Martini Monday - Sugar Plum Martini

This week, I have decided to try and re-make the wonderful Sugar Plum Martini that I sampled at the Outback a few weeks ago.  It was super yummy and I needed to re-create it.

The menu of most restaurants will tell you what's in the martini but will not tell you how much of each ingredient is in the drink.  All the more fun, I say, right??  Trial time:)

Following is what is listed on the menu:  Grey Goose Vodka, Elderflower liqueur, DiSarrano Amaretto, Apothec Red Blend, and Pomegranate... mix well and serve in a sugar rimmed martini glass.

Here is me enjoying the one from Outback:

Notice, they also added gumdrop candies to hang from the glass...cute.

OK...so I check out the ingredients and do a bit of research... Elderflower Liqueur is quite a difficult find...I tried 3 different liquor stores.  Apparently, it's pretty popular to put in champagne (according to the clerk at the 3rd and final attempt).  And, a bottle of it (sold through St. Germain brand) has a pretty high price tag.  You see, I am also trying to make these martinis as cheaply as possible with my limited budget:)  So, I did the next best thing, got on the phone to hubby and made him look up possible substitutes for the Elderflower.  According to the all-mighty internet, you can use a liqueur that is berry in nature...for example, blueberry or raspberry...it even recommended Creme de Cassis.  Aha...I found a bottle of Creme de Cassis for $6.99...score!!

Now...onto the Apothec Red Blend.  Did you  know this is a particular red wine??  I don't drink red wine and I had never heard of it.  But, alas, the liquor store clerks knew exactly what I was looking for and pointed me in the right direction.  A bottle of this wine averages $10...and score if you're having guests b/c you can use it as your red wine for the night!!

I have vodka in my house...just not Grey goose and I already had a bottle of the Amaretto (yes, I have the DiSarrano...but they do make a cheaper version...I just happened to already have this one).

Pomegranate- I assumed they meant juice and I generally always have some form of juice in my house.  Pomegranate juice is a great addition to my seltzer during the week...  Oh, and my kids actually drink it too:)

After mixing up the ingredients and playing a bit, I found that a little bit of sour mix (you should all already have this if you have a well-stocked bar) made the drink that much more delightful.

So, here are the ingredients you will need to make the Faux Sugar Plum Martini:
Vodka (whatever brand you have...I had Stoli)
Creme de Cassis
Amaretto
Red Apothic Blend wine
Pomegranate Juice
Sour Mix

Please note that my martini glass holds 10 shots of liquid (yes, I measured it our for you). A typical martini glass holds approximately 4 shots of liquid.  So, my recipe below will make enough for 2 martinis and a little bit extra...hope you have a drinking buddy:)  BTW- my martini glass came from the Dollar Store...

Vodka-         1 shot

Cassis-          3 shots

Amaretto-     1 shot

Wine-           1 shot

Juice-           2 shots

Sour Mix     2 shots

Pour all of your ingredients into a martini shaker that you have already filled with ice.  Shake shake shake and pour into your already rimmed glasses!!

For the rim, you can see I did a regular sugar on it in the picture above.  For some reason, I just didn't like the plain old white sugar.  So, see below...I used honey around the rim and sugar in the raw.  I personally thought this was a much better fit for this martini.

Go ahead and add your gumdrops if you want...I, myself, am not a gumdrop eater so I will skip them.  But, it does make a nice presentation.

Just a quick 'How To'... how to get the sugar to stick to the rim... If you're using plain white sugar, you can just wet the edge of the glass with water (I used a wet paper towel).  Have sugar ready to go on a plate and roll the edge of glass into sugar.

If you're like me and want the crunchier sugar, use honey along the edge of glass as the sugar in the raw won't stick very good with just water.

If you happen to make this, let me know.  Would love to hear how you liked it.

If you have any martinis you want me to try and re-create, just let me know:)  I have no problems with the research!!

Have a great night..er..morning:)

Martini Monday - What is a Martini??

Ahhhhh...the Martini.  I know, I know...I'm a wine drinker not a martini drinker, right???  But, there are times when I do love a good martini...of course, I generally reserve the 'martini' for those Friday nights after a long, long, long, long (you get the picture) week.  But, what is a martini you ask??   OK, so maybe you didn't ask b/c perhaps you already know what it is... or do you??  The martini's of today are NOT the martini's of the past.

According to Wikepedia, the definition of a Martini is such:  The Martini is a cocktail made with gin and vermouth, and garnished with an olive or a lemon twist.

Now, rather than spew out more information regarding the original martini and how it got it's name, I am going to be lame and give you a bunch of links to check it out in case you were interested (see links below)...
It was kinda interesting to read about it and where it might have started from (nobody really knows...but there are some ideas)

You see, my real goal with this whole Martini Monday blog post is to create a weekly martini and share it with you.  Some of my martini's will be completely created from my crazy brain while others will be replicated from a restaurant (you know, where they list the ingredients but don't give you exactly how much of what to put into drink??).  I love to play with ingredients and flavors...some of these will be Awesome but I am sure some will be flops.  If you see a martini somewhere and you want me to try and break it down for you, I'm open to that as well...just let me know:)

The Martini's of today are named more for the glass they are served in and not because they resemble the Original Martini.  Gin...blech...'nuff said.  I used to drink Gin and Tonics in college because they resembled a sprite...but that doesn't mean I liked them:)  So, if you're looking for straight up Gin or Vodka (the imitation original martini) Martini, please do not move forward with reading my stuff.  I am all about the flavorful, frilly, silly, yummy concoctions served up in that long stemmed beautiful glass!! (or the new stemless version of a martini glass...these come in handy if you are prone to knocking drinks over)

And so, as I gear up to start spewing recipes and ratios and splashes of liquids, please make sure you have a Shaker and a Martini glass:)  And I'll see you next Monday with the first of many!!

IN OTHER NEWS...if you're an avid reader of my Honest Mommy entries...here's what's been going on since I last wrote in life and in my head (and I'm just going to list a bunch of crap and you'll know I was busy even though I promised to try and write at least every week...sorry...maybe...I've been busy..lol) Since the end of September:
-Franny turned 3
-Franny started preschool
-Nutcracker auditions
-Nutcracker rehearsals on top of the 11 total dance classes between the 4 kids)
-Polish dance 1-2 per week
-I turned 39...eeeeek... liven it up this year and enjoying every second of it.. um, did you see I was going to be making weekly martini's??  ha ha ha
-Halloween - Franny was sick and didn't dress up, she missed her whole week of Halloween at school
-New gig bartending
-Thanksgiving
-Performing with Jimmy Sturr's Christmas Show
-Performing in the Nutcracker
-Drinking wine
-PTA meetings and things
-Re-visiting my whole photography and trying to boost it a bit   (need some pics, call me...am in the portfolio building stage and looking for some subjects to practice on:)  )
-Re-thinking my cookie business... failure, lack of time, is it worth it, yadda yadda yadda
-Christmas
-New Year's
-Do I go back to school for my masters??  It's never too late, right??
-Potty training a toddler who's not really 100% ready but I just don't want to buy diapers anymore... fun times!!
-Back to school

And here we are...I am sure I missed a bunch of stuff in there...but, I think you get the picture.

Things to look forward to:
-Creating personal goals for the 1st time in my 39 years of life
-Creating a household chore schedule for myself to try and stay on top of it... um... maybe...
-And other stuff I can't think about right now...my brain is about to shut off

Hope you have a Fantastic Day and I will totally see you next Monday!!

Oh, yeah, here are the links I promised you:)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martini_(cocktail)
http://www.sipsmith.com/blog/articles/the-history-of-the-martini
http://www.cityofmartinez.org/our_city/martini.asp
http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/the-classic-martini/Content?oid=921951

Not Just a Stay at Home Mom...

9 years ago, this month, hubby and I made the decision that I would not go back to work full-time.. Instead, I would take on the challenges of being a mommy...full-time.  At the time, we had DJ (who was almost 2) and Kyra (who was 3 months old).  We did the math and figured out I would pretty much bring in very limited income with 2 kiddies in daycare.  Mentally, I don't think I was quite ready for it...but...we did it. And here we are with 2 more kiddies thrown into the mix.

It wasn't too long after our decision was made, and I no longer had a job, that we realized we really couldn't make it on 1 salary.  Sooooooooooo, this momma has been on a quest to bring in an income as well.  In the past 9 years I've done what I can, when I can to bring in an income.  In our family structure, my income needed to cover groceries and gas for my car.  I've done everything from bartending, waitressing, baking, picture taking, cleaning, birthday party hostess, babysitting, library work...etc.  Just last year, there were some weeks where I worked 4-5 jobs and basically never had a day off.  We all know parenting is a full-time job, so that is NOT included in my 4-5 job description.  lol

And, we all know that just being the MOM means tons and tons of juggling and scheduling and planning and budgeting.  There is a limitless supply of unpaid (monetarily speaking...hugs and kisses are always there for the taking) chores to do.  Since we all know about those, I'm not going to bore you with them...

Recently, though, I find myself at a crossroads of working.  I no longer babysit (there are so many pros to this... only con is that constant salary) and the temporary bartending gig has ended (I am only the back-up person now with no weekly shift).  I continue to work in the library...but that means Saturdays and Sundays and also means I miss a lot of stuff (ie. soccer, bday parties, events, etc).  I love the library...it just sucks that I basically can only work on weekends (with 1 night thrown in there when I have a 'free' babysitter). And, with no other income coming in, these library checks cannot shrink too much and my budgeting must become very imaginative. Ahhh, yes, budgeting... I hate that word!! I even have a gas budget...

And so, now I must figure out my next step in doing my part.  I don't think hubby knows just how bad I feel when I can't 'bring home the bacon' every week.  Working full-time, during the day would completely change the dynamics of this house...and quite honestly, I am not willing to do that right now.  I want to be home when the kids get off the bus and I want to be home with Franny until she goes off to Kindergarten.  I hate working my 1 night a week b/c it means I am not there to see them and check homework and get them to afterschool activities (I'm a control freak and really hate leaving this stuff to other people...super hard for me...).

But, alas, my thinking cap is on and I know we will get past this.  Everyone has daily struggles in this world.  We all work hard to make sure we do what we can (and I believe that's different for every mom out there...we are all made differently and struggle with our own demons on a daily basis).  So, I will push some cookies and photo sessions and see where that takes me (both are my passion)...And, I will continue to look for that perfect job for right now (you know, like a Facebook Game tester...or maybe getting paid to sleep at night...etc)  The world is still my oyster:)  lol

On a final note, this is what most of us Mom's look like when no one's looking... um... maybe... ok, at least this is what I look like at night after a long day..lol

And now I leave you as I must do some dishes, and sweep Franny out the door:)  Have a great day... I will post a recipe later tonight!!  I'm thinking a dessert is next:)