[Editor's Note. Please go ahead and queue up the song at the bottom of the post. Think of it as the post's soundtrack.] Sarah and I want to keep everybody interested in our wedding even though it is more than a year away. So, we thought we’d tease you a little bit. Well, perhaps tease is the wrong choice of words. Sarah and I would like to give you a sneak peak at what we’ve been up to.
Excuse me, would you like to add some sophistication to that cocktail? Well, why not try some cucumber ice cubes?
Cucumber ice. Simple, sophisticated, refreshing.
If you’re looking for ways to add a little class to your drinks, why not freeze up some cucumber ice cubes? All you need to do is peel a cucumber, chop it up a bit and throw it in a blender along with a liter or so of water. Purée, and freeze in an ice cube tray. Then you’ll be ready to enjoy the perfect gin and tonic. Or, if you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, you might try my variation on the Porch Swing Coctail.
Veranda Tippler
2oz Tanqueray No. 10
1.5oz Pimm’s No. 1
4oz Lemonade (1 part fresh lemon juice, 3/4 part ginger simple syrup, 2 parts water)
Pour all ingredients into a large Collins glass over cucumber ice cubes and top with a splash of lemon-lime soda. Garnish with cumber and lemon slices.
This Sangria is pretty darn tasty and just as good looking. Plus it’s supposedly for people on a diet…although, it’s probably still not good for you. Especially if you drink an entire pitcher by yourself.
Swingin’ Sangria
One 2-serving packet (about 1 teaspoon) sugar-free lemonade powered drink mix
One 8-ounce can pineapple chunks packed in juice, not drained
2 cups sliced strawberries
1 orange, peeled, roughly chopped, seeds removed
1 peach or nectarine, roughly chopped
1 lime, sliced into rings
1 750-millimeter bottle of pinot grigio
12 ounces diet lemon-lime soda
8 ounces brandy
Directions:
Combine powered drink mix with 8 ounces of water in a glass and stir to dissolve. Set aside.
Place all fruit in a large pitcher. Add lemonade mixture, brandy, and pinot grigio.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 5 hours. Overnight is best.
Just prior to serving, stir in soda.
This is exciting. Trust me. Let me introduce to you another esteemed guest blogger: Jed “Ray” of Ray’s Garden. From time-to-time I hope to check in with Jed to see how his world of green-living and garden-growing is going. In his first guest-post on Westervin, he’ll be taking us through some composting basics:
When we first moved into my most recent house I decided to start composting. Composting is just a win-win-win situation. Not only is it a great way to give back to the environment, but it reduces your waste, and it’s a great way to add organic matter to gardens.
I know what you’re thinking: Why have you abandoned us? Well, fear not. We’ve just been doing a bit of traveling and well-wishing, but we are, indeed, back. Plus we have some exciting news, Sarah and I have settled on a venue for our wedding, plus we’ve narrowed it down to a few dates in 2011!
What does this mean for you? Well, because we’ve bumped up our wedding date by just about a year, things will probably be a bit different on the Westervin blog. While we will still be bringing you a sampling of our esoteric interests, hobbies, collections, pretties, et al., expect to find a bit more wedding stuff. I mean, this isn’t a wedding blog, it’s a blog about what interests us, and right now, that’s weddings (well, our wedding in particular). Also, since we are going to have to plan this thing, we’ll probably be unable to commit to multiple posts each day as we have been doing, however, we’d like to experiment with some longer posts that’ll wallop you with content.
So, the point is we’re back, better, and ready to roll. Trust us, we never stopped thinking of you while we were away.
There was a time, I’m not exactly sure when, somewhere between 2nd and 7th grade, when I spent a lot of time in the basement. Between watching TV and “learning” the computer, I spent hours and hours building stuff. We had a vintage Erector Set and Tinker Toys from my Dad’s boyhood, and I had Legos, and hammers and nails, and all of that stuff that you would expect a young boy to have. But my favorite thing by far was a dark blue plastic milk crate full of wooden blocks. I loved building all kinds of structures, always stretching the finite number of blocks with Jenga-like precision to see how tall, or how large, or how impenetrable I could make it. These were forts, castles, office buildings, cities. Anything was possible.
When I was young, I liked learning. I liked going to the library with my mom and checking out books on whales, Mount St. Helens, and the Titanic. I liked learning about new things, different things, things that wasn’t around me in Iowa or Tennessee—the ocean, volcanoes, aliens, etc. While books were great, they were never quite as exciting as our trips to Blockbuster or the local video chain.
I found this song to be dangerously catchy despite the fact that it took me multiple listens to figure out what any of the lyrics were. The blurry, latebeatlesesque video is the perfect compliment for these obscurred and layered lyrics.
The album (Pigeons) is out June 8th, but you can download this track at Secretly Canadian right now so that you can enjoy it this weekend!
Here’s a simple variation on the Port Light cocktail that I came up with to satisfy Sarah’s bourbon-hating demands. It’s also a bit easier to put together since you don’t need to blend anything. I have a feeling this is going to be a great cocktail to combat the summer heat. Here I’ve used Death’s Door Gin from Madison, Wisconsin which strays a bit from the typical London Dry style, but any traditional gin (Tanqueray, Bombay, etc.) should work well.
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