Thursday, September 6, 2007

Jell-o Shots

Please be careful, these are lethal. I watched my friend Brian eat a tray of them once, the equivalent of 2 cups of vodka, and, although funny to watch the dance routine that followed, it was kind of pathetic if you know him.

It is important to use novelty dixie cups. The best ones I have used are the clear cold sample cups I liberated from Starbucks- you can see the colored layers. Also good are the little cups that are sort of pleated, it makes it easy to remove.

These really make a party. don't worry that people will make fun of you and say "dude, I didn't know this was a frat party." As the Cos says, "there's always room for jell-o", and after you watch your friends get messed up on these I guarantee you will be laughing last.

You will need:
A big- ass jug of vodka, the cheaper the better
assorted colors of jell-o ( like the Slurpee, Jell-o is more about hue than actual flavor)
water, cups and fridge space. Clear fridge space first. don't make the same mistake I did and try to move things around in a full fridge with a tray full of wet shots. Disaster!! ( and alcohol abuse)

Follow the directions on the package, substituting vodka for the cold water part. Divide into cups and refrigerate.

Advanced Jell-o shot making:
This is your chance to get creative!! You can change the alcohol, or make layers!! or stick gummi worms out of the top of your shots.
Some tasty combinations:

Watermelon schnapps or pucker with watermelon jell-o
Gin with lime jell-o
Vodka and triple sec with cranberry Jell-o, garnished with a gummi lime. Tres Sex in the City!!
Tequila, triple sec, lime jell-o- Beware, these made us sick!!
For Nadine and David- Rum and Blue Jell-o. I'ts too bad they dont have Diet Coke Jell-o, huh? But may I suggest rum in a coke slurpee?
Black Cherry Jell-o and Rasperry vodka, with sparkling wine, for the special occasion!!

If anyone has any other great ideas, i'd love to hear them!!

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

easy and cheap sangria for Nadine

I have made this on 2 occasions for my sister Nadine, for both her high school and college graduation parties. They were a big hit at both, although people drank a heck of a lot more of it at the college graduation party!! Be careful- its so tasty you forget that its chock full of booze!! Also, because its mostly wine if you drink to much its hangover city.

Makes a bunch, and you can just keep adding more wine.
Put the punchbowl where you are planning on having it for the party. Once its full you don't want to be picking it up and moving it around, I promise.
I have only made this in the summer so it has summer fruits in it. If you are making it in winter Google other recipes, or, better yet don't make sangria, make something warm.

2 Jugs Gallo Rose wine
1 bottle cheap sparkling wine (get a few extra bottles to supplement, and for mimosas the morning after)
Cut up fruit: Strawberries, peaches and/or nectarines, apricots, berries; orange, lime and lemon wheels.

Cut up your fruit and let it macerate for a while in some sugar. Add chilled wine and sparkling wine. An ice ring instead of cubes insures a slower melt time, or set the punch bowl in a bigger bowl of ice with stuff around it so you don't notice the ugly bigger bowl. Not flowers, though, unless there are no bees.

Just keep adding wine to the fruit as the supply diminishes. People will eat the fruit, too, but soon they will be so drunk that no one will notice that eventually they are just drinking warm, cheap jug wine

Cocktail Parties

Some of the most fun and most successful parties I have thrown have been cocktail parties. There are no hard and fast rules to the art of a cocktail party, but they are certainly more memorable if the right elements are involved. The first rule is to make everyone get dressed up. The reason for this is many-fold. Everyone likes the opportunity to put on a little black dress, especially people that I am friends with, who never get a chance to look nice. Also, when people are dressed up they tend to be in their best behavior, and are less likely to make a mess of your home!!
Keep the guest list sort of small, because I don't allow beer at a cocktail party and buying that much booze is expensive, especially if all of your friends are borderline alcoholics. To make things easier for you, you can designate a few people to bar tend, thus ensuring that at least a few trustworthy people have control over the liquor, or come up with 2 or 3 "signature" drinks that you want to serve and pre- make them in pitchers. Easy things to make in bulk include mojitos, cosmos, lemon drops, sangria etc...
Another reason to keep a cocktail party small is because I only have 10 martini glasses, and invariably one or 2 are going to break. Do yourself a favor and go to cost plus and buy a lot of cheap martini glasses and store them somewhere. If you don't drink out of them you can use them to put olives or nuts in, or serve sorbet or ceviche in them at a different party.
Get an ipod and a good stereo dock. This will ensure that, if you have a long playlist, that you will never run out of music. You can also make mix cd's or tapes (if you still make mix tapes I love you love you love you). If you are super cool put on records. I am not, like a lot of magazines, going to tell you what kind of music to put on. You should know your friends. For example, I know that my friends would riot if I put on that Brazilian cd that has been touted lately when we would rather listen to sleater-kinney.
You need to have food at a cocktail party because people will be drinking, its a fact of life, and wouldn't you rather have your guests eat sophisticated canapes then order a pizza or go through your cupboards? Make fun, cute food. Listen to music while you do it, it will get you in a party mood. I will add my favorite hors d'ourve recipes soon. most are easy. Even easier are frozen quiches etc... from Trader Joes.
Make sure you have an end time so people do not hang around all night. I get tired of people after a few hours of them, so my parties are generally like 7pm- 10pm. If you keep it short you also can make sure that people are sober enough so they actually CAN leave and not have to crash on your couch. Designated drivers are also good. Make sure you have a fun virgin drink option.