Birthdays at Bars

Chocolate Bourbon Birthday!

Two charming friends had birthday celebrations over the weekend.  The weather was hot and steamy here in Brooklyn, so I appreciated that both get-togethers took place at bars with outdoor spaces.

James' birthday soiree happened at The Woods.  The bar's outdoor space is large and there's a mighty fine taco truck parked out back.  This worked to my advantage, as a delicious dinner was one of my goals for the evening.  Dan had an asparagus taco and a chicken taco  ($2.50 each).  I had a chicken burrito filled with chicken, rice, corn, verde salsa, and beans ($5).  Nice.

We also enjoyed reading the geopolitical equations someone had written on our table with black marker:



My favorite, not pictured here, said "USA - Australia = Jesus Camp."  While I doubt the scribe of this sentiment really knew what he/she was talking about, I like the idea that she/he was thinking  a good dose of Australian values is the only thing keeping the U.S. from becoming one big Jesus Camp (a fine documentary, by the way).

I wasn't drinking much at the Woods, but I was talked into trying a "pickle back."  This is a shot of whiskey (often Jameson) followed by a shot of pickle brine.  Now, I love pickles and had no problem thinking about drinking the pickle juice.  The whiskey was what worried me.  But I found that once I took the plunge everything was just fine.  The pickle flavor wiped any bitter alcohol away.  I felt refreshed and ready for more.  This could be a dangerous drink for me!



The second birthday gathering I attended this past weekend was Kelly's.  She celebrated with a "day drinking" session at Spuyten Duyvil.  We enjoyed plates of cheese, pickles, and olives from the bar.  I drink a sparklng wine from Juve y Camps and a (non-alcoholic) ginger beer.  But the highlight of that afternoon was snacking on segments of mini chocolate bourbon bundt cakes from The Blue Stove.  They're quite a deal at $3 each, tasting moist and sweet like cake and frosting all swirled into one.

More summer birthdays, please!