home bar TIPS FOR TENDING YOUR
• Allow a pound of ice, three drinks, three glasses and three napkins for each guest at a two-hour cocktail party.
• Start your bar with basics needed for the beverages you and your guests drink most often and those you know how to make; add others gradually. • Batch drinks — bloody marys, margaritas, punches (see recipes on p. 29) — are more efficient to serve at a party than making singles for each guest. A themed drink also can add to the ambience and cement the theme of the party. • Hard-frozen solid ice cubes are best for cocktails as they melt slower, not diluting the drink. • Vermouth is a wine and must be refrigerated and consumed within a short time. • Select liquor you like, regardless of the label. • Make your own simple syrup by adding one part water and two parts sugar to a saucepan, heating it until the sugar dissolves. Let it cool before putting it in a bottle. • Don’t forget about guests who don’t drink alcohol. Plan for festive-looking drinks served in cocktail glassware, such as whipping fresh berries, a splash of lemon and ice in a blender and serving with a fruit garnish or mixing cranberry juice with simple syrup and a little seltzer over crushed ice with a three-cherry garnish. — KANDACE POWER GRAVES
GARNISHES & PANTRY STOCK (as needed) • • • • • • • • •
Cocktail olives Cocktail onions Spiced green beans Horseradish Limes Lemons Hot sauce Garnish picks or toothpicks Cocktail recipes (You can find individual recipes online or visit your local bookstore for an easy-to-handle comprehensive bartender’s guide.) PAGE 32
GAMBIT’S PARTY PLANNING GUIDE 2015
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