Apparently we're 'cocooning'.
OK, well I am reliably told Americans are - and us Aussies and Kiwis are bound to follow, right?
Well, maybe. But let's assume we - too - succumb to the Evil Downturn and eat out less...
Apparently, as credit is frozen, the stockmarket see-saws we're staying at home. The New York Times reports a "precipitous decline in consumer spending." And an old notion is resurfacing.
"Consumers are cocooning, hunkering down,"according to the Consumer Electronics Association. They report a 40% surge in sales of flat-panel TVs over the last year."
Enter Jerry "Martini Guy" Gonto, co-owner of www.MartiniArt.com, who wrote to Renzo to assure me that Americans are not giving up their Martinis...
"People may be staying home, but they sure aren't giving up their martinis," says Gonto. "We're seeing strong, healthy sales - a sign that Americans are hanging onto a few pleasures, like the martini, as we head into a holiday season that promises to be tight."
A martini made at home is luxury at a lean price. "You can easily serve up elegant martinis at home for less than $2 each," he notes. "And the feel of that cold martini glass in your hand just says that things are going to be all right."
Hmm. Well, I guess you're either into Martinis or you're not. Give me a Central Otago Pinot Noir or a Margaret River Shiraz any day.
But if you'e into Martinis, or you're a product of the seventies: “These home cocktail parties recall the days when FDR mixed martinis for guests during what we termed the 'children's hour' before dinner," says Gonto.
So here are three basic tips from Gonto to help you plan the perfect cocktail party:
1. Set the scene: Set up a station equipped with a cocktail shaker, rows of martini glasses, assorted olives, fun napkins and plates. Let guests bring an appetizer. "People always ask. Let them. They feel part of the action that way," Gonto says.
2. Tune in the mood: Make it ring-a-ding-ding rat pack music, Andrews Sisters or martini lounge sounds. "Have tunes going when guests arrive," Gonto says. "People leave their worries at the doorstep." (Is he for real?).
3. Chill. "A frosty glass takes a martini from sleek to sublime."
OK. Gonto can talk more about this new 'cocooning', martini history, and how to throw a cool cocktail party. More tips, recipes, martini music and martini-related gear can be found at www.martiniart.com.
And finally a recipe: To help people swing into the holidays, Gonto offers this "Martini-toddy for the body":
The Bing-tini Martini
2 dashes sweet vermouth
½ ounce apple brandy
1 ounce white rum
1 teaspoon freshly grated apple
1 curl of apple peel
Add the brandy and rum to cocktail shaker ½ full of cracked ice. Shake vigorously.
Add the grated apple to the bottom of a freezing martini glass. Strain martini cocktail into the glass and drizzle in the sweet vermouth. Top with the apple peel.
Sit back with your friends and enjoy what you have.