Alcohol: G'morning, Bloody Mary!

I'm not sure what posessed me, but I bought a bottle of tomato juice. Then 48 hours later it hit me: I should be able to whip up an awesome Bloody Mary with my standby stock of vodka.

You see, where this is going? You are impressed.

So I took a jigger (ounce and a half) of vodka, an ounce of Worcesthershire sauce, a dash of Louisana Hot Sauce and a dash of siracha, half a cup of tomato juice, 1/2 a lemon freshly squeezed and shook it up with some ice in my cocktail shaker. I strained the concotion into my glass added a slice of lemon, a celery stick and salt and pepper.

Ta-da!

It was delicious and went awesome with Mad Men season three re-runs. Almost like Sally made it for me.

Alcohol: The cocktails never taste so good

The good news: the cocktails.

The bad news: bowing to Salt Lake City culture and adding a sports channel to the TV.

After presenting my senior project my posse of Ava, Erin, Lilian and Manfriend indulged my love of classic cocktails at the Speak Easy.

The Speak Easy is a 20s inspired bar in Downtown Salt Lake City (63 West 100 South). My friend Alex joined us later in the night. He just got back from South Korea, so you can blame him for my current indecision about teaching there or in Taiwan.

We had a great time with a lovely group of people who also sat in our comfy corner. The Speak Easy is a small venue, but has never been very packed. The live band was great and the cover charge was a reasonable $3 for one or $5 for two.

The space is lined with great comfortable couches and small tables. There are cool vintage mirrors above the stage area. And a small dance floor for the dancers of the group. The club has a dress code, but isn't too strict about it. In the name of dressing nice though, it's a great excuse for a cocktail dress and heels. There is a TV playing sports above the bar, but it's easy to ignore with all the other cool vintage things to watch.

The bar tenders know how to treat you right and will set you up with any cocktail. I tried the Bee's Knees and it was delicious. Lemony, sweet, and pretty, too. It was a little sweet for my taste so I went with a Long Island next.

I've explained the baseline theory of cocktails before, any one who can make a Long Island can make a cocktail. I said it at the bar and I'll say it at the blog, "Speak Easy makes the best Long Island's in Salt Lake." These people aren't afraid of their alcohol and you can taste it.

I finished the night with a side car. I love the cognac, lemon mix.

I also tried Manfriend's Singapore Sling. It was definitely too Kool-Aid like for me, but he liked it enough to get a second.

The Speak Easy also serves beer on tap.

I had a great night with a great group of people. I highly recommend Speak Easy to anyone who wants a different bar experience in the city of sports bars.

Alcohol: Stirred, not shaken

The Martini

1 part dry vermouth

4 parts vodka

Kalamata olives

Toothpicks

Olive juice

Pour the vermouth and vodka into a chilled martini glass. Add one kalamata olive pierced with a toothpick. Stir. Add olive juice to make it dirty.

After spending the day at the Salt Flats and in Wendover, Manfriend and I picked up some vermouth and vodka for $27 at the Desert Discount Liquor Store in West Wendover. I've been led to believe that alcohol is cheaper outside the Great State of Utah, but that belief has been amended to only some alcohol is cheaper in Nevada-vodka isn't one of them, vermouth is.

We decided to try out our cocktail mixing talents and put together a classic martini since the cognac for a sidecar was more than I wanted to spend.

By the second martini, I decided I like mine best extra dry and extra dirty. Manfriend wouldn't even drink a dirty martini after smelling it so apparently olive juice isn't for everyone. The mixture of booze with booze took me down fast so in the future I'll definitely be a one martini woman.

But it sure was delicious.

Port O'Call

Port O'Call
75 West 400 South

For New Year's Eve, Ava and I went to Port O'Call in Downtown. It's a great bar that has been recommended by a few different friends. So we went ahead and took the opportunity to see what it was all about before the city demolishes the building.

We arrived early because I was starving and couldn't wait to devour something. The main floor was packed, but we found a nice little table upstairs on the year-round patio. Our waitress was friendly and efficient. We ordered from the regular menu. Ava had the chicken pasta a.k.a Big Ass Pasta and I ordered a cheeseburger and fries a.k.a Classic Port Burger.

The food was delicious. People say hunger is the best sauce and maybe that's true, but fry sauce with beer-battered, fresh-cut fries is AMAZING! The hamburger was served open-faced. I would have liked more cheese. They also didn't serve any mayonnaise on the side or on the bun which I thought was odd, but not a great loss. It was fantastic bar food and totally worth the $7 price.

I also had an Electric Long Island. As I said, "It's just the way I like them not enough alcohol I can taste it, but enough that I can feel it." I also tried a Tequila Sunrise and a Cape Cod. Although, Ava loves Cape Cod I think I'll stick with the Long Island. Again, our waitress was spectacular and brought us refills before we realized we needed them and made sure we were well taken care of.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere at Port. They've done a great job of making it feel like you are at a friend's home. I also noticed that the patrons of Port seemed like a big family. There were a lot of large groups of friends around. For a club it seemed more like a pub. And the bathrooms are clean. In my limited experience of clubs in Salt Lake City that is unique.

I would love to go back to Port, but with a $10 cover charge and cocktails running at about $6 each it ended up being a pricey evening for a poor, starving college student. Luckily, Ava is amazing and paid for dinner and drinks. So I got away with paying only $20 for the cover charge. It was totally worth it.

How was your New Year's Eve?