The Groom’s Cookie: Brandon

My cousin Ashley got married a little over a month ago to a really lovely man, Brandon. I was lucky enough to be in attendance and to get to do all the happy crying that entailed. Which, for the record, was a lot.

I love weddings. I unabashedly, unironically, utterly, and wholeheartedly love weddings. There’s so much joy and celebration, so much happy expectation, so much community…

Being able to witness people as they look at each other and say, “You’re my chosen family” is such an honor.

And, let’s be honest, the party that inevitably follows a wedding is fabulous too. Food, beverages, camaraderie; what’s not to love? I was also lucky enough to be invited to this part of Ashley and Brandon’s big day.… Continue reading →

Bill’s Bitter

He so rarely gets a good non-alcoholic drink when we go out places. In restaurants, there’s usually mediocre iced tea, maybe some sodas. At drinking friend’s homes, there’s water. Maybe a soda, maybe not. Indeed, he’s always very grateful to our friend Theresa, because she makes an active effort to have interesting beverages beyond water for him.

Me? I just have gotten so used to cocktails, beer, and wine that I tend to want fairly complex drinks, even when I don’t want booze. Tea, when it’s good, often fills this niche. It’s how Bill finally got me into coffee.

But, sometimes, we want something even more. Or maybe we want cool drinks. Let me tell you what, iced coffee and iced tea only occasionally provide the fun we’re looking for in cool drinks.… Continue reading →

#CookiesAndBeer

It started innocently enough. I was sitting down to assess some of the cookie recipes I’d recently been entrusted with, and I’d cracked a cold, low ABV beer to help me in my analyses. I figured I’d tweet about it too, with a jokey hashtag, #CookiesAndBeerWithTasha.

Well, some of my delightful twitter friends saw it and started tweeting back at me. It was a blast. Goofing around. Discussing cookies. And beer. It was so much fun we decided we should schedule it again.

That’s how I came to be attempting to host a Twitter chat, #CookiesAndBeer, last Tuesday.

My original plan was to bake “Italian Filled Cookies” during #CookiesAndBeer, as it was the recipe I most tweeted about during the jokey chat. It seemed complex, fun, and nothing I’d ever made before.… Continue reading →

Finger Limes

Last night, Bill made me a couple of very delicious margaritas. They’re really so simple. Tequila, Cointreau, fresh lime juice, ice. It doesn’t get a lot easier than that.

We also had, for dinner, what we call “date night food”. It means we splurged on some fancy cheeses, crackers and meats, and then laid out a spread on the table and nibbled and chatted through dinner. We’d love for it to look something like what you see in the first page of Google image results for “cheese and charcuterie board”, but we’re not that good yet. Mostly, it just looks like some giant slabs of cheese on a board, with slices of meat.

One of the the things I’ve been fascinated with since I got into beer is the play of different flavors with each other.… Continue reading →

Talk to Bill, Will You?

Man!

So, it’s been a bit since my awesome post about awesome lions. This is largely because I wasn’t sure what to say to you all for a bit, and then my lovely mother came for a visit.

Then, when she left, so did I. Bill had already left. My mom went home. Bill and I went to California. We spent some time in Los Angeles, California with Bill’s uncle (also Bill), before heading up to the Bay Area (San Jose and Santa Clara, mostly, but some San Franscisco, Oakland and Berkley in there).

And LA is what I want to talk to you guys about. Briefly! Very briefly.

And maybe “talk” isn’t the right answer. “Request”, really.

See, Bill left a day before my mother and I did.… Continue reading →