No Martini Monday = Tipsy Tuesday...

Unfortunately, there will be no Martini Monday post tonight.  Sigh..  I'm too tired... worked too much this weekend and now I need to actually go to bed.

I have my drink, recipe, pics and thoughts... just have to actually upload pics.

So... without saying too much more, I will instead do a Tipsy Tuesday (you know, you're tipsy from drinking said martini) tomorrow night complete with the following Martini:)

Have a great day!!

Martini Monday - Mochatini

Welcome back to Martini Monday!!  Did you try last weeks martini??

This week, I bring you one of my favorites.  I've been making this one for quite some time.  It's the martini version of a Mocha Latte...kind of..

Did you know that Mocha refers to a type of coffee bean and not to chocolate??  Throughout time and history, Mocha has become associated with a type of chocolaty coffee drink.  And so, with that in mind, this martini includes flavors of coffee and chocolate... YUM!!

Here is the breakdown of ingredients (remember, this will make 2 normal size martinis plus a little extra...normal martini glass that holds 4 shots of liquid)

-Double shot of Espresso (if you don't have an espresso machine, I believe there is instant espresso out there)
             -or you can stop on your way home and pick up 2 shots from your local DD or Starbucks
             -don't want the caffeine...use decaf
-Coffee Liqueur - 2 shots  (you can use Khalua if you like, but the cheap stuff works great too)
-Irish Cream Liqueur - 1.5 shots  (Bailey's if you must...)
-Vanilla Vodka - 1 shot  (if you don't have vanilla, regular is fine...)
-Half & Half - splash (I don't like it too creamy...use milk if that's all you have...this ingredient is definitely to  your taste)
-Chocolate Syrup

Add all of the ingredients to your martini shaker filled with ice.  Shake it up!!  Line your martini glasses with chocolate syrup...

Pour your shaken martini into chocolate lined glass and Enjoy!!

This is me enjoying my concoction:)

Not sure what's on tap for next week.  My hubby requested something with Pineapple...so, I will see what I can come up with!!

Hope you all have a fantastic week.

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:)