Shake hard, strain, and serve up. Would be better if muddled before shaken. Garnish w/maraschino cherries.

Shake above vigorously w/ice. Serve over rocks in glass rimmed with salt and ras el hanout.

Notes:
Smoky and sour with complexity from the luxardo. Mildly spicy with clove from the ras el hanout. Ginger syrup may get lost, but is what I have lying around and it dissolves better than granulated sugar.

Cut down a 12 foot tall mirror plant. Dig out the roots. Plant a lemon tree in its place. Put spices into pint glass. Pour in bottle of beer. Relax and drink up the sun. You’ve earned it.

• 1 tbsp diksam bps
• 1 tsp lapsang souchong

Steep in 375 mL near-boiling hot water for 3 minutes. Then add:

• zest of 1 large lemon
• 1 frond wormwood (smaller than my hand)
• 6 anise hyssop flowers
• 375 mL Old Overholt Rye Whiskey
• 150 mL Light Rum (Bacardi)
• 225 mL Cognac (Bisquit Classique VS)
• 80 mL Keffir Leaf Vodka (steeped/mellowed over a year)

Set in the fridge for at least a few hours, preferably overnight.

When people start arriving, send the wife to greet them, strain the punch into a 6.5 quart pot, add:

• 1 L sparkling water
• 750 mL Rose Cava
• 2 fl oz original blueberry shrub (see below)
• 1 oz white sugar (Demerara would have been better)
• juice of two large lemons
• 1 lime, sliced, slices cut in quarters
• 1 large orange, sliced, slices cut in quarters
• a few fresh anise flowers, for garnish
• Fresh grated nutmeg, to taste

Leave the nutmeg and a microplane next to the punch pot, so folks can add additional spice to their own drinks, if desired. Encourage them to do so. It really makes a difference.

If I were to do this again, I would probably decrease the amount of Bacardi, increase the amount of Keffir vodka, and increase the amount of shrub. Also, I’m not a huge fan of the rose cava, that’s just all we had around. A sweeter white cava or prosecco would have done nicely.

Basic Shrub recipe:

1. Crack some spices: I’ve done pepper + cardamom, pepper + coriander + allspice.
2. Macerate equal volume of fresh fruit and sugar, mix in spices. Let sit for 5 hours on cool countertop or in fridge.
3. Stir in volume of vinegar (apple cider recommended) so that fruit:sugar:vinegar volume ratio is 1:1:1. Add a little salt. Back in fridge for a week, stirring daily.
4. Strain (chinois and/or cheesecloth). Bottle, let sit in fridge for another week to mellow (if you can).
5. Store in fridge. If you don’t plan to use it within the first few weeks, I’m told adding a little vodka (.5oz per pint of original vinegar) will help it keep longer.

Based almost directly off of Neyah White’s shrub recipe, though I prefer a little less sugar and salt than he calls for. My original blueberry shrub recipe used 1 quart fresh blueberries, 1 quart white sugar, and 1 quart apple cider vinegar. I stuck to the same spices he used: 1 oz black peppercorns and 5 cardamom pods. I don’t remember exactly how much salt I used, but I know I prefer less than the 1 oz called for in his recipe.

Thanks to those who did make it: Jared Williams, Carlos Almendárez, and Lauren Clymer.

Anyone who’s ever been to one of my game nights before has probably played, or at least heard of, Mini Mao. For those who aren’t familiar already, I usually sum up Mini Mao thusly:

1. The object of the game is to find out the rules of the game.
2. The object of the game is to make other people have fun.
3. The object of the game is to not be an asshole.

Kevan Davis created Mini Mao, which is itself a variant of Mao incorporating some of the principles of a Nomic.

By Kevan’s description, Mini Mao is a card game, usually played with a deck of normal playing cards, though not restricted to that medium. Last night was the first time we’ve tried to test that boundary, by incorporating a deck of Uglydoll cards and a normal deck of playing cards into a single, mixed deck.

Our findings: playing with a greater variety of cards only adds to the total amount of fun to be had. In other words:

cards++ => fun++

Rules that were developed and used last night (not in order):

• Primo: Threes must be played face down. Author: Jared.
• Icebat: When playing a blue monster, the player must growl. The player must not growl while playing a non-blue monster. Author: Claudine.
• I don’t know: Something to do with even diamonds. Author: Jared.
• Yipiee: I actually don’t know. Author: Jared.
• Ox! Ox!: When a player plays Ox, they must jump twice, exclaiming “Ox!” each time. Author: Claudine.
• Menage: Something about threes. Author: Carlos.
• Company: Three-eyed monsters and threes had to be played face-down. Menage is deprecated. Author: Carlos.
• Trail mix: When playing any number card except nine, the player must say “trail mix”. Author: Lauren.
• Odd-Eyes: If a monster is played on a number, the number of eyes on the monster must be odd or even to match the odd-or-even-ness of the number card. For this rule, aces count as ones, jacks as 11s, queens as 12s, and kings as 13s. Author: Danny.
• Say it Proud: The player playing a card must call out the card’s name while playing it. Author: Danny.

Next game night, I’m planning on procuring a set of mahjong tiles to use instead of cards. Theoretically, we could use any objects instead of cards, but mahjong tiles (or dominoes, failing that) give the added benefit of easy 3D construction. in the discard pile. Ooh…now I’m getting ideas involving Lego pieces.

The crocs were discovered during a search by a female border guard, who screamed and ran out of the room, just what border guards are trained to do when they discover contraband.

- New humor blog to follow

Thanks to my “Soft Indie Rock” station on pandora.

In the spirit of last night’s trip to see the One Man Star Wars Trilogy, I’m tempted to make an Ewok-localized Firefox.