booze, kazoos, cake and ponies

[alonewiththemoon]

I feel much better than a woman who drank vodka, bourbon, beer and gin over the course of the afternoon and evening has any right to feel.  I think it is because I avoided the tequilla.  Mostly today I am hungry more than anything.

Lovely Cinco de Mayo party last night.  I played in a kazoo truet with whistle accompaniment.  Our rendition of the 1812 Overture was quite stirring.  I'm sure our rendition of Bela Lugosi's Dead would have been equally stirring if we could have made it past the opening notes without dissolving into hysterics.  I wonder what instrument I will play in a kitchen next Saturday?  I really like this trend of making music at parties, all the more so when it is completely unplanned and only happened because the pinata was full of kazoos and whistles.

This is the recipe I used for the Mexican chocolate cake.  All of my flavoring measurements were heaping.  In the future I think it might be nice with some slivered almonds scattered on top.  But it was awfully delicious as it was, if I do say so myself.  Oh, and I made a really good drink earlier in the afternoon.  My mom gave me a bunch of fresh herbs from her hydroponic garden (crematia13 , please be sure to tell my brother that Mom gave me herb from her hydroponic garden) including some purple basil.  Inspired by the ginger-basil-lime gimlet I had at Punjab, I muddled the basil, the juice of half a lime and some vodka, shook it all up, put it in a tall glass and topped it up with ginger ale.  Refreshing and delicious and something I could definitely see drinking all summer.  The purple basil tinted the drink a pretty rose quartz color.

Really enjoyable Kentucky Derby, a very fine and exciting race.  It was nice to see for once the best horses get the best trips and be able to show their stuff, it felt like an honest horse race as opposed to a mad stampede with a lucky winner.  As the winning horse came close to the wire and was clearly the winner, the jockey began to celebrate early, and the horse totally looked back at him saying "hey guy, we're not there yet, a little focus please!"  The NBC coverage frequently showed the Queen of England sitting in her private box--she looked so focused and intent, such a horsewoman.  I am happy for her that she got to fulfill her lifetime dream of going to the Kentucky Derby, and somewhat amused that a queen's lifetime dream could be a thing that so many other people can aspire to or even take for granted.  I mean, if I wanted to and was willing to take on some debt, I could theoretically go to the Kentucky Derby any year.  I felt a little sad for her, actually.   Incidentally there has been a couple of stories in the news recently about the new majority owner of Suffolk Downs planning to revamp the place and make it more of a entertainment destination while still focusing on the racing, and working on improving the quality and calibre of the races and horses.  I'm all in favor of that!  I will do my best to organize a trip out there this summer...

Whole bunch of Shimmy in the Shadows administrative stuff to do this afternoon, then do some practice for tonight's show at the Middle East (10:15 for anyone who happens to be in the area; Nepenthe is on at 10:40).  Also there's a yin sequence in this month's Yoga Journal that I'd like to try out.  And I have mountains of dishes left over from Friday and Saturday's cooking and drink mixing to deal with.  How can it be 4pm already?

Comments

[damiel.livejournal.com]

All of my flavoring measurements were heaping.

There's a quote, if I ever saw one.

[talesinsdaughtr.livejournal.com]

Your version of the 1812 Overture was indeed inspiring, as was the cover of "Love Will Tear Us Apart".

[adarklake.livejournal.com]

That cake was to die for. You are sooooo good to us. More than mere mortals deserve? I think it made Gauri ummm... well... you know

[spitcurl.livejournal.com]

Kazoo Orchestra!!!!

So awesome. :)

[crematia13.livejournal.com]

Now that was a sentence I never expected to read! ;-) Wonder if mom is growing shrooms too?!

That cake looks awesome, you may have to bust that out at the next family gathering.

Oh yeah, if you're friends are still thinking of moving to Lowell this summer, the house is STILL for sale! UGH!!!