This New Year's Eve, Add Flair to the Air with Show-Stopping Home Bartending by Lisa Messinger on Creators.com

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This New Year's Eve, Add Flair to the Air with Show-Stopping Home Bartending

You may think you entertain with flair — especially at New Year's Eve — but do you really? Billy Boatright, Joey Torres and Evan Marder probably could provide a memorable lesson or two. The three are part of the stable of 20 flair bartenders who mix drinks —- and fun —- nightly at the Kahunaville Flair Bar at the Treasure Island Resort in Las Vegas. Each star bartender has a bio and performance video of tips for eager emulators posted at the "Meet Our Bartenders" part of the "Party Bar" section of www.kahunaville.com.

Flair is said to have had its start as early as the 1800s with a traveling bartender who enthralled bar crowds with a boiling and flaming scotch cocktail. Ever since the 1980s Tom Cruise film "Cocktail" graced theaters, mainstream popularity of flair bartending — which features maneuvers like liquor bottle juggling, magic tricks and dancing servers — has skyrocketed from spots such as Treasure Island and the Crazy Armadillo Bar at the Stratosphere Hotel in Las Vegas to sports bars nationwide, like Nellie's in Dallas. Organizations and schools have flourished, such as the Flair Bartenders' Association and the Flair Academy in Nashville, Tenn.

Home flair bartending by copying some of the easiest moves — like spinning, tossing and flipping bottles to a pulsing loud music background — is just as fun and an instant way to add pizzazz to a New Year's Eve party. Watch videos similar to those from the Kahunaville pros for a boost, or view others listed under "flair bartending" at YouTube. Sites like www.extremebartending.com are packed with information, like simple flair techniques and magic tricks — one based on famed magician David Blaine's feat of having an empty soda can refill on its own and reclose itself.

The site www.thamixologist.com has recently added a flair bartending section with a tips section, with advice like: When starting out, avoid glass bottles and opt for plastic containers, and where to buy inexpensive pour spouts for liquor containers.

Recipes are, of course, a prime part of the mix. Extremebartending.com offers, for instance, a database of more than 17,000 cocktail recipes.

The drinks at flair bars — especially the ones that include tiny and easy signature "flairs" — are often as memorable as the slick movements of the bartenders.

Those who visit Las Vegas' Kahunaville Flair Bar return with tempting tales about the unusual toppings. The gummy bears there quickly become new bar friends. Here's a recipe to prepare your own drunken gummy bears at home, even starting from a base of a homemade version of the popular candies to especially impress your guests.

DRUNKEN GUMMY BEARS

Gummy bears candies, to taste

Vodka, to cover gummy bears

Fill a bowl or other container about halfway with gummy bears. A glass container with a lid is ideal. It will need to fit in the refrigerator.

Cover the gummy bears with vodka.

Put the container with the gummy bears in the refrigerator overnight, marking that it is an alcohol-filled treat for adults only.

Just before serving, remove the container of drunken gummy bears from the refrigerator.

— www.ehow.com

HOMEMADE GUMMY BEARS

1/2 cup icy water

3 packages unflavored gelatin (each package should be about 3/4 tablespoon)

2 tablespoons flavored gelatin

1 tablespoon Kool-Aid (flavor to match flavored gelatin)

Yields enough to fill 2 1/2 molds that make 16-candies per mold.

In the 1/2 cup of icy cold water, slowly add both gelatin and Kool-Aid. Mix well. Allow to stand until mixture looks slushy.

Microwave on high for 1 minute and 15 seconds (or just until top foams). With a large eyedropper or turkey baster, fill candy molds. Put molds in freezer for 10 minutes.

Remove from freezer. Remove candy by bending mold and teasing candy away from sides. Store in airtight containers or Ziploc bag.

— Karen Pickus/Rebecca Kolls for Good Morning America/ABC-TV

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." She also writes the Creators News Service "Cooks' Books" column. To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.