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!
