Latest Poll Results and Some Secrets Revealed...

Alright food junkies, latest poll just came to an end and the results are overwhelmingly food-centric. I know, shocking.

Beach scored 2 votes. Perhaps I should have put "Nude Beach" for more interest. And yes, there is one in North Truro. And no, I don't know where. But you best believe that by this time next week, we'll possess that knowledge.

Bec delights at the thought of nude beaches.

Witnessing the Hitching and Lawn Games Bonanza also scored 2 votes each. Fair enough. Sometimes food and dancing is more important than bocce and we're ok with that. As for the ceremony part, let's be honest, it's usually not the part about the wedding that gets us going. Which is why Dr. B will be performing our ceremony. And we do mean performing. Prepare yourselves for a good time with a few surprises.

Dancing Your Faces Off came up with 4, and I can promise you, this will be happening. The "must play" list just went out and we've made some good plays. Also, it wouldn't matter if we did. This dude mashes up soul, funk, hip hop, indie rock and pretty much everything else on our respective iPods. It shouldn't disappoint.

We'll just go by Kennedy now, thanks.

Finally, Food and Drink Madness scored the win, pulling in 7 votes. So this is where I tell you the food should be pretty delightful. For the rehearsal dinner, we locked down a taco bar, which will be improved upon by some homemade guacamole and a margarita station run by Jack Gardner himself.

For the wedding, of course there need to be surprises, but I can let you know that we'll be having a grilled cheese and soup bar for dinner. There will be several types of each, stuff you've never heard of in a grilled cheese. And bar snacks to accompany these bad boys (those will remain secret, something has to, right?).

Future Wife. At least for another 12 days.

If it helps, think of it as a dinner at our house. In other words, tons of snacks, and then when you're too full for dinner, you eat it anyway. Add a signature Sean cocktail to that (Bec's personal fave of mine) and we'll be having some inebriated good times on full stomachs. See you guys in...

LESS THAN TWO EFFING WEEKS!

The Groom

I think this is a really great time to talk about this guy:


In 2.2 weeks, I will have the honor of getting married to this mook. There are so many reasons why this is awesome. Let me tell you what some of them are.


He's really good at lawn games.


He's one of the funniest people I know - and also one of the kindest. He takes excellent care of me when I am sick. Also when I am grumpy. Also when I am neither sick nor grumpy. And sometimes he comes up behind me while I'm making dinner and says something so funny that I have to sit down on the floor for a few minutes to recover.


My dad LOVED him. This is criteria not to be taken lightly. While incredibly loving and overwhelmingly supportive, my father was not a man who just ran around handing out compliments like handshakes. If Marc Orchant said he loved you, it meant he would walk over hot coals for you. EAT hot coals for you, maybe - if for some reason that was actually something anyone would ever have to do for someone else. My dad also liked to mention that I am prone to hyperbole.


He loves his brothers.


He really loves his brothers.


He really, REALLY loves his brothers.


The man makes one hell of a cocktail. He also writes what I will hyperbolically call the greatest birthday card messages of all time.


He loves funk music, 80's action movies, 80's action heroes with mustaches, thrift store t-shirts, tortellini en brodo, swimming in the ocean, Buffalo Trace bourbon, key lime pie, having the books organized on the bookshelf and most happily and luckily me. This guy, in all his sweet silliness loves me.


I could not be more excited. Because, as it happens, I love him.

New Poll! Drink Up.

Hey there. How was that weekend? Mine was great, thanks.

There's a new poll up. This one is about cocktails. We all like those, right?

 

Anyway, I will be making two drinks for the cocktail hour (which pair exceptionally well with the lawn games, of course) and was wondering what the preferences are out there. If you've ever been over, you know I have certain tendencies for my cocktail making. But I'm willing to play along with the group if I get overwhelming responses one way or another.

So vote away and help me make up my mind!

Cheers!

So, About That Poll.

UPDATE: The poll closed this weekend and it looks like bocce and gun fighting tied for first place with 9 votes each! It was pointed out that having gun fighting during the cocktail hour would cut down on catering needs, so we'll be sure to factor this in.

Second place was a tie between croquet and cornhole with 3 each. And horseshoes is the sad last place finisher with 2. We also had a write-in for badminton. Which, if it had been on there, obviously would have shut down all others. Badminton is maybe the greatest sport known to man. At least of those where you can hold a drink in one hand yet also perform vague exercise-like activities. Sorry bocce.

Anywho, the next poll is up and concerns booze. You would do well to vote on this sucker.

If you've been on here recently, you've noticed the new poll.

No, not the one about Phil Collins and Rod Stewart (which might have been a trick, but you passed it witgh flying Rods), but rather, the one querying your lawn game preferences.

There will be lawn games. That much you can count on. Since the poll will be changing to something new soon, here's what we had listed: bocce (obvs), croquet, horseshoes, cornhole (heads out of the gutter, it's the beanbag toss game [again, heads out of the gutter!]) and gun fighting.

If there is something you feel we missed, or worse, something so offensive that you'll vom at the sight of it, please let us know.

Oh, btw, prepare yourselves:

That is all.

Photo by Sean Gardner

Make This! Vol. III

This one is off the books, since I just made it up. Or didn't. It might exist somewhere and is called "Dark and Blah Blah Blah", but I didn't use The Google, so we'll never know.

1 1/2 oz. dark rum (Rhum Barbancourt is perfect)
3/4 oz. grapefruit
1/2 oz. Applejack*
3 dashes Angostura bitters (Go get some, the shortage is over!)

*Applejack is really something special. While I've mostly moved on to Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy (100 proof, suckers! Plus, it's maybe my favorite bottle ever, see below), Applejack holds a spot near and dear to my heart. It's a crucial component to the mighty Jack Rose, a cocktail that Rachel Maddow has a crush on. And since we have a crush on her, enjoy:



Anywho, she also goes for the boozy version. But the 80 proof Applejack works wonderfully and will keep you hanging on a bit longer during an evening of drinking.

Talk about a digression!

Back to that thing I made. I don't know what it's called, but it's great (I would know, I'm sipping it right now). So go make it and stop taking my word for it.


Yeah, I know. It's hot.

Make This! Vol. II

Cocktail #2: The Brooklyn.

What could be more fitting? Or upset our friend Byhoff more than me talking about our hood yet again? In drink form this time!

Anywho, it's delicious and fairly simple to make. The key here is the maraschino liqueur, which is not only an amazing booze culled from cherries (not those disgusting neon red things, it's actually Dalmation Marasca cherries plus their pits, stems and seeds all crushed up, creating a delightful clear liqueur), but the bottle for the Luxardo brand is stunning. Don't trust me?

See? Told you. No need to apologize.

Get some of this for your bar. You won't regret it. Not only does it taste amazing in the Brooklyn, but it's also a necessary component in the Hemingway Daiquiri, not to mention The Aviation (which, simply put, is one of the best cocktails in history).

Ok, enough about other drinks. Make this!

1 1/2 oz. rye (nothing fancy, Old Overholt works just fine)

1/2 oz. dry vermouth

1/4 oz. Amer Picon

1/4 oz. maraschino liqueur

Stir together in a mixing glass and strain into a coupe.

Also, I have a book that has the recipe totally wrong, yet it's still delicious. So I figure I'll mention it, especially since you might not have Amer Picon.

1 1/2 oz. rye

1/2 oz. sweet vermouth (as if they're just interchangeable...)

1/4 oz. maraschino liqueur

Stir together in a mixing glass and strain into a coupe. Garnish with lemon twist.

Don't stress the details. Sure, they're remarkably different (easy to do when the latter is just plain wrong), but they're both amazing. So make one and pour it down your gullet.

Cheers.

Make This! Vol. I

Cocktail #1: The Jungle Bird.

When I "The Google" this drink, I get:

Which makes me think of Best Man extraordinaire Matt Gardner's 2009 Halloween costume:

Sorry ladies, he's taken.

Yeah, that just happened. Anywho, The Jungle Bird is a drink. And a lovely one at that. The link there will give you the traditional beverage, but I prefer my version, which cuts the sugar completely and adds a bit more lime. How else you gonna fight off the scurvy? 

To make one, get out a shaker and some ice cubes. Add:

1 1/2 oz. dark rum (I use Rhum Barbancourt)

3/4 oz. Campari (Don't like it? Try it in this. Trust, fool.)

4 oz. unsweetened pineapple juice (the stuff in the can is unsweetened)

3/4 oz. lime juice

Shake, shake, shake it like a bottle of ketchup. Or that other thing.

Pour into a loaded rocks glass. It's like a boozy, exotic latte. Or a less sweet Mai Tai. And there's not a damn thing wrong with that, is there? 

There is? Fine.

For those argumentative folks among us, I present you with this Jungle Bird.

Needed: One lady to wear this hotness. Must love mustaches, chest hair, Detroit Tigers, British sidekicks, Ferraris and inquisitive men.