#1. Recipes from the winemaker's restaurant takeover

It's a rare day when a group of winemakers come to a restaurant, kick out the chef, and prepare a five-course meal for 30 people. But perhaps winemaker Maggie Harrison says that this is how dinner with wine should be.

Having been to countless wine dinners, I can attest that many of them are less than enthralling. The winemaker stands or sits at the head of the table and gives some details about the newly poured bottle: She spent 10 months in new oak, came from such and such a vineyard, named after the winemaker's daughter/wife/grandmother. /whatever. Next meal, next wine. It can be informative, sure, but not exactly spellbinding.

Harrison, co-owner of the Antica Terra winery in Oregon, never liked this model. Why not arrange a dinner instead, where each dish is specially matched to the wine; where winemakers pour their own wines; where, in fact, the winemakers also prepare all the food, serve it and really interact with every visitor to the establishment?

“Except for the tuna,” Ready says.

"GOOD. I ordered 25 pounds more tuna,” Harrison admits. "But that was the worst."

• Recipes:Fried Escarole toasts with trout caviar
• Fried tuna with red wine sauce
• Slow-cooked pork shoulder with fried apples
• Pies with lemon soufflé and pudding
• Potato gnocchi with wild mushroom ragout and hazelnuts
• Connected:More Oregon Wines
• 12 Hot New Places to Eat and Drink in Portland, Oregon
• F&W Wine Club Adventurer Wines

#2. whisky cocktails Recipe

Winter whiskey sour

This classic bourbon cocktail takes a festive turn with a splash of orange juice and edible gold glitter - perfect for Christmas parties

METHOD

Step One

Using a small paintbrush (or your finger), brush some honey around the rim of two tumblers and use another small paintbrush to stick edible gold glitter around each.

Step Two

Fill each glass with crushed ice. Put the bourbon into a cocktail shaker with the lemon juice, orange juice and sugar syrup. Shake and strain into each glass, and serve with an orange slice and short straws.