The 50 Plus Male

On October 17th, in our News You Can Use post, I promised you a special upcoming treat–an introduction to the art of crafting the perfect cocktail–a practice held near and dear by many 50 plus males as a prerequisite for enjoying one of our favorite social activities, the cocktail hour. While imbibing our favorite beer still (happily) remains a cornerstone of the “happy hour” past-time, entry into the 50 plus age category is often accompanied by an inclination to quench our thirst with more cosmopolitan offerings.

We are privileged to have Josh H., the author of his own blog, Spirited Cocktails, and very good friend of The 50 Plus Male, serve as guest contributor for this post. Spirited Cocktails is ”dedicated to the craft of the perfect cocktail” through introducing you to some of the country’s most renowned  mixologists, along with Josh’s own expertise gained through completion of comprehensive course work in the field, such as BarSmarts Live and classes/seminars at the International Culinary Center.

As Josh states in his blog, “what reason is there to drink if not for your own enjoyment?” Beer, wine, and the basics (ex. gin & tonic) deservedly serve as the “standard bearers” of cocktail hour, but your palate may be missing out on a world of creative experimentation that can only heighten that enjoyment. Josh makes all of this accessible without the slightest hint of pretension, aptly underpinning his motto, “there are drinks, and then there are cocktails.” Resulting from my  discussions with Josh, we thought it best to begin with The 50 Plus Male readers learning how to perfectly concoct one of our more stalwart cocktails, the Martini; without further adieu, here’s Josh…

One of the best parts of writing about cocktails and spirits is that the audience is nearly universal. I actually come from a technology background where, with a few exceptions, there wasn’t much diversity in the crowd. But writing about spirits on Spirited Cocktails, I’ve met so many people from so many different backgrounds and walks of life, and it truly enriches my experience.

All of that being said, there are a few mainstay groups of the cocktail world, and one of them includes men of the baby-boomer generation. When I meet these guys at various bars and events around New York City, they’re generally the type that appreciate the classic cocktails – Manhattans, Old Fashioneds, Gimlets and so on. And of all the cocktails that the 50 plus male seem to appreciate, none comes up more frequently than the Martini.

There’s a folk lore surrounding martini. It’s probably something we should blame on James Bond, but it seems that everyone has their own recipe for the perfect martini. To be clear, though, in my mind, a martini is not any cocktail served in a martini glass (Appletinis are most certainly not martinis). Again, in my mind, a martini is a cocktail made with gin, not vodka. Many of you may prefer vodka, and that is certainly your choice, but if you’ve never prepared a classic gin martini with a quality gin, I strongly urge you to give it a try.

So for those of you who may not be used to preparing your own martini, I wanted to share two variations that might help you get started.

The first is the classic dry martini. This recipe dates back to around 1895, and is my preferred method when preparing martinis for my guests. The recipe is as follows:

1.5oz gin (I prefer a London Dry gin, such as Beefeater 24)
1.5oz French dry vermouth
1-2 dashes orange bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with fresh ice, stir well to chill, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a peel of orange or lemon.

Those that prefer the extra dry variety may prefer this more modern recipe:

3 oz gin
1/8oz French dry vermouth

To make this extra dry, add ice and the vermouth to your mixing glass. Swirl to coat the ice with vermouth, and strain off the excess. Add your gin, stir well to chill, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. The traditional garnish for this variation is a pitted Spanish olive.

A few notes:

-Yes, I said stirred. The general rule of thumb is that any cocktail made with only spirits (no citrus juice, sugar, etc.) should be stirred. A shaken martini is a cloudy martini, and probably a bit too watered down as well.
-The orange bitters in the classic recipe may be unfamiliar to you, but trust me – it’s a worthy addition. A dash or two of bitters in any cocktail can go a long way towards providing the depth and character that makes a good cocktail great. If you can’t find orange bitters in your local grocery or liquor store, you can order them online from my friend Greg at Cocktail Kingdom. 
-As with any cocktail (just as in cooking), the quality of ingredients matters. Use a cheap gin, and you’ll get what you paid for. Gin has seen a wonderful resurgence in the past decade, and there are some wonderful, high quality gins for you to chose from. For a martini, a classic London Dry like Beefeater or Tanqueray probably works best. But some other brands worth trying for your home bar include Plymouth, Hendricks, and my favorite hometown gin, Blue Coat (distilled in Philadelphia!)

If you’ve got a favorite recipe for a classic martini, I’d love to hear it. You can reach me anytime via my blog (Neal has provided links above and in his Blogroll).

Cheers!

-Josh

I’d like to sincerely extend a “toast” to Josh for sharing his wisdom and enthusiasm with The 50 Plus Male. We eagerly look forward to future visits with Josh to gain expertise on a variety of basic and exotic cocktails!

-Neal

Departing the “Single/Never Married” demographic group and entering the “Married” category didn’t occur for me until I was one month shy of my 36th birthday. This tidbit holds importance for two reasons: I dated for 18 years before meeting my wife, and I can honestly say I was ready to marry when the big day arrived. There’s a somewhat puzzling dynamic present within these two stages of my life, and I wonder how many 50 plus males join me in laying claim to this incongruity…during my dating years, I would often cook dinner at home for my “female companions,” while my married years have produced a notable dearth of kitchen activity on my part.

Inviting a woman home for dinner only occurred after we had enjoyed a few “standard” dates (going-out for dinners, drinks, movies, and shows) and reached a level of comfort and trust with  one another. I had taken Chinese cooking lessons in the evening at a township-sponsored course for adults for this very purpose. Wok cooking was relatively simple yet appeared fairly impressive; as long as I stuck to two or three tried-and-true recipes, I was master of my domain. Ethnic-style cooking only added to the aura of the evening.

A “time-out” is called for here; if you think I was cooking just to highlight my creative side, you’d be mistaken. If you think the effort was solely meant to underscore my growing feelings for the lady, you’d be half-right. I was also hoping the effort of preparing an exotic home-cooked meal presented under candlelight ignited the ultimate aphrodisiac…in other words, ”exotica for erotica.” Hey, if any of you guys are shaking your heads about now, you can quit kidding yourselves; admit it, many of you have tried the same…but as long as you remained a gentleman throughout the evening, couching this ulterior motive in thought only was basically harmless.

Flash forward through the past twenty-one years and you can count on two hands how many dinners I’ve prepared for my wife. I’m not even daring to count preparing simple pasta meals or being the self-proclaimed BBQ grill-master of the household; I’m referring to preparing a full-blown dinner from scratch. I do my share of the dishes and other clean-up chores, but for some reason, I have ceased to don the apron. I have a good friend named Frank, deservedly proud of his Italian heritage, who is a whiz at exhibiting a passion for cooking that would make his kinfolk proud. A sit-down at one of his (and wife Ina’s) dinners is akin to passing through the gates of Italian food heaven. My only problem is that my dessert many times consists of guilt topped with a layer of shame from a lack of similar effort on my part at home.

Don’t kid yourselves guys; take-out doesn’t count either in lessening the cooking load for your better half. At most, it grants you a day off from addressing the issue. But you’ll please excuse me if I don’t think about that now, I have to run out and pick-up the Chinese for dinner…

-Neal           

Author’s note: The 50 Plus Male recently was the recipient of some very exciting news! I have now become a contributing author to one of the ten largest internet portals dedicated to the “boomer-generation,” Boomer-Living.com. A mutual friend and fan of The 50 Plus Male blog graciously introduced me to Doug H. Fitzgerald, Ed.D, the President and Founder of Boomer-Living.com. The outcome of our initial discussion was that Boomer-Living.com would pick-up some of my blog posts and publish them on their site.

  According to Dr. Fitzgerald, “Boomer-Living.com was started to help baby boomers as they confront life’s challenges aging in the 21st century. I feel strongly that aging now is nothing like the aging of our parents.  It’s a whole new mindset. Most of the boomers I know want to remain active the rest of their lives. Many have chosen to continue working or become entrepreneurs, while others elect to travel.  Whatever the case may be, times are different, and Boomer-Living.com provides guidance and direction so that our members can make more informed decisions related to their own personal and family lives.  Our objective at Boomer-Living.com is to become the most trusted and reliable resource available today for baby boomers.”

Dr. Fitzgerald and I have begun exchanging ideas for future posts and look forward to a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship. I have provided links to Boomer-Living.com for you above and under the Blogroll section found in the right-hand sidebar of each page in The 50 Plus Male. My listings in Boomer-Living.com can be found under their “Coffee House Blog” sub-header link.

__________________________________________________________________________________

  The 50 Plus Male is proud to introduce a new feature to the blog, The 50 Plus Male Store. The store was formed by becoming a third-party affiliate of Amazon.com. This means that any purchases you make in the store will be entirely processed through Amazon.com (this is done automatically; you do not have to undertake any additional steps), so you may rest assured of the functionality and security earmarks built into the store. Initial product categories being introduced are books and magazines pertinent to the 50 plus male.  Additional category offerings will gradually be added. Once again, if you look at the right-hand sidebar on each page of this blog, you will see a small square entitled “The 50 Plus Male Store” immediately above the calendar—this is the link that will gain you access to the store. Even if you do not have any current purchase intent, I heartily invite you to peruse the items so you can get a feel for the look of this new feature. As always, I welcome any feedback and want to sincerely thank you at the outset for your support.

Finally, as promised in an earlier post, we will soon have a good friend of The 50 Plus Male, Josh, from Spirited Cocktails (Dedicated to the Craft of the Perfect Cocktail), serving as a guest contributor for an upcoming blog posting on a social rite holding great significance for 50 plus males, the Cocktail Hour! Josh is an expert on providing step-by-step instructions for creating one-of-a-kind cocktails that will quickly become new favorites in your arsenal.

-Neal

Have you noticed how complicated the general subject of food has become lately?  Nightly news broadcasts, both national and local, are constantly presenting segments on the latest foods found surprisingly beneficial or detrimental to our health.  One day red wine is good for you, the next day it’s harmful; the same for foods like coffee and chocolate.  Now I understand that these examples may seem ripe (pardon the pun) for controversy, but how about when the stories are about  less obvious food items that no one would have deemed controversial before they became startling news headlines…red meat, tuna, sugar substitutes; the list grows daily.

We all know the importance of maintaining a healthy diet.  Certain foods should be altogether avoided, while others should only be enjoyed with strict moderation.  The significance of this general rule-of-thumb only increases as we gain entry into the 50 plus age demographic. Every once in a while, however, you just want to throw caution out the window and enjoy a meal where words  such as “nutrition,” “calories,” and “tooth decay” are jettisoned from our vocabulary.

I sincerely do not mean to disrespect anyone with serious health conditions involving diet (heart issues, diabetes, etc.); obviously adhering to your physician-prescribed regimen is the way to go.  But who opened the window and threw out the fun in food?  As a 50 plus male, I want to enjoy my occasional pizza, indulge in a smorgasbord of Chinese food, and hit a prime (oh the puns!) chop house and savor a thick, juicy steak along with some thirst-quenching brew with the guys.

While a lot of 50 plus males still think the kitchen is only for eating and not doing any of our own cooking, an increasing number of us have picked-up the skillet and ventured forth trying our hand at the culinary arts.  Two fairly recent discoveries have helped encourage these efforts; I’m referring to The Food Channel’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives show and The Travel Channel’s Man vs. Food show.  Various chefs and food pundits have become stars in our food universe as a result of having successful TV shows, with two in particular having broad appeal to the 50 plus male—Guy Fieri and Adam Richman.  

  Mr. Fieri hosts Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  Each episode finds Fieri visiting inexpensive, but high-quality locally beloved food establishments that have typically been in business for many years, often having passed through family generations.  As you watch the fare being prepared, he lovingly describes the kitchen action and asks the chefs/owners questions when presented with some surprising ingredient or method of preparation.   The real treat is watching this man’s enjoyment when it comes time to sample the food.  As a chef, Fieri knows his way around a kitchen and you sense there is nothing artificial in his commentary.  His unabashed respect for the proprietors and their craft is a joy to behold, as is his warmth and humor when he joins diners at their tables.  Every time I watch this show, my hunger pangs go through the roof.  Good, basic food, expertly prepared and eagerly consumed.

Mr. Richman hosts Man vs. Food, which finds him making a sojourn to a city that has a locally legendary restaurant which, while generally known for  its hearty food, is  particularly famous for providing a time-honored, mind-boggling food challenge. This involves either the consumption of a specific dish containing an  incredible amount of bounty or is in the upper stratosphere on the hot spice scale.  Some of the challenges are accompanied by the added requirement of a time limit. The first two-thirds of each episode show Mr. Richman sampling the fare at other eateries in town and cavorting with the chef and diners.  He has an effervescent personality, is funny as hell, and is an instantly likable guy.  You wish he was your older brother.  The final third of the show is when we actually watch “man vs. food,” as Mr. Richman takes on the challenge at the featured restaurant, hoping to gain a spot on the ever-present Wall of Fame.  Foot-high sandwiches, seven pound burritos, pizzas the size of two manhole covers, and ten-decibel peppered ethnic foods (often with prodigious amounts of side dishes) have at times succumbed to the Richman appetite, and at other times have taken the measure of the man. Win or lose, he’s always gracious and ends each episode with an amusing mock news conference with the diners who served as his cheerleaders during the challenge.  Great TV!

So guys, I encourage you to become a viewer of these shows.  Amiable, knowledgeable hosts combined with outrageously enjoyable restaurants and appreciative dining customers have finally put some fun back in food.

-Neal