As we close off Cocktail Week, I thought this Tim Gunn-approved bar cart would be good inspiration as you go off into the weekend! I love how the owner has reworked this vintage cart to make it completely Happy Hour-ready: it not only holds liquor and lemons, but the drawers — pulled out on the sides — function as shelves for glasses. Talk about making it work!

Sparkling wine is already a festive pour for a party, but here's an idea for making it a little more special: serve homemade fruit liqueur lollipops for guests to stir into their bubbly. It's an elegant, surprising take on the usual champagne cocktail.

I recently came across a 2006 NPR article on famous fiction writers and their signature drinks, which sent me down a rabbit hole looking back at the history of this pairing. In celebration of Cocktail Week on The Kitchn, here are 10 writers and the boozy concoctions they drank and wrote about. More

Item: 64 oz Wide Mouth Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel Growler
Price: $49.99
Overall Impression: This is a fantastic product for keeping beer and other beverages cold — and hotter foods hot — for hours. Works like a charm.

Love. Love. Love. I love this growler. I love it for keeping my beer carbonated and chilled all the way to the party. I love it for keeping my big batch of soup hot for the potluck. I even love it for keeping my milk cozy at it turns into yogurt. I just love it. Times a million.

With this being Cocktail and Happy Hour week at The Kitchn, I simply could not let the week go by without a shout out for Lambrusco, the crisp, refreshing and deliciously frothy sparkling red wine from Emilia Romagna in Italy. I particularly like and recommend the 2011 Cavicchioli ‘Vigna del Cristo’ Secco ($16), which is perfect for any happy hour gathering, especially now, as Lambrusco is suddenly trendy again.

Joanne Weir, a San Francisco chef, tequila expert, and the subject of one of our early kitchen tours, makes a margarita at her Bay Area restaurant Copita that is known as one of the best in the region. She says — and I agree whole-heartedly — that the biggest mistake people make with their margaritas is that they use too many ingredients like Triple Sec, Grand Marnier, or Cointreau. It’s all about the balance of sweet and tart in a glass with just a few ingredients: 100% agave tequila (Weir prefers blanco), freshly squeezed lime juice and agave nectar. 

Well, not really. But even if that wasn't the original design intention, it pretty much does just that. Have you ever seen a home bar that was quite so cool? It's a bar! No, it's a sculpture! No, it's a work of art! Gah. It's awesome. We rest our case.

I just returned from my first trip to Lebanon, where I spent a week eating and drinking all over the country. Whether in a restaurant or someone's home, no matter where I stopped for a drink, I was always offered a bowl or two of mixed nuts. This, I learned, was no coincidence.

Growing up, I would always laugh at my dad after he drank a beer or a glass of wine. He is Thai-Chinese and even one drink makes his face turn bright red. "You're red!" I'd say, pointing and laughing. It never stopped being funny.

Until the first time I drank alcohol. My face turned beet-red and felt feverishly hot. It wasn't funny at all. More