There Once Was a Man From Nantucket.... and he was a creepy pervert!

I just returned from a glorious week in Nantucket - fun, sun, friends, biking, drinking, etc.  It was wonderful - with one exception....


There was a creepy thief!  We arrived on the island by ferry on Sunday morning because Gimpy and I had to go to his roommate's huge annual party - Visifest.  So we arrived, went to the grocery store, liquor store, and then headed over to the beach.  We spent a few hours on the beach, drinking, body surfing, having a good time.  At this point, there were 5 of us girls, and 3 guys staying at the house my friend Bobby rents every year.  After leaving the beach, we showered, hung up our suits, and went out for the night.  My roommate, B hung hers up over the deck railing, and Chelsea and I hung up ours on the line.  We went out for the night in full on Fourth of July glory to go explore the town (after a dinner of grilled salmon on cedar planks, salad, and orzo pasta salad).

After a night of drinking, dancing, shots, and bar hopping, we all headed back home.  The next morning I made breakfast and a huge pitcher of iced coffee and we headed out to the deck to have breakfast.  That's when B noticed that her bathing suit was missing.  We were concerned (it was royal blue, and that's not easy to find!).  We concluded that it must have blown over the edge and been taken by the neighborhood dog.  So we headed to the beach (luckily we all packed multiple suits) and played for a few hours. 

When we got back from the beach, I went to hang the peach bathing suit I had been wearing on the line, and pulled down Chelsea's and mine from the day before.  The bottom to Chelsea's bathing suit was missing.  This was a concern, but again, we figured it fell and the dog got it.  We showered and went downtown to explore the shops.  Gimpy and I had ridden our bikes down, and everyone else took a cab to meet our other 2 guys who were coming in. 

On the way home, Mike and Bob got into the house before we did.  They thought Jeremy and I had made it back first, and saw a person they assumed was me running out of the house.  That's when someone told them we weren't home yet.  I rode my bike into the back yard, and stopped by my friends.  First question asked "Please tell me one of you took my peach bathing suit off the line" - they hadn't.  Miss Kitty was packing, and came out announcing that one of her thongs was stolen.

The girls immediately ran into the house.  We had left both doors locked when we came back, the spare key to the house was gone and the back door was unlocked.  Turns out the little perv had gone through every single bag and removed a pair of underwear from each girl's bag, and also taken another bikini from mine!  Needless to say, we were freaked.  The landlord came over, changed the locks, and called the police for us.  Nothing else was stolen, but still a creppy side to our vacay!

Total lost:
3.5 bikinis
5 pairs underwear

Mussels in a White Wine Garlic Butter Sauce

Last weekend was intense.  With B's birthday, it turned into a very expensive weekend for me.  We kicked off with a party Saturday night with a pre-game at my place complete with jalepeno poppers, southwest chicken egg rolls, jello shots, andre, and the like.  After that, what was supposed to be a dinner for four girls on Tuesday turned into me making fajitas, guacamole, and strawberry shortcake for 13.  Needless to say, I needed a break!

Friday night Miss Kitty came over with her adorable puppy Bernie.  He's beyond precious, and I would dognap him if B liked animals!  I cooked her dinner, crab cakes over salad and mussels in a white wine garlic butter sauce.  Whole Foods has been having a sale where you get a large bag of mussels for $5.99.  It's a fantastic deal because they are tasty, healthy, and so easy to prepare.  Just make sure you have cleaned and debearded the mussels first! 

Mussels in White Wine Garlic Butter Sauce
In a large saute pan melt four tablespoons of butter over medium heat
Add 4 cloves of garlic, minced through a garlic press
When the butter is melted, add your mussels to the pan
Add about 2 1/2 cups of white wine*, it should cover the mussels about half way
Cover and cook until all of the mussels have opened in their shells (about 7-10 minutes)
Scoop out, discarding any that don't open on their own
Serve with crusty bread and wine! 

*When I make this dish, I always use whatever wine I am drinking that night.  I used a sauvignon blanc, but you can also use a pinot grigio.  You don't want to use anything sweeter than that (a riesling would be terrible), and you know I will never recommend a chardonnay!  Some people will buy "cooking wine" but I would caution you away from that.  If you don't want to drink it, why would you put it in your food?

My Sister is Turning 30!!

My beautiful (older) sister is turning 30 this year, but I should note that it won't be happening until July 11th.  K is in a very, very different place than I am in her life; she's married to E, has two beautiful, adorable, wonderful little boys, and lives in a house in the 'burbs.  I love my life, but sometimes I think it would be astounding to compare our livers.  Mine is clearly in much worse shape.

K married E, and her best friend Jen married his little brother.  E sent me a text message late in March to let me know that they were going to throw a surprise, joint 30th b-day party May 22nd for K, Jen, and E's sister Laura... to which I immediately texted back "nooooooo!  I can't go!  It's the biggest social event of the Spring, and I've had the date set since January 1st!"  - clearly it was the Preppy Pub Crawl.  I should also point out that Jen's (31st) birthday was June 12th, K's was July 11th, and Laura's March 23rd.  Hmm...  So, E came through as an awesome brother-in-law and changed the date of the party so that I can attend.  Yay!

So E called me a few weeks ago, and we had the following conversation:

E: "Hey!  I need your opinion on something.  My mom and I are discussing the party, and I want everyone to have a little take home favor of some sort.  Do you think tee-shirts or visors are better?"
Me: "Um.... honestly, neither.  It's a backyard BBQ, why don't you do koozies?"
E: "Koozies?  What are those?"  (mind you, E can drink, a lot)
Me: "Beer koozies!  They are like a snuggie for your beer, the little foam things that your beer slides into and it keeps it cold.  I order 125 of them twice a year for my pub crawls, always a big hit."
E: "Hmm... that's a good idea.  How much are they?  I mean, I still want to get t-shirts for the girls to wear that day."
Me: "Around $125 for 100, that includes shipping, and people actually can use them again.  People don't really wear t-shirts or visors.  Also, if you are getting shirts for the girls, please go to Customized Girl, it's a much better selection than any other!"

I am looking forward to the birthday, I am driving up with Gimpy and one of K and my mutual good friends, Steve.  I have a feeling the boys will be getting drunk in my backseat while I drive, and Gimpy has already planned to "Ice" Steve before they get in the car.  Should be an interesting ride.  Then when we get there I will proceed to ignore them both and play with the boys!

Just glad E listened to me and ordered the koozies!  Can you imagine if someone gave you a visor as a party favor?  Ugh.

A Concert, a Tailgate, and Cocktails, Oh my!

Gimpy's birthday was back in April, and he is a huge Dave Matthew's Fan, so I got him tickets for this Memorial Day Weekend.  We were able to drum up some additional friends, and turned out a 30 person tailgate.  Yay!

We made a ton of jello shots to start the day, packed up our coolers of beer and snacks, and brought the new little grill I bought at Walmart.  It was a terrific deal!  Only $25 for a small propane grill, and then gas itself was super cheap too.  It turned out to be one of the best investments I could have made, I fully intend to use it more this summer, and next Fall during tailgate season.

I made a big batch of guacamole, turkey burgers, cheddar beef brats, and some killer jalapeno mango chicken sausages.  I am going to find the brand and add that here for you guys.  I also made some veggie skewers, which were also a surprising hit - you never expect people to want veggies at a tailgate, but they totally do!

Unfortunately we were too drunk to take pictures of the food, so I promise those for next time.  In the meantime, here are some lovely images of me grilling and people waiting hungrily for food!

  

Time to Throw a Pub Crawl!!

Two years ago, I was sitting at Kona Bar and Grill with my friend Bob.  It was November, and we were discussing which bars we would hit that night.  The bartender, Megan, got excited and asked us, "Are you guys doing the 12 Bars of Christmas?"  We were intrigued - she then explained that she knew some people who did a pub crawl in December and they did 12 bars in ugly Christmas sweaters.  I hate ugly Christmas sweaters, so we decided just Christmas costumes, and in December 2008 - the 1st pub crawl I ever threw was born!

The problem was, in January people starting asking when the next pub crawl was!  My roommate and I decided that we needed to keep it limited to two a year, and we needed some time off between them.  I don't like when people can't express their individuality, so the decision to get custom koozies instead of t-shirts was an easy one.

This May marked the 2nd Annual Preppy Pub Crawl!

The secret to throwing a killer pub crawl is simple - invite everyone you know, invite them to bring their friends, get people who love to express themselves, and choose a great line up of bars!

I order my koozies from Custom Ink - I get the collapsable kind, which works well for packing in to purses, pockets, etc.  I order about 100 of them, and charge $3 each.  That way, people aren't spending a ton of money, but everyone can identify each other.

My friend Tristyn got me a big bag from Vineyard Vines to keep my koozies in this year - it was a huge score!  I am totally glad it made it home for the next Preppy Pub Crawl too.  She also picked up my headband for me.  It was red with navy blue anchors, and it totally rocked with my navy blue Ralph tennis dress (from the kids section, thank goodness I am short!).

The night was a huge success.  We had about 75-80 people in total, and with the exception of a huge jerk at Bradfords (hate that bar anyway) who tried to fight a bunch of us - and told me that I need a boob job (um, are you kidding??) - the night went off without a hitch!

Gimpy even rocked an outfit that kind of matched mine, and we didn't even plan it.  Isn't he cute with his little lobster shorts?  

Date Night - Lobster Ravioli and Crab Cakes!

Last week I went to Trader Joe's, and found that they carried some packages of lobster ravioli.  I obviously had to buy it, as in my head I was already imagining cooking it up with some lobster tails and a white wine garlic butter sauce!  I stuck it in the freezer, as Spring and Summer are insanely busy seasons for me, and I didn't know when I would have a chance to make it.

Luckily for all of us, the chance came this past Wednesday for date night with Gimpy.  I stopped at Stew Leonards on my way home and picked up a couple of 3oz lobster tails and some crab cakes.  The thing that I love about seafood and fresh pasta, is that it is so simple and quick to whip up, especially with a wine sauce like this one.

As promised, I have lots of photos to walk you through it. To start, heat a large sautee pan to medium, and melt in a half a stick of butter (approximately 4 Tbsp).  Do NOT use margarine.  When the butter is nice and melted, add in 3 large cloves of garlic (pushed through your garlic press or dice finely), and cook to mix.


When the butter is all melted and the garlic is nice and golden, add your lobster tails.  Stir them around the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring fairly constantly.  Your lobster shells will begin to take on a reddish pink color - this is what's supposed to happen!  At this point, bring the water for your pasta to a boil.  Make sure you salt the water, as this will give your pasta a little bit of extra flavor.

Add to the pan 1 1/2 cups of white wine, either Pinot Grigio or a Sauvignon Blanc (you'll learn I hate Chardonnay and won't ever use it, even for cooking).  Once you add the wine, stir a few more times, and cover the pan.  This will steam the flavor into your lobster tails.  At this time you should go ahead and pour yourself a glass of the wine.  You should always have a glass while cooking!

When your water is boiling, add your pasta, and stir.  Now is when I poured a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil into a small sautee pan, and brought it to medium heat.  With the pasta cooking, I added three fresh crab cakes to the pan.  Cook them for three minutes each side until they are nice and golden, and heated all the way through.  Drain your pasta and add to your lobster and sauce.  Toss to coat.

Meanwhile, set up some field greens on two small plates.  Add the crab cakes (I gave Gimpy two and kept one for myself!).  Put some cocktail sauce on the side of the crab cakes, and serve!

Now on to the main course!  Take two large plates, add some of the ravioli to each, and top with a lobster tail.  For the finishing touch, add some fresh parmesan cheese.  I love to take a vegetable peeler and shave off large pieces.

Now serve!  

Cinco de Mayo!

Sorry it's been so long since I've had a blog post... things have been crazy.

This week/weekend was chock full of Cinco de Mayo parties.  Wednesday night we had to go out to Viva Zapatas in Westport, amazing Mexican food, killer margaritas, and an awesome patio for drinking on.  Add that to 78 degree weather, and it is the perfect way to spend Cinco de Mayo - out drinking till midnight (Yikes!).

Friday night Gimpy's roommate had a Cinco de Mayo themed birthday party, and I made my famous queso, guacamole, and a 5 layer dip.  Queso is honestly the easiest thing to make, the worst thing for you, and the only, only, only time I will ever purchase the ghetto processed cheese food known to the world as Velveeta (I shudder to even admit I buy it). 

Queso

1 small block Velveeta
1 can rotelle
Hot sauce* optional

Melt the rotelle and the Velveeta in a pan on the stove top until melted and gooey.  Add a few dashes of hot sauce for extra spice if desired.  Serve with chips or as a topping in your burrito bar.

5 Layer Dip
1 can vegetarian refried beans
1.5 cup fat free sour cream
1/2 small can diced green chilies
1.5 cup guacamole
1.5 cup salsa of your choice
1.5 cup shredded cheese (pepper jack, cheddar, etc)\
Sliced black olives *optional

In a glass pan, layer the can of refried beans.  In a small bowl, mix the green chilies with the sour cream, and spread on top of the beans.  Layer the guacamole followed by the salsa, and then add the cheese to the top.  If desired, sprinkle sliced black olives on the top.  Serve with chips - I recommend Tostitos Scoops, because they make a yummy little bowl that gives you more per bite.

Guacamole
3 ripe avocado (soft to the touch but not mushy)
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/8 cup finely diced onion
1 jalapeno, seeds removed, diced finely
Cilantro, to taste, fresh, chopped
2 garlic cloves, diced or squeezed through a garlic press
Salt and pepper to taste

Blend all the ingredients with a fork, making sure to include the lemon juice.  If you do not add it, your guacamole will be a gross brown color.  Serve with chips :)

I love how easy Mexican food is... 

To reward you all for your patience, on Wednesday I am making lobster in a white wine garlic sauce over lobster ravioli for Gimpy for date night dinner, and I will take pictures along the way to ensure it is an educational blog post for you all!