'Tini Tuesday (Lemon Martini)

Those that know me well, know my appreciation for a good martini. I never cared that much for them until my friend Vicky came into my life. Her love of being the life of the party and bringing her bar with her in a laundry basket to parties, changed me. I would call Vicky and go to her house after work, let her make her magic, sit back, relax and spend an evening drinking some fabulous tini's.

Then, Vicky did something that changed my life forever. She had the audacity to move!! Can you believe it? Where would I go in the afternoons now when I need a break? How dare her, right? Thank you.

So, I did what any deserving working Mom would do, I forced Vicky to tell me all of her secrets.

My friends now know me as the one that can make a great martini. People come to any event we have at our house, just to have a drink. And why not? It's free!

In honor of it being late spring and that Vicky will be coming to visit in another week, I am going to start blogging on Tuesdays different Martini recipes. Enjoy!

Ingredients: Absolute Citron Vodka, Cointreau, simple syrup, lemons, sugar, ice, shaker, and a great martini glass to make you feel important!

Let's take a second to discuss Vodka's. (Vodkas? Apostrophe or no apostrophe? Ugh, anyway) In this recipe I do use Absolute Citron. Normally, I would use Van Gogh Vodka. I love the flavor of Van Gogh in a martini. I also keep the majority of my vodka in the freezer. Nothing worse than pouring the alcohol into the shaker and having it melt the ice and water down your drink!

Okay, I'm off my vodka box now. Get it, soap box, vodka box? Alright not that funny.

I use two lemons for roughly two drinks. Depends on the size of your lemons. If we are having a large get together, I juice the lemons in advance and keep the juice in the fridge until we need it. Then I just eyeball it into the shaker. If only making one or two, I turn the shaker lid upside down and just use that as a strainer.
Throw away the seeds and then add other ingredients. The rule of thumb that I use for most of my drinks is two parts vodka to 1 part what ever else I'm using. For example, for this recipe I used two shots of vodka, one shot of cointreau. A good splash of simple syrup and ice. That is it! Shake well.

I then rim a martini glass with one of the lemons and swirl it in a dish of sugar. It creates a delicious tart and sweet combination!

Then pour your lemon martini into your glass,garnish with a lemon slice and TA-DA!