The best part of the holidays is the family coming together to create a fantastic meal.  Several members of the immediate family came to town to celebrate Thanksgiving and it is awesome when everybody does their part to contribute to the holiday dinner.  The combination of prepared dishes made from different hands is enjoyment for all and whether one’s contribution is from setting the table, prepping the meat for grilling, chopping veggies for sauteing, baking desserts or washing dishes, there is something for everyone to do.  My contribution this year was the preparation of an autumn cocktail to serve before and during dinner.  The two cocktails were as follows:

Smoky Harvest Apple Cider Margaritas

The Smoky Harvest Apple Cider Margaritas were definitely a hit.  It was the perfect seasonal cocktail.  I didn’t use the mezcal tequila but rather silver tequila (patron) that I already had on hand.  Unfortunately, Von’s only had a $45 bottle of mezcal and I didn’t want to spend the money on it since the recipe said that you could still make a fantastic drink without it.  That said, we missed out on some “smokiness” but that didn’t ruin the drink at all.  Everyone asked for “seconds” so I obliged and provided a round 2 to the crew.  I’ve been asked to make this for Christmas as well so I sure will.

Cranberry Chai Sangria

This one took a bit of prep time to cut up all the fruit and infuse the cranberry juice with chai tea.  I also made the mistake of packing too much fruit into my pitcher so it made it difficult to mix the drink.  I was able to improvise a bit and prepared a “shaken not stirred” cocktail.  Although this one required more prep time and labor, it came in 2nd place to the apple cider margaritas.  I think the crowd was a bit full by the time this drink was served.

The secret with these cocktails is the ice cubes.  Using larger ice cubes vs. the standard freezer cubes helps prevent water dilution and maintains the integrity of the cocktail.

What a great holiday dinner it was and I look forward to many more with family and continuing to “do my part”.  Cheers.

For many people, there are few constants in their life.  Jobs, cars, pets, friends, homes — what do all of these things have in common?  They come and go.  Now, many will argue that friends do not come and go and for many who are blessed to have loyal friends, I agree completely.  But throughout life as you grow into adulthood, get married, have kids — the only constant you can always rely upon is your family.  I am fortunate that my parents are still married after 32+ years and are stronger than ever.  It’s amazing how much they care and love their kids (me and my bigger bro).  My brother lives in Sacramento and is married with 3 kids.  Me in LA with 2, and they’re always venturing out of the Central Valley either to Northern CA or to Southern CA nearly every weekend.   I feel like I take it for granted now, because they make it so easy for us to see them.  We rarely go home, not because we don’t love them or don’t want to, but because we’re “busy” with our lives here.  But the day will come when they won’t be here in LA every other weekend.  Age takes its toll on all of us, and I hope that I won’t always take it for granted.  Family is everything — family is first.  Take care of your blood.

Bruce Lee is the best martial artist of all time not because he was a pioneer of his art.  He studied different forms of martial arts during his lifetime and extracted what he believed to be the most effective and practical moves from these styles, eventually forming Jeet Kune Do.  He believed that simplicity was the best approach and that one should always be striving to become better, faster and stronger.  Bruce Lee was very philosophical and one of the best things about him was his ability to dissect one’s mind, including that of his opponents.  Bruce was extremely intelligent and a once-in-a-lifetime talent who will forever be a legend.  It is a shame he died at such a young age.  Bruce was and is an inspiration to millions!

“If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life.  There are no limits, there are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”

-Bruce Lee

Just last season, we witnessed Kobe Bryant’s worst statistical season ever.  But we won’t forget the 5 rings he won as an LA Laker.  I’ll take the peaks and valleys because despite what anyone says, he was interesting and polarizing as a player.  While equally frustrating along the way, Kobe gave the Lakers everything he had night in and night out and for that, will be remembered as one of the best to ever suit up.  Kobe was one-of-a-kind.  We will never see another Kobe Bryant in our lifetime.

“Friends can come and go, but banners hang forever.”

-Kobe Bryant

The definition of “purpose” is as follows:  The reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.  Have you ever thought about what your purpose is in life?  This is something I never really thought about until recently.  When I was younger, I didn’t care what my purpose was.  I just wanted to grow up, have fun, respect my parents, love my neighbor, find a hobby and play some sports.  Somewhere along the line, I decided to go to college, get an education and a job, because I realized that I needed to earn a few bucks to pay the bills.  Apparently, I wasn’t going to live at home forever.  I also found a girl, got married, had 2 kids and bought a house.  I went to church and found the Lord, but it was just something of a routine.  It seemed to me that I was just living here on earth, but really wasn’t serving any purpose.   But it wasn’t until recent years when I started thinking that there actually might be a real purpose for me being here.  I still have no idea what that might be or where life may lead me, but there has got to be something else.  It can’t just be this…not that I am unhappy or anything, but it sure feels like God has something in store for me in the near future.  I will let you know what that is once I find it.

Came across an interesting article in Business Insider geared towards future entrepreneurs.  If you are looking to start your own business and have lofty aspirations, below are some good recommendations of online courses that you should take.   Many of these require some diligence and effort, but you wouldn’t be an entrepreneur if you weren’t willing to put in some time.  Besides, learning and/or mastering these courses could separate you from the crowd, and could be the difference between success and failure.  Good luck!

You don’t plan to fail, you fail to plan.   This is relevant in any industry, career or sport.  So stop procrastinating and start working! Stop expecting and start producing.

“If you’re not prepared, it’s not pressure you feel, it’s fear.”

-Bruce Bochy, Manager of the SF Giants, and winner of 3 world series rings!