I’ve never been a fan of orange liqueur.  Grand Marnier? Blech! Cointreau? No thanks. Triple Sec? Only if it’s mixed into something.  I like my oranges in either fruit or juice form.  (Which is why I’m especially partial to the Screwdriver, but that’s for another post.)  But just because I’m not a fan doesn’t mean I’m not willing to try them on occasion, especially if they’re mixed into a classic cocktail; which brings me to today’s post: the Sidecar

I’ve heard about the Sidecar for years, but never tried it because it consists of two spirits of which I am not a fan – Cointreau and Cognac.  But for you, dear readers, I’m willing to push my hatred aside, especially since it comes in a tall martini glass.  And I have happy news to report. The Sidecar is actually quite yummy! I now understand why it’s one of the few drinks to survive the Prohibition. The orange and lemon flavors add a delightful tartness that confuses the tongue just long enough to miss the bite of cognac.  Add the sugar rimmed glass and you’ve got a classic that deserves to be in any speakeasy.

As I said, the Sidecar dates back to before the Prohibition.  But it’s beginning is a little hazy.  Some believe It was created in a Parisian bar during WWI and named for an American army captain whose preferred form of travel to and from the bar was in a motorcycle sidecar.  During one visit he was under the weather and asked the bartender to give him something that would make him feel better.  Since brandy was used in those days for medicinal purposes, the bartender poured the captain a glass and added the Cointreau and lemon juice for an extra kick of vitamin C.  I know, it sounds a little far fetched, doesn’t it?

Well if you don’t like that story, here’s another version: the sidecar was actually created at London’s famous Buck’s Club in the 1920′s.  It’s often credited to one of the bar’s most popular bartenders, Pat MacGarry.  But however and wherever the cocktail was created, at least one thing is hold true – it’s definitely been around since at least the Prohibition, making it a true classic cocktail.

Sidecar

• 3/4 ounces Cointreau
• 3/4 ounces lemon juice
• 1-1/2 ounces cognac

Rub the rim of a chilled martini glass with lemon and dip in sugar.

Pour all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.  Shake well and strain into the chilled martini glass. Drink and be merry.

Today is the first day of Blogher Food in Atlanta and I am not attending.  Like last year, I’ll be attending the Pity Party instead.  The pity party is made up of a bunch of bloggers from all over who weren’t lucky enough to score tickets to Blogher Food.  So we tweet and party and get drunk off all the pity we feel for not being able to make the big event.  And just like last year, I decided to do a post in honor of my pitifulness.

Last year I made White Russian Brownies. This year, since I’ve started posting classic cocktails on Fridays, I’m bringing you the Mint Julep.  I picked the Mint Julep because not only does it have a serious wallop, it’s classically Southern; and since Blogher Food’s in Atlanta this year, it seemed like the perfect fit.

What makes the Mint Julep a classic?  It’s been around for over a century. While “Mint Julep” didn’t appear in print until 1803, it’s believed to have been served in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina since the mid 1700′s. Although the first juleps were made with rum or rye whiskey, it actually wasn’t until after the Civil War that bourbon became the liquor of choice because it was a much cheaper alcohol.  But the julep really owes its popularity to the Kentucky Derby.  Legend has it that mint was specifically planted outside the clubhouse at Churchill Downs so that mint juleps could be served at the very first Kentucky Derby in 1875; and now they’re the drink of choice at the both the Derby and Derby parties all over the country.

While the Julep can be a hard cocktail to recreate, if done correctly it’s a smooth combination of bourbon, mint and sweetness; the perfect remedy to a sweltering summer day when fans and a cool drink are the only things to keep you from melting.  It’s true, I won’t be sweating the nights away down in Georgia this year.  But don’t pity me.  After all I’ll be there in spirit as I drown my sorrows with this wonderfully Southern cocktail.  Please, won’t you join me?

Mint Julep

• 5 large fresh mint leaves
• 1-2 tsp simple syrup
• 3-4 Tbsp good bourbon (I use Woodford Reserve)
• crushed ice
• mint leaves for garnish

Place mint leaves and simple syrup in a highball glass.  Crush mint leaves with a pestle.  Pour in bourbon and let steep for 10-15 minutes.

Fill glass with crushed ice and stir until glass is frosted.  Garnish with a stem of mint leaves and serve.

A few weekends ago I was up in the mountains for Camp Blogaway.  In the main lodge was a networking table where the other “campers” could leave their business cards and/or other things for us to add to our swag bag. While I only had my cards on the table, several other campers had recipes, samples of sauces and jams, and a variety of other things for us to take.  A lot of these items were provided by different food companies around the states who were sponsoring some of the bloggers’ trips to camp.  One such blogger was the delightful Gisele Perez, who was being sponsored by Lindsay Olives.  That meant Gisele showed up with tons of cans of green and black olives for us to take home.

If you’re anything like me, when you hear the word olive you come running. While I’m partial to any and all variety of green olives, I have no problem eating every kind available.  I love black olives on pizza and Kalamata Olives in Greek Salad.  And I’m telling you, if you’re an olive fan, Lindsay are definitely top notch.  They’re absolutely delicious.  They’re so good in fact, several cans made it into my swag bag before the weekend was over.  Don’t ask me how they got there though, as I only grabbed one of each.

While I do like to eat my olives straight or soaking in a Martini, I also enjoy them in food, and not just on pizza.  I love olive tapenades spread on French Bread and I recently came up with a recipe for a Blue Cheese & Olive Stuffed Chicken that was amazing.  So, since I still have all these olives, and I love Greek Salad, I thought I’d come up with something that’d be great for parties.  Hence, the Greek Salad Kabob was born.

I’m a huge Greek salad fan.  It’s practically all I eat during the summer because it’s so easy to make and so delicious, especially once the heirloom tomatoes are in season.  So I started thinking, what if I deconstructed it and put it on a skewer? It’d not only be a great appetizer for parties, I could enter it into Lindsay’s “Love This Recipe” contest.  So, I made them and they were just as scrumptious as I thought they’d be.  While my skewers are larger, you can just as easily make the skewer smaller depending on whether you’d like them to just whet your appetite or fill you up.

So if you’re planning a party or two this summer, rather than putting out the same old chips and dip, make a batch of these Greek Salad Kabobs.  They’re the perfect choice for a backyard barbecue.

Greek Salad Kabobs

• 1/4 cup Italian salad dressing
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 pounds heirloom cherry tomatoes
• 2 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
• 1 cup pitted Greek Kalamata Olives
• 1/3 cup feta cheese

In a medium bowl, whisk together the salad dressing, olive oil and vinegar.  Add the tomatoes and cucumber slices to the marinade and place in the refrigerator for 1-3 hours.

Meanwhile take each pitted olive and stuff it with feta cheese.  Once the tomatoes and cucumbers are done marinating to your liking, thread them on the skewers alternating with cheese-stuffed olives.  Serve.

When I first started classic cocktail Fridays, I wanted to do a martini since that’s my and my hubby’s cocktail of choice. The martini is a true classic.  Not only has it been around since at least the beginning of the 20th century, the martini has maintained its classic status, just look at all the martini bars that exist today.  Sure there are a ton of fruity variations, but there’s just 1 martini.  Well, 2 depending on whether you take it with gin or vodka.  Hubs and I prefer the vodka variety but gin is just as popular and actually the original recipe.

Now depending on who you talk to the martini could have been created in 1850 in San Francisco for a miner on his way to Martinez, California; while others believe it was concocted by Julio Richelieu, a bartender in Martinez, California in 1870.  The British believe the Martini was derived from a British-made rifle called the Martini & Henry used by the English army between 1871 & 1891 because both the rifle and the cocktail have quite a kick.  And New Yorkers insist it was created in 1911 by a bartender at the Knickerbocker Hotel by the name of Martini di Arma di Taggia.

Wherever and however the martini started, it has absolutely stood the test of time.  Not only are there martini bars all over, some restaurants have added a martini-specific page and/or menu to their cocktail list.  And while there are too many new creations to count, only the classic gin or vodka martini has stood the test of time.  It’s been around for centuries and will probably be around for centuries more.  So the next time you’re in a martini bar, as tempting as that appletini or Smithsonian-tini may sound, give the old standard a try. After all, it’s James Bond’s drink of choice, need I say more?

Martini

• 1 1/2 oz vodka (or gin)
• 1/2 oz dry vermouth

Pour vodka and vermouth into a cocktail shaker with 3-4 cubes of ice.  Shake well and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with 2 olives or a twist of lemon and serve straight up.

A little over a week ago I went back in time.  I attended camp. Yes, camp.  You know, that place that has cabins full of bunkbeds lined with sleeping bags.  The place where a hike in the mountains is called Tuesday, and every night ends with dinner and s’mores over an open fire.  It was just like being a kid again… except for the late night partying and wine tasting in front of the fire, that is.  I haven’t attended camp since I was a kid, so it was fun to go back. The weekend reminded me why I loved camp so much when I was younger.  Not only did you get to hang out in nature, you got the chance to make great new friends.  But what made this camp better than the ones I attended when I was little, was I left with a better sense of my foodie self.

See, this camp was all about food blogging.  There were a variety of different panels ranging from how to manage the stress of blogging to learning how to decorate with fondant.  (Which I still can’t do, by the way.)  Several panels (managing stress and building a community) hit home and made me realize that this blogging thing is really where I want to be.  At first Kitchy Cooking started out as a hobby, something I’d do to keep my writing up and share some recipes with the internet masses.  But now that I’ve been doing it for over a year, I’ve come to realize it’s not just a hobby, it’s a job, and one that I thoroughly enjoy.

Fun with watermelon thanks to the Watermelon Board

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of days that it’s stressful, but that comes with every job.  Camp helped me realize that I’m not alone.  A lot of food bloggers get stressed out over their posts.  The way to handle the stress, set up a schedule and decide what’s important to you. I’d already begun figuring that out, but getting confirmation was a huge spirit builder.

The other exciting observation I made during camp was that several other bloggers were in the same spot I currently am.  The first year was sort of question mark with the occasional post and there wasn’t really any focus.  But between years 1 and 2 the direction of the blog became more firmly established, and a community of followers was built.  Yes, tweaks continue to be made for each and every blog, but the foundation is pretty well set.  The bloggers behind filling me with a new found sense of blogging spirit? Cheryl Sternman Rule, Greg Henry, Jennifer Leal, Lori Lange, and Susan Russo.

Andrew Wilder and Sara O'Donnell

While these bloggers truly inspired me, there were others like Jennifer Hoffmeister, Suzanne Bern, Gina Melton, and Amee Meghani who were just plain cool to hang and drink with.  I comiserated with Nancy Buchanan, Rachel Hutchings, Shefaly Ravula, Jeanne Fratello, and Kelly Anderson over the trials and tribulations of child rearing. Thanks to Andrew Blok and his Wente Vineyards pinot noir, I had a late night laughing fit with Dara Michalski over some stuffed germs.  And Sarah O’Donnell and Andrew Wilder knew just how to keep the party going till the wee hours. But the person I need to thank the most for this awesomely inspiring weekend is the woman who put Camp Blogaway together – Patti Londre.

Yes, this weekend isn’t one I will soon forget for a couple reasons.  First it’s breathed new life into me and my blog.  But second, and more importantly it’s showed me that being a blogger doesn’t mean your isolated in a room behind a computer screen.  It means you’re part of a community of wonderful, intelligent men and women who all share one common interest – food.  And as long as there’s food (and wine), there will be friendship and inspiration among the stars.