WE LIKE TO PARTY (ONCE IN A WHILE)
After a couple months of basically being a recluse and feeling rather cooped up, we finally threw a small party. My skin has mostly cleared up now, and things are looking much brighter for the future. I’m feeling very happy these days. Plus, in 4 days I’ll be in Costa Rica!
It was Allan’s birthday on Sunday so we decided to have a little get-together over at our place on Saturday night.
Allan likes beer, so we stocked the fridge full of his favourite beers for the party.
There was barely any room in the fridge for food, including the fridge door!
Allan got a new BBQ for his birthday and we finally made use of our new patio. We got the Weber Q300 barbecue and we LOVE it! It heats up really hot, really fast and evenly distributes the heat no matter how high or low. It’s also really portable, and has a good-sized cooking surface. Good value, too! (Despite us looking all over town and them being sold out EVERYWHERE we finally found it in a small independent and I haggled till the bitter end for a good price)
We provided some small appies for the party. I made up some cheese and bread spreads. Pictured here is the double cream brie and red pepper jelly, fig spread with parmigiano reggiano, smoked mozzarella and ham, and cheddar.
We cooked up some 3-night marinaded Maui-style ribs from Granville Island, along with homemade hamburgers, ribeye steak and beef filet mignons. Sides were risotto and grilled veggies.
There weren’t many leftovers!
I also found THE BEST rum EVER in the liquor store the other day. I’ve never had expensive rum before and wow, is it ever worth it. It’s called Zaya Gran Reserva, aged 12 years and handcrafted in Trinidad & Tobago. 5 times distilled. It is really, REALLY good. We made some mojitos from it, although some people preferred to just sip it.
Shelley McArthur, AWESOME Communications Director from Top Table Restaurants (some of my fave restaurants in BC) sent me this incredible mojito recipe from Keith Trusler, Bar Manager at Blue Water Cafe. Top Table has some of the best bartenders in BC so definitely check out Araxi, Blue Water Cafe, West, or Cin Cin for divine drinks. The taste is all in the careful preparation! We used the Zaya Rum, but the Havana Club rum still tastes great for this recipe:
Blue Water Cafe Mojito, by Keith Trusler
1/2 lime, divided into 8ths
10 mint leaves, bruised to release flavour (roll into a ball and clap with your hands)
1 1/2 ounces Havana Club Anejo Reserva Rum
Club Soda and Crushed Ice
In a tall glass, muddle lime and mint with the simple syrup. Top with crushed ice. Pour in rum and stir together. Top with club soda. Enjoy!
Sooo good.
After mixing drinks for a while, I decided to sit down and believe it or not the BOYS got into the kitchen and started mixing up their own drinks.
One of the best ones was the watermelon martini made with Grey Goose, Sourz and Simple Syrup. Yum!
Other not-so-good drinks the boys made was mixes of beer and gin and gatorade. Not so good.
Believe it or not, there are THREE people on this chair, haha.
Here they are mixing up more drinks.
Here we are outside, after inspecting a huge beetle that was on the porch.
It was a great night! Lots of food, drinks, and fun. It was great to have some of our friends over too, since it had been a while 
What did you do this weekend?
Tags: BBQ, Drinks, Gran Reserva, Grey Goose, martini, mojito, party, Q300, Rum, vodka, Weber, Zaya
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July 6th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Great website. This weekend I BBQ’ed both Friday and Saturday night.
July 6th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
I too bbq’ed with the fam. With work and play I don’t see them as much
But I’ve made a conscious effort to see them more and this weekend was a great start.
As for the fridge photo, that is my dream fridge. Beer, beer and more beers.
Stay thirsty.
Happy Canada day to you to Allie and glad to hear your skin is getting better
July 6th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
mmmm…everything looks so yummy – your blog always makes me hungry. the watermelon martini look really delish.
I can’t believe you’re off to costa rica already – i’m sooo jealous. take me with you!! you’re going to have such a wonderful time.
sadly my trip in tofino is coming to an end on wed =(. i had great day today on the waves despite (maybe because of) the yucky weather. all i can think about is going out there again and catching my next wave…
July 6th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Looks like you guys had a great time. Loved the selection of beer. Florida doesn’t sound that great after Costa Rica, but hey it’s still a vacation.
I partied with friends at their marina for 2 days. Included boating, swims, tanning, flip cup and roof top fireworks (so dangerous after drinking).
Next weekend is floating beer pong! Can’t wait!
July 6th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Hey Allie,
I got the same grill for my boyfriend last year and we LOVES it! We’ve taken it on every camping trip, it’s a must! Have a safe and fun-filled trip to Costa…you lucky girl!
July 7th, 2009 at 7:11 am
Wow nice fridge! Good thing you guys bought all that BBQ typed food and didnt waste! Was there enough to send me a doggie bag?
Weekend for us: Saturday was a lazy day. We’ve been really kind of busy and I wanted some downtime so yes.. I played WoW
Sunday we met up with a friend and hit up Dog Mountain (as you read on my site).
Where are you going in Costa Rica? I want our Costa Rica trip to come up sooner than later! But we have to wait till December!
July 7th, 2009 at 10:25 am
Looks like a bloody good time. No pics of yourself? What’s this? :p
What did I do the past weekend? Went on a hiking traverse trip. Will post the pics later when I process them.
July 7th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Well I was on vacation so my “weekend” started 2 weeks ago… I flew back to TO (where I’m from) and then drove back via NYC, Chicago, Calgary, Banff/Lake Louise, then finally back to Van!
July 8th, 2009 at 2:23 am
beck’s…really nice
July 8th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Hell yeah house party. Great B-day for Allan.
Awesome battle wound you have there….you know what they say about things that don’t kill you…….
So much good food and drink. I also Loverum. I lean towards Cuban rum for the most part but I’ll look for Zaya. I like to sip it. Aged rum gives the Mojito a pleasant flavor….they use blanco in Cuba.
Last weekend was filled with golf, BBQ on the deck with friends…beer, mojitos, wine and patron. Some swimming in the river and the lake…good times.
This weekend coming up is tubing down the river time…entertaining friends from out of town, boating, fishing..can’t wait!
Have a great trip…buena suerte!
July 15th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
i have pretty much the same bbq, i think mine’s abit smaller. so rad thou!