Memorial Day Picnic in the Arboretum

Perfect weather for Memorial Day- not too hot (around 75 degrees) and not too windy. It didn't take us long to find a nice secluded area in the Arboretum to lay out our blankets and start mowing down on some tasty snacks and refreshing drinks. Vbar made a delicious guacamole and brought along some salsa and tortilla chips. I brought some leftover pizza, baguette and...

Tuna and White Bean Salad
(this is one of my favs because it doesn't use mayo!)

Ingredients:
1 15oz can of White Beans (drained and rinsed)
2 6oz cans of Tuna, drained
1 large tomato- seeded and diced
1/4 C finely diced red onion
1 large garlic clove- put through a garlic press
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tsp Dijon Mustard
1/4 C olive oil
Fresh chopped Basil
Salt and Pepper to taste

-Toss beans, tuna, tomatoes and onions in a mixing bowl
-In a measuring cup whisk together lemon juice, mustard, garlic, s&p
-Gradually whisk in the olive oil and pour over the tuna and bean mixture and add freshly chopped basil

And to wash it all down we sipped on some of these:
Clean Out your Booze Cupboard Cocktail
This recipe varies from household to household depending on what's hiding out in the depths of your liquor cabinet or freezer. The only ingredient that is common amongst these cocktails is a Massachusetts Law that Prohibits the Sale of alcohol on a Holiday (how do we all still forget about this!)- Otherwise you would be sipping on the cocktail of your choice rather than a cocktail of desperation. The liquor supplies in my nest were all dried up, but thankfully Carolina Place had some surprise goodins on reserve and VBar threw together a refreshing cocktail from her eclectic array of leftover booze. I do not have the exact measurements because the cocktails were already made by the time i got there (i'm guessing all of the bottles were more than halfway depleted) but I do know the ingredients: Svedka Vodka, Peach Scnhapps, White Wine, lemonade, lime slices- topped off with seltzer.

The real Hero of this picnic was Matt Studner, who was on his A game and purchased a 12 pack of Coronoa and bottle of wine the night before- thanks Matt, you really saved the day!

HORSEBALLS

I don't know about the rest of you, but I love outdoor games in the summer, and this one comes at you straight from the game-master herself, the littlest Welch of them all, Saggi-Poo.

When I was in Denver last week my sister taught us this great game called horseballs. It's played along the same lines as horse shoe, but wayyyyyyy more fun!


The game can be played with teams of two, or one. Each player, or team gets 3 ropes. The idea is to throw the rope towards the opposite post, trying to tangle it on one of the three horizontal bars. The top bar is 3 points, the middle 2, and the bottom 1. Each team is in a race to reach exactly 21 points. If a team exceeds 21, then they must try to get 31, and if 31 points is exceeded, then they must aim for 41. The two teams take turns each throwing their 3 ropes at the opposite post. When playing with teams of 2, the teammates trade off turns throwing.





The posts can be made easily with PBC pipe from HomeDepot or Lowes. They are about 3 ft wide and 4 ft tall. The ropes are about 18 inches long with a golfball strung on each end as weights. Be careful, this game is addicting!

On Recycling

a guest post by Lady of the Nacht

We've all been imbued with the importance of recycling. And when you enjoy beer as much as I do, it becomes crucial to dispose of all those cans bottles in an environmentally-friendly manner.
Thank Goddess for the Jamaica Plain outpost of Blanchard's, our local liquor store and recycling center, where the triangulating arrows of the recycling symbol manifests: return PBR Ten Fidy cans, buy (with those nifty recycling machine print-outs) some 40s a fine chardonnay to be enjoyed as a spritzer, with an ice cube (Hi Mom!). Rinse and Repeat.

It was a nice little JP Saturday: I purchased a refurbished bike at Bikes Not Bombs (finally!) with the help of one of the Crows and my Steady Gentleman Caller (SGC). Although my errands for the weekend included obtaining new running shoes, doing laundry, and cleaning my apartment (I know, my life is hard), after the bike purchase I really only had time for one more task. As the entire entrance of my apartment was filled with beer bottles and cans, I prioritized recycling and enlisted SGC and his trusty JP steed (a Subaru, natch) to help me cart the detritus down Centre Street. Conveniently, SGC is as much of an enjoyer of fine wines as I am, so he had quite the collection of soldiers littering his room as well. If we're going to emit some carbon, might as well kill two birds with one stone--trust, we needed the car, and I was feeling smug over my BNB buy--so we added his recycling to the pile.

A stalled parallel parking attempt and a shopping cart wedged at the entrance later (we forgot they have a turnstile at the entrance, whoops!), we were ready to recycle. Now, I know most of my friends put their recycling out with the trash or otherwise don't really deal with it beyond rinsing and sorting, but we wanted that refund, and seriously, guys, there is something SO SATISFYING ABOUT THAT CRUSHING PULVERIZED GLASS NOISE THOSE MACHINES MAKE!!!

Recycling recycled, receipts printed, we ventured over to the beer section of the store. Our goal was to have enough of a refund to purchase a decent six-pack, and we had met this goal. However--and maybe it was the warm weather, but who really knows where ideas come from (they just appear)--we were inexplicably drawn to the few big, sad 40 oz beers tucked back on the bottom cooler shelf. Like rained-on, kinda hungry cows, they blinked at us with big brown eyes from their lesser pasture, begging to be bought. "Drink me," they stated, "and ignore the taste."

They really weren't that bad. And now the empty 40 bottles perch in my vestibule, waiting to be buried by a mound of what is sure to be more bottles and cans, all so that the circle of life triangle of recycling can begin again. Only this time, I'll try to haul it all on my recycled bike.

Our First Beach Adventure-Singing Sands

Sunday Morning we embarked on our first beach visit to Singing Sands at Manchester by the Sea (Take the Newbuyport commuter rail from North Station to Manchester)

For once we actually brought enough food and bevy to sustain us all for the long haul. Some items included:

• Port Salut & Baguette- absolute staple for picnics and beach excursions


• Pasta salad with fennel- for Vbar to post


• Barley Salad- unfortunately on this trip got a bit water-logged from melted ice


• Geary's Summer/ PBR


• Saussy Sangria

Saussy Sangria

There are numerous variations on the beverage but this is a version i enjoy

Dice up whatever fruit you have on hand (apples, kiwis, strawberries, pears, oranges, etc)

Add fruit to a pitcher and cover with a half cup of booze (brandy works nice but i've even done this with tequila!)

Add a bottle of vino verde and a bottle of red table wine

Top of the mixture with San Pellagrino or if you have it Trader Joe's Sparkiling Grapefuit Juice

Let Sit overnight- or for as long as you can hold out.

Barley Salad

I got the idea of this salad from a food and wine recipe- but I switched up the ingredients to fit my palate, feel free to try either version

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/barley-salad-with-parsley-and-walnuts

Cook one cup of pearl barley in boiling water for 15-20 minutes

In a large bowl whisk together 1/2 tsp honey, 1/2 tsp grainy dijon mustard, juice of one large lemon, quarter cup of olive oil, 1 large minced garlic clove, salt, pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes

Add 1/4 C finely diced red onion, 1 diced tomato, diced feta cheese, 1 diced carrot, chopped basil, and a handful of baby spinach to mixture and let marinate while barley continues to cook

When barley is tender, strain under cold water add to the mixture.