Drinks anyone?

March 29, 2011 tooboots
Tags: Catcher in the Rye, Cocktail, Diet Coke, Drink, family, food, HBO, Holden Caulfield, Kate Winslet, Manhattan, Mildred Pierce, Tab

I just watched the first two installments of the remake of Mildred Pierce, and a particular scene caught my attention.

Bert Pierce was offered a cocktail by his daughter, and Mildred dutifully went into the kitchen to fix the drinks. Except she poured four scotch and waters—one for her, one for her estranged husband, and one each for their young daughters! Really? The youngest one was barely nine years old, if she was day.

So that got me thinking….What was my first “official” cocktail? The sloe gin fizz my cousin Faith and I—we were 12– shared at an older cousin’s high school party doesn’t count, nor did the countless red cups of beer years later.

My first real cocktail was a Manhattan. I was 21 years old, and out to dinner with my parents and their office staff. Wanting to feel grown up and mature, I ordered something other than my usual Diet Coke—or was it a Tab? I had just finished reading Catcher in the Rye for the umpteenth time, and recalled it was Holden Caulfield’s go-to drink.

It tasted horrible, sickly sweet, and so strong you could smell the alcohol before the glass was placed on the table. The only consolation was the cherry plopped in for garnish. I gamely finished the drink, as my parents’ eyebrows raised in disapproval.

My second drink was a Tab.

What was your first official cocktail?

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5 Comments Add your own

• 1. Pretty bootsie fan!  |  March 29, 2011 at 7:42 am

  Hmmmm…well there was the 2 win coolers I had a high school graduation party (after I had graduated). I promptly lead to m getting sick in my best friend’s lawn! Bu my first official drink of record would probably be a bellini I had on my first visit to New York with my fabulous future sisters-in-law, the year I got married. Prior to that, I would be considered a “red-cup-drinking” beer girl. Never had the curiosity or desire to go outside my comfort zone – remembering all too well college experiments with alcohol and the unfortunate circumstances.

  I remember it was sweet, bubbly and made me feel so fancy and grown up while sitting in what I considered a chic place to be! A great memory that I had forgotten about. It was the trip that started one o my most cherished friendships! 😉

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  • 2. Pretty bootsie fan!  |  March 29, 2011 at 7:42 am

    Oh my… Excuse the typos!

    Reply

• 3. Jennifer Lenkiewicz  |  March 29, 2011 at 8:27 am

  Sloe gin fizz, as well…out east visiting my older, wiser sister at BU…I was 16 ~ at a restaurant ~ and never given a second look or an id check. It was delish.

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  • 4. MC  |  March 29, 2011 at 2:12 pm

    We used to play “Drinks of our Parents” when we could afford a good drink at a nice dinner. I was probably in my 30’s. The drinks always included manhattans, martinis, whiskey sours, old fashioneds. I remember my dad ordering tanqueray and tonic. So that’s what I ordered. It was good. Eventually I went to tanqueray martini. But now I’m not allowed to drink gin anymore.

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    • 5. tooboots  |  March 31, 2011 at 8:38 am

      Why are you not allowed any gin?

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