In-Wall Sink- COVET!!!!

Oh, if we were only redoing our tiny tiny tiny basement bathroom now... we had an offer of a medicine cabinet this weekend, and then I just stumbled on this thing online today:

According to the ReStore blog, (a Philadelphia architectural salvage clearinghouse store), it was made by Angelo Colonna of Philadelphia.  I can't find any more info on him or the sink online, but how sweet is that?  And they're selling it for only $300. 

I don't know if it works or what the limitations are, but somebody who's doing a bathroom, (or wetbar) renovation needs to get over to ReStore ASAP and scoop this puppy up.  To pull this thing out of the wall whilst making a dirty martini would elevate the drink's status to Franklin Mortgage and Investment Company heights, even if you were using six month old vermouth and Banker's club Gin.

Plus, ReStore accommodated my friends' band and let them shoot their video there.   The song/video is by Turning Violet Violet. And the cinemetography was shot by our bud Murphy who's going to be our new roommate for a month before he moves out to Colorado with his family.



(He doesn't have a full time gig out there yet, so if we have any readers from the Rocky Mountain State who are in need of some kick ass video work, let us know...)  And hell, you all could buy the sink too.  Shipping and Handling not included.

Infused Vodka

We've been infusing our own vodkas over the winter with much success...

So far, the delectable winners have been:

Cranberry Thyme Vodka (Batch #3 shown in pink below)
Clementine Clove Vodka
Blueberry Lemongrass Vodka

But we don't like:

Blackberry Thyme Vodka (shown in dark purple below)

I'm about to break into the Grapefruit Fennel Vodka which is the yellow tinged one that I just finished, shown here.  I'll let you know what we come up with for mixology opportunities.

And I just started a batch of Watermelon Basil Vodka.

Really the sky is the limit on these concoctions.  Just throw a handful of fruits, nuts, spices, whatever in a clean glass jar, pour a liter of vodka over top and let it sit in a dark place for a month.  Strain and serve.

One word of caution, don't try to infuse in the pretty bottles.  Getting grapefruit rinds out of a narrow necked bottle is a frikkin pain.  I had to fill the bottle with oven cleaner and let it sit for two days before I made any headway.  But fortunately I was buzzed from drinking other infused vodkas most of that time, so the wait didn't seem that long.

DJ Self Criticism

I am currently preparing some music for a couple of party events in the near future.  In terms of being a DJ for these kind of things, my style leans toward the funk/pop/rock range, bordering on what many would consider "Wedding DJ" territory.  Of course, no Electric Slide, Funky Chicken, or Cha Cha Slide... even if those are requested by the bride herself, both DJ and the entire wedding party should be euthanized on the spot.

That said, no DJ is above their own personal biases, and those should be examined critically.  I realized as I was preparing the playlists, that many of my personal favorite dance songs include the "Party in the Background" production value.  Hoots and hollers, clapping, crowd noise, etc.  The big question is whether the "Party in the Background" is a symbol of a good dance song, a crutch that elevates a mediocre dance song, or something even more heinous, something I just like because I'm an easily manipulable extrovert and covers the fact that these songs actually suck.

Readers, I submit a few somewhat lesser known dance songs for your review.  Enlighten me to my bias or good taste as the case may be...







Also, I was recently given the DJ name, "Brother Hoops."  You can feel free to comment on that as well as I haven't decided whether to fully embrace it or not.

Kretchma Cocktail

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands stresses which have connected bugged the frick out of  them with another , and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them that the Mac & Cheese intended for dinner is taking forever to cook from a frozen state, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare drink away the causes which impel them to the separation irritation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men cocktails are NOT created equal, but that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights flavors, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness a pleasant balance of tart, sweet, cream, and bitter.

 Thusly, we give you the Kretchma Cocktail... again, portioned for two...

Kretchma Cocktail
2 lemon Twists
3 oz Vodka
3 oz White Creme de Cacao
1 1/2 oz fresh Lemon Juice
3/4 teaspoon Grenadine

Rim two chilled cocktail glasses with the lemon twists.  Combine the Vodka, Creme de Cacao, Lemon Juice and Grenadine in a cocktail shaker with crushed ice.  Shake it like a Polaroid picture.  Strain into glasses and top with the lemon twists.

Its kind of like birthday cake but knocks you on your ass.

Siiiiidecars

The perfect Sidecar recipe...  Portioned for two because one should never drink Sidecars alone:

Sidecar:
Lemon Wedge
Superfine Sugar
4 1/2 oz brandy
4 1/2 oz triple sec
1 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice.

Rim a cocktail glass with lemon wedge and spin in plated sugar.  Use a citrus stripper to pull two lemon twists from the wedge before discarding.  Place twists in two glasses and chill in the freezer.

In a cocktail shaker, half filled with crushed ice, combine lemon juice, triple sec, and brandy.  Shake heartily.  Strain into chilled glasses and enjoy.

Have several tonight and by tomorrow you'll be ready to kamikaze outta your job and declare, "I never have to put on those silly shirts for as long as this warlock exists in the terrestrial dimension."

It takes a 1500...

I started reading this article from Slate about the whiny fastidiousness of NPR listeners, or more accurately the whiny fastidiousness of NPR listeners who write into the station.  I followed one of the links to this 10 minute NPR interview with Ke$ha.

 The most important fact that I can convey from this morning's research is that Ke$ha got a 1500 on her SATs.

1500* 

I would incredulously act shocked that this is a hair better than my SAT scores, which I don't tout because I think it makes me smart, I'm just a ridiculously good test taker.  I actually think there are brilliant people out there who scored much much lower, but they're just not good standardized testers.  But if I was to incredulously state such a thing, it would put me in the same camp as these snooty NPR letter campaign writers, who put themselves far above the gutter workings of shiny pop culturedom.

What I find so funny about this is how easily we look at "art" and transcribe the critique of the piece onto the artist themselves.  Which is not to say that Ke$ha is or isn't an "artist", or that her "work"  is worthy of critical merit or isn't.  You can debate that fact over a Pinot Grigio and free range cheese plate at your local oenephile watering hole, but I'm not getting into that here.   Its just that people look at the pop product produced by a Jay-Z, or a Alan Ball, or a Joss Whedon, or a Lady Gaga,  and place value and worth on the person's humanity.  What makes "Dirt off your Shoulder", "True Blood", "Dollhouse", or "Born This Way" fitting indicators of these people's genius?  They're pop artifacts as well, but of a different subject.  Yet, these folks are esteemed for their creative and empire management prowess.  But create a piece that is dedicated to the art of funjoy and influencing others to surrender themselves to it, (which I believe is actually a complicated emotion/action to orchestrate), and the masses cry out "to avoid this sort of stupidity". 

"The party don't start til I walk in."  Indubitably, Ms. Sebert, Indubitably.

*That's in the 99 percentile.  She did not state what she got on the Math vs the Verbal.  My guess is that she's probably pretty equally left and right brained and scored similarly on both halves.   Of course, all of this is dating me tremendously as the SAT has been three sections and based on a 2400 max possible score since 2006.  But I guess its dating Ke$ha** as well. 


**Hmm.  Dating Ke$ha would be odd.  Fortunately, I don't have a beard.

Thrunday- Raj Collins

So among the developments in recent months has been the healing of a deep seated rift in my marriage to my wife: namely, how to throw a party together.

We both knew that we loved to be hospitable. Its one way in which we love to love people. But the primary issue is that I am an extreme extrovert who values short shallow relationships with a lot of people all at once and my wife is a deep introvert who values actual meaningful relationships with a few people for an extended period of time. Left to my own devices, I would throw a massive party with 100 people barely fitting in our home with drinking, reveling, music, etc where I didn’t have to talk to any one person for too long about their new boring film project on the oppression of the indigenous population of Galamaharis in West Skeda… Zzzzzzz...

My wife on the other hand, would lean toward an intimate gathering of two or four friends on an occasional basis, but one where she could really dig in and ask them how they FELT about the new cell phone ring they’ve chosen.

 We finally struck upon a perfect compromise. The third Sunday of every month we host a happy hour for all sorts of friends and neighbors from 5-7. For her, its perfect because she can mingle but also hang with her closest friends who make it a point to be there every time. Since it is a monthly event and it has a limited time frame, it strikes the perfect balance of getting to connect with people deeply but not be overwhelmed with being “on”. For me, its perfect because I can invite new people every time and they mingle and take care of themselves for two hours. I can feed them good food and drinks for less than it would cost Rach and I to go get two cocktails a piece at the local watering hole. We have taken to calling the event “Thrunday”. (Yes, phonetically and etymologically it isn’t a perfect contraction for Third Sunday, but it rolls of the tongue and sounds vaguely medieval.

Anyways, we had a good bit of gin in the cabinet for yesterday’s Thrunday and I was itching to make these Samosas that I found online. (PS, excellent.  But put in half the peas called for and I cooked up some frozen diced potatoes instead of the mashed.)  So, an Indian Theme emerged. And I spent a little of Sunday afternoon coming up with a new cocktail, the Raj Collins. (I’m sure you can put two and two together.)

Here’s the recipe:

The Raj Collins**

Raj Collins
Super Fine Sugar
Garam Masala
Lemon wedge
1 oz fresh lemon juice (about ½ a good sized lemon)
1 Tbs Ginger Simple Syrup (Recipe Follows)
1 ½ oz Gin
Club Soda
On a plate, mix 1 part Garam Masala to 4 parts super fine sugar. (3/4 tsp Garam Masala to 1 Tbs Sugar). Run a lemon wedge around the edge of an Old Fashioned or Low Ball glass. Dip in sugar mix and swirl to coat. Add 1 oz lemon juice to the glass, 1 Tbs Ginger Simple Syrup, 1 ½ oz. of Gin. Handful of ice, top with club soda, and give ‘er a stir with a spoon.

Ginger Simple Syrup:
You could use powdered ginger in this recipe, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Its much better to make a quick ginger syrup with ¼ cup of sugar, 1/8 cup of water, and three 1” diameter - 1/8” thick slices of ginger. (I always buy bags of fresh ginger, peel it at all with a spoon edge and slice it into pieces of this size. Freeze it on a cookie sheet before sticking it in a ziplock and you’ve got fresh ginger for months.) Anywhoodle, put all that stuff in a little saucepan, bring to a boil while stirring, turn down to simmer for 5 minutes. Strain out the ginger and let cool.


** I should also note that we seem to have lost our camera. So for now, I’m stealing other people’s pictures from the web and photoshopping them. Don’t tell anybody. We can’t afford a new camera AND legal fees.

Schmancy Dinner

Previously on the-house-rules, we had a LOT of people to help us move in... It was great, because several of the ladies* unpacked most of our kitchen into the cabinets and pantry. Plates here, cups there, pot holders under there, etc. And the best part about it is that it was all WRONG.

Now, this is no judgment on the aforementioned ladies*. They placed things according to their own logic structure and our snippets of input. And it most likely made a lot of sense for their collective kitchen consciousness. But each person has their own way of organizing things and this wasn't ours.

But having things put in the "wrong" way makes it easier to identify what the "right" way is. We spent evenings of this past week, after work, organizing the kitchen from one end of the galley to another. Somewhat of a mise-en-place as Escoffier would say. (I don't really know what that means, but I know its related to food prep and it sounds schmancy right?)

We start with cutlery/prep/wash at one end, move to cook/serve, and to wait/bar station progressively down one side of the kitchen. On the other side there's pantry/fridge/supplies and a special confection/pastry corner for my wife the baker. (I only do savory/stove top for the most part.)

Anways, we got this done just in time for our first dinner party with our friend Meredith on Friday night. Mostly, the dinner was pretty tame. Pasta with a bottle of sauce plus my spinach mushroom additions. But I'm very proud of my salad: Frisee greens with Walnuts, Apples, and Parmesan cheese tossed in a lemon mustard dressing. I owned that mother.

Also, we had a bottle of Merlot from Rex Goliath 40 lb Rooster, one of our favorite wines, recommended to us by my brother and his wife. They live in Wisconsin, so typically one would question their Midwestern taste, but it was a recent (and sad) move from the east coast, so you can trust them... Implicitly. Unless we're talking about gun control, in which case don't put stock in anything they say. (Get it! Stock?!?)




*Footnote: Ladies is not a pejorative term. The setting up of the kitchen simply happened to be done by a group of women. Don't accuse me of sexism. I mean, if a dude who gets all hot and bothered by a frisee salad can't simply state the facts without his readers getting all feminist activist on his ass, what hope does the world have?