snakebites again!!

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Do you know what a snakebite is?

I'm not talking about the puncture wound from a snake's mouth. I'm talking about the beverage! I had no idea what these were until a few months ago. A bunch of folks from work gathered at Buffalo Wild Wings (also known as Lauren's Favorite Place to Eat Delicious Wings) for a little celebration of the alcoholic sort. One of the guys from my department ordered a "snakebite" and I had no idea what he meant, being fresh out of college and only understanding mixed drinks like cheap rum + coke and cheap vodka + juice. Turns out, a Snakebite is: 1/2 Woodchuck (hard apple cider) and 1/2 Guinness (super dark beer).

Greg tried a sip of this mysterious drink and immediately loved it. He gets Snakebites at BWW almost every time we stop by and it is super delicious every time. The sticky sweet Woodchuck and the heavy, dark Guinness balance each other out and make it really drinkable. It's layered, too, so it looks really neat in the glass.

Being the DIYer that I am, I decided one evening to figure out how to make these Snakebites for Greg. I knew it was layered (obviously. you can see the layer) and I knew what the ingredients were, so that meant only one thing... experiment time! I ran out to the grocery and got a pack of Woodchuck and a pack of Guinness and started mixing. My first attempt was a serious failure - I poured the Woodchuck into the glass and then tried to sorta pour the Guinness down the side of the glass to rest on top. Evidently this is the WRONG WAY to make layered drinks, since it got all mixed together and tasted absolutely awful. I needed a buffer! I grabbed a spoon and after pouring in a later of Woodchuck, I tried pouring the Guinness over the spoon and on top of the cider. PERFECTO. I mastered it. I made one to taste-test and then made another one in case the first was a fluke :P

My results:

failure on the left, success on the right!

I couldn't wait to impress the dude with my achievements so of course as soon as he got to my house I made one and presented it with a big smile on my face. He was so happily surprised!

See!? So smiley he can barely drink!

or maybe it's because I'm taking his picture?

Now since it's officially cold and autumn/winter up in the frozen north, there's a new flavor of Woodchuck called "Winter" and I'm pretty dang excited to try out some Snakebites with Winter Woodchuck! I hope it's as delicious as regular :)

- L

another member of the family

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Meet Gracie, the newest member of the family!!

first day at home - 8 weeks old

cuddling like normal

 She's a rescue from the local animal shelter. They give her to you spayed and with all her shots - good deal! Going to an actual veterinarian would be pretty expensive (think $100+), and the animal shelter does it almost for free. I'd definitely recommend rescuing a kitten. I was at the shelter looking into microchipping for Wayne and decided to just hang out with a kitten or two while I was there. BIG MISTAKE. Kittens are adorable and make little peeping meowing noises and curl up on your shoulder and fall asleep and are impossible to leave behind without feeling so sad. Of course, the little bugger that they brought in was Gracie (then called Wren). She was so. damn. cute.

I left the shelter without her because I was adamant that I wasn't a "cat person" and that Wayne was more than enough cat for my household. However, after a 15 minute ride home and reading Google hits from "Is my cat lonely?" and "Should I get two cats instead of just one?" I decided that Wayne needed a friend and a playmate because he was SO LONELY and SAD and ALONE. It was all because of Wayne. Of course.

So I went back to the shelter and adopted her on the spot. She's the perfect addition!! Unlike Wayne, she likes to sit quietly with people on the couch and doesn't attack feet or unroll toilet paper. Honestly, he was starting to scratch at furniture and become a really angry adult male cat. Miraculously, since Gracie came home, he's stopped destroying stuff and actually calmed down a lot. It took them about a week to get used to each other and I had to keep her quarantined upstairs while he accustomed himself to a new kitten smell, but they are absolutely inseparable now  :)

double naptime.

 She's cute and funny and if you sit down, she immediately gets on your lap and falls asleep. I like to pretend it's because she likes me... and not just because my house is freezing and she needs someplace warm to nap. In any case, a fuzzy little ball of Gracie purring and sleeping on your lap would cheer anyone up after a stressful day at work!

And of course, because the large-and-in-charge Big Gray Wayne would be sad if he didn't get to contribute to this post:

ooh photo op!

And yeah, maybe I'm a cat person AND a dog person. Sue me.

- L