I first started mixing cocktails in 1976 in a restaurant in Swansea called Greens on St Helens Rd, the first one I ever mixed was a Harvey Wallbanger (Vodka Galliano (liquer) and orange juice) I was so impressed with myself (Hehe) As I got more confident in mixing, my cocktail list grew to include such classics as Tequila Sunrise, Pina Colada, Sex on the Beach, Traffic lights ( If the different spirits are poured into the glass correctly they form layers of red yellow and green Hence Traffic lights) to name a few. There is no real set measure for each shot in a cocktail bars use measures to keep costs down, but if you are mixing your own at home, add as much or as little as you like, it’s all according to your taste.

I have worked as cocktail barman in CJ’s restaurant, and as barman in Italy. I had moved to the Abruzzo region of Italy in 1980 (The Calf of Italy) to live with friends where I worked in an restaurant for a few months, Italians tend to prefer fruity cocktails to alcoholic ones (Martini based). Other places I have worked were Martha’s Vinyard, Strikeout, Sloanes, and Jubbly’s Restaurant and I have mixed all kinds of cocktails, also invented some of my own. One was called Hello Dave (Bacardi, Cherry Brandy, Grenadine, Lemonade, and a dash of Orange juice) it is a sweet mix but potent, believe me.

In 2000 moved to Lanzarote and worked in a variety of bars serving cocktails. The Spanish like their drinks to be decorated everytime with sparklers, paper umbrellas and trinkets, I found that the recipes stay relatively the same with some subtle differences being evident but the basic recipe remains. Cocktails are a great way to enjoy an evening, a great talking point and on a warm evening with friends it can’t be beaten. Once one person has one it becomes a knock on effect and everyone wants one, people then start making up their own recipes adding things to it and experimenting with different spirits, mixers and liquers.

As mentioned earlier, everyone has their own favourite Mine is a Singapore Gin Sling (Gin, Cherry Brandy, Soda water, Lemon juice, and a Cherry) Woohooo I just love the taste, dont be afraid to try them you might be suprised! So if you are bored with the same old drinks ie Lager, Beer, Vodka, Rum, etc add some flavour to your night get mixing and get the party started.

This is a short video that I found to give a little background to Stolichnaya (or Stoli)

Stolichnaya is a high quality vodka produced in the Soviet Union and favored by many serious vodka drinkers on the other side of the iron curtain, where they enjoy vodka without mixers of any type. Some store their Stoli in the freezer, where it thickens up slightly, and serve it in chilled liqueur glasses. This has got to be my most favourite vodka, although its slightly dearer than most other vodka it’s definately worth it. For those who don’t really want to drink it neat (or on the rocks) here are two recipes to try:

1 Randini recipe

  .mmmmmmmmmmm nice- think I might need to try just one more of these.

 50/50 recipe

50/50 preparation:

1. Fill glass with crushed ice. Add vodka.

1 Randini preparation:

1. Bombay Sapphire gin and Stoli vodka preferred.

  mmmmmmmmmmmmm Fruity little number

Another recipie (made famous by a certain TV show is the Boli Stoli:

For this you will need One bottle of Stolichnaya and 1 Bottle of Bollinger Champagne. Once both have been opened fill a Champagne flute (or mug/glass/vase – delete as appropriate) with some Stolichnaya, then top up with Bollinger, and there you have a Boli Stoli.

cake

Photo:  www.freefoto.com

Desserts are part of a course that typically comes at the end of a meal. The dessert is seen as a separate meal or snack rather than a course, and may be eaten apart from the meal. Most often Dessert foods are of sweet food but can also be of a strongly flavoured food, such as cheese, like cheese cake.

If you like coffee you would like this cake recipe

Here is a lift of some desserts

• Biscuits/cookies
• Ice creams
• Meringues
• Fruit
• Cakes
• Crumbles
• Custards
• Puddings
• Pastries

I surveyed the people in my group to fine out what dessert they liked best and here are my results

Coffey dessert cake

Coffee and nuts are at the heart of this easy recipe – serves for 8

Ingredients

• 200g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
• 120g whole blanched hazelnut, plus extra to decorate
• 200g golden caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 200g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp cold made-up espresso or camp coffee

The coffee dessert cake will take about 40 minutes to make – about 40-45 minutes to bake and then leave for cooling

Chocolate angel food cake – serves for 12

Ingredients

1 cup cake flour

¼ teaspoon salt

12 large egg whites, at room temperature

1 1/3 cups superfine sugar

2 teaspoons cold water

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

¾ cup semisweet chocolate morsels

If you weren’t to cook or bake your self there is always a lovely local place called Bite To Eat. Here are they menu of cakes.

Selection of muffins               70p

Homemade Victoria Sponge   65p

Flap jacks                               60p

Almond Fingers                      60p

Chocolate Gateaux                  85p

Large Homemade Trifle           1.00

Bite to eat also does sandwich platters and buffets all sizes catered for.

1 Part Kahlua

Top up with Coke

Shake the Vodak and Kahlua in a Cocktail shaker

Pour over ice in a glass

Top up with Coke

Add a slice of orange and decorate

An old favourite, an easy drink to make can be found

in all cocktail bars

Recipe and image source: www.cocktail.uk.com

 3 Parts pineapple juice

1 Part Malibu

Fresh cream

Blend ingredients in a blender until smooth and creamy

Pour over ice in a Highball glass, add a slice of pineapple, diced coconut sprinkled over the top,

Add straw, swizzle stick and an umbrella to decorate

Recipe and image source: www.cocktail.uk.com

The above map shows the Medoc Area of France. The recognized wine producing areas in France are regulated by the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine – INAO in acronym. Every appellation in France is defined by INAO, in regards to the individual regions particular wine “character”. If a wine fails to meet the INAO’s strict criteria it is declassified into a lower appellation or even into Vin de Pays or Vin de Table. With the amount of appellations in France too numerous to mention here, they are easily defined into one of the main wine producing regions listed below:

Alsace
Alsace is primarily a white-wine region, though some red, rosé, sparkling and sweet wines are also produced. It is situated in eastern France on the river Rhine and borders Germany, a country with which it shares many grape varieties as well as a long tradition of varietal labeling.

Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a large region on the Atlantic coast, which has a long history of exporting its wines overseas. This is primarily a red-wine region from Medoc (Chateau Lafite, Chateau Latour, Chateau Mouton, Chateau Margaux, Chateau Haut Brion), St-Emilion (Cheval Blanc, Ausone), Pomerol (Petrus, Le Pin). Bordeaux also makes dry and sweet white wines, including some of the world’s most famous sweet wines, from the Sauternes (Chateau d’Yquem) and Barsac (Chateau Coutet, Chateau Climent)appellation.

Burgundy
Burgundy or Bourgogne in eastern France is a region where red and white wines are equally important. Probably more terroir-conscious than any other region, Burgundy is divided into the largest number of appellations of any French region. The top wines from Burgundy’s heartland in Côte d’Or command high prices. The burgundy wines are divided in three parts :

• La cote de Nuits ( Marsannay-La-Cote to Nuits-Saint-Georges)
• La cote de Beaune (Beaune To Santenay)
• La cote Chalonnaise (Givry, Rully and le Maconnais)

Two parts of Burgundy that are sometimes considered as separate regions are:

• Beaujolais in the south, close to the Rhône Valley region, where mostly red wines are made, in a fruity style that is usually consumed young. The “Beaujolais Nouveau” is the only one wine that can be legally consumed in the year of his production (Third week end of November)
• Chablis, halfway between Côte d’Or and Paris, where white wines are produced on chalky soil giving a more crisp and steely style than the rest of Burgundy.
  There are three main varieties of wines used in Burgundy: Chardonnay which is used to produce white wines. Pinot Noir to produce red wines. Aligoté is known to be a componant of Kir.

Champagne
Champagne, situated in eastern France, close to Belgium and Luxembourg, is the coldest of France’s major wine regions and home its major sparkling wine. Champagne wines can be both white and rosé. A small amount of still wine is produced in Champagne (as AOC Coteaux Champenois) of which some can be red wine.

Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean the wines of which are primarily consumed on the island itself. It has nine AOC regions and an island-wide vin de pays designation and is still developing its production methods as well as its regional style.

Jura
Jura, a small region in the mountains close to Switzerland where some unique wine styles, notably Vin Jaune and Vin de Paille, are produced. The region covers six appellations and is related to Burgundy through its extensive use of the burgundian grapes Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, though other varieties are used. It also shares cool climate with Burgundy.

Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon, by far the largest region in terms of vineyard surface, and the region in which much of France’s cheap bulk wines have been produced. While still the source of much of France’s and Europe’s overproduction, the so-called “wine lake”, Languedoc-Roussillon is also the home of some of France’s most innovative producers. They try to combine traditional French wine and international styles and do not hesitate to take lessons from the New World. Much Languedoc-Roussillon wine is sold as Vin de Pays d’Oc.

Loire
Loire valley is a primarily white-wine region that stretches over a long distance along the Loire River in central and western France, and where grape varieties and wine styles vary along the river. Four subregions are situated along the river:
Upper Loire is known as Sauvignon Blanc land, producing wines such as Sancerre AOC, but also consisting of several VDQS areas; Touraine produces cold climate-styled white wines (dry, sweet or sparkling) from Chenin Blanc in Vouvray AOC and red wines from Cabernet Franc in Bourgueil AOC and Chinon AOC;
Anjou-Saumur is similar to the Tourain wines with respect to varieties, but the dry Savennières AOC and sweet Coteaux du Layon AOC are often more powerful than their upstream neighbours. Saumur AOC and Saumur-Champigny AOC provides reds; and Pays Nantais is situated closest to the Atlantic, and Muscadet AOC produces white wines from the Melon de Bourgogne grape.

Provence
Provence, in the southeast and close to the Mediterranean. It is perhaps the warmest wine region of France and produces mainly rosé and red wine. It covers eight major appellations led by the Provence flagship, Bandol. Some Provence wine can be compared with the Southern Rhône wines as they share both grapes and, to some degree, style and climate. Provence also has a classification of its most prestigious estates, much like Bordeaux.

Rhône
Rhone Valley, primarily a red-wine region in southeastern France, along the Rhône River. The styles and varietal composition of northern and southern Rhône differ, but both parts compete with Bordeaux as traditional producers of red wines. 

Savoy
Savoy or Savoie, primarily a white-wine region in the Alps close to Switzerland, where many grapes unique to this region are cultivated.

South West France
South West France or Sud-Ouest, a somewhat heterogeneous collection of wine areas inland or south of Bordeaux. Some areas produce primarily red wines in a style reminiscent of red Bordeaux, while other produce dry or sweet white wines. Areas within Sud-Ouest include among other:

• Bergerac and other areas of upstream Dordogne;
• Areas of upstream Garonne, including Cahors;
• Areas in Gascony, also home to the production ofArmagnac, Madiran,Côtes de Gascogne, Côtes de Saint-Mont, Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh and Tursan;
• Bearn, such as Jurançon; and
• Basque Country areas, such as Irouléguy.

There are also several smaller production areas situated outside these major regions. Many of those are VDQS wines, and some, particularly those in more northern locations, are remnants of production areas that were once larger.

 The Above information has been sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_wine

1 Shot of Peach Schnapps (Archers)

200ml Orange Juice

200ml Cranberry Juice

200ml Raspberry Syrup

Add ice to glass pour in shot of vodka add peach shnapps mix with orange, cranberry and raspberry

Serve with an umbrella and a swizzle stick and a fancy straw, and an orange slice on side of glass this one is gorgeous.

Recipe and image source: www.cocktail.uk.com

5 parts orange juice

2 parts vodka

1 part galliano

Pour vodka and orange juice over ice cubes in a tall glass (Highball) stir then layer

the galliano on top

A nice refreshing drink on a hot sunny day

Image source: www.cocktail.uk.com

Recipe: C.J’s Restaurant Swansea: www.cjs-mumbles.co.uk

2 Shots of white Tequila

Orange Juice

1 Shot Grenadine

Pour Tequila into a chilled tall glass (Highball) filled with icecubes

Add orange juice,

Stir and pour Grenadine on top so that it sinks to the bottom

This gives a great sunrise effect in the bottom of the glass

Add  slice of orange to top of glass, a straw and paper umbrella to decorate

A refreshing drink on a hot summers night

Image source: www.cocktail.uk.com

Recipe: C.J’s Restaurant Swansea: www.cjs-mumbles.co.uk

McDonalds logo

 
McDonald’s is the world’s largest chain of fast food restaurants serving nearly 47 million customers daily.

My favourite food in McDonalds is a big Mac meal with cheese and medium fries; I will also havea medium coke  with my meal.

Part of their menu
• Hamburgers
• Cheeseburgers
• Chicken dishes
• French fries
• Breakfast items
• Soft drinks
• Milkshakes
• Desserts

Did you know that McDonald’s operates over 31,000 restaurants worldwide,  employing more than 1.5 million people

Also the drive thru is pronounced as “pay and drive” or “McDrive” in many other countries and it is used to pay and pick up orders.