June 29, 2004

• Oh yes, and I forgot to mention that the theme is 60's Vegas Martini Lounge.
• The Vesper 3.0 oz. Tanqueray or Bombay Sapphire 1.0 oz. Grey Goose or Stolichnaya 0.5 oz. blonde Lillet Serve in a chilled martini glass. Shaken, not stirred.
• That sounds like fun. A lot of our current cocktail party cliches come from the sixties, so it shouldn't be hard. A cheese ball (rolled in nuts of course), cocktail shrimp, little puff pastry shells (you can buy them frozen) filled with something creamy, bowls of salted nuts, maybe a chafing dish with some meatballs. Food's not really the focus, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.
• Cognac Martini 3 oz gin 1/3 oz Cognac (swirl Cognac to coat inside of glass, and pour out add chilled gin from your shaker) garnish as desired.
• and of course make sure you have this group on your stereo...
• Celery stalks filled with pimento cheese, chicken salad, cream cheese & chives, etc. Raw veggies & dip. Mini-quiches. This sounds like such a fun party!
• don't forget martini cookies
• Individually-sized monte christo sandwiches. Ring-a-ding!
• I meant bite-sized, of course. Or sliced?
• Hmmm - cheese fondue?
• Let me recommend Miller's Gin. It is a wonderful gin that that has a familiar taste, but not too junipery. It has a striking floral notes and a hint of cucumber. BTW, I am one of those prats who thinks a martini is just gin and dry vermouth -- thus the name Martini - ahhh, but this is an discussion for an other time as all this martini talk is making me thirsty.
• polychrome, you beat me to it. But wouldn't they have to be Swedish? Did people eat in the 60's lounge scene? According to every Frank Sinatra/Dean Martin movie I've ever seen, they just drank a lot of cocktails and smoked a lot. Canapes sound like they'd be the way to go.
• Vodka Dada 4 measures Vodka (Stoli is my favourite, but) 1 measure lime juice (not cordial) 1 measure Cr
• Canapes are fun. Take slices of cocktail bread, spread with plain cream cheese or cream cheese flavored with olives, salmon, anchovy paste, etc., egg salad, soft butter or garlic butter, chicken salad, or anything squishy like that, and garnish with decorative slices of smoked salmon, cucumber, green olives with pimentos, capers, pickles, radishes, watercress, hardboiled egg, cocktail shrimps, caviar, etc. And don't forget to garnish your garnish. When you arrange the canapes on the plate, add a few carrot curls, cherry tomatoes, radish roses. Parsley sprigs are your friends, and very 60s. Put them everywhere. Ring-a-ding, indeed. Oh yeah, deviled eggs! More ideas here. Music: anything by the Rat Pack, Eartha Kitt, Esquivel, Yma Sumac. This looks like a good cocktail party resource. It even links to a few web radio stations that stream groovy cocktail music. It sounds like a lovely party. You're going to post pix, right?
• You're going to post pix, right? But of course! The nice thing about the company I'm using is that they also supply cd's with theme music. And the Vegas Martini Lounge theme is their favorite. Thanks for all the ideas, guys. Keep 'em coming!
• Someone, quick! Light the Miguel signal! *scans the sky*
• Hee! What would that look like? A big martini glass?
• My filezilla is foofed, so check you email for a look at what it might look like :D
• Beer 1 bottle of beer (preferably European) 1 glass (large) Serve chilled.
• Perfect Manhattan 3 oz. Maker's Mark bourbon 1 oz. dry vermouth dash bitters cherry or lemon twist as garnish
• goetter, that sounds right up my ally. YUM!
• BBF, do they sell those in the stores? It sounds exotic . . Some 60's appetizers
• DID SOMEONE SAY "CHEESE BALLS?" These are from recipe books published by the California Wine Advisory Board in the mid 1960s. (All the recipes were contributed by winery owners.) Both are really good, but I'd kind of forgotten about them. Maybe I'll make one tomorrow. NUTTY CHEESE BALL CUCAMONGA 4 oz. blue cheese 6 ounces cheddar cheese 12 oz. cream cheese 1 tablespoon grated onion 1 teaspoon chopped parsley 1/2 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce 3/4 cup finely chopped nuts (pecans are best) 1/4 cup Sherry Bring cheeses to room temperature, mix with 1/2 cup of the nuts and all of the rest of the stuff and shape into a ball. (Chill for a while first if it's too soft to shape.) Roll in the remaining nuts. Chill 1/2 hour before serving with crackers. CHRISTMAS CHEESE BALL 1/2 pound cheddar cheese 1 3 oz. package cream cheese 1/4 cup Sherry 1/4 c. coarsely chopped black olives 1/2 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce Dash each onion, garlic and celery salts 1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried beef. Have cheeses at room temperature. Combine everything but the dried beef. using electic mixer at medlum speed. Shape into ball, wrap in foil and refrigerate. Before serving roll in dried beef fronds. Caraway seeds would also be good, especially if they don't make dried beef anymore. Serve with crackers.
• Slivered almonds are best for rolling cheeseballs in.
• Oh, yeah! The cheddar needs to be grated (we would have assumed that in the '60s.)
• Almonds are way too '90s. Those of us from the '60', with better developed palates, prefer pecans or walnuts.
• Lessee--fondue, a must. Maybe you can find those weird little forks on ebay or at a thrift store or something. How about one of these eggplant thingies? Check out the Chex Party Mix! Onion dip is so sixtys. And the party isn't a party without jello squares. (not shooters, this is lemon or orange jello squares made in an ice cube tray with vegetables or something disgusting inside.)
• shinything: Cocktail bread? That's pretty upscale. If you want to do it the way the 'burb dwellers do it, you use Wonder Bread with the crusts cut off and cut in triangles.
• Kimberly, my dear, I'd tell you the most amazing and wonderful canape recipe for your murder party, but unfortunately you never posted to my most successful post: bookish stuff so you are shit out of luck. you'd really have liked it, too.
• Wait. You live in LA, or thereabouts, yes? In the early AND LATE sixties, LA was enamoured of anything Havvian. Poi, perhaps. No curries. Think about the sailors in San Diego and their sojurns in the Pacific Rim. Won't be nothing like 'The Orient Express' Think fried spiders the size of a record album (if you even remember those.) And sugar cane. Let 'em suck on sugar cane.
• Alumroot, you don't find Miller's unspeakably bland? Do you somehow have access to the excessively rare Westbourne Strength Gin? A gin without that "junipery taste" is basically a vodka with a couple spices.
• If you like Miller's you'll probably also like Hendrick's Gin.
• Why, PatB, knowing that you're such a quality MonkeyFilter member, I just knew you had already read my previous comments on the subject. * smiles sweetly * Also, I lived in Hawaii for a few years as a child and I haven't encountered many things nastier than poi. Does anyone actually like that stuff?
• what is poi?
• In NZ, poi are balls on string that you swing around in pretty patterns. I never actually realised Hawaiian poi were something edible.
• I've tasted Hawaiian poi (a paste made from the root of a plant) and I agree with Kimberly. It's somehow both bland and repellent at the same time.