu items are twisted just a bit to give you something that has been turned up a notch. Beer battered cheese curds, onion rings, and poutine made with the famous Ellsworth Wisconsin Cheese Curds smothered in gravy, deep fried pickles, and mac N Cheese balls are all apps to get you started. The dinner salad is a perfect example of how they twist it. You get served a half of a head of romaine lettuce with crisp bacon bits, tomato, and peanuts with ranch dressing made with of course beer.  I love this ranch dressing and could dip everything from lettuce, to wings, to the “Taps” delicious crinkle cut spicy Cajun or sweet potato fries in it.

The “Tap” is famous for its broasted chicken. You can have all you can eat broaster chicken on Sundays and on Thursdays taco night you can have a beef or chicken hard or soft shell taco for $2.50 with all the fixings.  Taco night is a big neighborhood favorite for both wee ones, college kids and culinarians.

My favorite thing to order at the the “Tap” is a burger and they have a ton of them. When you order a burger at the” Tap” you can choose from the beef, turkey, chicken or fish or veggie burger. I have had all the burgers and they are all delicious. The beef at The Tap is hand pattied and you can choose from the juicy lucy, the Cajun lucy with jalapenos and pepper jack cheese or the mushroom Swiss burger. My favorite beef burger is the Cajun Lucy which is spicy but beefy. I love the way the cheese oozes out of the burger on your first bite and the bun is moist and yeasty.  The Turkey Burger is what I eat most when I am at the “Tap”; a burger made with ground turkey, green onions, nuts and spices and poblano pesto that really makes the sandwich. Lastly, there is the fish burger which is a fish cake served alongside a remoulade, and the chicken burger which is ground chicken with roasted apple, smoked gouda  cheese and basil mayo. All these burgers elevate the “Tap” to a bit more than your neighborhood bar from a food standpoint but the atmosphere and the coziness will always say neighborhood to me.

We are fortunate in St. Paul to have not just one Luci, but two, owned by the Smith family in St Paul. Ristorante Luci is the original Italian bistro that they started at 470 Cleveland Avenue in St Paul. Ristorante Luci is a cozy little spot. If you just drive by in the car, you might mistake Luci for a barbershop but inside it is cozy and romantic and very warm. Their food is seasonal Italian fare like butternut squash and mascarpone filled ravioli or the classic mushroom risotto or braised lamb shanks served atop a heap of white beans. Wednesday nights they offer a tasting menu for two for $40 that includes mini versions of their nightly specials or menu entrees. You can choose an appetizer, soup or salad pasta, and a main course. The wine list is very carefully selected to feature the big full bodied Italian wines that Italy is known for as well as some lighter whites and sparkling wines.

The original Luci was always a favorite in our house so we were delighted when they opened Luci Ancora, kiddy corner from the original Ristorante Luci. The building at 2060 Randolph Ave S is a classic sage green color on the outside and – you feel like you’re about to enter someone’s Mediterranean home when you walk up to the front door of the restaurant. I recently dined at Luci Ancora where they have their $40 tasting menu special on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I started my tasting menu with a grilled polenta cake with a tomato meat ragu. The polenta cake was crusty on the outside and melty on the inside with a ragu sauce ladled over the top that was salty from the pork and sweet from the tomatoes. It was the perfect bite to get started.

The next course was a classically dressed Cesar Salad. Don’t even get me started on the entire bad Caesar salad situation at most restaurants. Typically a Caesar, in both Minneapolis and St Paul, comes overdressed and soggy with no anchovies and no taste. The Cesar salad at Luci Ancora however, was the classic version that I love. It was lemony, and had the perfect amount of acid accompanied by the saltiness of the anchovy. They served very fresh romaine with buttery garlic croutons. On the top of the salad was one large anchovy, which I was delighted to bite into. (For those of you that are squeamish you can get the Caesar sans anchovy but I don’t advise it!)

Our third course was very simple pasta with chunks of Wagu beef and vegetables including carrots and parsley. The dish was simple and flavored with garlic and butter but it was tasty and the portion was just right.  The Wagu beef chunks were tender and nothing in the dish was overwhelming – it was all perfectly balanced and simple. Sometimes the simplest dishes can be the tastiest. I am waiting for the day that a restaurant would put buttered noodles with equal parts sour cream and cottage cheese sprinkled with a bit of parsley, on the menu, which is our go to side on a busy school night.

Our last course was a Blue Marlin that was grilled. The fish was cooked perfectly with some pink left in the middle which can be hard to accomplish when you are dealing with a 3 oz piece of fish. The flavor was fresh and light and the fish was served alongside a delicate citrus dressed salad. The tasting menu was complete and it was the perfect amount of food. I was satisfied but not stuffed and I had saved room for dessert.

The first dessert we ordered was a berry tart that had macerated berries atop a puff pastry crust with a dollop of whip cream. This dessert was simple but tasty. When we finished with the first desert I convinced my dining companion to try another. This dessert was a deliciously light lemon cake with a cream cheese frosting and a blueberry drizzle with fresh berries. This was my favorite dessert in that it was sweet with the cream cheese and tart with the berries. I really love fruit served with cake and this was really tasty.

The hospitality at Luci Ancora was noteworthy. I felt like I was a member of their family that they were serving a family meal. At one point during the meal, some water got spilled when they were refilling our glass and they were apologetic without going overboard and quickly cleaned up the mess without making a big deal of it. Sometimes the quality of service can be measured by what happens when they spill on you, as crazy as that may sound, and the quality of service at both Luci restaurants is that you are treated like a member of their family.

Ristorante Luci
470 Cleveland Avenue South
Saint Paul, MN 55105
(651) 699-8258

Each year on St Patrick’s Day, I make Irish soda bread. I love baking. Sadly, I am just not very good at it. I lack the precision and the patience to become a real pastry chef but with this recipe I always have a hot loaf of bread at hand that I can serve with soups or stews. Yes, the holiday is over and  the weather is heating up, but homemade soup and bread are good anytime of the year, right?

I promise you any novice can make this bread. You need to eat it hot out of the oven as it tends to dry out throughout the day and it doesn’t keep well.

Irish Soda Bread

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 1/4 cup flour (you can use ½ white flour and ½ with whole wheat flour if you wish)
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• ½ stick unsalted butter
• 2 cups buttermilk

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.

Cut in butter until coarse (like pie dough).

Add buttermilk and mix until dough comes together.

Knead on floured surface to be sure ingredients are combined — it will be sticky.

Round the ball into a plump loaf and dust with flour and put into a deep, buttered 8-inch baking pan or cast iron pot. Cut top of dough with X shape (make a deep cut).

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes — until golden brown on top. Test with toothpick or skewer to be sure bread is baked through.

Cool on rack. Enjoy!

I am like Homer Simpson in that I am crazy for donuts. I try to limit my exposure to them. When I find donuts I like, it’s hard for me to resist them and I end up eating 4 in a sitting and have a stomachache for the rest of the day. There is a new donut shop in St Paul that is bound to become a destination spot for the 651’ers and people all over the Twin Cities. Mojo Monkey Donuts is located at 1168 7^th Street West in St Paul. The store is open until 3pm each day and serves donuts and coffee. This is not your average donut shop. The day I visited, the couple in front of me was telling the cashier that they drove 60 minutes to get a taste of these very special donuts.

My grandma made cake donuts that were the best little homemade morsels ever.  When rolled in sugar these donuts were perfect with a robust cup of coffee. Each bite was full of cinnamon and tasted like my grandmas kitchen so I know a good homemade donut when I taste one and these were stupendous. I loved the Apple dumpling cake donut. It was dense and cakey with a hint of cinnamon and chopped apple chunks in each bite.

The donuts are amazingly fresh with a clean taste and not at all greasy like many chain store donuts can be. Another Mojo Monkey store favorite is the Red Velvet donut made with red velvet cake, covered in chocolate with a cream cheese filling and pecans on top. A big favorite at the store is the long john with maple glaze and strips of crisp bacon sitting on top. They looked really good in the case and I like the idea of salty and sweet battling it out on a donut.

The couple that drove an hour for the donuts bought the rest of the bacon donuts left in the case. The raised donuts with pink frosting and sprinkles topped with a candy heart was the perfect treat for my little nieces or really anyone who has a kid in them that remembers what it was like to eat grandmas donuts.

Mojo Monkey Donuts
1169 7th Street West Saint Paul
www.mojomonkey.biz
Hours Tuesday – Thursday 5:30-3pm
Saturday-Sunday 6:30 –3pm

Saint Paul is known for a few things. We are home to Izzy’s glorious ice cream shop on Marshall Avenue. Saint Paul has our own Eat Street on University Avenue with ethnic restaurants galore. We have a world-class local farmers market in Lowertown and we are also home to the Twin Cities best burger at Casper and Runyons Nook in Saint Paul.

The Nook, as its called, is located at Randolph and Hamlin Avenue in a row of tiny shops. City Pages, USA Today and even Guy Fieri from the Food Network show Diners Drive Ins and Dives, have all crowned the Juicy Lucy from the Nook the best burger. The Nook had a fire December of 2010 that allowed them to remodel and update their space inside. They added a few more tables and made the interior more warm and comfortable but many days you will still drive by The Nook and the line will be out the door as people wait for a table to sink their teeth into that molten beefy goodness known as the Juicy Lucy. If you are a Saint Paul insider however, you know to keep driving.  The burgers that you get at The Nook are also available at Shamrocks, the companies other burger outpost with 20 times as much seating down the street at 995 7^th Street W in Saint Paul.

In 2006, Cretin boys Ted Casper and Mike Runyon, decided to purchase the former Mr. Pattoms to handle their burger overflow from The Nook. The gooey, spicy, beefy, salty Paul Molitor burger from The Nook can also be found at Shamrocks.  If you are more of a burger purist stick to the Juicy Nookie with American cheese leaking out of every bite. These boys pay attention to the meat, which is what makes their burger so superior. They grind their own Black Angus chuck and it shows in the finished product. The texture of their burger is light not compact. The bun on each burger is fresh from the bakery and puffy and yeasty. Check out the fries which are hand cut and rank up their as my favorite french fries in Saint Paul so its really like a two-fer when you get a burger basket at Shamrocks. The fries are crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside – no limp fries at Shamrocks. The Bloody Mary I had was so full of garnish it was like a meal in itself including pickle, pepperoni, cheese cubes, olives and ham served with a chaser of your favorite domestic tap beer.

Shamrocks they are also becoming known for their delicious chicken wings. The chicken wings at Shamrocks come as skewers; boneless nuggets, fried or a delicious spiced breaded colossal wing that has the leg and the wing attached when they are served.  Sauces range from the usual of buffalo; honey bbq and Thai peanut to the unusual like the Dubliner a sweet and smoky teriyaki and bourbon blend to a spicy earthy garlic chipotle. There is even a wing challenge at Shamrocks that promises if you eat 14 hot damn habanero wings in 20 minutes or less with no dip and no drinks – you get a free t-shirt.

So next time you crave a Nookie burger or a spicy wing wave at the suckers from Minneapolis standing outside waiting to get into The Nook and head on down to Shamrocks where you’ll get the Twin Cities best burger and…. a place to sit and eat it.

The Nook is at 492 Hamline Avenue South  Saint Paul or find their burger menu at  www.crnook.com. Shamrocks is at 995 w 7th street

St. Paul or  www.shamrocks.rfsportal.com.

In St. Paul, off of Transfer road, is a non-descript brick business office park. Inside you will find some of the best chocolates being made by Mary Leonard at Chocolat Celeste. Mary has been making chocolates for a very long time and moved her shop from University Avenue onto Transfer Rd. in the office park because it had a wonderful professional kitchen within which she could craft her famous chocolates. The new location has plenty of parking and when I went on a Saturday they had a chocolate tasting happening in the back room. Mary is an expert at beautiful packaging and creates custom chocolates and flavors for corporate gifts or wedding favors.

The sweet spot for Chocolat Celeste is the truffles and bon bons. Each morsel is made with local cream from Pride of Main Street and Hope Creamery butter. You can tell the difference in her truffles and bon bons is the high quality ingredients as they are so creamy and luscious bite after bite. Chocolat Celeste chocolates have very unique and sophisticated flavor profiles. In my box I found bon bons filled with a pear cognac in a white chocolate ganache and a dark chocolate bon bon with Chai bittersweet chocolate ganache. Her signature flavor is called the Celestial Sweetie and is pure simple bittersweet chocolate with chocolate ganache throughout. It is divine. There are salted caramels with dark chocolate and hot chili and pumpkin spice bon bons.

This season she partnered up with Rush River Brewing Company from Wisconsin and created a Porter truffle where the beer is boiled down and concentrated and mixed with the ganache inside the chocolate. Also in the beer lovers box is Winter Ale and an Alt Bier flavor these are tasty and beautiful dark chocolates with bright green designs on them. When packaged in the lime green box, these truffles make the perfect gift for any of the beer lovers in our life.

It doesn’t have to be a special occasion to indulge in this sweet confection, so head to Chocolate Celeste and grab some for yourself!

625 Transfer Avenue, St Paul, MN. (651) 644-3823

www.chocolatceleste.com

The Lexington and The St. Paul Grill instantly come to mind when you want to sip the perfect martini – shaken not stirred. Both of these St. Paul spots make a classic cocktail like no other.

Twin Cities cocktails are undergoing a revolution not seen since the days of the Mad Men two martini lunches. A new book that chronicles the Twin Cities cocktail scene has hit the market. It is called Northstar Cocktails and was put together by Johnny Michaels and the North Star Bartenders Guild. Johnny Michaels is the exceptional mixologist behind the bar at La Belle Vie in Minneapolis. Johnny has put together a collection of the most amazing bartenders in the Twin Cities including a few from the 651. This collection of bartenders make up a group of superior mixologists called The North Star Bartenders Guild. Every two weeks the group gets together to share their recipes and their love of the cocktail. The Northstar Cocktails book is a collection of their efforts. In the book.  Cocktail recipes read like food recipes with unusual ingredients like gourmet bitters, apples, lavender buds and pomegranate puree all making their way into your favorite drinks.  This is the quintessential book on how to take the experience from your favorite cocktail bar into your home and become your own expert mycologist.

When I go to a bar, I am a little shy about trying a new drink for fear that I wont like it. Johnny has assured me that most bartenders would rather have you try their favorite signature cocktail suggestion and send it back if you don’t like it versus ordering your old stand by.  Armed with that knowledge, my goal this year is to break out of my cocktail rutt.

Here are some Classic cocktails from the Lexington In St. Paul as well as a few suggestions for creative cocktails to make at home from the Northstar Cocktails book:

Vodka Gimlet

• 1 1/2 ounces vodka
• 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
• 1-teaspoon sugar.

Mix all ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake and pour into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with Lime.

Chocolate Martini from the Lexington Bar

• 1 1/2 shots Godiva liqueur
• 1 1/2 shots Crème de Cacao
• 1/2 shot Vodka
• 1/2 shots half and half cream

Mix all ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake and pour into a chilled martini glass that you have drizzled with Hershey’s chocolate.

 Cosmopolitan

• 1 (1.5 fluid ounce) jigger vodka
• 1/2 fluid ounce cointreau
• 1-teaspoon fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 fluid ounces cranberry juice
• 1 twist lime zest, garnish

Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The Honeycrisp Martini by Johnny Michaels from Northstar Cocktails

• 1¾ oz. Smirnoff green apple vodka
• 1¼ oz. fresh apple cider
• 2 oz. cava
• 2 to 3 dashes unsweetened pomegranate juice
• Apple slice

Swirl vodka and chilled cider in cobbler shaker (with ice). Strain into martini glass. Top with cava and then add pomegranate juice. Mount apple slice on rim at 45-degree angle.

 Cucumber- Melon Infused Martini by Christa Robinson from Northstar Cocktails

• I liter Ketel One Vodka
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced
• 1 wedge honeydew melon, peeled and chopped
• 1 wedge cantaloupe peeled and chopped
• Cucumber slice for garnish

Combine vodka, cucumber and melons in a glass jar and seal. Refrigerate 3-4 weeks and strain. Store in refrigerator. To serve, pour into martini glass and garnish with a slice of cucumber.