Peter Mayer and The White Owl

The Tiki Gal and I joined Dale and Carol and some other friends at Peter Mayer's Christmas concert in Tulsa a few weeks ago. We saw him in concert in St. Louis at the end of the summer and were blown away so we had been anxiously awaiting his appearance. We were not disappointed. The Peter Mayer Group played mostly original Christmas music, some of which was heavily influenced by the time Peter spent in India growing up, as well as a few traditional favorites. As I've stated before, seeing music performed live cannot be compared to listening to a CD or the radio and the Peter Mayer Group is certainly no exception. Besides Peter and his remarkably skilled guitar playing, the band featured a violin, mandolin, bass, drums, piano and flutes. I found it difficult to take in the music as a whole because I would become fascinated watching each of these artists play his or her particular instrument. The bass player was especially entertaining, but then, bass players usually are.

After the concert, Dale and Carol and another couple joined us at the Tiki Hut for drinks. The girls enjoyed Spicy Holidays while the guys picked from the rag-tag assortment of beers that were in the refrigerator. Dale and I had Guinness and once again determined that while it is good, it is certainly nothing special. We've had many better dark beers.

Our Christmas plans were thrown out of whack because most of Oklahoma was hit by a blizzard on Christmas Eve. Traditionally, the Tiki family travels to see my family on Christmas Eve. Since my hometown was supposed to receive ten inches of snow, we didn't think the driving conditions would be ideal for travelling. Instead, we made a quick trip to see my family on the 23rd and were safe and sound back at home when the snow hit. It is a good thing too because my hometown received around a foot of snow and ice. If we had been stuck there for an extended period of time, I would be looking for a new Tiki Gal in 2010 because the current Tiki Gal would have either killed someone or would have thrown herself in front of a snow plow.

A few nights ago, we joined Dale and Carol for a trip to a pub that had been highly recommended called The White Owl. As I've reported many times before, we really like a different pub called McNellie's but we wanted to try something new. Unfortunately, new is not necessarily better. As Carol pointed out when we arrived, The White Owl has an urban look with a shiny, fully stocked bar (that had me salivating from the start), big flat-screen TVs mounted all over the place, and trendy looking booths and tables. Dale and I were not impressed with the selection of beers but were happy to find that most of Samuel Smith's products were offered. The girls ordered wine because they want people to think they are sophisticated and are just out slumming with their beer swilling men (and also because you can't order a Squeezy Squeezy anyplace besides the Tiki Bar without getting strange looks.) Since I'm a positive kind of guy, I'll say that the White Owl makes really good cheese fries and Dale was happy with his Sweet and Spicy barbecue sandwich. Otherwise, the food was unimpressive (Carol has another word to describe the food but this is a family publication.) Upon reflection, we decided that we would stick with McNellie's and leave The White Owl to the pretty people. Also, the person that recommended The White Owl is now outside the circle of trust.

I've been a lazy Tiki Man and have failed to rate the last few beers we've tried. Here's a list, however, organized with the holidays in mind.

Nice
Sam Smith Taddy Porter
Sam Smith Organic Lager

Naughty
Ommegang Abbey Ale - Check out the comments on their site. I definitely did not write any of those.
Any beer with a lime either in the name or shoved down the neck of the bottle

Crashing a Christmas Party

Since my last entry, I've been a busy Tiki Man. We went to McNellie's, the Tiki Gal reached an age that ends in zero, we rated some beers, we invented a cocktail, we went to the Tiki Gal's staff holiday party (and also a party we weren't invited to) and we decorated for Christmas. I am getting tired again just writing about it.

The Tiki Gal had a birthday recently, and since she reached a milestone age, I threw a birthday party for her. She invited her buddies from work and her buddy Carol. I provided food and played bartender. The ladies all seemed to have a good time and everyone enjoyed the drinks so I decided to list the recipes for a few of the favorites here.

Fruitcakes
Color: Red
Ingredients: 5 ounces cranberry juice, 2 ounces pineapple rum, 1 ounce Cointreau
Directions: Shake all ingredients with ice.

Squeezy Squeezy
Color: Pink
Ingredients: 2 ounces cranberry juice, 2 ounces pineapple juice, 2 ounces raspberry rum, Sprite
Directions: Shake cranberry juice, pineapple juice and rum with ice. Pour into a glass and top with Sprite.

Creme Brulee
Color: White
Ingredients: 3 ounces half-n-half, 3 ounces simple syrup, 1 ounce vodka, 1 ounce vanilla liqueur, 1/2 ounce Frangelico
Directions: Shake all ingredients with ice or blend all ingredients with 1 cup ice.
Comments: To make simple syrup, bring 1 cup water to a boil. Turn off the heat and pour 2 cups sugar into the boiling water. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved and then let cool. Simple syrup may be stored in the refrigerator for a few weeks.

Spicy Holiday
Color: Red
Ingredients: 5 ounces cranberry juice, 1 ounce spiced rum, 1 ounce Cointreau, Sprite
Directions: Shake cranberry juice, spiced rum and Cointreau with ice. Pour into a glass and top with Sprite.
Comments: The Spicy Holiday is a new creation from the Rogue Wave Tiki Bar Laboratories.

Of course, some of the ladies took a trip to Margaritaville. You can find Margarita recipes here.

I hope the Tiki Gal and her friends had as much fun at the party as I had playing bartender. While I didn't get any tips, I did get some suggestions on what I should wear the next time we get together. Thankfully, it would take several Big Boy Margaritas to make me even consider following that advice - and I wasn't drinking at the time.

We attended the Tiki Gal's staff Christmas party last weekend. I've been known to grumble about attending these parties because it always feels awkward to stand around and make small talk with people you barely know. And those of you who know me know that I'm terrible at small talk. This year was different, however. I have gotten to know several of the Tiki Gal's coworkers and their spouses over the last few years and that made this year's party fun. Also, we drove to the party with another couple following the directions of Monique, my lovely GPS. As I've mentioned here before, the Tiki Gal and Monique do not have a great relationship. In fact, I think there may be some jealousy on one side or the other. Anyway, Monique was taking us through a neighborhood and, we thought, directly to the Christmas party. The directions to the house said that the house had a semi-circular driveway. Monique took us to a house with a simi-circular driveway filled with cars and we could see people milling about in the well lit house. It looked like a party. It looked like our party. Alas, if only that were true.

We parked, hopped out of the car, grabbed our food and drinks and headed for the door. A nice, older lady opened the door and let us inside. Then, the Tiki Gal and her co-worker noticed that they didn't recognize anyone. At the same time, the people in the house realized they didn't know us. We were at the wrong party! The Tiki Gal said, "I think we're in the wrong house." Someone that was actually invited to the party said, "Then drop the food and move along." We retreated as quickly and with as much dignity as we could muster. Even though it was embarrassing, I think the Tiki Gal was secretly happy that Monique led us astray. Jealousy is an ugly thing.

When the Tiki Gal and I finally get to move to an island in the Caribbean, one of the things I will definitely not miss is putting Christmas lights on the house. Oh, I'll be happy to climb up a palm tree with some lights. I'll even string them on my hammock. I will not, however, climb up a shaky ladder over a hard, concrete driveway to put lights on the peak of the house twenty-five feet in the air. I'm not afraid of heights but, every year as I look down at the cement while stretching up to put the lights on the peak, I realize I am afraid of falling from heights. To make matters worse, the Tiki Gal's brother borrowed my extension ladder several years ago. He put it in the back of his pickup truck, didn't tie it down, and proceeded to drive 70 m.p.h. down the highway with it. Guess what happened. My ladder blew out of the back of his truck and was driven over by several cars. Unfortunately for me, the ladder was damaged but it wasn't totaled. It now has this big crack down one side (who knew that aluminum could crack?) right at the top - right where I have to stand when I'm putting the lights on the peak. Now, I try not to think about that crack. I try to climb up the ladder, put the lights on, climb back down, and get it over with. It never works though. I always think about that crack. I always think, "Is this the year the ladder breaks?" Therefore, every year I have an internal argument over whether I should take some tequila shots before or after putting the lights on the peak. On the one hand, taking the shots before would help calm my nerves. On the other hand, I certainly don't want to impair my already shaky agility any further. Who says living in suburbia isn't stressful and dangerous?