Hey TikiTender!

Just a normal, somewhat slow for Memorial Day weekend, Saturday night when I hear "TikiTender!". I turn to see a former regular, Jimbo, standing there. It had been nearly 3 years since I had seen him standing across the bar from me. A manly hug ensued and I served him up. Jim was a customer who was also a drinking buddy. He also happened to be the manager of my favorite St. Augustine restaurant, OC White's. Welcome back to Florida Jimbo!

Recipe: Strawberry Fields Smoothie + Pics Of Me!

This is an Abs Diet recipe. It yields two 8 oz servings, but I'm not ashamed to admit I just drank the whole thing. It is delicious, nutritious, and filling! Also, it is ALL power foods.

Strawberry Field Marshall Smoothie (number of Powerfoods: 5)
½ cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 cup 1% milk
2 teaspoons peanut butter
1 cup frozen strawberries
2 teaspoons whey powder
6 ice cubes, crushed

Makes 2 8-ounce servings

Per serving: 186 calories, 11 g protein, 26 g carbohydrates, 5 g fat (2 g saturated), 3 g fiber, 151 mg sodium

Those who have seen me might have noticed my clothes fitting a little different. This all started when I went back to bartending full time a couple months ago. I realized my "old" bartending clothes weren't fitting quite right! I am holding steady at about 15 pounds lost since Mardi Gras, but the pounds are now moving around to better locations LOL. Here are a few pics to illustrate.

End of December 2010

2nd Week of Lent (March 20, 2011)

April 27, 2011

This morning, May 9 2011

To all you chubby chasers out there. Don't worry, there is no chance of me ever being "skinny". LOL

Drink Recipe: Mint Julep

It's Derby Day! I really should have posted this yesterday to give you time to prepare, but you still have about 6 hours so get cracking!

Like a martini, people make mint juleps in many different ways (thinking that all others are wrong). The basics of the drink are the same no matter who is making it: bourbon, mint, sugar, and shaved or cracked ice. Mint juleps are traditionally served in a frosted julep cup, made of silver. An old-fashioned or Collins glass will do. I'm not much of a traditionalist when it comes to glasses. I drink red wine out of an double old fashioned glass and margaritas out of a pilsner.

There are three schools of debate regarding the mint: muddlers, steepers, and garnishers. Muddlers crush the mint with whole sugar, like in a mojito. Steepers let the mint steep in simple sugar, and let it sit overnight. Finally, garnishers just add a sprig or two as garnish for the drink.

I fall under the "steeper" category, voting to let my mint leaves sit in some simple syrup for at least a few hours before preparing the drink. Some call this solution "minted sugar". To make it just add some mint to the simple syrup and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours. Pull it out when you're ready to drink.

Mint Julep
2 oz Maker's Mark® bourbon whiskey
1/2 oz minted sugar
Shaved or crushed ice
a few sprigs of mint

Toss a couple mint leaves in the bottom of a double old fashioned or highball glass and fill it with shaved ice. Pour the bourbon and then minted sugar over the ice. Stir and refill with ice. Garnish with a healthy amount of mint. Serve with a sipping straw.

Or you could use Henry Watterson's recipe (he is the Pulitzer Prize winning editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal). "Pluck the mint gently from its bed, just as the dew of the evening is about to form upon it ... Prepare the simple syrup and measure out a half-tumbler of whiskey." Pour the whiskey into a well-frosted silver cup, throw the other ingredients away and drink the whiskey."

I like his style. Enjoy and have a happy derby day!

Drink Recipe: Catalina Margarita

It's Cinco de Mayo! Break out of your margarita rut with this recipe, a favorite of Emily over at Bahama Mama's. The finish is slightly sweet with a gorgeous blue color.

Catalina Margarita
1 1/4 oz tequila
1 oz peach schnapps
1 oz blue curacao
4 oz sour mix

Pre-chill an unsalted margarita glass with ice. Pour all ingredients into an ice-filled shaker. Shake shake shake! Pour into the prepared glass. Anytime I use blue curacao, I like to garnish with an orange wedge.

Enjoy!

Drink Recipe: Let The Wookie Win

Let The Wookie Win
2 oz Jim Beam® bourbon whiskey
1 oz blue curacao
1 oz orange juice
1 oz sour mix
lemon-lime soda to balance
Build over ice in a hurricane or other tall glass. Garnish with orange and lime wedges.

Drink Recipe: Dagobah Swamp Water

In recognition of May the Fourth aka Star Wars Day!

"Control, control, you must learn control!"

Dagobah Swamp Water
1 1/2 oz rum
3/4 oz orange juice
3/4 oz pineapple juice
3 dashes blue curacao

Build over ice in a rocks glass. Stir and Serve.

TikiTender Joins Examiner Team

Here's some news for you. This morning, I was accepted to the Examiner.com team as the Daytona Beach Bar Examiner. You might be asking yourself "What the heck is an examiner?"

Examiner.com is the inside source for everything local. We are powered by Examiners, the largest pool of knowledgeable and passionate contributors in the world. Examiners provide unique and original content to enhance life in your local city wherever that may be.

Examiners come from all walks of life and contribute original content to entertain, inform, and inspire their readers. They are credible, passionate and influential because of their knowledge of a particular topic.

So in a nutshell, I will continue to be doing the same thing as I always do. Except for a larger audience, and hopefully earning a little drinking money as well!

Do me a favor, head over to the site by clicking below. I have only just submitted my first article but you can "like" my page on facebook and help me with some traffic. Thanks bunches!

http://www.examiner.com/bartender-20-in-orlando/mark-woods

Remember That Pair Of Shoes You Threw Away?

I bet this guy wouldn't mind that they were a little worn....

All over the world (and in the United States), there are people who would be happy to enjoy your discarded shoes.

Soles4Souls® is a shoe charity that collects gently worn shoes and monies to provide shoes to those in need. The donation of shoes gives someone the hope for a better tomorrow. Donating shoes to Soles4Souls shoe charity is a great way to recycle shoes. Donate shoes today.

Don't Be This Customer 101: The Vague Order

Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's annoying. It really depends on the situation. Yesterday I was BURIED in the Tiki Bar. The deck was jammed, so my service printer was non-stop. I was carrying on conversations and making drinks for the 25 or so people hanging around the Tiki Bar, and I was eyeballing my stock because if I ran out of something the Tiki Train would derail for sure. I was working alone. But, things were being handled. I'm no slouch as a bartender, so I was in my zone.

Along comes what I'm sure is a nice older guy. First of all he is in the server pick-up window. That is where the servers pick up their drinks and where I try to pick up the servers (kidding TikiWife!); strike one. He is a little difficult to hear and understand; Strike two. I greet him as I am making a large order. He orders, wait for it, a beer and a white wine. I smile and say "It will be a moment, please." Luckily, I was wearing sunglasses because I'm sure my eyes were saying "Are you kidding me? Do you see me buried here? Now you're going to make me guess what kind of beer you want?". I deliver my order to the service window and ask him if he had a particular beer or wine in mind. He answered "Any beer and a dry white wine." Thanks for specifics dude! At this point I had about 3 orders in front of him (one with 3 mojitos) and didn't really want to make the poor guy wait so I sent him to the main bar, where two bartenders who were much less busy could assist him. "Sir, as you can see I'm very busy and have several orders to make before yours. if you'd like you can walk over to the main bar and they can get you taken care of more quickly." He smiled, thanked me, and went to the main bar. Problem solved. Everyone was happy. I chuckled to myself as I made mojitos for bikini clad moms having a girls' day at the beach. Maybe the bikinis kept me smiling, but in this case I found the whole situation quite amusing.

Today's Lesson: Make your life and your bartender's life easier by being ready to order, especially if the bar is very busy.