You make these, I promise, there will be very sloppy scrapbooks! But you'll all be happy ...

I NEVER thought I would drink anything made with vanilla vodka, let alone love it. But these are so good, I was in danger of taking up drinking!

I don't know whether the name comes from the flavor, which is like a happy little cupcake, or the uranium-level charge it packs. But anyway, here is the recipe for...

Yellowcake Martini

Equal parts:

vanilla vodka
pineapple juice
Amaretto

Shake with ice and strain into martini glasses.

Oh, Linda, what memories you brought back!

When I was 17, I was invited to my Very Sophisticated boyfriend's home for dinner. His Very Sophisticated mama insisted I join them for a cocktail when I arrived. Omigosh, I'd never had alcohol before. What to do? My parents weren't morally opposed to liquor or anything. They drank socially. But I have to admit that I was shocked to the core that she offered a drink to a high school kid. (Hey, I grew up in another time, another place... Innocence personified!)

So do you think she fixed me a rum and Coke or bourbon and 7 or something equally innocuous? H*ll, no! It was a very dry martini. I took one tiny sip, trying to be polite. It tasted exactly like I imagined diesel fuel would. Despite my best efforts, I started choking and coughing and just generally making a fool of myself. Humiliating experience in Very Sophisticated surroundings. :)

So...I'd love a Margarita. A Mojito? That would be fab. A Cosmopolitan, a Whisky Sour, a Bloody Mary -- wonderful! A Scotch and water would be lovely. And there are times when nothing tastes better than an ice-cold beer. But a martini? All these years later, if you just mention the word, my gag reflex takes over. rofl!

Ain't it weird how circumstances affect our tastebuds???

Sorry I can't contribute a recipe, but hope y'all have a great time!!

sm

I'm a purist ... or a throwback ... or something

goog gin ... wave the cork from the vermouth over the shaker ...
actually I prefer onions, which makes it a gibson

Chill a martini glass, either in the fridge or by temporarily filling the glass with ice and water.

Pour over ice;

1/3 gin (Tanqueray or Beefeater's are good)
2/3 dry vermouth (Cinzano or Martini are nice)

Stir until very frigid, but no longer. Never shake, as it bruises the gin. Pour into the martini glass and garnish with a large green olive, pitted or not but not stuffed, one large olive only. Let a few drops of the olive brine follow the olive into the drink. No toothpicks, pink plastic swords or other accoutrements.

Sip.

Jim

OOPS!!!

Make that 2/3 gin to 1/3 vermouth. OMG!

Jim

I'm a rebel.....

I like my Martini's with vodka rather than gin and I have been known to make it into a Gibson instead by adding a cocktail onion rather than olives. Tipsy Onions are particularly good. I also like mine terribly dry - just face France when chilling the vodka and pour the vermouth down the drain.

Thanks all! SM you made me laugh out loud! That is a very funny story. I am from that era too, where adults shared their beverages with us teens more often than you'd think. Ah, the good old days.....LOL

I love both gin and vodka martinis, but the "true" martini (gin/vodka & vermouth) knocks me on my a$$! LOL

I will have good gin, good vodka and vermouth on the bar for the girls.

Keep in mind that this is a bunch of women, age 25-55. Most are into the "designer" martinins, chocolate, caramel apple, cosmos, pomegranite, etc.

Anyone enjoy the fruitier types?

Linda

This is my favorite martini at the moment:

Lemon Drop Martini

Scale ingredients to servings
1 - 1 1/2 oz Absolut® Citron vodka
1 - 1 1/2 oz Limoncello lemon liqueur
2 oz sweet and sour mix
1 - 1 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1 tsp sugar

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice cubes; shake well. Swirl half a lemon around the rim of a margarita glass and dip in sugar. Pour the contents of the cocktail shaker into the glass, and serve.

Yum!

One time, DH and I went out and had really good dirty martinis (I'm a salt loving kinda girl), so I tried to recreate it at home with vodka & home canned pickle or olive juice. These have turned into my favorit martini, but only if they're made with my pickled asparagus juice!

It's basically equal parts olive (or in my case asparagus) juice to vodka. Shake over ice and strain. Sometimes I make a "Dirty Bloody Mary" martini by adding a splash of Spicy V8 juice on top.

I large chilled martini glass..
Grey Goose Vodka (gin makes me sick)
take the bottle of vermouth and wave in over the glass.
Shake the vodka in a shaker with ice and pour into glass and enjoy.
{{gwi:1510434}}

Linda

I do love a good, gin based dirty martini (garlic stuffed olives, please) but one of my favorites is something called a sake-tini.

1 part good, dry sake
2 parts vodka

Shake with ice & strain
garnish with a lychee nut

Nina

Doncha just LOVE martini glasses? They are oh-so elegant. I don't care WHAT you're drinking, it just seems so much cooler if it's in a martini glass.

Linda, good timing on this. I'm also having a martini party in a few weeks, but just hadn't gotten around to gathering ideas yet. I'm also planning on serving some elegant hors d'oeuvre so (not to hi-jack!) but if anyone wants to post any recipes for high class canapés that would be great.

I plan on having a garnish bar with olives, pearl onions, lime twists & cherries. That way people can toss in whatever they like.

My cosmo recipe:

Combine equal parts
Vodka
Orange Liqueur such as Grand Marnier
Cranberry Juice
Freshly squeezed lime juice

I actually put in less lime juice than the other ingredients but you can work out how it tastes best to you. Shake with ice, then strain into glasses.

I will definitely have chocolate martinis available as well, just have to find a good recipe.

My martini menu (thusfar) will include:
-- "real" martinis (gin/vermouth) with olive juice available for those who like them dirty
-- cosmos
-- lemon drops
-- chocolate

But I'm definitely going to look for more ideas! Great thread!

Another purist here, I guess.
I will absolutely swoon if you fill a shaker with ice, add 2 oz of Bombay gin and about 1/2 teaspoon of Noilly-pratt dry vermouth....shake until the shaker gets frosty and pour into an "up glass". present it to me with a blue cheese stuffed olive on a spear laid across the top of the glass.......and then not sneer at me when I want 2 ice cubes in my glass when it has gotten past the chilled state!
You can also skip the vermouth if you don't have decent stuff....Gallo doesn't make it! Nor does Tribuno.
But it's too early in the morning to be thinking of such things!
Linda C

I'll be drinking with lindac and kayskats! Bombay Sapphire gin with a pickled onion. Linda's Maytag Blue stuffed olives sound very interesting.... just guessing Maytag. Waving the bottle of vermouth over the glass of gin is dry enough. If doing a "real" martini then a bit of vermouth poured in the glass and then dumped out with the residue being a perfect measure.

As a young man I actually slugged down three at lunch. My mentor actually thought it something I needed to learn. You might say I was an eager student. First lesson was don't act like an idiot just because you are drunk. Second was get your work done in the morning because you are going to be drunk after lunch. Old men are sometimes very wise.

: )
lyra/michael

I just ran across this recipe from the Food Network resident alcoholic. I have not tried them, but they do sound good!

Passion Fruit Martinis Recipe courtesy Sandra Lee
See this recipe on air Thursday Mar. 20 at 12:30 PM ET/PT.

1 shot citrus vodka
1 shot white cranberry juice
1 shot passion fruit juice
1/2 shot orange liqueur
1 tablespoon cherry juice
Orange peel twist, for garnish

Combine all ingredients except orange peel twist in a shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into martini glass. Garnish with orange peel twist.

I am so "on the cusp" it's hard for me to keep from calling vodka based drinks served in martini glasses "martinis", but totally get that gin is the only martini. Here's my favorite vodka based "martini" drink. What else can this generation call drinks that are made in that style (pure to almost pure liquor/served in a martini glass)???!

Godiva Chocolate Martini recipe
1 1/2 shots Godiva® chocolate liqueur
1 1/2 shots creme de cacao
1/2 shot vodka
2 1/2 shots half-and-half
Dip a glass in liquid (your choice, 1/2 and 1/2, vodka, chocolate liqueur...). Rim the glass with powdered chocolate drink mix (I know, I know, but it looks so pretty :). Swirl a glass with chocolate syrup. Add all liquid ingredients in a shaker along with ice. Pour into glass and garnish with either a cherry or a coffee bean. The coffee bean is more traditional, but cherries are becoming more widely seen.

Very ultra decadent.

-Robin

Yes, it's true, the fruity and sweet ones really aren't martinis at all. But luckily there is room in the world for ALL these lovely concoctions! So although they are correct, the purists (and I'm usually one of them; I was with martinis until I found yellowcake) are going to have to resign themselves to the definition of "martini" having expanded beyond gin to vodka to anything served in a martini glass -- or risk sounding pedantic, a la Texas chili purists railing that anything with beans isn't chili (or me ranting that anything sweet has no business calling itself a bagel).

Seriously, do try that yellowcake, doucanoe and lowspark. I know it sounds bad, but trust me, they are fabulous, and they have proved VERY popular at our parties!

I'm a bit of a purist but not quite.

Chilled Vodka only, no gin. Olive or onion depending on my mood. Pass the Vermouth bottle over the top and call me good to go! Rocks generally... big sin!

I did have some pros try and straighten me out. Anyone recognize these bandits! LOL

DH has made ginger martinis quite a few times now. The ginger gives them a real kick. Don't throw out the ginger pulp after you make the syrup. You can freeze it in ice cube trays and add it to cookies, gingerbread, spice cakes or breads, etc.

Ginger Martini
3 oz. vodka
1/2 to 1 oz. ginger syrup
1/2 t. fresh lime juice

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add vodka, ginger syrup and lime juice and shake. Strain into a glass.

Ginger Syrup:
1 lemon
2 c. coarsely chopped fresh ginger with peel, about 8 oz.
1 c. sugar
2 c. water
Remove the outer peel of the lemon and finely chop lemon and ginger in food processor. Transfer the mixture to a saucepan, add the sugar and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, partially cover and simmer for 15 min. Strain and cool. Can be covered and refrigerated up to a week. Makes 2 cups syrup.

Oops - need to attribute that ginger martini recipe to Food Network.

Absolut Citron Dirty Martini

Absolut Citron
Dash of dry vermouth
Splash of olive juice

Shake over crushed ice, strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with olive marinated in vodka.

This one is always a hit for Girls' Night.
POMEGRANATE MARTINI

4 tbs. Absolut Citron Vodka
2 tbs. Pearl Pomegranate Vodka
1 tsp. Fresh Lemon Juice
1 tsp. Pomegranate Juice
1 Strip of Lemon Zest

Crushed Ice

Fill a shaker glass with crushed ice. Add all the ingredients. Shake or stir vigorously for 1 minute. Allow cocktail to rest for 1-2 minutes. Strain cocktail into a martini glass. Garnish with lemon zest. (For added flavor run zest around the rim of the glass.)

I love dirty martinis, which are usually olive brine instead of or with vermouth.
A couple of years ago, when my family and I had finished packing to move cross country I was terribly in need of a good cocktail and with a deminished fridge, made the dirtiest 'slash and burn' martini of all times.

Still, it did the job. Here it is:

Here is a link that might be useful: A wicked dirty martini

Hands down.....a Washington Apple martini.

Crown Royal
Apple Pucker
Cranberry juice

Ooh, I see several I have to try! That ginger martini sounds really god. I have actually tried the yellowcake, and I did like it. Must have misplaced the recipe, tho, because I had forgotten about it!

As you can see, I am not a purist in any sense of the word. I like 'em all!

Thanks, and keep 'em coming!

Linda

I love the POMTINI & the APPLETINI but they knock me for a loop!!!! My nephew is a bartender here on Fire Island New York at the famous Flynn's he make the craziest Martini's he has a delicious one called Happy Birthday ...taste just like birthday cake YUMMY!!!!