Cheryl Charming - The Everything Cocktail Parties And Drinks Book: The Ultimate Guide to Creating Colorful Concoctions, Fabulous Finger Foods, And the Perfect Setting

COCKTAIL
PARTIES AND
DRINKS BOOK The Ultimate Guide to Creating
Colorful Concoctions, Fabulous Finger Foods,
and the Perfect Setting Cheryl Charming
To my mother, Babs Smith, for her encouragement and support Publishing Director: Gary M. Krebs
Associate Managing Editor: Laura Daly
Associate Copy Chief:
Brett Palana-Shanahan
Acquisitions Editor: Kate Burgo
Development Editors:
Karen Johnson Jacot, Jessica LaPointe
Associate Production Editor: Casey Ebert
Director of Manufacturing: Susan Beale
Associate Director of Production: Michelle Roy Kelly
Cover Design: Paul Beatrice, Matt LeBlanc
Layout and Graphics: Colleen Cunningham,
Holly Curtis, Erin Dawson, Sorae Lee Copyright 2005, F+W Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced
in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions
are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews. An Everything Series Book.
Everything and everything.com are registered trademarks of F+W Publications, Inc.

Published by Adams Media, an F+W Publications Company
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322 U.S.A.
www.adamsmedia.com ISBN 10: 1-59337-390-2
ISBN 13: 978-1-59337-390-0
Printed in Canada. J I H G F E D C B Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Charming, Cheryl.
The everything cocktail parties and drinks book : the ultimate guide to creating colorful
concoctions, fabulous finger foods, and the perfect setting/Cheryl Charming.
p. cm. (An everything series book)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-59337-390-2
1. Cocktails. 2.

Appetizers. 3. Entertaining. I. Title. II.

Series: Everything series.
TX951.C467 2005
641.874dc22
2005017396 This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association
and a Committee of Publishers and Associations Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Adams Media was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters. This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases.
For information, call 1-800-289-0963.

Major thanks to all the talented people at Adams Media, with special thanks to my project editor, Kate Burgo, and my development editor, Karen Johnson Jacot.

Specific thanks to Dewana Falks and Kate Mansfield for providing a budget for me to host a multitude of themed parties over the years. I would also like to thank my creative sisters, Carolyn and Charlie, for letting me bounce ideas off them. In addition, I thank the ingenious minds of my six nieces, Carly, Mackensey, Leslie, Alex, Meagan, and Tori. Sometimes simple perspectives can turn out to be the most creative. My continued gratitude is extended to my friends in the cocktail industry for their help, support, and ideas: Mark Hastings, of www.barproducts.com; Pl Lberg, of The Webtender (at www.webtender.com); Robert Hess, of Drinkboy.com; Toby Ellis, of BarMagic (at www.barmagic.com); Dean Serneels, of Flairco.com; Scott Young, of ExtremeBartending.com; and the most famous bartender in NYC, Dale DeGroff, of KingCocktail.com.

Believe it or not, the social cocktail party, as we know it today, has not been around very long.

If it werent for Prohibition (the law of the land from 1919 to 1933) and the birth of Hollywoods motion picture industry, many believe that the cocktail party would have never been born. Imagine what Prohibition must have been like. For centuries upon centuries, all kinds of alcoholbeer, wine, and hard spiritshad been a part of peoples everyday life. Then, in 1919, the manufacturing, sale, and import/export of alcohol were suddenly banned in all of the United States, all Canadian provinces, and in the entire country of Finland. I bet there were a lot of vacations taken south of the border! From the mid-1800s to 1918, in bright cities across America, you could stroll into a saloon and order up a Manhattan, Cuba Libre, or Singapore Sling, among many others. At the same time, many anti-alcohol organizations were formed because people believed that the constant rise of crime was the direct result of alcohol consumption.

This battle of the booze was fought for many years until finally on October 28, 1919, the U.S. Constitution was amended to include the Eighteenth Amendment, the legislation behind Prohibition. It took effect on January 16, 1920. The fine for selling alcohol was $1,000 or six months in jail. Can you imagine the New Years Eve party on December 31, 1919? Or better yet, the party on January 15? It doesnt take a genius to figure out what happens when you tell someone that they cant have something. Its just human nature to want it even more! The buzzwords of the time included bootlegging, speakeasy, bathtub gin, home brewing, moonshine, organized crime, smuggling, black market, flasks, and gangsters. Saloons tried to survive by substituting gambling and prostitution for the forbidden alcohol, but the cold hard fact was that people wanted to drink.

After all, they had been able to drink for their whole lives already. This is why the underground clubs and bars called speakeasies were able to flourish. Can you believe that there were over 100,000 speakeasies in New York alone? Cocktails became all the rage, and flappers took the stage. Finally, under the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, Prohibition was repealed and America was no longer a dry nation. (Mississippi was the exception, remaining dry until 1966.) Swing and jazz clubs swept the nation, and Hollywoods silver screen glamorized cocktails in full style.