43 Hours in Kentucky

Last year was a big one for us, since Cooper and I both turned 40, along with tons of our friends. This year, as it turns out,  has been nearly as big. Most recently, we helped our friend Jeff celebrate with a bang - a bourbon-tasting trip to Kentucky.

The crew included Jeff and his wife Christine, Alicia and Mike, Cooper and me and Kyle (Mary had to work, as did Bill).

Our tour guides very graciously took this photo for us.

As it turns out, Kentucky is a pretty easy trip from Baltimore. The flight from BWI to Louisville is just over an hour and, since it's a regular Southwest run, there are lots of choices and it's not very expensive.

After doing some research, Christine booked us at a cool bed and breakfast called Bourbon Manor, in Bardstown, a small town right in the thick of bourbon country. Mike,  Alicia, Jeff and Christine headed down on Thursday; Cooper and Kyle and I joined them Friday. And we all set off together on an epic adventure.

Friday: From Baltimore to Bardstown

Kyle & his bloody and Kyle with Cooper at the airport; Harrison-Smith pork rolls, Busch Light bottles
and live music at Old Talbott Tavern

Because I am a slightly crazy person when it comes to travel plans, Cooper and Kyle and I arrived at the airport on Friday with, oh, two hours to spare. We killed most of that time at Obrycki's, which really does have a nice house beer and a gorgeous bloody.

One short flight, plus a couple of Kyle's free Southwest drink coupons later, we landed in Kentucky, where Kyle picked up his hilariously red, enormous Ford F-150 rental and we got on the road.

Bardstown, where we were staying, is about 40 minutes from the airport, but we took a slight detour to Shelbyville, to stop by Walnut Grove Farm, where Kyle's uncle's lives.

It was our first time meeting his uncle and he was fantastic - funny and super welcoming. He hosts weddings on the farm and while we were there, he was getting ready for festivities taking place the next day. It's a gorgeous spot and so relaxing. (Especially relaxing during our visit, since he was plying us with beers.)

Back on the road, we made our way to Bourbon Manor, which was more charming than we could've guessed. Pretty, 19th century-inspired rooms, personable hosts, really, really good breakfasts - it had everything we could've asked for, including a bar, called The Bunghole, right on the premises. Also, ghosts. In Bardstown, everything is haunted.

For dinner, we headed into town, to Harrison-Smith House, where we had one of the best meals I've had all year. I feel like I say that a lot, but I mean it. The menu is short, focused and pig-heavy in a creative way. The drinks were solid, as was the wine list, and the sausage roll, which was kind of like a porky egg roll, was absolutely amazing.

Also, our waiter, Richard, was awesome. A total professional who read our table so well. Even with an average waiter, it would've been a memorable meal, but his excellent service pushed it over the top.

After dinner, we wandered over to the Old Talbott Tavern, where we were greeted by live music and $1.50 Busch Light bottles - a combination that Cooper finds hard to resist. We spent a couple hours dancing and drinking and generally having a blast, before going back to The Bunghole and closing it down with a few more drinks. If the weekend had ended right there, it still would've been a winner.

But it didn't.

Saturday: Bourbon and Beer

On Saturday morning, we were up and at 'em early...and some of us were moving a little slowly (Cooper). But we had things to do. Christine had hired a tour company, Kentucky Wine Tours, to take us on a tour of bourbon country.

Normally, one of our stops would've been Jim Beam, but as it turns out, the staff went on strike at midnight on Friday. So we didn't get to see that very big distillery, but we didn't miss it. Instead, we hit a couple other places: Maker's Mark, Limestone Branch, Heaven Hill (just for the gift shop) and Willett.

Our first stop was Maker's Mark, which is beautiful...and very busy. If you're going, try to get there just when it opens, otherwise, you risk waiting for a while for an open tour. (They run a lot of tours throughout the day...but they also get a lot of visitors.)

The grounds, the process, the barrels, the labels...plus the Chihuly ceiling and Cooper and Alicia enjoying some togetherness

Our tour guide at Maker's was young, but really good. He knew what he was talking about and he was funny and personable. It's a gorgeous place and though it's a big company, it didn't feel at all impersonal. We got to see the bourbon made and where it's packaged, labelled and dipped in wax. It's all right there.

The tour ended with a tasting and I have to be honest, bourbon at 10 am is rough when you're 40 and hungover. But you know what's not rough? The Dale Chihuly ceiling that leads into the Maker's gift shop. It's gorgeous.

Because it was Jeff's birthday, our tour guides gave him a gift: his own bottle of Maker's, which he got to dip in wax in the gift shop. It was pretty cool all around...though the part that was most entertaining for us was how totally unimpressed the wax-dipping lady looked by Jeff's antics.

Jeff, in a photo by Christine

After Maker's, our tour guides surprised us with a trip to Limestone Branch, which is the (legit) distillery that was on Moonshiners. While there, we tasted some really good moonshine (for real) and were given a tour by the most engaging, entertaining man ever. He was fantastic. So fun and so full of knowledge.

One of the things we learned is that a lot of the people who distill bourbon are related in one way or another. There are a whole lot of Beams down there and in many cases, the master distiller position at a company is passed down from father to son or daughter (mostly son). It's as much an art as it is a science to create bourbons that are both tasty and consistent and there's no replacing the value of apprenticing with your dad.

We also heard a lot more about the water quality than I was expecting. Comparing this trip to our whiskey adventures last summer in Ireland was interesting. Since there are strict laws regulating how bourbon is aged (new oak barrels, charred on the inside), there's more emphasis on the water and, in some places, the mash vs. the Irish emphasis on the barrel's history and the distilling process itself.

Limestone Branch is a small place, but full of great stories that go back for generations. If you have the chance, go there.

An old whiskey sign at Limestone Branch, view of their grounds, and an Ale 8 One with lunch

After Limestone Branch, we headed back to Maker's, for lunch at Toll Gate Cafe, a little spot on the Maker's campus that makes excellent sandwiches...and just so happens to be run by the brother of the owner of the Harrison-Smith House.

We then did a quick drive by Heaven Hill Distilling, which makes a couple big brands of bourbon, including Evan Williams and Elijah Craig. Our timing was off, so we didn't stay for a tour, but we did make the most of our time at their gift shop, which was more like a museum than a simple store.

As we drove between the distilleries, our guide, Gary, gave us some instruction on the finer points of the bourbon business. Pointing out the rickhouses - the places where the bourbon barrels are placed to age - he talked to us about construction and location and insurance.

That sounds boring, but it wasn't. The big structures, which are often painted black because they end up covered in black mold anyway, are built far from the distilleries themselves and far enough apart from one another that if there's a fire, they won't all go up in flames.

Because bourbon is so highly flammable, fires to happen, and they can very quickly take out a lot of product. And because of that, the aging bourbon is impossible to insure. So if you have a fire, you're stuck.

After Heaven Hill, we made our way to our final distillery of the day, Willett. This was a special request from Jeff, who loves the stuff and so does Kyle's dad. So, apparently, do a lot of bartenders.

The brand hasn't been around for a super long time, though the family behind it has been distilling for generations. And, as we discovered during our tour, given by a fun girl named Evelyn, the family has roots in Maryland. Though they've been in Kentucky for many generations, they were originally from Prince George's County.

Willett is cool overall, but the highlight is the still, which is a proprietary genie bottle shape
(which is also the shape of their bottles)

It was a fun tour and Cooper finally started to emerge from his hangover haze, just as Kyle started to slip into a bourbon-induced buzz that kept building for the rest of the night. It was...entertaining.

The tours were over and we were back at the B&B before 4...and then back off, having a drink at The Bunghole before heading to the Bardstown Craft Beer Fest. We walked from the inn - it wasn't too far - and strolled around town, ducking into a few shops before heading to the festival itself.

Once we got there, we were pleasantly surprised by a ton of craft beers, some not-so-craft beers (Carlsberg?), the Hogslop String Band, and a couple very good food trucks. Plus, a boatload of friendly people. AND there was square dancing at one point, which I did not participate in, but Mike, Alicia and Kyle did. Believe me when I say it was memorable. About 20 minutes too long, but memorable.

Tons of craft beers, Cooper at The Bunghole, the band, a kickass BBQ truck

While at the festival, we got to talking with a couple manning one of the food booths, a place selling chili. Turns out, the lady there is the mom of the people who own Toll Gate Cafe and Harrison Smith and she used to work at Limestone Branch and was the distiller behind some of our favorites there.

It's a small town.

But a really nice one.

After the festival, we headed back to the Old Talbott Inn for a couple more Busch Lights and a little more live music before finally throwing in the towel and calling for a cab to carry us back to the B&B. (One downside of Bardstown: no Uber.)

Sunday morning, we were up and out very early and we were back in Baltimore by 11. A quick trip, definitely, but one that was so much fun. I knew we'd have a good time - we always do - but I wasn't expecting to be so thoroughly charmed by the town, its people and its restaurants and bars.

I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Mini-Photo Essay: Kyle & Mary's Wedding

This past weekend, we celebrated Kyle and Mary's wedding - a beautiful and happy occasion all around. Plus, the food and drinks were fantastic. This morning, I thought I'd share a few pictures of the events surrounding the wedding, starting a few days ago:

That's Dixon, in our backyard, painting the toolbox that Kyle and Mary got him to carry down the aisle, in his official capacity as ring bearer (or, if you ask him, "ringmaster").

The rehearsal dinner, held at Sammy's Trattoria, was fun and kind of fantastic:

Actually, the rehearsal dinner meal was probably my favorite of the whole weekend. Everything was served family style, starting with antipasti and appetizers of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, shrimp scampi, sausage and peppers, and a lovely salad. That would've been more than enough right there, but we also had penne in vodka sauce and penne with eggplant, chicken parmigiana, and chicken piccata. Unsurprisingly, everyone was stuffed when we left the restaurant.

It really was an impressive meal, though, especially since everything was cooked absolutely perfectly - no mean feat when you're serving 50 people all at once. Even the shrimp was perfect.

On Saturday, the ceremony was beautiful and very nice:

Father Nash, the priest who married K&M, is from Loyola University, where Kyle's been helping coach soccer for the past few years. He was personable and touching.

Much to my relief, the kids did a great job walking down the aisle:

To say I was proud would be an understatement. But still, I was also relieved when their babysitter picked them up, so we could enjoy the reception without worrying about anyone under five.

The reception, held at the Tremont Grand, was fantastic (especially the music, which was all hand-picked by Mary). As far as I can tell, everyone working at the venue was on top of things, friendly, and responsive. Plus, it's pretty there! And look how cool the centerpieces were: Mary was looking for something sophisticated and a little different - I think she got it.

Finally, this is about how everyone felt by the end of the night:Of course, the end of Dixon's night came around 8:30, while Cooper and I made it about another seven hours. It was a long one.

We finished out our weekend with a trip up to Pennsylvania to visit our friend Sam and his extended family, and with a low-key cookout at our house yesterday (most of which was dedicated to recapping the wedding and eating rehearsal dinner leftovers). All in all, a good one.

Mary and Kyle are about to head off to Napa for their honeymoon, while we all stay behind and continue to recuperate. We've been looking forward to this past weekend for so long that it's a little hard to believe it's over. But now it's on to plans for the beach and the fourth of July...because it's always something!

[The pictures were taken by a combination of people - me, Alicia, and Kyle's mom's best friend, mostly, I think.]

Restaurant Review: Blue Hill Tavern

As in most cases, this review is based on only one visit to the restaurant, so please keep that in mind as you read it.

Blue Hill Tavern has been on my "must visit" list ever since it opened during the summer of 2009. Over and over again, I heard great things from other food bloggers about the place - usually about it's amazing happy hour and completely un-Baltimore decor. All the praise made me anxious to get there, so when Mike announced that he wanted to go for his birthday, I was all over it.

I had, however, heard a couple of criticisms along with the praise. Jeff and Christine live nearby and have been to Blue Hill a bunch of times. Last spring, Jeff confirmed for me that the decor and the appetizers are fantastic, but sometimes the entrees falter. I find that's the case at a lot of places - that the appetizers are better than the entrees - and (spoiler!) Blue Hill was one of them. Jeff was right.

The night started out in a super promising way. We arrived at the restaurant en masse - Cooper and I piled into Kyle's car along with Kyle, Mary, Mike and Alicia. When we walked in, we really were impressed with the decor. It's open and modern and feels legitimately fresh - it's unlike any other restaurant in Baltimore (don't let their boring website fool you - it is a great space). Much of the seating is upstairs, but the hostess offered us a big round table in the window, just next to the front door. She was almost apologetic, but for no reason. Since we all love a round table and we also love watching the action, we were pretty happy about it.

We started dinner with a round of drinks and a couple of snacks, including the Buffalo style nuts and the crostini with spreads. The Buffalo nuts were warm and spicy with small chunks of bleu cheese - I liked them, but not everyone at the table was a fan of the warm nut + cheese format. The feta butter that came with the crostini was more generally well-received, though I actually thought it could be more feta-y. They were a nice starter, though, as were our cocktails (a mix of the standard glasses of wine and martinis, plus a New Old-Fashioned for Mike, which was just subtle enough to be delicious).

Jeff was dead on when he said that the appetizers were excellent. Cooper had a sweetbreads special, which everyone liked (even though not everyone likes sweetbreads) and Kyle and Mary shared the ahi tuna, which was really nice, though it didn't include any big surprises. Alicia was impressed with her tomato soup and grilled cheese wedges - cute and tasty.

My starter was the hit of the course (actually, of the whole meal): a salad of greens and very lightly crusted calamari, dressed in a spicy chili dressing with peanuts. The calamari was cooked perfectly - not over or underdone - and was crusted with just enough seasoned cornmeal. The dressing, though, really made the dish. It's balance of spice and peanut had an obvious Thai influence, but tasted thoroughly modern.

I could've been completely satisfied with just my salad, but we still had an entree to tackle. I ordered against type - there was veal on the menu, and I almost always order veal when I can, but instead I chose the miso-glazed black cod, served with shrimp and peanutty soba noodles. The fish and the shrimp were nicely seasoned and cooked correctly - I enjoyed them both. The noodles were good, too, but there were just way, way too many of them. There had to have been close to a pound of noodles on my plate, when the dish required about an eighth of a pound. I don't usually feel badly about not finishing my dinner, but I felt the need to apologize when my plate was taken away. There were that many noodles left.

Mike and Mary both got the surf and turf - a small filet paired with a crab cake. A safe order, yes, but they were both very happy with the selection. Their meat was cooked properly and the crab cake was a good one. Kyle made everyone laugh by ordering the cowboy steak, which was bigger than his head and came with about a pound of sweet potato fries. It was ridiculous and half of it went home with him. He enjoyed the flavor, but still - laughably large.

Unfortunately, Alicia wasn't as happy with her order of cobia topped with a blue crab remoulade. She hadn't imagined the remoulade as so cold and creamy, and that's really not her style. I think she wished she'd gotten the shrimp and grits or one of the specials.

Cooper ordered the bison osso bucco, which gives me an opportunity to make an overall critique of the menu. His meal was good - the bison was from Gunpowder Bison and a nice, well-seasoned piece of meat - but like much of the menu, it was prepared sous vide. I'm not sure that's the best preparation for a lean meat like bison when it's being served as osso bucco, and after reviewing the menu, I couldn't help but feel like the sous vide option was a little gratuitous. Most restaurants in Baltimore do not prepare anything sous vide, so it's understandable that Blue Hill would want to set itself apart with the preparation. But they might go too far. Since we didn't order everything on the menu, I can't comment across the board, but if Cooper's bison is any indication, sous vide might not add to every dish.

So overall, our entrees were good, though not quite as delicious as our appetizers.

With both the apps and the entrees, we drank a $30 bottle of Malbec that was completely agreeable. While the wine list isn't exhaustive, it's interesting enough and is fairly reasonable overall (and I'd have more to say about it if the wine list link on the website weren't broken).

After dinner, we kept things going, with a pretzely, chocolatey birthday dessert for Mike (sans clapping, singing waitresses) and a collection of post-dinner drinks for the rest of us. Jeff and Christine left their new baby at home with Christine's mom and walked down to have a drink with us, and we ran into Cooper's cousin Fleur and her husband Scott on their way out (the table next to the door was a good one for spotting people we knew).

Finally, a quick note on the service: our waitress was friendly and on top of things and willing to laugh gamely at even the worst of our jokes. And believe me, Kyle made some bad jokes (he thinks he's charming).

Overall, it was a good experience, if not absolutely, perfectly, perfect. But what is? The restaurant never felt over or under-crowded, which was nice. It definitely had a grown up, but not stuffy, bar vibe, and if I lived in the city, I'd certainly head there for happy hour on a regular basis.

Dispatches from the Beach: It's the Wild Wild West Here

It's that time of year again - we're at the beach with Kyle and Mary and Mike and Alicia and Jen and Bill and Maddy and Will. All of us, eight adults and three kids and one dog, in Kyle's aunt's big house in Bethany, plus some guest appearances by Mary's brother and his girlfriend and our friends Brian and Amy and their son Jack.

Last year, we overdid it a little, scheduling four theme nights during our week. This year, we scaled back, partnering up for our nights. Last night was the first of our two theme nights: Wild Wild West hosted by Kyle and Mary and Mike and Alicia. (Saturday was just a standard cookout.)

As usual, we got into the costumes. It's amazing what you can find at Party City, and in my closet:
And also as usual, we had way too much food. Alicia and Mike cooked four (that's right - FOUR) London broils, plus they made a salad and mac and cheese and Alicia made Mike's mom's amazing shrimp and macaroni salad:

The most labor intensive part of the night, though, were Kyle's ribs. Slow cooked in the oven for a couple of hours, finished on the grill and slathered with BBQ sauce, they were super tender and had fantastic flavor. Also, very smoky:
End result: fantastic food but way too much of it. The leftovers could feed a small country.

Today: beach and probaby pizza (plus leftovers). Tomorrow: la caja china makes its debut. Cooper's leaving this afternoon to pick up the pig. Alicia's breaking out her Andy Nelson's sweatshirt (she won it in a drawing) in celebration.

It's a good thing we all like pork, huh?

Big Weekend Tales

All the photos above were swiped from Alicia's Facebook. Clockwise, from the top left: Cooper, Alicia and Alicia's cute bag at 13.5%; Kyle, Mary and me right after Kyle pranked Mike, also at 13.5%; Toasting Bill (with tequila shots) at Holy Frijoles; Alicia and I enjoying some serious beer at De Kleine Duivel.

Bill turned 42 last Sunday, which doesn't seem like all that exciting of a birthday. Oh, but it can be.

Our little local group has been super busy lately - no busier than usual, probably, but as all of our kids get older, it does feel like our lives get more hectic. It used to feel like we spent at least three nights a week basking in the glow of one another, just standing around somebody's kitchen island, drinking beers, eating pizza from Toss and making funny jokes. Now...well, we still do that. But it doesn't seem as frequent.

Last weekend, though, we just crushed it. Friday night, we ordered sushi at Kyle and Mary's, sat around, drank wine and made ourselves laugh so hard I am sure someone wet their pants.

Saturday, we organized some babysitting and went out to celebrate. First, Holy Frijoles, where Alicia's brother is a manager and the chili is just gorgeous. Then, De Kleine Duivel, where I was approximately 6,000% less cool than the average customer...but I loved my sour beer. (I asked for the least sour sour beer, as I know that will be my favorite, and the Liefmans was exactly what I wanted.) We ended the night sitting in the front window at 13.5%, where we drank some wine (Spanish) and some cocktails (gin-y) and I got to check out the scene in Defie Mois, the new late night basement space. I just rolled down for a quick second and we didn't eat, but it was cool. Also, Kyle tied Mike's shoelaces together while we were all sitting at the table. Apparently that is a joke that transcends age.

Finally, on Sunday, everybody came over to our house for meatball sandwiches (with very nice meatballs from Ceriello...in part because I didn't know that Mastellone's closes at 2 p.m. and we arrived at 2:06!). They were delicious - but not as delicious as the pretzel and ice cream cake Missy made for Bill. It was his actual birthday on Sunday and I feel confident saying that it was a good one. He watched his kids play soccer then ate meatballs and ice cream cake, which is totally his favorite, then closed out the night with red wine and a fire on our patio. Gorgeous, all around. The night, the fire and the whole weekend. We get so busy...but we do have a good time.

Entertaining Friday: Wedding Shower Recap

Last weekend, we threw a couple's shower for Kyle and Mary, who are getting married Memorial Day weekend. It rained - a lot - for what felt like three weeks leading up to the shower, only to magically dry out just as guests started to arrive.

We'd prepared, though, and put all of the drinks on our front porch, which looked pretty and inviting - and I'll post pictures as soon as I upload the ones I took.

In the meantime, here are some of Mary and Alicia's pics: The wedding colors are red and Tiffany blue, so we made simple arrangements of roses in rectangular glass vases tied with blue grosgrain ribbon. The invitations, from Simply Noted, were very simple.

Kyle and Mary, making a speech after opening gifts. This is right before Kyle started crying.

They're going to Napa on their honeymoon, so the shower had a little bit of a wine theme. We ordered these poms from Etsy and spent waaaay too long figuring out how to hang them perfectly so they looked like a bunch of grapes. Or, I should say, Mike and Alicia spent way too long. Because obviously Cooper and I don't have the patience for that.
The flowers were placed all over the house, including on the main table with the food. Also, the food labels were stuck in champagne corks tied with red and blue ribbons. As it turns out, we had an embarrassingly large collection of champagne corks.

Patisserie Poupon outdid themselves on the frasier cake - the grapes alone were a serious work of art.

Saturday was also Kyle's dad's birthday, so we got a small hazelnut cake for him - which was both delicious and beautiful.

Overall, it was a super fun night with lots of great food and sangria. Mary's uncle owns a restaurant in her hometown just outside of Pittsburgh, so he sent a bunch of food down, plus Alicia and I made some of our old standards.

We're just now finishing up with the leftovers. At some point, I'm going to figure out how much food to make for a party. Maybe.

Festive All Around

Today is Cooper's birthday. And this is his cake:

It was a gift from our friends Audrey and George, who spotted it at Sam's Club last month. (Not this specific cake. This one is much fresher than that.)

It's pretty much the most Cooper cake I can imagine.

When we celebrated here last night, with Cooper's family, it was just the latest event during what has, so far, been quite a festive month.

Among other things, DRP and I went shopping in Hampden, including a stop at Charm City Chocolate, and then we came home, all three of us decorated the tree and we tried to ration the chocolate-covered Oreos so they'd last.

Last weekend was a busy one, too. On Saturday, I took Mimi (our niece) to Maria Springer's gingerbread house workshop. A few years ago, I wrote an article about Maria and what she does - she is the nicest lady and she makes the best gingerbread houses.

She used to host gingerbread house teas at her home in Phoenix, but just after I wrote the article, she and her husband moved to a condo and she shifted the gingerbread festivities to a church on Hampton Lane. The tea part of the day is no longer - which is a shame - but the house-decorating is still just as fun.

Mimi was an incredible house decorator - so patient and creative, with an amazing dedication to symmetry. Her focus was super impressive - especially considering that she was about 48 hours shy of her seventh birthday.

 After the gingerbread decorating, Cooper and I got ourselves dolled up to go over to Kyle and Mary's for the 9th annual carol and crawl party. We retired the house-to-house nature of the party years ago, so there hasn't been any "crawling" for about six years, and the only "caroling" comes late night (and hopefully doesn't disturb any neighbors). But the party is still a great time.

This year, both Cooper and Kyle really brought it with the outfits (George was similarly dressed, but I didn't get a picture of all three of them):

On the Pollard front, possibly the most exciting part of the weekend the completion of the cheese knife Dixon hand made for Kyle and Mary:

Knife-making is a new hobby for DRP; he's pretty taken with it. A while back, Cooper bought a bunch of antique saws at an auction. For these knives, he (Cooper) cuts a knife blank from one of the saws, then Dixon files and sands it down until it has a sharp edge. Then, the two of them work together to hook it into an antler handle. (The antlers, apparently, we just have laying around.)

It's a lot of work for Dixon, but he loves it, and the end result is pretty cool. I'm not sure who was most excited to see this end product - Cooper and me, Kyle and Mary (who had placed an order for the knife), or Dixon, who is extremely, and understandably proud of himself.

Knives, cakes, candy, festive holiday apparel. So far, December is going pretty well.

Taking Stock of 2011: What I Missed

It's that time of year again: those last few days when work is slow, school is out and we've all got plenty of time to meditate on the year that's passed, and plan for the one coming up.

For me, this means it's also time to look back with regret on all the posts that went unwritten in 2011 - when my busy work schedule and busy kid schedule kept me from blogging a whole lot. I didn't write at all about the amazing Black Ankle wine dinner we had at Crush. Meeting owner Ed Boyce was a highlight - he's a total inspiration. He and his wife, Sarah O'Herron, make high quality, Bordeaux-style wine in Maryland - proving it can be done. Meeting Ed was a great reminder that in most cases, if you're smart, work hard and take risks, it's possible to create something excellent. Plus, dinner was delicious.

I didn't write nearly enough about Jeff and Christine's wedding at the beach, where Christine's attention to detail, combined with seriously incredible bartenders, made for a weekend that was gorgeous and also a total blast.

Cooper, Kyle and me at Jeff and Christine's reception. Not pictured: Cooper's
orange pants. They are AWESOME.

Christine took this picture at the rest of us at Doc Frank. Good times,
despite the rain.

I glossed right over our trip to Keuka Lake in October, when Cooper, Alicia, Mike, Jeff, Christine and I wine-tasted our way around the lake one super-rainy Saturday. We started out with an excellent lunch at Bully Hill, where the wine isn't so good, but everything that comes out of the giant smoker definitely is. Then we hit Dr. Konstantin Frank and Heron Hill before driving around the lake to Keuka Spring and Rooster Hill. Our favorite - a surprise to everyone - was Keuka Spring, a smaller, family-owned spot that tends to fly under the Finger Lakes wine radar.

The bar (AKA Dixon's dresser, moved into the dining room and covered
fabric left over from that big party we had in October 2010.

I barely posted about our annual Mock Thanksgiving party, which this year was an adults-only cocktail party, with oysters, sweet potato ham biscuits, turkey-stuffing-cranberry sliders and a powerful pomegranate-orange champagne cocktail. All of that required a lot of time in the kitchen - and a lot of help from Tommy Sheldon, who is a solid photographer/sous chef. (Alicia provided some fabulous cupcakes, too, of course, and Tommy also made some incredible pralines for dessert.)

And I completely missed posting about the annual 5th annual holiday Carol & Crawl. This is a party that's been evolving over time - it went from four houses the first year, to five (including a whiskey bar that, well, let's just say that year was a little crazy), down to three houses the third year, then to a bar last year. This year, the whole group decided to ditch the progressive part of the party. It was hosted by Kyle, Mary, Bill, Mike and Alicia, but the whole thing took place at the Barger's house - as a pinot noir tasting competition. Kyle and Mary's wine (Aqua Pumpkin) won, but that's still in dispute, since nobody got more than three votes and there's a chance Kyle stacked the votes. Maybe.

At any rate, it was a great party, which ended very late with lots of very bad dancing.

My favorite picture from the Carol & Crawl - I think it really captures
the spirit of the end of the night.

On top of all of these posts-not-written, I neglected to write about a few very satisfying dinners: a couple at Petit Louis, at least one at demi (where we're having New Year's Eve dinner, as well), and a million at Clementine, which has become our weeknight go-to, thanks to its kid-friendliness (and general friendliness...and, of course, the food). And I could've written more about our trips to Chicago (two in one year!) and the serious workout Cooper gave his smoker. I had a pretty good year - it's a shame I barely wrote about it.

I'm still working on my blogging plans for 2012, but it's safe to say that one of my goals is to actually blog about the stuff I do!

Birthdays Birthdays Birthdays!

Back in October, when I wrote about my mom's 65th birthday and Dixon's 8th birthday, I mentioned that around here, fall is birthday season. And is it ever - especially when you let "fall" stretch into early winter. 

Since those first two September birthdays, we have been in full-on celebration mode. This is just a taste of the fun.

October: Patsy, Cail, Xander and Bill

Clockwise from top left: Chicken tortilla soup; Chickens at the Stambaughs; Cail's cake in progress; Stambaugh chili; Cail's cake, the final product.

Cooper's mom's birthday celebration was low-key this year but Cail's was a little less so. My parents and I went down to Richmond to visit for the weekend and Cail's parents and her brother came up from New Orleans.

My brother threw Cail a surprise party in the private room at a cute wine bar called Secco and Cail's dad, who has made her birthday cake every year forever, outdid himself with a gorgeous pink and turquoise "drama queen" concoction. Mr. Moran is an architect and very artistic - watching him work was super cool.

Later in the month, we celebrated Nathan and Liz's son's birthday up at their house in the country. It was a gorgeous day to roam around their yard, checking out the chickens and eating their awesome food - including chili, hatch chili queso and root beer braised brisket. Oh, and apple pie moonshine. Because that is how they roll.

To wrap up October, we celebrated Bill's birthday on a Sunday afternoon at our house. I made a big batch of chicken tortilla soup, since it was starting to get chilly...and Bill likes Mexican food. It was one in a long string of fall Sundays that we spent at our house, surrounded by friends and delicious food. I could do that every day.

November: Mike

Seafood tower; Mike and I with our gifts; Stacy's first oyster.

In mid-November, Mike turned forty, giving us a great excuse to head to Thames Street Oyster House, where our friend/neighbor Teresa proved once again why she is one of the best servers in the city.

Bill was out of town but Stacy came down from New York, so with the Swartses, we were a group of seven. We did our best to order everything on the menu, including tons of oysters (and Stacy's first oyster ever!) and a suckling pig special that came with a side of oyster and butternut squash dressing. Ridiculousness.

I loved my monkfish entree but my favorite part of the night was a quail appetizer accessorized with chestnuts and quince puree. I absolutely couldn't stop thinking about it. They are so good at what they do there.

The night was funny, too. Alicia asked us each to come up with a story or two to roast Mike. Which...we did. I created a "strengths and weaknesses" roundup that was quite funny, if I do say so myself. I keep telling my friends that I'm funnier than they give me credit for. I stand by that.

December: Cooper, Tom and Me

Clockwise from top left: Cooper and Dixon at Parts and Labor; Corn fritters at Shoo-fly; Clay Davis mug from Patrick and Amanda; Me with Suzanne and Alison at Alison's party.

December is an especially busy month around here, with not just Christmas but also Cooper's birthday, Clark's birthday (the same day as Cooper's), my birthday and my brother's birthday.

We didn't celebrate with Clark this year (he was in DC, we were in Baltimore) but we did manage to have a bunch of good meals out. For Cooper's, he and Dixon and I went to Parts and Labor, which was just as good as everyone said it was. Tons of meat, beautifully cooked, in a super cool space. We'd already been to the butcher shop a few times, so we knew what to expect...and we're looking forward to going back

December birthdays are tough, since it's such a busy month. But it's also so much fun. Since we're in celebration mode, I usually get to see friends from all over the place either right before, on, or right after my birthday.

This year, my birthday was on a Monday but the celebrating really started on Saturday night with a party at my friend Alison's house. She's my high school friend and old roommate (from our Canton days) and her husband is one of Cooper's college friends. So the party was full of people I love.

The next day, I made my annual trip to McGarvey's, where a bunch of high school friends came to celebrate with Cooper, Dixon and me. We ate oysters and crab dip and burgers and crab cakes and drank a bunch of Aviators. Just like last year and the year before and many, many years before that.

That night, we came back up to Baltimore and got to hang out with Patrick and Amanda, of Paris fame (they have since moved back to Denver). They came over for crab soup and general revelry - and brought us an awesome Clay Davis mug made by someone they work with. We loved it and it was especially timely, what with the re-release of The Wire.

Finally, on my actual birthday, Dixon and Cooper and I drove through Hampden in the rain, then went to Shoo-fly for dinner and I remembered that I can't get enough of their corn fritters. They come with spicy honey and are just so good.

After Christmas, Tom, Cail, Erin and Clark all came up and stayed with us for a couple days. The 27th is Tom's birthday, so we met my parents at Clementine, where we got to have one last big family dinner before everyone returned to their respective homes.

Some of the Waskoms had been to Clementine for lunch or brunch, but not for dinner - and Cooper and I were happy to introduce them to some of our favorites, like the charcuterie and the basil-lime elixir. We all loved our meals, ending a big visit on a high note.

January: Kyle, Bert and Matt

Top row, left to right: Kyle's birthday at the Waterfront Hotel; Dinner in Deep Creek; Pear and bourbon cocktail. Middle row: Dixon at Wisp; Bert using the sabre; Puzzled in Deep Creek; Bottom row: The table at Matt's party; The entire Deep Creek crew; Matt and his "40" glasses.

We took a break for dinner at our house on New Year's Eve, then jumped right back into the birthday celebrations. Kyle's birthday is on January 4th - a Saturday this year. Immediately after our great dinner for Mike's fortieth, Kyle announced that he wanted to go back for his birthday. So we did.

Once again, it was fantastic. Alicia got the porgy, which is served standing up and is crazy good. Mike kept it simple with a lobster roll (outrageous) and I ordered against type, getting tuna, which was also delicious. The quail, again, was a show-stopper, as was the octopus, which I can never resist.

After dinner, we went to the Waterfront Hotel to watch the Ravens beat the Steelers (much to Mary's chagrin), finishing the night on an extra-sweet note.

A few weeks later, Cooper and Dixon and I headed off to Deep Creek, to celebrate our friend Bert's fortieth with a bunch of people I've known since high school or longer. (Bert's birthday is in December but we couldn't get it together to go away until January.)

It was four days of so much fun. We ate and drank way too much, did a bunch of puzzles, played some Cards Against Humanity, hung out in the snow, watched our kids bond and retold stories about stuff that happened two decades ago. And, of course, I got sentimental about how lucky I am to have so many great friends from high school and even elementary school.

Last Saturday, we got to celebrate with even more of those high school friends, when we went to a party for another fortieth - this one for my friend Matt. It was at his parents' house, near Severna Park, and was gorgeous. Matt's mom works at a flower shop; she and a friend often do flowers for weddings and they are so good at it. The party was catered by Mission BBQ, so the food was awesome, and was tons of fun, all the way around.

But the celebrations really aren't over. Because this is the year my high school class turns forty, we are in for a year full of parties and big nights out. Which is busy, it's true. But wow is it fun.

Photo Essay: The Swarts Baby Shower

In March of 2010, Cooper and I, along with Alicia, Mike and Bill, threw a Napa-themed wedding shower for Kyle and Mary. A week ago, not quite two years later, we threw another shower - this one for their baby-to-be, Eva Maxine ("Evie"), who's due in April.

Kyle is kind of freaking out at the prospect of having a daughter. Mary is much more serene.
And, of course, she looks fantastic:

The shower was on Saturday evening and the theme was "cocktails and mocktails." We created a little bellini bar, with pomegranate, cranberry and peach purees for mixing with prosecco or champagne - or ginger ale:

Big bellini bar lesson #1: Everyone drinks the pomegranate and peach. I dumped most of the cranberry juice after the party. Lesson #2: When the parents-to-be bring three bottles of Moet & Chandon, everyone will drink that before they drink the (much less fancy) prosecco.

We set up the bellinis and the regular bar at the front of our house, in the dining room. The red wine - a big hit called Snap Dragon- was a blend we tasted at the Elliott's Pour House wine club. And we picked up the fabric covering the bar for next to nothing at Debois Textiles. I have drawers full of fabric from Debois - all cute and all very inexpensive, making it perfect for parties. Alicia and I just folded the fabric carefully, hiding the rough edges, and layered it over cheap white tablecloths from Walmart. You'd never know that we actually use Dixon's dresser as a bar. He thinks it's hilarious.

Evie's bedroom is super girly, all pink and green, so we ran with those colors for the shower. Alicia bought bunches of green spider mums and pink gerbera daisies at Fresh Market and used low, rectangular vases to make tight arrangements that were simple, but very pretty and fun:

The shower started at 5 PM, so we made sure the food was heavy enough for dinner, but easy enough to eat, cocktail-party style. It also all fit into the color scheme - pink, green or some sort of neutral shade.

I found the recipe for these simple brie bites on Pinterest:

A couple of recipe comments: First, make sure when you start working with the puff pastry, it's thawed, but still very cold. It's much easier to deal with if it's not too thawed.

Also, instead of cutting the whole sheet of puff pastry into 24 pieces, then making 12 bites, just cut it into 12 rectangles and make the bites by folding the pastry over.

Finally, don't skimp on the cheese. I was worried about the brie seeping out, so I didn't use as much as I might have. That was a mistake - the brie flavor got lost in many of the bites. Which doesn't mean they were bad - puff pastry is delicious - but they weren't as good as they could've been.

This cashew and Marcona almond butter with crispy rosemary was inspired by this Food and Wine recipe for smoked almond butter. Necessity is the mother of invention - I couldn't find any smoked almonds on short notice.

I know that nut butter, even if it is homemade, seems like a childish dish for a cocktail party, but thanks to the rosemary, it was really pretty sophisticated. Also, it's much, much better with pears, apples or pita chips than it is with celery. It keeps well, too - I had some for lunch yesterday, on crackers with slices of pear.

Pinterest also inspired these caprese bites, which I made with marinated mozzarella, so they didn't need any sort of vinaigrette:

Cooper wasn't in love with this heart of palm dip (also from Food and Wine), but it was a big hit with most of the guests, even the ones who don't like heart of palm. (I know, right? Who doesn't like heart of palm?) The flavor was milder than heart of palm straight out of the jar, and the texture was light and airy. With pita chips, it was very, very easy to eat:

In honor of Mary's family (and also because it's delicious), we served her parents' neighbor's jalapeno jelly over cream cheese. Sadly, we ate it all, so I don't have any for future parties. It hits the exact right spot between sweet and spicy:

We put some of the heartier food next to the bar, on the dining room table, which was pushed into a corner and covered with more of our fabric from Debois:

I'd been looking for a reason to make these Ham Delights, little sandwiches of ham, cheese and an onion-mustard spread, ever since last October, when I read the recipe in Julia Reed's column for Taigan's online magazine Fetch. They sounded amazing and certainly did not disappoint:

They're not hard to make, either - though I have to admit, they're best when they're right out of the oven. At room temperature, they're OK, but warm, they're great.

Pinterest was also the source for this recipe for cucumber feta rolls (note: I ditched the olive in the recipe and instead used both red pepper and sundried tomatoes).

With my mandoline, they weren't terribly difficult to make and they really did look pretty. Plus, since I made them in the morning and they had time to set in the refrigerator, they held together nicely, even when someone bit into them:

I'd definitely make them again.

We served Mary's family's jalapeno jelly, so obviously we had to throw a little love Kyle's way, too. These Buffalo shrimp could not have been easier - they're just peeled shrimp (with the tails left on), marinated in Frank's Red Hot sauce and roasted in a 450 degree oven for about 5 minutes on pans that heated in the oven while it was preheating:

They were probably the biggest hit at the party - they disappeared very quickly.

I'm not much of a baker, which is why it's so lucky that Alicia is so good at making cupcakes. For the shower, she played on the grownup baby shower theme, making a peanut butter and jelly cupcake that was actually much more sophisticated than it sounds.

The cake was devil's food and the peanut butter was a creamy peanut butter cream.
The jelly? A ripe strawberry, right on top:

It was a great time. Tons to eat, tons to drink (at Kyle's request, we had a keg...because everyone knows baby showers are better with beer and really, when you have a reason to buy pink Solo cups, you should). And, most importantly, tons to celebrate. We can't wait to meet Little Miss Evie Swarts.