Beverage Monday

Since this coming Sunday is the BIG day why not celebrate with some drinks named after the cities that are sending their teams there and the city that is hosting the event.

Hurricane, New Orleans Style
1 oz white rum
1 oz Jamaican dark rum
1 oz Bacardi® 151 rum
3 oz orange juice
3 oz unsweetened pineapple juice
1/2 oz grenadine syrup
crushed ice

Combine all ingredients, mix well (shake or stir). Pour over crushed ice in a Hurricane Glass. Best enjoyed through a small straw. Garnish with fruit wedge if desired.

Indy Car
1 oz apricot brandy
1 oz dry vermouth
1/2 oz triple sec
1 oz passion-fruit juice
3 oz lemon-lime soda

Pour the ingredients in order into an ice-filled Highball Glass, and serve.

Miami Beach
1 oz vodka
1 oz 1800® Tequila
1 oz rum
1 oz gin
1 oz triple sec
1 oz sweet and sour mix
1 splash peach schnapps

Mix ingredients together, over ice, in a Collins Glass. Pour into a shaker. Shake a couple times and pour ingredients back into glass. Garnish with lemon.

Cheers,

Beverage Tuesday

"Diet" Cocktails

We all want to be able to have a cocktail or two and maintain our figures, but what to drink and not sacrifice the flavor.
You can of course have low cal drinks at home with diet juices & other diet mixers, you can also substitute Splenda for the sugar in a few drinks, but at a bar what do you order?

• How about the Skinny Bitch, which is a Rum & Diet Coke?
• You can order any liquor with Diet Coke.
• The lower the proof, the lower the alcohol content. Most shots of basic alcohol {1 1/2 ozs.} will set you back about 100 calories.
• Bars don't usually have any other mixer that is diet. Tonic water is not a diet drink, nor is ginger ale.
• You can order your drink with Soda Water. Which is only bubbly water.
• A Wine Spritzer is just that, wine with soda water.
• There is always the light beer, but that can be boring.
• A glass of Champagne is pretty low in calories, too.
• There are conflicting reports online about the Sour Apple Martini, but most say it is fairly low in calories.
• The Mojito is somewhat low-cal, even better if you can slip in a sugar substitute.
• If you are at a bar that has infused liquors, give those a try on the rocks.
• Bloody Mary's are fairly low in calories, too, since they are made with tomatoes instead of fruit juice.
  

Next time I will give you some recipies to try at home.

Cheers,

Welcome 2010

Hello Everybody. Welcome to 2010. I have been off the map for awhile, {I lost my father & planned a joint celebration of life for my parents, during the holidays, fun stuff!} but I am ready to get a jump on a new year and decade.

I do want to say congratulations to everybody who got engaged over the holiday's. How very exciting for you.

As a newly engaged couple where do you start? After you show everybody the ring and let everybody know just how excited you are where do you go from there?

• The first thing you need to do is decide on who is paying for the wedding. Or how much can you spend on your dream wedding?


• Once you figure that out, hire a wedding planner. They are not an additional expense, they can be a godsend. I am not biased or anything. We do help you, a lot!


• Once you do those two things then you can have some fun! Buy magazines, look at blogs, figure out what your wedding day style is.


• If you don't hire a wedding planner, you need to book a venue for your reception, one for your ceremony if you are planning on having them in different locations.


• While you are doing that and getting sticker shock on the per person cost, you need to decide on your guest list. At this point you will be cutting out a lot of people who you don't think is worth the $100.00+ per plate charge & understand why you couldn't just bring a date to your second cousin's wedding.


• You will also need to start looking for your wedding dress. If you don't get it at David's or a similar take it home today store, you need to allow at least 6 months for your dress to be made just for you.


• You need to also think about the entertainment for the evening. Do you want a band or DJ? Since they will be there with you for your entire event you need to book them soon.


• But until you have a venue locked down {a signed contract and deposit paid} you don't have a date & if you don't start the search soon you will find that your dream location just might be booked on your desired date, especially if you want a Saturday in May, June or October.


• It takes about three hundred hours to plan a wedding, which is a lot of time. There are lots of decisions to make, lots of details to consider. Do yourself a favor and hire a wedding planner, even if you have one just for the Day of. Interview a couple. Make sure you click. Don't choose one on price alone. They will help you alleviate a lot of stress, because nobody wants to turn in to the dreaded...


• Have fun during this time. Enjoy the thrill of being in love and sharing that love with your fiance. Can you believe that you have one? I wish you all the best.

Congratulations Again,

Beverage Monday

Thanksgiving Cocktails

Here are some Thanksgiving Cocktails and a Cranberry & Pumpkin Pie recipie thrown in for good measure.

Thanksgiving Cocktail

1 1/2 oz Wild Turkey® bourbon whiskey
1/2 oz Applejack® brandy
1 tsp Rose's® lime juice
4 oz cranberry juice

Fill Collins glass one-half full of ice, add ingredients and stir. Garnish with a lime wedge, if desired.

Thanksgiving Special

3/4 oz apricot brandy
3/4 oz dry vermouth
3/4 oz gin
1/4 tsp lemon juice
1 cherry

Shake all ingredients (except cherry) with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Top with the cherry and serve.

A Southern Thanksgving

3 oz Southern Comfort® peach liqueur
1 oz Wild Turkey® bourbon whiskey
1 oz cranberry juice
1/2-1 oz lime juice

Combine Southern comfort and Wild turkey in glass first. Add Cranberry juice and finish with splash of lime juice. Add a garnish of apple or lime and serve on ice.

Cranberry Kiss

4 oz reposado 1800® Tequila
4 oz triple sec
8 oz cranberry juice

Make by the glass for a few guests or in a shaker or pitcher for a large party. Serve in a cocktail glass, garnishing the glass rim with a half slice of fresh lime.

Pumpkin Pie

1/2 oz Kahlua® coffee liqueur
1/2 oz Bailey's® Irish cream
1/4 oz cinnamon schnapps

Slowly layer the ingredients in the order listed above into a large shot glass.

Cheers,

Beverage Tuesday

I am feeling a little nutty!

Butter Pecan

1 oz Frangelico

2 tbsp vanilla ice cream

5 pecan nuts

Pour Frangelico into a Cocktail glass and add the ice-cream. Coarsely chop the pecan nuts and put them on top to garnish.

Nuts & Berries

1/2 oz of Chambord
1/2 oz of Frangelico
2 oz cream

Put all of the ingredients into a a shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled Cocktail Glass.

Toasted Almond

2 oz Amaretto
2 oz Coffee Liqueur
2 oz Light Cream

Pour the ingredients into a Rocks Glass filled with ice.

Buttery Nutty Squirrel

1 oz butterscotch schnapps
1 oz amaretto almond liqueur
1 oz Bailey's Irish cream

Pour ingredients into a shaker filled ice. Shake and the strain into a chilled Cocktail Glass.

Cheers,

Recipes courtesy of DrinksMixer.com
Photo courtesy of faqs.org

Who's to Blame?

This was on the news on Friday, November 13, 2009 at 4 pm on KABC, channel 7 in Los Angeles.{I saw a teaser of it on Oprah, I was catching up today} Yes, you really do need to do your homework before hiring any professional. When deciding on a wedding planner, look for one that is an association or can at least give you names of previous brides. And a professional wedding planner will do just that, help you PLAN & Coordinate your wedding day. We do not make your food, your dress or take your photos. We rely on professionals in those fields to do it. We do not sign contracts with vendors. We do not take money up front to pay for other vendors. BIG RED FLAG! We will refer and recommend vendors but it is up to you the couple to pay and sign a contract for their services. We will help you distribute final payments and gratuities on the wedding day, but it is your money, not ours.

As a couple please do not go to a one stop shop. Yes, I can bake, but not your wedding cake. I can drive, but not a limo., I can play music, but not like a DJ. I have a camera, but they won't look the same. I can arrange flowers but not for a wedding. You need to taste the food and cake before your wedding. You should go to an event the DJ is at to get a feel for him. Have the floral designer show you examples. You should see lots of photos from the photographer before you book. Also, an engagement session so you can see if you feel comfortable with them. Meet the wedding planner before you sign anything. Make sure your personalities mesh. You are paying these people A LOT of money. Your wedding is one of your most expensive purchases, don't come away from it like this couple. I feel sorry for them, but one person doing everything? Come on! As a wedding planner I can't do their jobs if I am doing my job right, which is coordinating your wedding day. Likewise, they can't/shoudn't be doing my job if you are paying them to be your floral designer, caterer, photographer or DJ.

Thanks for hearing me out,

Website Changes

There have been some changes to A Joyeux Day's website. I have added photos and thank you letters. {finally} I have also gone with another company so I was able to change some other things. Check them out & let me know what you think.
Enjoy your day,