Martini Mischief

This recipe comes from Amy B.; who no longer drinks Cosmo’s.  LOL

Ingredients

• 2 oz. THREE OLIVES GRAPE VODKA
• 1 oz. THREE OLIVES VANILLA VODKA
• Splash Cranberry Juice

1. Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with crushed ice.
2. Strain into a chilled martini glass.
3. Garnish with a lemon wheel.  Or even better, Hershey Kisses.

French Kiss Martini

Here’s my Martini Story:

This happened a couple of years ago.  I was really interested in this guy (Terry), but I wasn’t totally sure that he was into me.  We would flirt here and there, but nothing had really come of it.  One day he invited me to this new place that opened, a place called Vigor, which had this awesome bar and a dance floor.  I was really excited, and while we weren’t exactly calling it a date, I figured we might end the evening together.

That afternoon, I went to my hairstylist and got highlights and a blowout, which looked really good.  As I was getting dressed, my sister came over and she made Cosmopolitans for us.  She was dating a bartender, and she had learned some tricks from him.   So we were drinking Cosmo’s, and shooting the shit, when she got the great idea to get my makeup done at the Chanel counter.  This made a lot of sense since it was such an important night, so we called and made an appointment for me.  I would just go on to my “date” from getting my new “face”.

The makeup consultant was really nice, and she assured me that she would pick out the best colors for my skin tone.  I was feeling really loose and relaxed while she was making me up, when my sister called me to ask if I got to the club ok.  I didn’t realize I was running late!!  So, I told the consultant that I had to run, she said she would write down the makeup she had picked out in case I wanted to come back and purchase it, and I left…running out to get a taxi.

At the club, I had no trouble finding Terry and his friends.  I was so excited to be there.  I ordered a martini, and found that Terry was staring at me, and not in a pleasant way.  He told me as gently as possible that I should look at my face in the mirror.  That’s when I realized that I hadn’t actually looked in the mirror when I was done at the makeup counter.
I ran to the ladies room, and I almost screamed in horror.  The makeup lady had only done half my face!!!!!!!!  Even the lipstick!!!  Everything.  Half of my face was naked, half of my face was too heavily made up in bright pinks and blues.  It was awful.

Anyway, I called Terry from my cell and told him I was going home.  He understood.  It was the most embarrassing night of my life.  Every time I think about it, I cringe.

And I don’t drink Cosmopolitans anymore.

Amy B.

What a "Gorgeous Martini"

Ingredients

• 1.5oz Pear Grey Goose Vodka
• 1oz Pineapple Juice
•  1/2 oz.  Watermelon or Strawberry Pucker
•  Lemon & Lime wedge as Garnish

1. In a shaker, mix vodka, Pineapple Juice, Pucker and Crushed Ice.
2. Strain into chilled martini glass
3. Garnish with Lemon or Lime Wheel

This is the Drink of the Day!!!!  Let us know what you think!

For our gin lover, @drinkdiva on twitter, who prefers her martinis with gin…

• 2 pieces fresh mangos
• 2 1/2 oz Tanqueray gin
• 1/2 oz Apricot Brandy
• 1/2 oz simple  syrup
• 1/2 ozfresh lemon

1. With a muddler, please muddle the mango into the bottom of a mixing glass; then add all other ingredients.
2. Shake well with your shaker; strain into a chilled martini glass.
3. Garnish with a piece of mango, apricot or lemon.

@Drinkdiva request for Mango Tini

This is an answer from a request from @drinkdiva on Twitter.  Please follow her, she’s definitely very cool!  Happy drinking drinkdiva!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1 1- 1/4-inch-long piece fresh Ginger (about 1 inch in diameter), sliced
• 2 medium mangoes, peeled, pitted
• 1/2 cup Tito’sVodka
• Ice 

1. Combine sugar, 1/2 cup water and ginger in heavy small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves.
2. Simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover; let steep 1 hour.
3.  Strain ginger syrup. Cool. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.)
4. Puree mangoes in blender. Pour into measuring cup.
5. Return 3/4 cup puree to blender (reserve any remaining puree for another use). Add 1/2 cup ginger syrup (reserve any remaining syrup for another use), vodka and ice cubes to mango puree in blender.
6.  Blend until smooth.

Enjoy!

Drink up...it's good for you!

This is Myrna’s personal recipe;  I hope you enjoy the limoncello as much I do!

Ingredients

• 20 Lemons, as fragrant and juicy as you can find;
• 1 Bottle of Tito’s Vodka (750ML);
• 1 Bottle of Everclear (750 ML) or similar grain alcohol as close to 100 proof as you can find;
• 3-1/2 Cups Water;
• 3-1/2 Cups Sugar;

1. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the peel from the lemons, taking care to keep the peels in long strips.  If you have a zester, lemon zest works better than peels.
2. With a sharp knife, remove the white pith from the peel.  Any pith left over will cause the taste to become bitter.
3. Place the lemon peels/zest in a 2 quart glass container.  Pour the vodka over the peels/zest and cover tightly.
4. Steep the lemon peels in the vodka/Everclear mixture  for 2-3 months, at room temperature.
5. Stir the water and sugar in a large saucepan, over medium heat, until the sugar dissolves.  (Simple Syrup)
6. Once this mixture has cooled, pour over the vodka/Everclear mixture.
7. Cover and let stand and additional 2-3 weeks, at room temperature.
8. Strain the limoncello; discard the lemon peels/zest.
9. Pour the limoncello into sealable bottles, and refrigerate.  You can store in the freezer, btw, because the high level of alchol won’t allow this cordial to freeze.

Limoncello

This recipe comes from Freda, a reader in Arkansas.  Try this recipe and let us know what you think!

Ingredients

• 2 oz. Grey Goose Vanilla Vodka
• 1/2 oz. Triple Sec
• 2 1/2 oz. Pineapple Juice
• 1/2 oz. Lime Cordial
• 1/2 Lime
• Crushed Graham Crackers for Rimming the Glass

1. Rim a chilled glass with the Graham Crackers.
2. Pour Vodka, Pineapple Juice, Triple Sec and Lime Cordial into a shaker with Crushed Ice.
3. Squeeze the juice from the lime into the shaker.
4. Shake well and Strain into your glass.

What a great dessert!

Hey, I don’t know if this is really in the same vein as your other stories, but it’s true and it involves martinis.  I don’t mind if you put it up on your website.  

Three Christmases ago, our family  my parents, my mother’s parents, my two sisters, my brother in law and I – decided to celebrate Christmas away from home.  Since everyone has grown up, and now lives in different states, it’s gotten harder for everyone to get home for the holidays. 

Well, my mom found this 5 star hotel with a great Holiday package, and so she arranged for all of us to meet there and spend the holiday week there.  My older sister Julie had been saving to get our parents a really nice video camera.  I mean pretty expensive.  She’s a graduate student, getting her doctorate, and she doesn’t make much money, so she had been saving for close to a year.  She figured our parents would really like having the camera, and they could record all of us together for the week.

 Christmas Eve, my sisters and my brother in law and I were hanging out at the pool (indoor of course!).  We had had wine with dinner earlier, and now Tim my b-i-l was bringing us drinks from the bar.  It’s pretty safe to say that we were all feeling pretty good.  Julie had been drinking cosmopolitans, and at some point she hit upon the brilliant idea that she could improve upon the camera, by taking an underwater video.  Well, I won’t bore you with the ins and outs.  Suffice it to say, the camera ended up at the bottom of the pool.  I don’t really remember much more of that night.

 The next afternoon, we were all feeling pretty horrible.  We had gathered in our parents suite to exchange gifts.  Julie had the camera box in her hand but couldn’t figure out why it was unwrapped, and she was accusing all of us of doing it.  When our parents opened the box, of course, there was nothing inside!  That’s when it hit all of us… 

Bottom line, the camera ended up at the front desk.  The person at the desk was trying hard not to laugh, our parents were aghast by the whole thing, and Julie was both angry at herself and embarrassed by everything.  And the camera?  Well, the water ruined it of course…

  Brandon Guilford

 Ok, I saw your site and thought it was pretty funny.  So here’s my martini story.  I don’t really come out looking good in it…but it is pretty funny.

 I went out with a few friends on a Saturday night, for drinks and appetizers, before a trip to the midnight movies.  We went a local dive, that is pretty popular with my crowd.  I am a lightweight when it comes to drinking and usually stop with one drink.  I had 3 appletinis;  I should have known that meant trouble.

 Then we went to the movies.  Sat up in the back on the side, where it’s kinda dark. In these older movie theatres, the balcony sections in the corners are actually really dark!   I sat next to the guy I was kinda seeing (no engagement ring or anything, but together for about 5 months).  He and I start making out, which is something I don’t normally do in  public…

 Then there was some shuffling around…someone went to the bathroom, someone went to get popcorn, we were creating a commotion in general.  When everyone got back, I started making out with my guy again.   Flash forward…end of movie…lights come up…and I haven’t been making out with MY guy; I’ve been making out with this guy who was the date of my friend!!!  I’d never even met him before that evening.  I was embarrassed, my friend was angry; the guy knew it was me, and just figured, hey…I was really into him. 

 So, that was four years ago.  I don’t keep up with most of the people from that evening out, but I married the guy I made out with.  He’s pretty proud of that fact.

 Cara Lyn Spence