Attaboy

If you aren't getting "Attaboys" at work, you can make them at home.

In mixing glass with ice

1/4 oz vermouth
Dash grenadine
1 1/4 oz gin
Lemon Twist

Stir well
Strain into martini glass

Dawn Murphy
"Sing Behind the Plow"

One Week Down, One to Go

200 drinks to memorize in two weeks! I'm going through the first one hundred with my flash cards and I'm getting almost all of them almost right. What kind of a grade does that get me, Ha. I think it's called an "F"

So my impressions after one week of Bartending class? Well for one thing I've never heard one person day "Mother F---" so many times in my entire life. That would be my instructor who also says she's ready to go getto on people pretty regularly as well.

I'd say the class was very good with the exception of the repeated threats of retaliation from the instructors. So this is how it goes. Everyone is working away on practice drinks and without cause and with very little prompting, the instructor, Sabrina, says, "you really shouldn't mess with me, I do your practical exam and I could make things very difficult for you.". She says something like this every class and if it's not a threat related to the exams it's one related to job placement. From what I can tell all the students are behaving themselves, are helpful to their fellow students, and are in general really nice. So why the repeated threats? Ugh!

This is, after a week and 20 hours of instruction, my only complaint about my Bartending class.

20 more hours to go and 100 more drinks to memorize. Whoo hoo!

Dawn Murphy
"Sing Behind the Plow"

COCK-Tail Shaker

I never thought I'd be writing the words "Bow Job" on a flash card

I started my Bartending course last night. It's an intensive 4 hours a day with lots and lots of memorizing. So just now I was making some flash cards from last night's drink recipes. I had to pause after writing, "BLOW JOB" on the front of one of my cards.

Goodness! What would my mother think?

Oh and the recipe is

In a shot glass
1/2 oz Kahlua
1/2 oz Bailey's
Top with Whipped Cream

The customer takes the glass in his/her mouth (look mom no hands), then drinks by putting the entire shot glass in his/her mouth. YIKES!

Dawn Murphy
"Sing Behind the Plow"

Class Starts Tonight

My Bartending and Mixology certification class starts tonight. I'm not quite sure what to expect but I am hoping the instruction provided is good. If not I just might be in for 40 hours over two weeks of torture. Well, I'm sure it won't be torture but I'm hoping for enjoyable.

Should I take a notebook? Will I be the only almost 40 year old in the room? How many students will there be? Lots of questions with answers to come tonight. Whoo Hoo!

Dawn Murphy
"Sing Behind the Plow"

Certified or Certifiable

Just signed up for my Bartending class. By the end of the month I'll be certified bartender. Yay!

Dawn Murphy

"Sing Behind the Plow"

Step 2 and 30 days before the next step

Guess What We're Making?

Now the text to my first mobile post

So I've been absent for a while, but that does not mean that I haven't been drinking. Basically as new moms will know it's pretty difficult to get a free moment to get on the computer. We can always make time for drink, but get to the computer, fat chance, even if it is to write about bar-tending. 

Now an alternative!  I've jumped into the world of the iPhone and I'm ready to blog from my phone. Fun fun fun!

So here's the first post complete with a beautiful Cadillac margarita prepared by my wonderful husband.

Dawn Murphy

"Sing Behind the Plow"

1st Mobile Post

Gene Tunney! Who's that?

Well apparently he's a guy who had a terrible drink named after him.

Gene Tunney at Wikipedia
"James Joseph "Gene" Tunney (May 25, 1897 – November 7, 1978) was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1926-1928 who defeated Jack Dempsey twice, first in 1926 and then in 1927. Tunney's successful title defense against Dempsey is one of the most famous bouts in boxing history and is known as The Long Count Fight. Tunney retired as an undefeated heavyweight after his victory over Tom Heeney in 1928."

So that's who Gene Tunney was and the drink...

Gene Tunney
1/4 oz Orange Juice
Dash of Lemon Juice
3/4 oz dry Vermouth
1 oz Gin

So you can see from the recipe that it includes Gin. I've had other drinks with Gin and enjoyed them, so I don't think that it's the Gin that I'm disliking so much.  I'll have to try some other Gin drinks to make sure though.  Do you like Gin?  What's your favorite Gin drink?  The American Bar has approximately 85 drinks with Gin in them.  I could go for a Long Island Ice Tea but that's not that adventureous.

It didn't take me long to buy the Gin once I'd decided on the next drink.  Too bad the drink ended up tasting terrible.  So I think I bought good Gin.  NO pine taste.  I bought Tanqueray.  Why did I choose Tanqueray?  Well, I have fond memories of a bike ride through a hurricane with approximately 2,800 other bicyclists.  Interest peeked?  Tanqueray sponsors "AIDS Ride" events and when I lived in Boston I completed the Boston to New York City AIDS Ride.  This was the year 1999 and the year of the Hurrican Floyd.  When I'd trained for the ride from Boston to New York I had prepared for an adventure.  Well, I'd had no idea!  The 'ride' began with several hours of waiting in the cold rain, a 4 hour bus ride in a bus that had defective wind shield wipers, and a stop off at a Truck Stop with 40 other bicyclists (mostly gay men) wearing spandex and helmets decorated with various near pornagraphic images.  Imagine what the truck drivers had to say when we showed up.  HA!

I'm thinking a little more about the Still suggestion.   Sounds interesting, but I can't help thinking that making my own booze might lead to blindness.  Of course the guys in M.A.S.H. did it, so why not me?

A good question to ask yourself, "Is it the Buzz talking?"

We'll have to skip the White Russian for now.  Tonight I managed to go out with a friend from work, THANKS JO!  I even managed it with the boy along.  Imagine that!  So while out at Jerry's I had a Grey Goose Lemon Drop Martini and I had a celebrity siting.  Of course I couldn't place the actor while I was sitting at the restuarant trying to prevent my 14 month old from clobbering the person in the booth next to me with the macroni and cheese dish, but figured it out with a little google help once I got home.  What did I google? "Curly haired actor" The result...James Frain.  Okay, so I have no idea what he actually ate, but since I had Pastrami, just imagine the man below and...a faint scent of ...meat. Ha! Ha! Ha!

Grey Goose Lemon Drop Martini

3/4 oz Lemon Juice

1/4 - 3/4 oz Sugar Syrup

1 1/2 oz Grey Goose

1/2 oz TripleSec

Shake with Ice Cubes

What a nice way to end this crazy day at work.  I'm lucky because I'm now only working 20 hours a week, but as my colleagues have said, "Now, you seem like you're on turbo at work."  Apparently there is a joke at work that if you're caught in the hallaway as I'm coming your way.  You're sure to be flattened as I steamroll down the hallway.  I'm still working out how to balance the whole family thing with the work thing.  I have full-time responsibilities with only 20 hours to do it.  I was frequently called a "workaholic" before the boy came along and now I just try to fit everything into a smaller amount of time + the Grey Goose :)

Oh, I found a site that readers of this blog might be interested in.  Check out this website if you're a mom and want a degree in bartending.

http://www.momsreturntoschool.com/bartending/

Ok, I must make plans for more recipes.  The To Buy List includes Gin.  That is "good" Gin as my husband says, because we definitely do not want Gin that tastes like pine.  I guess I'm just happy if it doesn't taste like paint thinner, but what do I know.

The American Bar says, "A Bar without Gin is like an Italian kitchen without pasta."  So off to the store to buy some good Gin.  Also, I've been advised that I should have my own Still.  What do you all think?  It would fit on the balconey with the Worm Factory.  Would it bother the neighbors below us?  Would it cancel out the smell of the worms?  Do the neighbors even know that I have a worm composter with thousands of worms living just above them?  Let's hope not.  So a Still? 

Ah well, off to bed.

Bartending for a New Mom? Appalling!

Wait it's not that bad. Think about it. You can no longer go out like you used to and you still want to hang with your friends. Oh and don't forget, YOU NEED A DRINK, from time to time. So my advice, as a new mom, and a woman that has enjoyed a drink or two, is buy yourself the American Bar by Charles Schumann and have at it.

I've not been a mixed drinker in the past except for a few standards. I have been adventurous in my life with other things, but not with booze, which now that I think of it is a good thing.  In fact, I must admit that I'm quite ingorant when it comes to mixed drinks. I don't know what's in the drinks I like and I've been of the opinion that it must be quite difficult and complicated to make a good drink. That's why the big tip for the bartender, right?

I'm turning over a new leaf though. As part of my "therapy" and as a way to improve my mind (HA!), I'm starting with my standard drinks and moving through the book so that I'll one, really know what I like, two, I'll be able to order with confidence when I actually ever get a chance to out again, and three, I'll be able to make my own damn drink when I need--I'm mean want one. How many drink recipes are there in the American Bar? I haven't counted them up yet, but I'm going to find out.

Drink #1 Margarita
Good Heavens! I never imagined that the Margarita was sooo very simple.

3/4 oz lemon juice
3/4 oz Cointreau (or triple sec)
1 1/2 oz tequila

That's it?!

So what's in Margarita Mix? I headed off to the grocery recently to find out and the ingredients read lemon juice, triple sec, and tequila. That's it?! No mysterious ingredients that I don't know what it is or where to find it.  Well if the drinks are going to be this easy, well...what an idiot I've been. The first drink was a success!

So what's next? On to the White Russian, though I'll have to do a little shopping. WE NEED KALHUA! The booze stash in the house may seem extensive to some, but its ancient. It currently includes Tequilla, Vodka, Congac, Saki, Amaretto, and Citron. The tequilla we used for the Margarita's was at least 5 years old and may even have been 8 years old. I just can't remember when I bought it. It definitely moved with us into our current condo and we moved here in fall 2006. I have a lot of vodka in the house though for the most part they are unopened bottles collected at various times with the intent to make a screw driver, but never actually opened. Its a little scary, but I think we actually have 3 bottles of vodka. I can however remember when I bought the Amaretto. I bought it to make a Peach Amaretto Sorbet in 2002. Does Amaretto go bad? Maybe I'll be dumping it.

Okay so a little shopping for more booze is needed and perhaps a little investment in some actual bartending equipment. You are supposed to "shake" the ingredients for a Margarita and I do not have a shaker. Note to else and anyone else that's interested. Using a coffee travel mug does the job, but its not very elegant and who wants to make a drink for a friend when its not an elegant process. So off we go. Are you ready for the adventure?