- Hey guys, welcome to our final episode
of the Holiday Helper series for this year.
And when thinking about it I thought,
you know what, New Year's Even is coming up
and if you're going to be having a cocktail party
you might need to know how to stock a bar.
Now, if you're entertaining for the first time
you might think you need every liquor under the sun
with every mixer.
And it can get pretty expensive very quickly.
I'm here to tell you that you do not.
Remember, you're not running a restaurant,
you're just having a cocktail party.
So you can get away with just a few of the basics
and if you follow my plan you'll be able to
create at least 16 different drink combinations
and that should be enough to satisfy really any guest.
So my first bit of advice when you're
entertaining is find a place to set up a bar that's
outside the kitchen.
It can be really hard when you're trying to prep
the food if you have a lot of people around trying
to get drinks ready.
So we have this chest of drawers at our house
that works really well for a bar because
there's a good amount of surface area
and it's also high up which makes it great
if you have little ones running around.
They're not gonna grab the glasses.
So I usually start with a basket tray and put it
in the center and this is going to hold all of my
bottles and drinks.
And when it comes to hard alcohol I usually
boil it down to three different kinds.
I'll do a vodka, a gin and scotch.
I find during the holiday these three
will get ya through.
And then I'l always have a bottle of red wine
and a bottle of white wine.
Now when it comes to the ice bucket here's a tip.
This is something I picked up when working
in a lot of restaurants, which is take the ice bucket,
put some ice in it but then also fill it with some
cold water.
Icy cold water will chill down a bottle quicker
than just plain ice.
If you are putting this on a piece of furniture
I do recommend a trivet because a lot of times
that ice bucket will sweat and you don't want
to end up with a big mark around your table.
And then you need to have a few mixers on hand.
So this time of year I always like to have some
cranberry juice because it works really well
with the vodka and the gin and it also
looks so festive too.
And then I'll also buy some tonic waters and club soda.
I usually buy them in the small individual portions
because that way if you don't end up using a lot of it
you haven't waste a whole bottle.
And then I'll also serve something bubbly.
Either some champagne or some sparkling wine
like Prosecco.
And then to go with the sparkling wine
or the white wine I also have a little bottle of
either Crème de Framboises or Crème de Cassis
and that way you can make a Kir or a Kir Royale.
To make a Kir you just put a little bit of the
syrup in the glass and top with white wine.
To make a Kir Royale you do the same thing
in a champagne flute and top with a sparkling wine.
And then of course I also like to have some non-alcoholic
options as well.
I usually just like to add some fancy sodas.
Either something that's lemon or orange is refreshing.
And then for some garnishes I do make sure
that I have some freshly cut lemon and lime.
And then you also want to make sure that you have
a good assortment of glasses so that way guests
can also serve themselves.
And I'll put some short glasses for cocktails.
A few wine glasses and a few champaign flutes.
And then I also make sure that I have
an ice bucket, something that will keep the ice cold
so that people can put ice in their drinks if they chose.
Now this may not look like a lot of options
but I'm telling you if you follow this plan
you can create 16 different drinks and they are as follows.
A vodka tonic, a vodka soda, a vodka and cranberry,
a cranberry and soda with lime.
A gin and tonic, a gin and soda, a scotch and soda,
a glass of Prosecco, a Kir, a Kir Royale.
A glass of red wine, glass of white wine.
A club soda and lime.
A club soda and lemon.
A lemon soda or an orange soda.
There you have it.
16 different drinks.
Surely there's something in there to please everybody.
All right you guys, I will see you back here next week
for another delicious recipe.
Until then, bye.
♫ Gimme That Swing by Cissie Redgwick ♫