Northern Trust Open 2012

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful morning as we strolled around Pacific Palisade's Riviera for the annual Northern Trust Open. Under the large, blue California sky, fans moved in synchronization, instinctively knowing when to walk, stop, whisper, clap, duck, and bellow "In the hole!!!"

Vijay Singh's ball landed off the green a few feet from ours, Bubba Watson's long drive whizzed past our noses like a bullet, and Phil Mickelson's fluid, confident warmup swings confirmed his place among my favorite pro-golfers.

At ten o'clock in the morning, BudLight seemed to be the drink of choice for most folks, but Club Ketel One offered a Bloody Mary I wasn't going to pass up. The only poor choice I made of the day was leaving before the 3-way playoff between Haas, Mickelson, and Bradley. Even from the edge of my couch cushion, it was golf at its most exciting. I'll definitely swing by the RCC for next year's tournament, drink one more of those Club Ketel cocktails, and stay until the bitter end.

Blog Radio Interview: AWOP

The radio hosts behind A World of Progress (AWOP) have been gracious enough to include me as their regular "cocktail contributor." But the topics they cover every week on their show have way more strength and power than any cocktail I could conjure up.

This past week Kim G, Perry, and Allie asked me to discuss a few Valentine"s Day drinks at the beginning of the Sunday afternoon segment. I was followed by two extremely impressive and open-hearted people, Jeni Decker and Drew Emery, who you can read a little about below. I'd encourage you to listen to the show here and tune in tomorrow for another lineup of excellent guests.

Thirsty Thursday: Caramel Tea Cocktail

This is the perfect drink for a rainy afternoon or a mellow evening at home. It's comforting and subtly sweet with a hint of orange. Perfect for those who don't necessary like to "taste" their alcohol. Serve hot and with a good book.


Ingredients
2 ounces caramel cake black tea
2 ounces spiced rum
1 teaspoon Le Sirop de Monin vanilla
1 orange rind for garnish a delicate addition of flavor

Crafty Cocktailista: Semi-Homemade Coasters

If you're as in love with taking photos using Instagram as I am, then I have the project for you.

Using Crate&Barrel's 5-piece photo coaster set and your iPhone, snap photos of your favorite cocktails, then print them out to size on photo paper from your home computer. Slide them in between the glass and the little mats and viola! Your own, customized set of artistic coasters.

For Instagram tips from top photographers click here and for your printer supplies, click here. Have fun!

VIDEO: How to Make Drinks for Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Amanda Salem from Patch helped me to make a few drinks to get your romantic Valentine's evening off to the perfect start. The first cocktail is a peach liqueur-soaked Bellini and the second is a fresh Raspberry Crush Martini. Let us know which one you chose to make and how your drink complimented your special night!

       

Valentines Day Cocktails

Chocolate Cherry Cocktail
3 ounces vodka
2 ounces Cheribundi Cacao Cherry Juice*
Fresh cherries to garnish
Mix the ingredients and pour over ice or strain into a martini glass
*Available in the health food section of your local market




Sweet Valentine
3 ounces rum
1 ounce watermelon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla syrup
4 strawberries
Muddle the strawberries in the rum and strain into a glass over ice. Add watermelon juice and vanilla, and stir well. Serve with a strawberry to garnish



Virgin Valentine Cocktails
5 ounces sparkling pear or pomegranate juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or caramel syrup
Garnish with your favorite fresh fruit

The 6 Best Valentines Gifts for Her

Here are a few think-outside-the-chocolate-box Valentine's Day suggestions that are guaranteed to go over splendidly. I'm not saying not to give chocolate and roses...on days like this more is more. But if you really want to go above and beyond, these ideas will get you there.

Customized Cocktail 
Perhaps you've named a star after your sweetheart, or purchased an acre of endangered rain forest in her name. What's left but to commission a specially designed cocktail that captures the essense of who she is, or even carries her name? Contact us at info@ThisGirlWalksINtoABar.com for details.

Casa Noble's Anejo Tequila
The entire presentation is spectacular, starting with the royal purple box and ending with the unforgettable taste. This Casa Noble tequila has taken over fourteen years to produce, and that's just love right there in a bottle. The makers call it "their most perfect tequila" so surely it good enough for your valentine.

Catered Picnic
Call your local upscale grocery store like Whole Foods, Bristal Farms or Gelsons, and ask them to put together a special lunch. If they don't offer the packed picnic service, just pre-order some sandwiches, pick up delishous side salads, and select a decadent dessert. Don't forget an amazing bottle of wine to compliment the meal. I'd urge tucking in a little love letter or poem, but maybe that's just me.

Limited Edition Signed Cocktail Book
The color version of our book is soooo beautiful. Imagine how nice it will look on her home bar or coffee table, and the surprise she'll get from seeing a personalized note from the author and designer. The book can ship as late at Monday and arrives beautifully wrapped with a few extra goodies.

Silent Wine Refrigerator
If your Valentine enjoys wine then the WineEnthusiast's 12-bottle Dual Zone Touchscreen Wine Refrigerator will be the appliance she didn't realize she was living without. With room for six whites on one side and six reds on the other, both with their own temperature controls, this little fridge (check out the stainless steel version too) will surely warm all four chambers of her heart.

Monthly Wine Club Subscription
This is the gift that literally keeps on giving. Zagat Wine Club experts will select a variety of 12 bottles of wine and deliver them to your doorstep via FedEx once a month. Zagat also offers an introductory price of $69.99, which includes four wine glasses from Luigi Bormioli and a three-ring binder for tasting notes. Note that the price will jump to about $160.00 a month from then on, but you will not be disappointed by the selection.

Valentines Day in a Bowling Alley

Despite the grimy bowling balls, stanky shoes (you just know Lysol can't get everything up in that toe area) and super unflattering fluorescent lighting, one of my most romantic dates with my husband was at a bowling alley.

There's just something so refreshing and simple about going out in tennies and jeans, ordering drinks from a bar 30-years past its prime, and competing for "better bowler" bragging rights. Our evening was pure fun and super affordable. We didn't have to fight for a bar stool, or wade through an ultra-trendy bizarre cocktail menu. We also didn't experience any of that who's who vibe you often get at upscale bars and restaurants in LA. The people using the lanes next to us could have been stock brokers or truck drivers for all we knew. They cheered for our strikes and offered sympathy for our gutter balls.

So next Tuesday night, consider skipping the overpriced menus, crowded restaurants, and pressure to whisper sweet nothings over lobster tail. Just grab your thickest socks and your competitive spirit, and chow down on some beers and hot dogs. Cupid will definitely approve.

This Girl's HOT PICK of the WEEK: 5 Piece Wine Accessory Set

Mystery liquid? Priceless sculpture? Assassin kit?

Allow us to introduce you to Kikkerland 5-Piece Wine Bottle Accessory Set. The suspense alone is worth the purchase and we'd strongly suggest including it as one of your gifts on the big Valentines Day.

Inside you will fine a corkscrew, stopper, foil cutter, drip catcher, and pourer...what else could you ask for?

Pack a romantic picnic with delish sandwiches, fresh fruit, scrumptous desserts, and a fantastic bottle of wine. Then present this number (which I'm renaming the Stealth Winer) and your special date is a guaranteed success. Just be sure to include another gift as well so she doesn't suspect that this gift is really for you.

Monday Manners Rule #14: Don't Join the Party

The two lovebirds out for date night may adore your fine-tuned stories. They may think you're the most hilarious bartender ever. They may even invite you to pull up a bar stool. Do. Not. Do it. Three is a crowd.

Provide the best service possible to all your guests in the restaurant, and then, if that offer still stands when your shift is over, change out of uniform, let your hair down, and with care not to overstay your welcome, join in for a drink. Otherwise, let people enjoy their night out without adding yourself to the reservation.

Super Bowl Sunday Cocktails

If you want to spruce up your Super Bowl party with something more than beer and wine, these are my winning picks for Sunday, and guaranteed crowd pleasers!


Beer Buster
1 ounce vodka
3 dashes Tabasco sauce
1 bottle of your favorite beer
Directions: Briefly shake vodka and Tabasco with ice, then strain into a glass with the beer

Boston Cooler
3 ounces light rum
1 ounce club soda
Squeeze of half a lemon
Pinch of powered sugar
Directions: Combine ingredients in a glass with ice. Stir then serve

New York Cocktail
3 ounces bourbon
Squeeze of a lemon wedge
Pinch of powdered sugar
1-2 drops of grenadine
Directions: Shake ingredients together and strain over ice in a low ball

Party Punch (serves 12-20)
1 bottle vodka
1 cup Drambuie
3 cups lemonade
3 cups cranberry, pomegranate, or raspberry juice
1 squeeze of an entire lime
1 squeeze of an entire lemon
Directions: Mix together in a large pitcher with ice and serve

Our Fabulous T-Shirt Contest!

Are you clever with words and a good storyteller? 

Then this is your opportunity to show off your inner 

jokester! We're looking for a few good jokes to 

feature on our new product packaging and we want 

your help. 

Step 1: Start with the famous "This girl walks into 

            a bar..." intro and then finish the rest on 

            your own. Make us laugh!

Step 2: Make sure you're following us on either
Facebook OR Blogger

Step 3: Email your entrie(s) to
info@thisgirlwalksintoabar.com by 
February 10, 2012

Step 4: Cross your fingers and hope that you win one of our amazingly awesome T-Shirts!

Good Luck!!

7 Ways To Screw Up Valentines Day

For those of you gentlemen planning something special for V-Day, AVOID MAKING the following mistakes and maybe things will go your way.

Order drinks with blatant sexual innuendos 

In all my years of bartending, no man ever ordered a Sex on the Beach because he was interested in anything but the reaction around him. And you know what everyone around thinks when you order that drink or a Buttery Nipple or a Between the Sheets? You're an asshole. Want to sound sexy? Order an unbelievable bottle of wine. Treat her to a superb cognac. Suggest a fine, aged brandy. Save the fraternity cocktails for the college boys.

Begin any order with "She'll have..."
Choose flowers on her behalf, a cashmere wrap, or a delicate necklace. But do not order her drink, her dinner, or her dessert without consulting her first. It is the complete opposite of romantic and sends the message that you are a chauvinistic control freak.

Opt for the corkage fee
People often bring wine into restaurants on Valentines Day to lower the bill (it's surf and turf night, remember?) If you and your honey met through some fancy wine club or have PhD's in viticulture, then go ahead show off that 93 point bottle to the couple in the booth behind you. Otherwise, order from the wine list to avoid looking cheap. Bringing a bottle of wine may also be acceptable when:

• You're preparing a romantic picnic
• The restaurant doesn't serve wine 
• You're cheap

Surprise her with balloons
I don't care if you bought the seventy-five dollar giant heart balloon stuffed with arcade prizes that they've been filling with Helium for three days straight. She does not want it. What is she supposed to do when you arrive on her doorstep with a floating plastic bouquet...leave them at her place and worry she has offended you? Bring them to the restaurant and look like an idiot? The exceptions to balloons are:

• She is going to be in the hospital for longer than 72 hours including Valentines day, you've been married for ten years, and your children are the ones handing them to her
• She's in high school and you are also in high school (stop reading my blog)
• She's a professional clown

Propose a drink that includes the words body and shot
Massage with gently scented oil? Hot. Champagne toasting in the hot tub? Romantic. Sucking warm tequila off her WhatYouMaCallIt? Questionable. If she proposes the activity well then hell yes dude, go for it and get down on one knee while you're at it because you've got a keeper. Otherwise, you're going to have to suppress this fantasy or risk ruining the mood in an unrecoverable way.

Qualify as an FDD at any point during the date
Becoming a Fall Down Drunk is not funny, interesting, or attractive. She may drive you home, tuck you in, and hide your car keys, but she ain't cooking you breakfast and she definitely isn't making the mistake of seeing you again. Go easy on the booze and avoid missing an opportunity for love.

Place the engagement ring in a cocktail
It sounds like a good idea at the time...you arrange with the bartender to have the ring dropped into your beloveds favorite cocktail. The drink arrives and you are bursting with anticipation...with excitement, only to watch her horrific unreasonable response to an unidentifiable foreign object at the bottom of her glass. Or her failure to notice the diamond and your anticlimactic disclosure of the prize. Or her rapid ingestion of three months salary. An engagement ring symbolizes love, trust, devotion, and honesty. If this is what ice represents to you, then I'm no good to you. Otherwise, nestle that fine rock in a little box and give it the moment it deserves.

Monday Manners Rule #20: Equal Pours Please

Just recently I was out for drinks with a friend and noticed that the pours on our cocktails were considerably different. I ordered Bookers neat with a twist of orange; he ordered the same. Yet his pour was obviously more generous than mine. Was it an accident? Was it because I wore designer heels and dangly earrings? perhaps pegging me as a light-weight fashionista?

Regardless, I said something. A nice glass of bourbon should be consumed in more than two sips. Two sips equals one ounce. One ounce equals a weak pour. A weak pour is insulting. Especially when the person sitting next to you clearly got more.

I know I sound like a greedy Bourbon-monger complainer person. But seriously. It was uncomfortable noticeable. Anyway, the bartender did nothing when I brought it up. He thought I was joking. Enter, Rule #20.

Film Day for ModernMom.com

Can you imagine a better way to spend a day than sipping delicious cocktails made with the best ingredients? I definitely cannot, so it was a blast to shoot drink videos during an entire day for the new ModernMom YouTube channel, which will launch in April. I made all sorts of creations for every kind of occasion. And because of the prep work involved and the multiple camera angles needed, we ran out of time and will need to shoot more!!

Thanks to a great crew and fantastic direction, I think these videos will turn out great. I can't wait for you to see them!

Blog = Book = Business

This week the catalog for our book, T-Shirts, bar ware, and accessories lands on the desks of buyers across the country. This was all in the master plan, we just didn't expect the plan to be executed quite so quickly! I can't help but think back to some of the naysayers we came across a few years ago when the final draft of the book was finished. It was always unsolicited, expressed by someone who had not read a word I'd written, and as some of you may remember from my tweets after the last quote, occasionally tear-provoking.

"I just don't think women are that interested in bartending."

"If I were you, I'd consider writing a women's book about life instead. This just seems too specific."

"You should rewrite your book to be about women and alcohol. Like the history."

Luckily we didn't listen to any of that advice...we listened to you! Thanks for wearing our T-Shirts, buying our books, and just being the amazing (drinking) community that you are!

VIDEO: The Best Skinny Lemon Drop

This is the last video in the Skinny Drink series that Amanda and I filmed for the month of January. Those of you who are sticking to a new diet in 2012 but still want a few indulgences here and there, this Skinny Lemon Drop is just for you.

Amanda Salem & Jordan Catapano

VIDEO: The Best Skinny Margarita

This cocktail session Amanda Salem and I walk through the steps of making a low-calorie Margarita with a traditional and a shot version. As Amanda points out, my concoction may not be as sweet at what you're used to, but if you're trying to stick to a New Year's resolution to slim down, this is the drink for you.

Amanda Salem & Jordan Catapano

VIDEO: The Best Skinny Cosmo (& under 100 Calories)

Amanda Salem from Patch joined me in my kitchen once again to make a series of skinny drinks for the New Year. What a workout!! This first video gives the skinny on the Skinny Cosmopolitan. Click here to watch (and check back tomorrow for more!)

Amanda Salem & Jordan Catapano

Tell It Tuesdays: Vagabond World Cafe | South Park San Diego

Right in the heart of South Park, San Diego sits the fabulous Vagabond World Cafe. The bar is gorgeous, the drinks are strong, and the food is out of this world. And speaking of the world, this restaurant brings their patrons dishes from different cultures around the globe. Menu items like Asian Kung-Pao Style Calamari, Singapore Street Soup, and Pommes Frites Provencal will have you back several nights in a row without believing that you are actually in the same restaurant.

But let me back up. Before I even tasted the chicken satay with peanut sauce I had a wonderfully refreshing Basil Mint Martini. This cocktail isn't always easy to pull off but the bartender did it with ease. Which means I had two!

Vagabond World Cafe
2310 30th Street
San Diego, CA 92104
619.255.1035

Flea Market Cocktailing Treasures

Sunday I had my first flea market experience at the Long Beach Antique Market. I expected a cross between a giant, junky garage sale and a farmer's market but it was neither. Vender after vender offered a collection of carefully selected items for the home and garden that may have been secondhand or even eleventhhand but that were tasteful and interesting. Any object with a good story behind it makes it that much more desirable in my mind.

My sister had a mission: lamps and a small table. I was just along for the ride...or so I thought. After getting a hot cocoa and a salted pretzel, and cruising down the long aisles of random goodies, I was determined not to leave empty handed.

Not long into our visit I came across a gorgeous set of vintage Tiffany champagne glasses. Next I found a pair of crystal decanters in perfect condition. Then I discovered some fun retro bar signs, followed by a few prohibition-era flasks. The latter I couldn't pass up and plunked down a whopping $6 for a 16-ounce sterling silver hip flask.

Now that I know what to expect, I can't wait to go back. My home bar is going to be updated with a few used treasures from the past.

Easy Entertaining: Tortilla Lasagna

This easy-to-make tortilla lasagna will be a hit with your guests. It's easy to make, extremely tasty, and looks like it took a lot more effort than it actually did.

Serve with Margaritas, Mexican beer, or dry white wine.

Ingredients
2 pounds of ground beef, turkey, or chicken
1 onion, chopped
1 can of black beans, drained
1 can of corn, drained
3 tablespoons of chili powder
2 bottles of medium to spicy enchilada sauce
1 can chopped, roasted tomatoes
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 bag shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup of chives, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bag of tortillas, plain, spinach, or tomato

Directions
With a little butter or olive oil, cook the meat, onions, and spices together until the meat is cooked through. Add all the other ingredients and stir until well mixed.

Use butter or oil to coat a casserole dish and then put down a layer of tortillas. Spoon in half of your meat sauce, and sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese. Please another layer or the meat mixture and repeat the cheese and tortilla steps. Cover the top of the lasagna with the remaining cheese and the chives.

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Place under the broiler for 3-5 minutes to brown the cheese.

Regular Cocktail Show in my Kitchen

Tune in every month for a mini cocktail show in my kitchen with Patch's Amanda Salem. Our next segment will feature skinny drinks for the new you in 2012! Stay tuned...and subscribe by email to get daily blog posts!

The Perfect Gift for a 21 Year Old!

What better gift for the newly turned twenty-one year old than her own bartending and home mixology guide? This Girl Walks Into a Bar will complete her home bar and teach her skills that do not include opening beer bottles with her teeth and tying cherry stems with her tongue.

Chapter 12 will prepare her for a bartending job in 3 days, Chapter 13 will guide her to throwing her first (legal) cocktail party, and the entire back section of the book includes 100 drink recipes that double as flash cards. To make it even MORE special, you should order a signed, limited edition full color version of the book here which comes with free bragging rights for when she creates the world's best cocktails. 

Happy wrapping!

Your Year on a Mug

Year in Status compiles your words from twitter or facebook and somehow selects a group that represents...well, er...this is where I get confused. But it's interesting none-the-less and I suggest that you give it a whirl yourself, just for the entertainment factor alone. And the conversation starting coffee mug.