The Blog

The First Five Days after the Weekend are the Hardest – Goodbye Summer Fridays

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Miriam Zelinsky

The end of Summer invokes many mixed emotions – relief if you’re a parent, excitement if you’re heading back to your college campus to continue to fail at everything but funneling beer, or Klonopin numbing stress if you’re already in the work force. Summer is over, now it’s time to get shit done. The commuter train seems to triple in crowd, the streets of New York are overrun with suits and the nannies of the elite are parading the newest, most teched out strollers of the season. Your boss has all of a sudden instilled an 8:30am start time – who the hell is up that early other than traders and garbage men? This is usually time for mid-year reviews (biggest joke of corporate America) and in which case, I’ll preemptively congratulate you on getting promoted for the job you’re already doing. In essence, “back to school” is a euphuism for putting Summer Fridays away in your “better” memories and getting back to the grindstone.

So, here at LJP we can offer you three things to help with this transition: (a) our new Mullet bow ties, or try one of the Mullet straight ties if your office is super conservative (it’s business in the front, but fun in the back), (b) a new twist on an old favorite, The Manhattan, which only the most sophisticated and hardest workers of the city drink and (c) an encouraging “when work feels overwhelming, remember that you’re going to die.” Shit’s about to get real.

xoxo L

  The Mullet Bow Tie

The Mullet Ties 

Here's a link to a Manhattan recipe from a past blog!

Cocktail Recipe du Jour: Watermelon Mint Champagne Cocktail

Posted on September 16, 2015 by Miriam Zelinsky

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! Even though Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer, we are still in full summer mode and in utter disbelief that summer flew by so quickly. So in celebration of continued warm September nights and dinners al fresco with friends and loved ones, I give you a super simple champagne cocktail that incorporates fresh watermelon and mint – two refreshing summer ingredients I'm not yet ready to retire. So move over, mimosa! This watermelon cocktail definitely deserves a spot in your next soirée.

Miriam

What You'll Need:

A small watermelon

8-10 mint leaves

Lime

Prosecco or champagne (preferably dry)

What To Do:

1) Blend the watermelon and use a strainer to separate the solids away from the juice.

2) Fill a champagne flute about a 1/3 of the way with the watermelon juice (or to taste).

3) Add a squeeze of lime.

4) Top with champagne.

5) Garnish with a mint sprig and piece of watermelon.

Cocktail Recipe du Jour: Best Toppings for your Bloody Mary

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Clint Cocagne

My friends regularly send me any and all articles remotely related to the Bloody Mary. My friend Amanda just sent me this one, which gives you ten ideas of toppings for your Bloody. I like this article because it doesn't suggest adding a whole fried chicken and a Big Mac like some of the other articles. It does have the usual oyster and/or shrimp topping ideas but it also has other great suggestions like a bagel with lox. My favorite is their grilled cheese topping idea since Bloody Marys are essentially spicier tomato soup (with vodka) and we all know how well grilled cheese goes with tomato soup, er, anything! So here's the link for ten ideas for your next Bloody! I might just add one through ten and call it a day. Let's be honest, that's absolutely what I'm going to do.

Cheers!

Read it here.

Cocktail Recipe du Jour: Canada's Bloody Caesar

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Miriam Zelinsky

There's no denying I'm a huge Bloody Mary fan! So when I went to Montreal over Easter weekend, I was (most) excited about trying as many "Caesars" as I could get my paws on. A Caesar is Canada's version of the Bloody Mary, using Clamato juice as a base instead of regular tomato juice. Although I love clams, I was originally skeeved out about trying bottled tomato juice mixed with some sort of clam juice. It was actually delicious and think I'm subbing Clamato for regular tomato juice when I make my next Bloody. Joe Beef won for the best Caesar. It was spicy and rich and had an oyster, shrimp and cornichon as a garnish – yum!

Here's the recipe! Cheers!

What You'll Need:

Tabasco to taste – 5 to 7 dashes (I use 30)

Worcestershire Sauce – 5 dashes

Ice

Lime

Old Bay

2 Shots of Vodka

Mott's Clamato Juice

Black pepper

1 tbl spoon of horseradish

What To Do:

1) Rub the lime wedge around the rim of the glass, and dip the glass in Old Bay

2) Add the Tabasco, squeeze of lime, pepper, Worcestershire Sauce, and horseradish to a high ball glass with a little ice. You don't want it to get too watery.

3) Add the vodka 

4) Top off with Clamato

5) Garnishes: Cornichons + lime (bonus: lobster claw, shucked oyster and/or shrimp!)

Cocktail Recipe du Jour: The Greyhound

Posted on April 01, 2015 by Miriam Zelinsky

After long last, spring is finally here and Easter is just around the corner. Consider making a Greyhound or Salty Dog for your Easter brunch this Sunday. It's super easy and refreshing, plus grapefruits are good for you and loaded with vitamins. In addition, this drink is super versatile – you can substitute tequila, mezcal or gin.

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