Martini Monday - What is a Martini??

Ahhhhh...the Martini.  I know, I know...I'm a wine drinker not a martini drinker, right???  But, there are times when I do love a good martini...of course, I generally reserve the 'martini' for those Friday nights after a long, long, long, long (you get the picture) week.  But, what is a martini you ask??   OK, so maybe you didn't ask b/c perhaps you already know what it is... or do you??  The martini's of today are NOT the martini's of the past.

According to Wikepedia, the definition of a Martini is such:  The Martini is a cocktail made with gin and vermouth, and garnished with an olive or a lemon twist.

Now, rather than spew out more information regarding the original martini and how it got it's name, I am going to be lame and give you a bunch of links to check it out in case you were interested (see links below)...
It was kinda interesting to read about it and where it might have started from (nobody really knows...but there are some ideas)

You see, my real goal with this whole Martini Monday blog post is to create a weekly martini and share it with you.  Some of my martini's will be completely created from my crazy brain while others will be replicated from a restaurant (you know, where they list the ingredients but don't give you exactly how much of what to put into drink??).  I love to play with ingredients and flavors...some of these will be Awesome but I am sure some will be flops.  If you see a martini somewhere and you want me to try and break it down for you, I'm open to that as well...just let me know:)

The Martini's of today are named more for the glass they are served in and not because they resemble the Original Martini.  Gin...blech...'nuff said.  I used to drink Gin and Tonics in college because they resembled a sprite...but that doesn't mean I liked them:)  So, if you're looking for straight up Gin or Vodka (the imitation original martini) Martini, please do not move forward with reading my stuff.  I am all about the flavorful, frilly, silly, yummy concoctions served up in that long stemmed beautiful glass!! (or the new stemless version of a martini glass...these come in handy if you are prone to knocking drinks over)

And so, as I gear up to start spewing recipes and ratios and splashes of liquids, please make sure you have a Shaker and a Martini glass:)  And I'll see you next Monday with the first of many!!

IN OTHER NEWS...if you're an avid reader of my Honest Mommy entries...here's what's been going on since I last wrote in life and in my head (and I'm just going to list a bunch of crap and you'll know I was busy even though I promised to try and write at least every week...sorry...maybe...I've been busy..lol) Since the end of September:
-Franny turned 3
-Franny started preschool
-Nutcracker auditions
-Nutcracker rehearsals on top of the 11 total dance classes between the 4 kids)
-Polish dance 1-2 per week
-I turned 39...eeeeek... liven it up this year and enjoying every second of it.. um, did you see I was going to be making weekly martini's??  ha ha ha
-Halloween - Franny was sick and didn't dress up, she missed her whole week of Halloween at school
-New gig bartending
-Thanksgiving
-Performing with Jimmy Sturr's Christmas Show
-Performing in the Nutcracker
-Drinking wine
-PTA meetings and things
-Re-visiting my whole photography and trying to boost it a bit   (need some pics, call me...am in the portfolio building stage and looking for some subjects to practice on:)  )
-Re-thinking my cookie business... failure, lack of time, is it worth it, yadda yadda yadda
-Christmas
-New Year's
-Do I go back to school for my masters??  It's never too late, right??
-Potty training a toddler who's not really 100% ready but I just don't want to buy diapers anymore... fun times!!
-Back to school

And here we are...I am sure I missed a bunch of stuff in there...but, I think you get the picture.

Things to look forward to:
-Creating personal goals for the 1st time in my 39 years of life
-Creating a household chore schedule for myself to try and stay on top of it... um... maybe...
-And other stuff I can't think about right now...my brain is about to shut off

Hope you have a Fantastic Day and I will totally see you next Monday!!

Oh, yeah, here are the links I promised you:)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martini_(cocktail)
http://www.sipsmith.com/blog/articles/the-history-of-the-martini
http://www.cityofmartinez.org/our_city/martini.asp
http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/the-classic-martini/Content?oid=921951