National Vodka Day – October 4th
According to V.V. Pokhlebkin’s The History of Vodka, in 1430, a monk named Isidore from Chudov Monastery in Moscow created first Russian vodka. He called it “bread wine”, and it was for a long time produced only in Moscow. In the 1500s in Poland, vodka was distilled and traded enough that they had a reputation in numerous countries. While it started as a grain alcohol, today vodka is also made from potatoes, fruits, honey, maple saps, and sugar. If you’re in the vodka belt (Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Ukraine) you’ll likely be drinking your vodka neat and ice cold. In the U.S. we use it to mix, well almost everything.
Music Du Jour: Somehow vodka goes down smoother with some Russian Hip Hop. If you’ve not heard of Diskoteka Avariya before now…you’re welcome.
Film Du Jour: 9 of the 27 James Bond Films features a “vodka martini, shaken, not stirred.”
- Dr. No
- The Spy Who Loved Me
- Moonraker
- The Living Daylights
- License to Kill
- Golden Eye
- Tomorrow Never Dies
- The World is Not Enough
- Spectre
When you feel like exploring, here’s some vodka made from unique ingredients:
- Ciroc – made from overripe frosted grapes found in cognac and mauzac blanc
- Noble Wolf – grapefruits
- Ocean – organic cane sugar and seawater (which is sourced from 3,000 feet below the coast of Kona)
- Fair – quinoa
- Snow Leopard – spelt
- Still the One Comb – honey
- Vermont Gold – maple sap
- Broken Shed – whey
- Haku – Japanese white rice
- Black Cow – milk
Here’s a good list of foods to match with vodka.
A very cool vodka set for purists.
Cocktail Du Jour – Vodka Martini
The classic vodka martini recipe. We prefer a tasteless vodka in a martini. In the US that includes Stolichnaya or Russian Standard Platinum, which are commonly available; Titos is another good choice. To make a “dirty” version add 0.5 oz of olive brine.
- 2 oz vodka
- 0.25 oz dry vermouth
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake for 15 seconds. Strain into martini glass. Garnish with 3 speared olives.
Mocktail Du Jour – Moscow Mule Mocktail
You can barely tell the difference between leaded and unleaded if you have a good ginger beer.
- ¾ cup of ginger beer
- ¼ cup of club soda
- Juice of one lime
- 1 tablespoon of simple syrup
- 4 mint leaves
Muddle lime juice and 2 of the mint leaves in a cocktail shaker. Add ginger beer and club soda. Stir and strain into a copper cup over ice. Garnish with 2 remaining mint leaves and a lime wheel.
Beer Du Jour
Yorsh, or Mora Grogg, is a mix of beer and vodka originating in Russia. Add one oz of vodka to a beer glass and top with beer. Also, either name is fun to yell at a bartender.
Wine Du Jour
The 360 Wine Cooler
- 2 oz 360 Grape Flavored Vodka
- 1 oz Red Wine
- Lemon-Lime Soda
Shake wine and vodka in cocktail shaker with ice and pour into coupe glass. Top with soda.
HISTORY OF NATIONAL PATIENT RECOGNITION WEEK
National Patient Recognition Week, held in the first seven days of February, is about promoting the culture of emphasizing patient satisfaction. It serves as the day professionals in the healthcare field recommit to the pledge of superior healthcare service delivery.
The holiday serves as an opportunity for healthcare service providers to find ways to better care for their patients and attend to some of the most common complaints around healthcare service delivery in the U.S., including noisy nurses stations that can sometimes interfere with sleep, loss of personal belongings and more.
Patient Recognition Week is a time for healthcare service providers to “seriously reflect on their stewardship of patient care and their dedication to patient satisfaction.”
In modern times, healthcare in the United States is having a torrid time in contrast to the healthcare industry of other developed countries. This makes National Patient Recognition Week even more important.
In 2014, the World Health Organization’s survey revealed that the United States has the highest per capita healthcare expenses of any first-world country. And, the National Institutes of Health’s 2016 research also noted that the U.S. has the highest prevalence of obesity, car accidents, infant mortality, heart and lung disease, sexually transmitted infections, adolescent pregnancies, injuries, and homicides among the 17 high-income countries surveyed.
NATIONAL PATIENT RECOGNITION WEEK TIMELINE
The Affordable Care Act or Obamacare is enacted and is a major change in insurance.
The court upholds the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.
The country spends $9,403 per capita and 17.9% of GDP on health care, as discovered by WHO.
The landmark research shows life expectancy in the U.S. has dropped since 1993.
