Tickle me pūwherowhero

One snow storm later and I'm still here. (Thankfully.) With a decidedly poor showing of snow in the Baltimore region, I've decided that this winter can't hold a candle to the Snowmageddon of 2010 (*knock on wood*). While I don't look forward to digging out my car/having BHE dig out my car in the mornings, I miss the occasional snow day. It's rare that I get to sleep in, clean house, and bake at random leisurely intervals during the day. Plus, I'm no longer in school, so it's not like I have to make up the class time during the summer.

So imagine my delight when the local meteorologist predicted a 5 - 10 inch snowfall over the course of a few hours. Granted, he skipped over the part where jagged chips of sleet the size and sharpness of thumb tacks would precede the event. Had I known, I might have taken up my boss's offer of a ride home, rather than taking the shuttle and then walking a mile while nature took it's anger out on my face. That shizz hurts!

Snow bully sleet. Not fun.

Anywho, BHE managed to pull into the driveway just as the snow began to fall in earnest and then turned on the tv and hunkered down for the night.

That is, we tried to turn on the tv. We have a satellite dish, which does not hold up well against the elements. So instead of watching normal prime time programming, we surfed the Hi-def channels our tv could pick up. The number of stations was pretty limited, but we did come across something called "Cool TV," which plays music videos and concert clips. Think MTV back when the "M" actually stood for something. That said, I think Cool TV plays a little fast an d loose with its definition of cool. When we first happened on the station, it was playing footage from a Journey concert-- the bassist was a big black dude with a mullet who was wearing tight black leather pants and playing a pink and white polka dotted guitar. The next time we flipped back to the station, we were greeted with this little gem:

Tears came to my eyes we were laughing so hard.

After picking ourselves off the floor, HBE and I bundled up and made our usual snow-storm trek to Fraisers, our fav dive bar in the city. It's not like we had to worry about making it to work the next day, afterall.

And now, your recipes...

The thundersnow (yes, there was thunder) got me thinking about one of my favorite snow time activities: keeping warm via booze. Not to sound like a complete alcoholic, but few things cheer me up on a snow day like a glass of something that warms you up from the inside out. Minus snowball fights and snow angels of course.

I got bored on the walk home from the bar. Apologies to my neighbor.

So imagine my delight when I came across the following during a recent visit to the wine and spirits shop:

WOOT!

Monteith's is brand of beer I used to enjoy when I lived in Wellington. And while I've seen Steinlager sold with growing frequency (usually during the USA Sevens Rugby Festival), this is the first time I've come across a beer that I actually drank while abroad. AND it's the Black brand! I heart the black brand! And it's just in time for the Investec Super Rugby campaign. Preseason games start tonight!! Which is actually tomorrow in NZ but whatevs! GO Canes! (And Highlanders - I love an underdog.)

Try it if you come across a bottle and send a thank you note accordingly. The games you'll have to catch online.

The other adult themed beverage I can rave about comes courtesy of one of my other favorite bars in the city. Bad Decisions is tucked away in the Fell's Point neighborhood. In addition to it's bacon-theme happy hour and prolific collection of in-house board games (seriously - have you ever been to a bar where you can play Axis and Allies should the mood strike?), the staff at BD can custom tailor a drink to fit your mood. I wanted something creamy and Ana (our lovely bartender) came up with this:

Serious yum.

I'm still not sure what the hell's in it, although I do know that the bottom dark half is made up of coffee-flavored tequilla. (Oh yeah.) The above-pictured beverage didn't have a name at the time of service, so I dubbed it the Businessman's Breakfast. I'm hoping it sticks.

I actually have scads of recipes to post. Turns out I should have added"be a more proficient blogger" to my list of New Years resolutions. Is it to late to call for a mulligan?

(Go Steelers!)