Designated Drinker: Egg Nog

Don't your guests deserve better than boxed nog?

(Note: With the Holidays around the corner, I thought this would be the time to share our resident bar expert’s Egg Nog recipe.  I am surprised that more restaurants do not server this during the holiday.  It is a easy sell and does more to put people in the holiday spirit than that tired old Bing Crosby album.  You can find Paige’s cocktails and many other great entertaining ideas in every issue of Tastebud Magazine. )

Once again the time of warm fires, white snows, pungent pines, and cherished memories enters our calendars. As we bring in the holidays our favorite traditions are upon us and we, whether knowingly or unknowingly, journey through the American holiday season.

December is quite the month; hosting Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, and New Year’s Eve it is jam packed full of elated emotions. With all of the holidays, it is as if we ignore the overall season. Yet, some seasonal beverage traditions shine through, beverage traditions such as eggnog.

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How To Memorize Orders

I know that order is in here somewhere

(Note: In yesterdays post I discussed why I feel it is beneficial to memorize orders.  I will not recap to avoid redundancy, which itself if redundant in this post.)

I am terrible with names.  Not particularly good with faces either.  I will forget three things every time I take a trip.  I promise I will remember to bring that CD I was telling you about next time I see you.  I have left the house in my slippers.  This seems like a good chance to wish a happy belated birthday to everyone who had one before the days when Facebook reminded me.  There was a point to this paragraph, but I am not sure what it was.

If you ask most of my friends, they will gladly tell you how forgetful I am.  If you ask my guests, they will tell you I am some sort of memorization genius.  Memorizing orders is skill rather than a talent.  A talent is something you are born with.  A skill is something you get better at through technique and practice.  I am an absent minded person who has trained himself to be highly proficient at memorizing orders.

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Designated Drinker: Harry’s Bar Bellini

(Note: This installment of the Designated Drinker first appeared in abbreviated form in the February 2010 issue of Tastebud Magazine.  Full format versions of her articles appear periodically on this blog.  Today it appears because I have spent the day hiking around Colorado.  Ok, well mostly downtown Denver in flip flops.  I can see the mountains though so I call it hiking.  It also provides a convenient opportunity to remind everyone in KC to get out and support our very own Designated Drinker, Paige Unger, in the 2010 Greater Kansas City Bartending Competition this Sunday at the Uptown Theater.  For those not in KC, visit the site to find the recipe for her drink, THE Socialite.)

I only know a handful of famous bars. In fact, I suspect if I were to ask a random stranger the name of a famous bar I would most likely receive Cheers as my answer. Those of us addicted to the fun factoids of mixology, however, know there is only one true famous bar: Harry’s Bar in Venice.

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Introducing: The Designated Drinker

One of the biggest mysteries for newer servers is the world of cocktails.  Most of us started out with a base knowledge of what jungle juice, Milwaukee’s Best, and Boone’s Farm taste like.  The upper end cocktails and liquors however remain a mystery.  For liquor questions I usually refer people to Teleburst’s blog.  I wanted to offer some spin on the topic here that covers some of the new and exciting creations as well as the classics.  I wanted also to provide inspiration to bartenders and exciting new post shift drink ideas as well.

The problem with this idea is that in October will mark five years since I last had a drink.  While I consider myself relatively book smart on booze, I have no first hand knowledge of some of the rising trends in cocktails.  Fortunately, a friend with a true passion for such things has offered to help.  She has been writing the articles for a while and has a style that I think you will enjoy.  I first introduced the vivacious Ms Paige with her recipes for cherry limeades.  Now she has agreed to help me balance out this blog in spite of my burdensome sobriety as “The Designated Drinker.”

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Cherry Limeade Recipe

A brief break between shifts on a double today.  I have worked exceptionally little over the last two weeks.  This of course meant that it was too hot for anyone to sit on the patio this afternoon for my patio shift.  A piece of Sockeye Salmon over a mushroom risotto with a white wine sauce topped with marinated diced tomatoes made it worth my while.  This reminds me that I need to write up my post on rule six.  Expect rules five and six in the coming days.

The other task I accomplished is sitting down with Kansas City’s most vivacious mixologist and cocktail critic to create a simple cherry limeade recipe.  I have written about my cherry limeade line and why it is such powerful tool to read your tables.  I have also discussed the number of search engine hits I get looking for a cherry limeade recipe.  Today, I decided to finally reveal the recipe to the drink that still officially appears on my restaurants menu as “The Hayden.”

Read the full post at Foodie Knowledge