Happy New Year Everyone!

Hope all your wishes come true for 2011! I am going to blog more this year. There will be a lot happening in 2011.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Thanks for reading and may your 2011 bring all you wish for.

Oogi : A Movie by Adam Nicolle

How Much To Give The Doorman, And Other Great Mysteries Of Holiday Tipping : Monkey See : NPR

Steve Dublanica , the author of Waiterrant , is interviewed on what people should tip and talks about his new book entitled " Keep the Change." He talks about why people should tip generously and the long term benefits of doing so.

I bought Waiterrant and enjoyed the book immensely. The second book enlightens people on what really goes on in other aspects of the service industry from doormen to barbers and what they make and how much they depend on the tip to get by.

Should be a good read as well. Click on the title to get the interview.

Natalie Maclean's December 17th Newsletter

Here is the holiday version of the wine newsletter with all sorts of suggestions to what to buy at Christmas.

AFP: Fickle weather worries French wine growers

A good reason you don't find too many Bordeaux wines at 10-11% alcohol by volume anymore. Warm temperatures and dry summers increase the sugars in the grape which when fermented result in higher alcohol. Here is the drawback though. Grapes that mature quickly lose their acidity which gives the wine that balance. Here are how some French vineyards are coping. Click the title to view.

Lemon Drop Shooter

Watch this video on the Lemon Drop Shooter. It is a good one but when I make the cocktail I like to add half portion of Grand Marnier to the Vodka. It is a popular one in the Bartending Class.

A Raspberry Chocolate Martini

Here is that Raspberry Chocolate Martini you want to treat your friends and family to during Christmas. Click on the title to get the ingredients.

Pair Wines with People on Your Holiday Gift List

Here is Natalie Maclean's newsletter for December 9th. As they will be coming in every couple of weeks I will post them at that time so everyone can enjoy reading about some wines and increase their knowledge of them. Natalie has a book out as well which would make a great Christmas gift to the wine lover you know.

Click on the title to view the newsletter.

Natalie Maclean Newsletter on Wine

I have been meaning to forward this along for about a week now but here is a great newsletter that Natalie Maclean puts out every couple of weeks. Have a look and read up on some great articles and wine reviews. Click on the title for the link.

How About a Waiter Reality Show?

Click on the title for the number to call tomorrow night between 8-9PM. Should be a hoot talking with people out there. What do you think? Is a waiter reality show a reality or would it just be a dud? How would you like to see it done if there was one?

5 Mega Trends That Will Shape The End of the Decade

Here is thought provoking stuff by Geoffrey James on BNET dot com. Actually when I read this I didn't have a wonderful optimistic feeling. What do yoiu think? Click on the title to view.