Part Four: Parties For Pleasure (Allow me to jump ahead for a moment)

The 12-to-12 Holiday Party
or, 12-to-12 A Clocktail Party

On August 18 2010 I decided to throw my own version of the 12-to-12 party. I called it “12 to 12: A Clocktail Party” and I invited some very lovely ladies to join me. There was an appetizer and a cocktail served on the hour from noon until midnight.

Why am I writing about it months later you ask? And no, it is not because my hangover finally went away. Let’s just say life intervened a touch and I am situated in another city now. Also, I was pretty lazy after such a day of extravagance and I have failed to regain my steam, until now. To write about such an event seems completely daunting, so I have been procrastinating. You kittens know what that’s like, I am sure.

Where to begin? How about at Noon?

12:00pm: Shrimp Cocktail served with a Classic Champagne Cocktail

The day started out pretty tame. I had invited about 40 ladies to come by for as much of the day as they liked, knowing full well there would be a few of my hedonistic darlings that would spend the whole time with me while only a few, classier dames, would drop in to wet their whistle and check out the scene. Both scenarios were fine with me.

I had gone all out for this, even renting a classic tux for my husband to wear and fulfill his role as chef and butler. I was the bartender, he was the foodsmith. The place looked great, despite the fact there was a massive forest fire nearby and the air was thicker than pea soup outside. It was summer; we had to keep the windows open, so some of that smoke was leaking in.

Ladies started to arrive; did I mention it was an all female event? They all put on their loveliest attire. Some brought wonderful gifts (those ones would get high points in any etiquette competition), and all brought wonderful company. They seemed excited for the fun day ahead, even though I threatened them with parlour games.

1:00pm: Roquefort and Wine Canapés served with a Classic Champagne Cocktail

More ladies were arriving. The room was filled with laughter and cocktail glasses. I had recently purchased my very first bar, I named her “Barbara,” and the girls were checking her out. At this point, there were still enough chairs to fit us all nicely around the coffee table. Cameras were on standby. I actually gave my camera to a friend to be in charge of making sure the food and drinks were captured, as I would be running around in my Heffneresque red silk robe getting the goods together for when the clock struck “drink.”

2:00pm: Deviled Egg Dip served with a Champagne Manhattan

Deviled egg dip and Manhattan

Yes, another Champagne drink to get us going. I wanted to start with lighter drinks to ease us into the heavier “gin hours” of the evening. Also, I should mention that all of the foods, with one exception, were made from scratch using the recipes in the book. My husband and I did the prep the night before, but the majority was done right before serving. I love my husband, such a sport, and such a great butler.

3:00pm: Gorgonzola Cream and Crackers served with a Manhattan

This was a crowd pleaser. The cheese was in ball formation and who doesn’t love that? We had to call in for more crackers. I found it to be a great pairing with the sweetness of the Manhattan. The gals positioned on the couch in front of it were fortunate.

Cheese Ball!

I was getting a pretty good grin on at this hour. It could have been because of the extra kick from my homemade brandied cherries in those Manhattans. Regardless, I was feeling great. There were more ladies arriving and I was greeting everyone at the door to take coats and offer up libations.

Fortunately, I had more space on the patio and some girls had taken spots out there with the smoke. But as smoky as it was, it was still pretty nice being out there on the 6^th floor looking at the obscured mountains.

4:00pm: Shrimp Beignets served with a Bronx

Beignets

These beignets were my favourite appetizer of the day. Served hot and crispy with a sprinkling of coarse salt and a cold Bronx to wash it down. It was lovely.

Attendance had doubled since the start of the day. Girls that had planned to leave decided to just stay, while another had to take her buzz and go work for a couple hours before coming back to cap off the night. I was happy people where enjoying themselves. And if they didn’t, I couldn’t tell.

5:00pm: Cheddar and Onion Canapés served with a Cherry Sling

Cheddar and Onion Canapes

Finally we busted out some games. We decided to try our hand at group “Taboo.” As you can imagine, it went off the rails a bit. More cameras were out now, lots of posing on the patio, with the bar, with the food, and with each other. It was a gas. Speaking of which, all of a sudden there was a gas mask. So there was posing with that as well!

Seeing the mask on the girls made it all feel a bit like an apocalyptic party. Like we were ignoring the boringness of the zombified world below us and just drinking and laughing upstairs until we had to finally leave, at midnight. Until then, we kept tinking glasses, eating and sharing stories.

6:00pm: Hot Gruyere and Anchovy Canapés served with a Gimlet

The feeble attempts to play “Taboo” continued. I was watching to see how anchovies would go off with this crowd.

I was also resisting my urges to top off drinks. When I see an empty glass, I want to fill it. However, given the length of this event, I didn’t want to get people sloshed to the point of them not enjoying themselves. And, I kept thinking of Mario’s advice, “quality over quantity.” I had to remind myself of those 3 words while I was shopping for this event. I resisted the cheaper versions of things so many times in order to get less of something better. Surely my guests would all rather have a smaller portion of something delicious than lots of something merely “edible”? So I offered water or juice where needed. Most of them were able to nurse a drink for the hour, so it was not an issue.

7:00pm: Clam and Stout Canapés Au Gratin served with a Gibson

This was my favourite hour. The Gibson is my favourite cocktail and I felt it paired splendidly with the clam.

Things were getting louder in the apartment. We had definitely moved away from the social death circle. There were smaller groups all over the apartment now. It looked and felt like a swinging bachelor pad…mission accomplished. Everything from this point was just gravy.

8:00pm: Eggplant Caviar and Blinis served with a Martini

This was the hour with the most guests in attendance. It was such a lovely group of women. Though, some of my favourites were not there due to prior commitments. Nonetheless, I still had that stupid grin on my face.

I had stumbled out to the balcony at this point, I think, to see what was going on. I also went to clean up some broken glass from a knocked over cocktail glass. In my classiness of drinking for 8 hours, I simply swept the glass over the railing. I felt just awful about this when I was told about it. I either blocked it out of my memory or they lied to me about it.  I doubt Mario would approve. Or maybe he was a lampshade kind of guy and he would?

9:00pm: Anchovy Piroshki served with a Bee’s Knees

At this point some of the gals had to retreat into the night while other gals were just getting there. Other gals though, they were just getting started. One cutie pie brought more than one dress to change into for the night! Fantastic!

And still my butler toiled away in the kitchen, pumping out delicious hot snacks for me and my ladies. Did I mention he was keeping up with us in cocktails? I made sure to make him one in every batch.

10:00pm: Camembert Toast Malaga served with Playboy’s Hot Buttered Rum

This hot rum is just awful. The recipe was off in so many ways. It was barely drinkable, which was evident by the amount left over. But most of the gals were adventurous and at least tasted it. The alcohol content was so high they may as well have downed a bottle of rum. Perhaps this is why Heff has so many women around him all the time, they are too drunk to move.

11:00pm: Chocolate Cake served with Chocolate Rum

This was the only food not prepared by us and I was kicking myself for not just making it. It was dry and too sweet. And the drink, the drink looked and tasted like Scope. It was grotesque.

We all knew this was the final hour and it showed. Last minute pictures were being taken, plans for cabs and walking were being arranged, and my butler looked wiped. I didn’t even want to think about the mess we just made.

I think I did the 12 to 12 party justice. It wasn’t a holiday party like Mario suggests, but it was twelve hours with a different offering each hour. And I followed a lot of the tips I had learned in the book so far. I wish I had taken more pictures.

I was sad to see it end. If heaven or hell was something I believed in, and either was like this night I just had, sign me up. Oh, did I mention this was a Wednesday?

Section Eight ~ Gin – The Master Mixer

Part Two: Delineating The Delights And Distinction Of Spirits, Wine And Beer

Section Eight ~ Gin – The Master Mixer

I keep hearing about this gin resurrection that is happening. This is likely due to the popularity of Mad Men. To me, gin is the alcohol. Of all the hard stuff, this is the one I am sweetest on. It goes without saying, as my favourite cocktail is the Gibson.

Who do we have to thank for this heavenly elixir? A Dutch professor of medicine by the name of Franz de le Boë…or, to his closest, “Sylvius”.

Sylvius took pure lab alcohol distilled it with juniper oil and intended to use it as a blood cleanser. And it did just that. Only, the patrons of his 17th Century medicine noticed this drink didn’t have the usual “I just swallowed and threw up a comet” affect on their throat. In fact, it was quite enjoyable…and, um, intoxicating. And from this, a wave of gin appreciation happened, even through the dreaded bathtub gin days of Prohibition, and continues.

Aside from a history lesson, Mario offers no suggestion about what brands of gin to stock our bars with, or how much. I think his point is, we should just have it, and lots of it. It is the alcohol.

Section Seven ~ Whiskey-Proof Positive

Part Two: Delineating The Delights And Distinction Of Spirits, Wine And Beer

Section Seven ~ Whiskey-Proof Positive

It is pretty evident from the length of this section that Mario likes his whiskey. I myself have always appreciated whiskey, but it is never the first bottle I reach for when I jaunt to the liquor store.

Recently, a few friends and I attended a scotch tasting, accompanied with hors d'oeuvres. The whole night featured only Johnnie Walker scotch: red label, blue label, green label, black label, and gold label (served in chocolate shot glasses). The evening was capped off with a sampling of a scotch that was quite old…I wish I could remember how old now. It was also very expensive. The point though, is I preferred the Johnnie Walker Blue to all of them. It doesn’t have to be the most expensive one to be the best to your taste buds. And the best pairing of the night were the Wendys’ French fries I had afterward. I’m not ashamed.

In this section, Mario conveys the importance of having more than one type of whiskey in your bar. You can get by with one gin, one vodka, one brandy, maybe two kids of rum…but whiskey should have four options, preferably five. We should have a U.S. blended, bourbon, Canadian, Scotch and Irish. And if you feel strongly about whiskey, two selections from each of those categories would make you a fantastic host.

The section goes on in great detail about the recipes and manufacturing of each type of whiskey, something I feel cannot be paraphrased with justice. I encourage everyone to buy a bottle of each of these whiskeys and host your own tasting party, complete with a bit of history behind each. In fact, I may do just this in the coming weeks.

Section Six ~ Barmanship

Part One: How To Earn Maximum Returns On Your Liquid Assets

Section Six ~ Barmanship

In this section, Mario explains all the special touches that separate a great bartender from a good bartender. It’s not just the choice of liquor, the mixes, or the beautiful glassware that can win over your party; it’s also the little things that have big and lasting impact. There are “tricks of the trade” that can be learned to take your soirées up a notch.

Icemanship: The main thing to remember, the colder the ice the better it is. And when you use crushed or chipped ice it will be colder than cubed ice because there is more ice surface caressing the liquid. This section on ice is fairly long, but the gist of it is you must have cold ice, clean ice (use bottled water if your tap water is gross), and dry ice (don’t let it sit and melt in a bucket).

Punch Bowl Ice: Find something like an ice cream pail and fill it with clean water. Freeze it the day before your party. Then, on the day of your party, run warm water on the sides and loosen it into your punch bowl. I did this one year for a Halloween party, but I filled a glove with red water so that a hand was sitting in the punch bowl.

Aquavit In Ice: At smorgasbord parties, Mario says it is customary to serve a bottle of Aquavit or Vodka in a block of ice. He suggests cutting the top off a 2-quart milk carton, putting the bottle inside and then freezing it. The alcohol won’t freeze, just the water surrounding the bottle. When frozen you should be able to peel away the paper carton, leaving a beautiful clear ice bottle. Keep putting it back in the freezer after you pour shots.

Frappéed Ice Cap: A frappé after a great meal can be a welcome sight over heavy cakes and custards. Try putting finely crushed ice into a champagne saucer and then pouring liqueurs on top for a delicious and refreshing treat.

Chilling Glasses: It is so important to have a thoroughly chilled cocktail glass before you pour anything into it. There are three ways to do this: chill in the freezer ahead of time, bury the glass in ice for a few minutes, or fill the glass with ice and swish it around before dumping.

Frosting Glasses: If you want a longer-lasting cold effect, run water over your cocktail glasses and then store them in the freezer for at least a couple hours.

Sugar-frosting Glasses: We eat and drink with our eyes first. So Mario suggests you make your sweet drink even more appealing by giving it a frosted rim. There are a few ways to do this. First, you can take a lemon or orange wedge and run it along the rim of the glass, then dip it rim down onto a saucer of superfine sugar. Second, you can rub the rind of the orange and lemon on the glass before dipping. Third, you can dip the rim into a saucer of grenadine or liqueur before you dip into the sugar. However you do it, make sure you remember that frosted rims are to be sipped from the glass and not enjoyed with a straw.

Preparing Peel: If you will be using peel as garnish, make sure you cut it close to when you need it to ensure the oils stay their freshest.

Simple Syrup: It is mostly preferred to use simple syrup over sugar, to ensure a more velvety smooth character in your drink. It’s easy to make and stores fairly well, equip your bar with some.

The Dairy Bar: Okay, get over your tendency to get “light” cream. When a drink calls for cream, it needs to be heavy cream. Your hips may not thank you, but your lips will. And in my opinion, creamy drinks should be looked at like a dessert, you won’t want to drink too many of them. Also, remember that when you mix cream into anything acidic, it will start to curdle. So it’s best to make those types of drinks as close to serving as you can. And always check the expiry date on your dairy before you use it.

A Good Egg: Always crack your egg into a dish before putting into a drink to check the freshness.

Filling The Shaker: Ice goes in first, so that all the additional ingredients get to slither down it. Mario thinks there are a few good habits to learn when shaking drinks, besides ice going first. You should also try and add the liquor last. That way you will never put too much in, in case you forgot if you added it before the juice or not. Additionally, he says you should put the amount of glasses you are making in front of you, to keep track of how many shots should go in the shaker. And finally, leave enough room in the shaker for the most important thing, the shaking. If it’s filled to the brim, not much will move around in there.

Measuring: If you are having a “pour-it-yourself” bar, let guests pour as much as they like. Here’s hoping your guests have manners. But when you are mixing the drinks, always use the jigger.

Stirring: For some drinks, you want clarity. Such as the Martini or Gimlet. So these are often stirred. Though the worse that can happen if you shake them is they will be cloudy for a few minutes. It is suggested that when you stir a batch of cocktails you should give it 20 rotations, to ensure dilution. Though if carbonated liquids are added it should be less.

Shaking: This quote from the section sums it up, “shake the shaker, not yourself.” (the photo of Chaplin is one of my favourite of his moments, where he shakes himself instead of the shaker)
And always rinse the shaker between rounds.

Pouring: When you shake drinks, pour them right away so that the shaker doesn’t become “a watery grave.” Make sure you don’t fill it past a ¼ of an inch from the rim. For wine, you want to leave enough room for swirling. In Brandy snifters, 1-½ ounces is the maximum. Think ahead if you are using garnish to allow for room so the drink doesn’t spill over. And if you are filling more than one glass, line them up rim to rim, fill them all half way and then top up evenly.

Horse’s Neck: This is when you have the peel of an entire orange or lemon in one continuous spiral.

Floating Liqueurs: When layering a shot or drink, you need to know which ones are the heaviest. The heavy ones go in first and the lighter ones will float on top. You can either dribble liqueurs down an inverted spoon on top of the previous layer, down a mixing rod, or directly into the glass. The main thing is to do it slowly!

Flaming Liquors: When you want the spectacle of fire, it can be fun to bring flame to alcohol. Mario says we should heat up the liquor first, not boil it, to burn off some of the alcohol before setting a quiet little blaze. But lately, I think we have all heard that the alcohol doesn’t actually burn off…so maybe warming it up just eases the flame?

Drink Garnishes: There are two kinds. Some are there to amplify the aroma and taste, while others are just there to look pretty. Here are some essential drink garnishes:
Almonds – slice or julienne them, toast beforehand, sprinkle with salt and then cool.
Bananas – cut firm and ripe bananas, dip in tart fruit juice to keep from darkening.
Fresh Cherries – remove stems and pits.
Whole Coconut – use as a vessel for rum drinks, cut off the end opposite the eyes, drain and use.
Cucumber Peel – use sparingly, surprisingly pungent, essential in a Pimms No. 1.
Flowers – beautiful and aromatic, great in summer drinks.
Lemon/Lime/Orange Slices – cut just before using, place either on top of the ice so the aroma hits the      nostrils while sipping or place on the rim of glass.
Melons – best to use a melon baller to get melon pieces for garnish.
Mint Leaves – try to get as close to garden fresh that you can, dip into simple syrup and superfine sugar      before planting into drink.
Nutmeg – for the best effect buy it whole and grate it fresh.
Pineapple – like coconut it can be used as a vessel, but also it can be cut into sticks or wedges to use as      garnish on a rim.
Pomegranate Seeds – use in drinks that have grenadine.
Strawberries – try dipping them into syrup such as grenadine before garnishing a drink.
Tropical Fruit – great for rum drinks, cut into sticks or chunks.
Apparently there is no existing rule about retrieving garnish from your drink. So go ahead and drop balls of melon or strawberry chunks in the glass. You can dig it out with a spoon, straw or your fingers. Some people like to affix the garnish to a toothpick or umbrella for the aesthetic appeal and to make it easier to eat…but in the end it all gets enjoyed.

And thus ends Part One of the book. We’ve learned the etiquette of hosting a party, how to select the right glassware, what essentials to stock your bar with, how to measure, and how to add some flare to your foundation. I can’t wait to see what’s next!

~Interlude~

I bought my very own, first ever, bar today! It's wonderfully retro and hideously beautiful. My own slice of heaven and i call her "Barbara" (cause she's twice the bar). I look forward to many great memories with her and she will help me in my journey through this book.

I couldn't really continue without her. Now to get it stocked up.

Section Five ~ Say When

Part One: How To Earn Maximum Returns On Your Liquid Assets

Section Five ~ Say When

Have you ever wondered what a “jigger” is? Or how much a “nip” is exactly? Well, in this section, Mario lays all the measurements out for us. Not the most interesting of the chapters, but an important one to say the least.

It’s important to know how much your glasses hold, and how much is in your liquor bottles. That way, when your usual small gathering of two to four people turns into six or more, you can do some quick calculations and still serve a great drink with the right proportions.

Dash – For all of the recipes in this book, a dash is 1/8 of a teaspoon, thus two dashes is 1/4 of a teaspoon. In theory, those bottles with the dash stoppers are supposed to let out the right amount, but they vary…so if you want to be accurate, 1/8 of a teaspoon.

Teaspoon – Don’t use the long handled bar spoon for this, that is for mixing drinks. Use a measuring spoon.

Tablespoon – Also known as three teaspoons or 1/2 ounce.

Pony – 1 ounce, or the small end of a double-sided jigger.

Jigger – 1 1/2 ounces. Also known as a bar measuring glass.

Wineglass – As a measuring term, it means 4 ounces.  Wine glasses used to be smaller, so you could fill one to the brim and have 4 ounces. Nowadays, the glasses are much bigger, so it isn’t as accurate.

Split or Nip – 6 to 8 ounces. One refers to a split of champagne, but the same quantity of stout is a nip.

Pint – 16 ounces; 1/2 quart; 2 standard measuring cups.

Fifth – 25.6 ounces; 4/5 quart; 1/5 gallon

Quart – 32 ounces; 2 pints; 4 measuring cups; 1/4 gallon. Do not confuse with Canada and England’s imperial quart, which is 38.4 ounces…or in continental Europe with the liter (33.8 ounces).

Magnum – 52 ounces; the double size champagne bottle.

Half gallon – 64 ounces.

And for the conversation piece sizes…

Jeroboam – 104 ounces, a little more than 4 fifths.

Tappit-hen – About 77 ounces, or 3 fifths.

Rehoboam – About 160 ounces, or 1 1/5 gallons.

Methuselah – About 208 ounces; or 1 3/5 gallons. The largest size of champagne exported from France.

Salmanazar – About 312 ounces; or 2 1/2 gallons.

Balthazar – About 416 ounces; or 3 1/3 gallons.

                       

Nebuchadnezzar – About 520 ounces; or 4 gallons.

Demijohn – From 1 to 10 gallons.

These should help you figure out your drink recipes. As well as double for some interesting baby names.

Section Four ~ All The Trimmings

Part One: How To Earn Maximum Returns On Your Liquid Assets

Section Four ~ All The Trimmings

In this section, Mario lays out the essential garnishes and mixes that your bar will need. The list is six pages long. He separates the frequently used from the others with an asterisk. And here they are:

Bitter lemon - For the gin and tonic crowd.

Bitters - Trinidad’s Angostura is the best.

Cherries - You can’t make a good Manhattan without a maraschino. And there are also those weird minty green ones, brandied red and black cherries.

Club Soda – For the fizz you need in many concoctions.

Fomee or Frothee – Great for providing the foaminess that egg whites provide, but doesn’t give that eggy taste some people dislike, albumen.

Ginger Ale – The drier the better.

Lemons – Firm.

Limes – Smooth green skinned ones, rather than yellowed.

Lime juice, Rose’s – A tart syrup, not a lime juice substitute. Great for Gimlets.

Olives – I can’t imagine having a Martini without one…or two. You should always keep the traditional unpitted on hand, but it’s fun to experiment with the many different stuffed ones.

Onions, cocktail or pearl – My favourite cocktail of all time may be the Gibson cocktail, yet there is only one lounge in my city that keeps onions on hand to make it. It seems a shame that this simple delicious drink is being forgotten about.

Oranges – Fresh juice is always better than frozen or bottles. Keep oranges on hand for fresh squeezing.

Quinine water – For warm-weather drinks.

Seven-Up – Mario thinks this can be mixed with “almost any conceivable potable.”

Sugar – Superfine sugar only. You’d only ever need brown sugar for hot mulled drinks.

Tomato juice – For those breakfast/brunch cocktails like the Bloody Mary or Caesar. Not tomato cocktail, tomato juice.

Water – This is something most of us have on hand at all times, but if your tap water is pretty gross, invest in some bottled.

So, out of six pages, these are the essential trimmings every home bar should have. Smaller containers are best, to keep the contents their freshest.  I did notice that there was nothing about little swords, tiny umbrellas or toothpicks being “essential.” Perhaps there will be a whole chapter dedicated to the art of adorning your beverages.