Tiki Failure...

If you know me, you know if I have a cocktail, it's about having the best one I can because I'm not having many to get  inebriated. I am completely fascinated by the history and culture of different liquors and how they are used. Enter the kitschy realm of the Tiki Bar.
The Tiki line of cocktails that you can find in many Asian restaurants has been taken to the next level by many people out there trying to use classic ingredients from the 30's and 40's.
Usually Rum based with a bunch of sugar in them you do not want to imbibe too much for sugar and alcohol are the classic ingredient for a hang over, not good. One great Tiki drink with an Asian food dish is delightful, except tonight.
Tong's Tiki Hut has been around my area for twenty or thirty years. I decided to have dinner there tonight. I ordered a classic Mai Tai. Not being a snob or anything but I know my way around a cocktail or two having made thousands as a bar tender. My drink arrives and I sip to find my Mai Tai was simply rum and pineapple juice. Fail.
Dark rum, light rum, Orange Curacao or Triple Sec and the secrect ingredient...Orgeat syrup which is made with almonds, sugar, rose water and oranges. Granted I have yet to find a bar that has Orgeat in their rail. A fine substitute? Amaretto. It works just fine. PLUS people with nut allergies can have Amaretto.
I push my drink aside and the server asked if I didn't like it. I told her it was just rum and pineapple juice. She replied "right, that not Mai Tai?" No, that's not a Mai Tai. "you want Zombie?"
No, I'll just stick with the hot tea.

The food? More than good...


Mai Tai Fail...

Not traditional but a fine substitute...
In a Boston shaker with ice.
1 oz dark rum
1 oz light rum
1/2 oz Amaretto
1/2 oz triple sec
2oz of OJ and a splash of grenadine.
Shake and pour in a waiting, iced pint glass. Only thing missing would be the trade winds blowing through your hair...

Events from tonights gig...

What an odd odd evening...

I was hired to run the technology for a high end fund raiser just outside of Milwaukee tonight.
There were about 250 people for a sit down dinner in a room meant for around 200. It was very crowded with no room to sit to operate the gear for the presentation. My position was behind the bar.
I will just start listing the weird things that happened.

1. Being behind the bar and wearing a black tech operators shirt, I got asked to make drinks over a dozen times.
2. A bartender dropped off a very over poured glass of Bourbon to a lady then walked away. The lady tried to get her attention but to no avail. I asked if there was something I could do. She wanted her drink split with ice in both glasses. Everyone else was busy so I just grabbed two rocks glasses, iced them and split the drinks for her then went back to my sound board (2 feet away) no tip.
3. A woman dropped a glass out on the deck and a shard cut her foot, again being the only person behind the bar not doing anything she got my attention and asked for a bandage. I saw a med kit and grabbed a bandage. Her dress didn't lend itself for her to treat herself so I had her put her foot on a chair and slapped it on, again no tip.
4. A woman standing at the bar with two of her girlfriends grabbed two handfuls of her own bosom, snarled and declared, "well now they're too firm!"
5. A man at the bar talking to his buddies " What the "F"?? My handicap is now like an "f"ing" 23 or something...."F!!" His wife standing next to him must have been so proud. Oh the problems of the arrogant rich.
6. During dinner, I did not have a place to sit so I went out on the deck and found a chair. About 5 minutes later 3 guys came out, pointed towards me and said "now THIS guy's got the right idea", came over and introduced themselves thinking I was one of "them". After 5 minutes of private school woes, import car repair expense costs, they looked at me and all I could say was, "you guys know I'm poor right?" I explained I was just a hired support guy for them. "You know what Doug? you're ALRIGHT!" Their wives then came out,  joined in and eventually asked me to take a picture with them.
Drunk rich folks like me, go figure.
7. Again, while standing behind the bar, a woman comes up and asks me if I can turn the volume down. Now normally, that wouldn't be a problem for me, I always mean to please but I didn't have any audio playing. She was talking about the noise from all the people talking and cackling. Her request was valid.
8. The car I'm driving now has the best quirk. The left headlight won't come on unless you open the hood and slam it, poof, it comes on. Well I get out to perform the required maintenance and sure enough, one of the guys I was joking with was in some number of BMW. He sees me slam my hood with the light coming on and all I could do was give him the "how you doin'" head nod, get in and drive away. I told him I was poor.

crazy job.

The Manhattan & Drunken Cherries...

My stint as a bartender had me searching for a better alternative to the standard restaurant Manhattan.
The original Manhattan was Rye, sweet vermouth and bitters. Most everywhere the Manhattan has become some sort of Whiskey, sweet vermouth and Angostura bitters drink garnished with a candied maraschino cherry, often the same cherry you would find on ice cream. People have been drinking these for years and I served hundreds of them. Most every restaurant uses something like Martini & Rossi sweet vermouth which I have to say is just horrible. It might be passible for the first day it's opened but it's a wine based product and oxidizes very fast and "turns" making a very funky cocktail.
There are other options in the sweet vermouth world. Many fine products from Italy and such but I have found the proverbial Holy Grail of Vermouths. Vya vermouth is a California product that is fantastic. Keep it cold and a bottle will last you a good month or so. It's around 21 dollars.
    Whiskey, where to begin. Personal preference, I enjoy a more spicy Whiskey. My Manhattans are made with Rye. A bourbon Manhattan is absolutely fine and I would never turn one down, Rye is just my personal preference. Blended Whiskeys like Canadian Club or something like that, in my opinion   don't stand up to bitters and vermouth and get sort of lost. I'm only going to have one cocktail so it's going to be a good one.
    Bitters, yet another hotly debated issue so again I will give my personal preference.
Angostura bitters can be found in most every restaurant out there. If you take a drop on your finger, give it a taste. It will remind you of Jagermeister. It has very similar properties.
I have found bitters from Fee Bros and my favorite are their old fashion bitters. What a great combination of clove and anise. They make many different flavors and are fun to play with.

On to the cherries...
Frustrated by candied cherries, I set out to try and make my own. My first batch was 4 quarts of pitted cherries in a bath of Bourbon, Triple sec, cherry brandy, simple syrup and Vya.
I then added a star anise and a cinnamon stick to each quart jar. A little goes a long way. In my future batches, the cherries will sit on the star anise and cinnamon for only a few weeks then get pulled.
Let them "Pickle" for a couple of months and you're ready to make drinks with them. I gave some of the cherries to a bartender in Green Bay who said he liked them but they were very "boozy" and was looking for something a little sweeter. I could see his point and it made me re think my process.
Right now I have 3qts sitting on half simple syrup and half triple sec. I am going to let those sit for 2 months and replace the liquid with my bourbon/cherry brandy mixtures and see how that works.

My variation on a Manhattan.

2oz Rye.
1/2 oz of the aged cherry liquid
1/2 oz Vya vermouth
5 dashes of the Fee Bros. bitters.

Combine in a pint glass with ice and stir.
Pour into a martini glass or over ice in a rocks glass (your preference) and garnish with two of the cherries.

Drink responsibly...

A first for me...

Well this is a first for me in show biz...

Arrive to a venue with a crew and a truckload of gear to set up for a one off visiting show by a separate division of a regular local client.
Meetings, gear selection, phone conferences, yada yada the whole bit.
A car pulls up with a trailer and starts unloading gear. Not unusual at all.
What took us both by surprise is we started loading into the same ballroom. The other Project Manager and myself looked at each other with one eyebrow up.
I asked who he was loading in for, he told me. Same client.
I asked him if he was setting up for the vendor showroom. "No, we're doing the General Session"
huh, interesting....so were we. We decided to have a quick game of rock, paper, scissors to see who got to do the show. I finally got ahold of my contact and questioned her about the gig. She cancelled us and hired a much cheaper DJ company from KANSAS CITY!!! who does work for them in MO.
Problem, they never told us. I explained to her that I already had a hotel room, a truck driven to WI to pick up the gear and three techs to help me build.
She apologized and told me to bill her...my response?
"Oh, we will..."
The funny part is the show is for 240 people. The biggest screen they had was 6ft x 5ft.
Yes, I said 6 feet by 5 feet. That screen would be great for 6 people around a dining room table.
Looks like the less expensive company has to do a little sub renting...
Nice guys but, come on!!

Fr. John Guiney...Rebel with a clue

Today we buried a true servant...

Fr. John Guiney died this past week after a steady decline in health over the past year.
Born a stubborn Irishman, he died the same way. He was ordained in 1961 and spent the next 20 years working in a leper colony in Liberia. He also helped farmers to form co-ops to help stabilize the local rubber, coffee and cocoa industry. In the 1980's with political unrest and some health issues he was transferred back to the America but I'm sure he left kicking and muttering.
Kim met him around 24 years ago and was drawn to his servant heart and his complete love for children as evident of his knack for searching for Evan after church to always play and tease a bit with him.
    Here's where Doug enters the picture. As Kim was going through her divorce, a few well meaning Church folks questioned Kim's future relationship with the Church especially now being involved with of all things, dun dun dun...a Protestant.
She was fearful of being denied communion....until she talked to Fr. John.
Here's a very devout man frustrated by the Church's ability to turn on its own. He told her when the rubber hit the road for her to come to him and he will always give her communion. He told her "Kimmy, How do I know that your relationship with Jesus isn't better than mine?" That made my ears perk up. Just who is the rebel? This Priest who like to live by the motto for preaching...
"Be blunt, be brief, be gone..." A man who said "I'd rather have an irreverent doer than a pious non doer". Kim worked with him in taking care of an invalid woman who was the wife of a childhood friend. Kim saw all levels of humanity from this man for the old woman could push every button he had. Once he pulled Kim into the living room by the arm yelling "I'VE GOT KIM AS A WITNESS" referring to the fact he wasn't going to help her anymore because she was so, shall we say, "difficult". He never followed through. Kim and Fr. John had many talks sitting in the garage of this woman's home and his respect for the Catholic Church and his ability to side step a few rules to help people gave Kim so much strength that I hold this man in the highest regard I can. He would then ask about me and tell Kim to tell me that he's sorry that I have to deal with her (Kim), knowing all along that I was the trouble maker. I remember stories of people telling on him to the Bishop because he wouldn't soft sell anything, no matter how delicate the subject and if he didn't see you getting your hands dirty, you'd hear about it. He was also more about meeting you where you were in your faith rather than making sure you conformed to where others thought you should be...I liked this guy.

   Kim went to his bedside last week and saw him in a contorted position and he just told her to pray for him...pray for him.

The Church was full, standing room only, "more packed than Christmas" as Kim said.
Many tears and many laughs.

A packed house to send off "one of the good guys"

The Mind...

In April of 2011, my parents moved in with us. Along with my siblings we knew it was time for some sort of needed hands on involvement in their day to day lives.
My oldest sister started seeing Dad's lack of care in paying bills anymore, simple day to day tasks such as shaving, hygiene, proper nutrition were falling by the wayside.
Several times I was being called to run to the South side to fix one or both of their televisions At one point Dad was ready to buy a new set but as it turns out he accidentally changed the input on the remote (a mistake that can fluster sane people).
With the growing list of concerns, Kim and myself had been talking a long time about them moving in with us. Everyone pitched in to help purge the apartment of un needed "stuff", my sister preferred a different description and get them settled here.

Mom's mind was slipping very fast, Dad was functional but did things that just made you look at him like the RCA dog. The need for adult diapers was recognized very quickly and soon just threw away all of Mom's under ware, knowing she could not wear them anymore. On the humorus side of things, when she does wet one she will sometimes try and wash them in the sink or shower. Those bad boys can hold a few pounds of water before they just explode leaving the insides on the shower floor. Dad has control of his bathroom functions for the most part so that's not an issue yet.
Kim is pretty amazing in this area, she will often sit on the bathroom floor and guide Mom on how to clean herself "no, Jo, still need to clean yourself some more" very patient. Joanne doesn't live here or so her mind leads her to believe. We had to install locks on the kitchen door and a upscaled baby gate at the top of the stairs to try and thwart her attempts of her trying to get to her Mothers's house just a few houses down and to the right. Throw logic out the door, it does no good to reason with her on most anything. Even the time you think you make a break through, not more than 30 seconds after the conversation she's right back to her previous train of thought.
Donna taught Kim and myself a word,

Perseverate
1. Psychology
a. Uncontrollable repetition of a particular response, such as a word, phrase, or gesture, despite the absence or cessation of a stimulus, usually caused by brain injury or other organic disorder.
b. The tendency to continue or repeat an act or activity after the cessation of the original stimulus.

Mom will zone in on the fact she has to leave the house for hours and hours at a time.
She's very concerned about leaving her Mother alone. Now I tried to come at it from a logical stand point and explain how old she is and that if her mother were still alive she'd be like 243 or something only to be met with Mom patting my leg and looking at me reassuringly with the comment "you just don't understand". Kim will then step in and boldly say "Jo, your Mom is with your sister" and that will usually calm Mom down and she'll relax for a bit, sometimes a few hours but lately 10 minutes. I tried to lie to her in the same fashion but just started giggling for fear of being busted. Kim once again shows her strength.

Let's talk about food.
The parental units are beyond preparing meals for themselves.
We take care of all meals unless they are being taken out. Dad's minset has reverted to a very selfish "ME" attitude that I have to say confuses me. He will get something for himself and ignore Mom standing right there. "Dad, are you going to get a snack for Mom too?" "No, she doesn't want anything" and walk away. He will use a knife to slice open anything in the fridge he wants and just leave it. We keep finding dried out cheese, meats, basically anything he thinks is his to eat. Frustrating enough that we are going to have to put a lock on the fridge just to keep him from ruining things. You can't offer suggestions to him, they are just met with "okay, you're right" and them proceed to go all jungle machete on the closest cheese package. Dad would eat Honey Nut Cheerios for every meal if we let him. He's a grazer... he just wants to eat all day then not eat a meal you put in front of him. Trust me we supply him with snacks, nuts, V8, diet root beer, coffee, sugar free candy and yet he'll still search the kitchen for something else. His latest "thing" is to finish a meal and then not more than 15 minutes later be pouring himself another bowl of cereal. After going through a gallon of milk every two days and box of cereal every three, we started taking the box away after breakfast and guide him to other things to eat. His obsession with Shrimp is amusing to some and annoying to others. Johnson's Door County Fish has a Shrimp cocktail he likes and Greek Isles has a tomato shrimp dish he craves. If we go out, it has to be one of those two places. Kim's not a big fan of either place so she misses out on the meals out....hmmm pretty smart girl.

I'm not sure if what I would do if Kim weren't around here. The level of care she gives Mom is beyond my capabilities. Kim had a high school reunion a little while ago and I was on solo parent duty for a few days. I found that if I call her Joanne and not Mom I can get her under ware on her much easier. I thanked Kim for coming home several times.

Dad is slipping fast, he will do odd things like be watching a television program where it is snowing and then look outside truly confused because it should be snowing there as well. Dad's issues are a whole different post.

So the mind...What? Why? Why are so many people afflicted with dementia?
Is it to ease our pain in getting ready to say our Earthly goodbyes, helping us to let go? Is it to test our resolve in taking care of each other? I'm not really sure why this is all happening but I'd like to know why.

Catch up...

Interesting, a guy walks past me at a wedding in MN and says,"hey, nice lens" and keeps on going. I find him on the grooms Face Book page and find out he's very involved in Scouting and teaches inner city kids film camera techniques. Okay pretty interesting. After several typed chats I realize he's pretty amusing and I ask if he blogs. He replies with "I used to but haven't in a long time". I came back with interesting, me too. He throws down the gauntlet of "I'll blog again if you do" I picked it up and slapped him on the face. Last night, he struck first with...Hot Water. So here I am trying to figure out how to catch up on a couple years of absence. Work: I tended bar and continued to do shows for the past 3 years. So much material came from the bar that I never wrote about, some sad, some funny, some twisted sad tales from customers that became regulars and some even friends. Parts of the job I seriously enjoyed. Interacting with people and teaching about different aspects of beer and doing food pairings were the highlights. Being the assembly line drink maker for 10 to 18 girls who some tipped well and some tipped well, not so well and being treated like I was just a dumb bar tender made up the majority of my negative feelings on the job. The shows came back and I started making money shooting pictures so I felt it time to take my departure from drink flinging...so far a decision I do not regret. Three Summers of nights away from Kim. It had to be done and I am thankful for Kim's understanding but no more. Pictures you say? I re vamped Prairie Glen Productions into my commercial photography page. The seed was planted while doing a photographic project I called Bar Shots I had my camera and an off camera 8 inch soft boxed flash and did portraits while I tended bar. I never took more that 3 minutes to shoot a customer or client. It was met with many people actually fixing themselves up a bit to get a portrait done. Soon I was shooting actor & musician headshots, even spending time shooting members of the Lyric Opera in Chicago. Enough encouragement and a serious offer of money to get out of the bar made up my mind it was time to leave, do shows and now do Photography part time to fill the economic gaps. Very excited... I was able to pick up some very serious professional camera gear and I'm doing my best to be responsible with it. Believe it or not all digital camera's have what's called an actuation life. Most cheaper cameras are good for about 100 thousand shots. Mine is rated at 150 thousand. Every shot counts. I do Event, family, portrait and children shoots. Weddings will come later, still learning that part of the biz. So here's my re entry to the blog world, we'll see where this goes.