How to play drinking games – Part 4

There are many drinking games to play out there from the really complex tournament style games to simple card or observation games. There are variations to all these games and many people personalize them and have strange rules.

One of the most common drinking games is beer pong. For this game, you’ll need a long table, ping pong balls and a lot of plastic cups. The game is set up with a triangle of cups on either end of the table. You can play with as many cups as you wish but generally people play with 6 or 10 and they are arranged the way bowling pins are. You can play one on one or in teams. You play by taking turns tossing or bouncing the ball across the table and attempt to get it into the opposing team’s cups. When you make it in, the opposing players have to drink the beer in that cup. For this reason, to prevent alcohol poisoning, cups are usually filled less than halfway. The team who has no cups left on their side is the losing team and sometimes they will be required to drink the other team’s remaining cups as well.

Another fun drinking game goes by many different names including Circle of Death, Ring of Fire and Kings. But the concept is always the same. You’ll need a deck of cards and people who can really hold their alcohol. This game is fun because you can play with a lot of people at once. You’ll want to arrange the cards face down in a circle around a full bottle or can of beer. Each player takes turns drawing a card and doing the designated action and then places the card on top of the beer in the middle of the table. As cards begin to get stacked up, it gets harder to balance and the person who makes the cards topple over has to drink the beer. But the real fun part of the game is drawing cards. All the cards in each suit are designated have different designations. Though the rules vary, here is an example of a one of the ways you can play:

Ace is waterfall. How waterfall works is all the players start drinking at the same time but you can’t stop drinking until the person before you stop. So this is often bad news for the last person in the circle who ends up drinking longest.

Two is for “you.” The person who picks the card picks anyone at the table who must drink.

Three is for “me,” me being the person who draws the card so that person must drink.

Four is for whores. If this card is drawn, all girls at the table drink.

Five is for Jive. A person must make a gesture and everyone else has to copy the same gesture. The

Which video game console is better: PlayStation 3 or Wii?

OK, so far I’ve only seen people attack this issue from a graphics stand point, but lets get to the core of every gaming system, its games! Certainly we can all agree that the more lucid and smooth a game’s graphics are the more we can enjoy it. However; I will always enjoy playing the original Zelda, as well as the titular Final Fantasy 7. What made those games great was the quality of their stories and game play, not the way they looked.

The Fanboy demographic is what will determine which system will come out on top. As some one who owns both systems I can tell you with all honestly that right now, the Wii is beating out the PS3, I have the new Zelda and I love it! In addition to that, when I have friends over and we want to play our usual drinking games, we always fire up the Wii because of its action oriented control set up. Truly when it comes to all around enjoyment, I will always go with the Wii, its a light-hearted system for those of us that enjoy casual gaming.

Unfortunately those types of players will eventually evolve in what I call “Legacy-Gamers” these are the people who crave quality in their games, the ones who thrive on a games content and story. We are not easily amused by a games quirks, we need our games to be mind blowing on every level, and more than that, we need our games fulfill our fanboy expectations.

Legacy-Gamers are people who have played every game in a particular line, if you’re like me and have played and enjoyed every Final Fantasy, or Suikoden, than feel free to apply this title to yourself. That classic logo Tee, picturing an old-school nintendo controller and the words “Know Your Roots.” thats our uniform!

Ultimately the next-gen battle will be decided by which console owns the exclusive rights to the most popular games. I’m not excited about what the PS3 is now, what I’m excited about is whats coming. Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Resident Evil just to name a few. Indeed the Wii will eventually fall by the way side limited only by its control scheme, that same scheme that makes it popular in the first place.

A perfect example of this is Splinter Cell: Double Agent. This is a game that got good reviews on all platforms except for the Wii. I’ll use Gamespot’s reviews to make my point, for the PS3, Xbox360, and PC it scored above 8.0. But its score on the Wii was a not so stunning 6.2, so why the difference? If you read the Wii review, the main reason is its control, its just too awkward to make the game enjoyable, at its core the game has the same content, the same story, but controlling Sam Fisher is made impossible.

In the end Perhaps the Wii is too evolved, its set up makes developers hesitant to produce games for it. It is because of this that unfortunately, beyond the Nintendo exclusives, we won’t see too many Legacy games on the Wii, which will have a direct impact on how well it does, and consequently, what types of games we will see for it.

I hope I’ve give you something to talk about, but if your a Legacy-Gamer like me than I know for a fact that your very stubborn.

Heres to knowing what you like…no matter what anyone else says!

How to play drinking games – Part 6

There are many games you can play while you drink. Here is a small list of ones friends and I have played many Saturdays to have fun and stay in one spot without driving. Please drink responsibly and always-ALWAYS have a designated driver if you drink.

Quarters:

Place a shot glass filled with desired alcohol in the center of the table. You have one shot at makeing a quarter bounce of the table in the glass. If you miss you drink it if you make it you choose a person to take the shot. Turns move clockwise around the table.

Drunk Driver:

Make a pyramid out of cards using 1 at top and 6 at the bottom. Lay cards face down. Pass out remaining cards until all players have the same amount. Looking at them have one person designated to turn over each card individually on the pyramid starting at the top. Each person who has a matching card can make someone else drink. 2 drinks for top, each level down the pyramid is x’s 2 say the third row down would mean the person choosen would have to take 6 drinks.

Mushroom’s:

Place a juice glass in the center of the table and take turns going clockwise around the table and lay a card on the glass, making it mushroom out. The first person to make all the cards fall has to down a full beer or take however many shots are chosen to replace the beer in the beginning of the game.

There are many other games to play out there. Please take care when playing drinking games as you are consuming alcohol very fast and may not realize how much you have drank until it is too late. As stated please drink responsibly. There is a difference between having fun and risking lives!

How Coffee Pots Determines The Taste Of Your Drink

Coffee pots are the best help one can get when serving coffee to guests or numerous family members. Presently, there are all sorts of items that even preserve the coffee warm for several hours; thus such coffee pots are ideal to be used both at home or at work. They come in various models and designs from the very classical, porcelain made ones to the most sophisticated thermo-resistant types. The most popular kinds of coffee pots are called percolators and they are usually made of metal; such vessels can be kept directly on the stove, and due to a very practical mechanism, fresh coffee is brewed and kept warm.

However, we need to make the distinction between the coffee pots used for brewing coffee and those in which it can be served. If the former needs to be made of metal only, the latter also allows the use of plastic, porcelain or glass as well. Though plastic may be cheaper, the recommendation would definitely go for coffee pots made of porcelain or glass since they are the most likely to preserve the purity of taste and flavor, not to mention that they are completely neutral materials.

The perfect coffee pots can sometimes be difficult to find given the large variety of coffee makers, brewers and cappuccino machines; after all, what is it that truly makes a good cup of coffee? Until the moment you pour coffee in the coffee pots, there is a long way of flavor building, and it often starts with the quality of the water one uses. Bottled or spring water could be the right choice to use in brewing coffee pots, as the level of purity is 99% in such cases. Two tablespoonfuls of coffee make the correct amount to use for every six ounces of water you add in the coffee pot; thus the coffee will be neither too weak or too strong.

In the absence of coffee pots that keep the coffee warm, it is not advisable to reheat the remaining coffee, since the flavor is susceptible to rapid deterioration. For instance, some people re-heat their coffee in the microwave, but there will be very little left to savor. As a general rule, no matter how special coffee pots you may use, within approximately thirty minutes after it’s made, coffee already starts to lose the great taste you expect from this popular drink.

Ost N Naugural All O Elebrate Resident lect Arack Bamas Istoric Ictory

2008 marked one of the most momentous races for the U.S. Presidency, one fueled by intense passion and determination. Use the suggestions below to celebrate President-Elect Barack Obamas historic victory by hosting an inaugural ball at your home!

Dcor & Tabletop suggestions

Pave the entry to your home with remnant red carpet purchased from your local carpet store, or rent a red carpet from Red Carpet Runway.

As guests enter, have a photographer snap a photo of them next to a life-sized cut-out of President-Elect Barack Obama. This will make a fun party favor. Place photos in glossy, quality stock paper photo frame imprinted with the hosts name and the date of the party (e.g. Debbies Inaugural Ball, Jan 18, 2009).

Place vases with white roses around the home for added drama.

Suggested Invitation Copy

(Host Name) requests the pleasure of your company
at the Yes We Can Inaugural Ball in celebration of
Barack Obama
44th President of the United States of America

DATE
TIME
PLACE

RSVP
Semi-formal Attire

Cocktail Recipes

No celebration would be complete without champagne. Serve cocktails with custom imprinted napkins featuring the Presidential seal and date of the party. A few patriotic themed cocktails include:

Red (Serves 10)
Ingredients
3 cups chilled Arizona green tea
6 cups chilled pomegranate juice
10 – 20oz Gin or Vodka
5 oz amaretto
Toothpick
Garnish: Strawberry, blueberries and mini-marshmallows
*Prepare Garnish before beginning
1. Mix the green tea and pomegranate juice into a bowl
2. Line up 10 glasses filled with ice.
3. Pour 1oz (full shot glass) of Gin or Vodka and 0.5oz (half a shot glass) of amaretto in each Glass with ice. *You may also add an extra shot of liquor for a kick.
4. Pour 7oz (less then a cup) of the green tea and pomegranate mix into each cup.
5. Garnish and Serve

WHITE (Serves 1)
Ingredients
1 oz vodka
1 oz peach schnapps
fill with Sprite or 7up
Garnish: Blueberries and raspberries on Toothpick
Mix vodka, peach schnapps together and pour in glass. Fill the rest of the glass with Sprite. Garnish with Blueberries and raspberries.

BLUE (Serves 1)
Ingredients
1/2 oz. Light Rum
1.2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Blue Caracao
3 oz. Pineapple Juice
1 oz. Sweet & Sour Mix (or margarita mix)
Garnish: Pineapple and Cherry

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Serve in a tall glass. Garnish with a slice of pineapple and a cherry.

Hors Dourves Recipes

Red & Blue Chips with White Cheese Dip

White Cheese Dip (Serves Ingredients
4 cups monterey jack cheese or asadero cheese or chihuahua cheese, shredded fine
16 ounces green chilies
1 cup half-and-half
8 tablespoons onions, chopped fine
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons salt
4 serrano peppers, chopped fine (optional)
4 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped fine (optional)
Tortilla Chips (Blue & Red- organic)

Directions
Put all ingredients in a double boiler and heat on medium. Cook until melted and well blended, stirring occasionally. Serve with fresh chips.

Drink recipes: Jack and Coke

The Jack and Coke cocktail is a highball recipe. It is the combination of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey and Coca-Cola soda pop over ice.

The Jack and Coke is a popular drink in North American bars. The origins of the recipe are unclear to this author. It is most likely a variant of the Presbyterian or “Press” drink recipe. Other names for a Jack and Coke include “JD and Coke” and “Kentucky Freedom”.

Both Jack Daniel’s Whiskey and Coca-Cola were originally formulated in the United States of America. It is popular with military personnel and patriotic supporters. The Jack Daniel’s Collector’s website reports that the distillery sold cans and bottles of “Jack and Cola” in Europe and Australia for a short time. Coca-Cola did not endorse or contribute to that formula.

The ingredients for a Jack and Coke are as follows:

* 2 oz (a full shot glass or 8 counts) Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey

* 10 oz Coca-Cola (roughly 1 can)

* Ice cubes

Fill a glass with ice. Pour the Jack Daniel’s over the ice and then fill the glass up with Coca-Cola. Stir this mixture. This drink can be garnished with a lemon, lime, or cherry.

The Jack and Coke should be served in either a Collins glass or a Rocks glass. A Collins glass typically holds 8 fluid ounces. A Rocks glass holds between 5 and 10 fluid ounces.

A “Double Jack and Coke” would have up to 3 ounces, or two full shot glasses, of whiskey mixed in to the drink. Generally speaking, this recipe should be adjusted so it’s within 1 part whiskey to 3 parts cola. Most bars carry bottles of Jack that run between 80 and 85 proof in alcohol content. Use caution when serving “A Double” to customers who may already be intoxicated.

Coca-Cola that’s being poured from a can or bottle needs to be poured slowly. Use your discretion if your bar is stocked with Pepsi or generic cola and you have to use that instead.

Some bartenders use Cherry or Vanilla Coca-Cola when serving this drink. Always ask your customer if they have a preference. Also, do not substitute Coca-Cola with Dr. Pepper or diet colas unless if the customer specifically requests it.

Do not confuse the Jack and Coke with the Mark and Coke recipe. The Mark and Coke uses Maker’s Mark Bourbon instead of Jack Daniel’s. Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey have noticeably different flavors and customers who drink Jack may not like Maker’s Mark.

Always serve this cocktail responsibly.

Drink recipes: Cosmopolitan – Part 5

The Cosmopolitan is currently one of the most popular drinks on the planet today. As someone who has worked in a state liquor store and was bar tending for quite a while, I have to tell you, this drink is definitely popular with a variety of demographics. Although the origin of it’s general innovation is unknown, several theorists believe the drink was created by a bartender in the 80s era.

Although, it is certain that one can appreciate the Cosmopolitan for it’s individual acquired taste and it’s light, yet dramatic fluent flavor, the Cosmopolitan cocktail possesses a lot of quality ingredients that create it’s essential appeal. The Cosmopolitan ingredients include: Vodka, Triple Sec, Lime Juice (or you can use Rose’s Lime liqueur or cordial), and Cranberry Juice.

I decided to create the ultimate Cosmopolitan that one can appreciate for it’s amazing flavor and general acquired essence.

Sarah’s Cosmopolitan

1 oz. Vodka

1 oz. Triple Sec

1 oz. Lime Juice (preferably Rose’s Lime Juice)

1.2 oz. Amaretto Liqueur (preferably Disaronno)

1.2 oz. Raspberry Liqueur

1.2 oz. Peach Schnapps (Peach Liqueur is optional)

1 oz. Sweet & Sour Mix

1 oz. Cranberry Juice

Combine the Vodka, Triple Sec, Lime Juice, Amaretto Liqueur, Raspberry Liqueur, Peach Schnapps, Sweet & Sour Mix, and Cranberry Juice and serve in a chilled martini cocktail glass on the rocks with a lemon slice. (Maraschino cherry and Orange slice are optional)

Drink recipes: Caipiroska

In the wake of the ever popular Mojito come the Caipiroska. A Russian drink made with your standard vodka, lime, and sugar. This is a great summer drink, or anytime drink for a summer vibe; this tangy drink is a great change for vodka drinkers. Simple to make it can easily be doubled, tripled, or even made in a pitcher.

This recipe like a Mojito needs you muddle the fruit; crush the fruit to release the flavor. For the Caipiroska you will need to crush the sugar into the lime. This can easily be done with a spoon or a muddler.

Recipe One:

Vodka

8 limes wedges

1 tsp sugar

Crush sugar into the lime wedges with a spoon. Place the lime wedges in the bottom of an tumbler. Cover with crushed ice, fill tumbler with vodka, and serve.

Recipe Two: A slit twist on the traditional

vodka

8 limes wedges

1 tsp sugar

Ground cinnamon

Cinnamon syrup

Drink Recipes: White Russian – Part 3

A good White Russian is similar to an exquisite chocolate truffle, you take that first mouthful and let it sit in your mouth a moment, savouring the flavour, before letting it caress you all the way down your throat. Whilst enjoying the aftertaste, you just cannot wait to try another. As you can tell this is one of my favourite cocktails of all time.

The White Russian has been around since the cold war and along the way have spawned lots of variations, but none beat the classic.

The Classic White Russian

2 parts Vodka

1 part Kahlua

1 part cream

1 part milk

ice

There are three ways of making this, the first is to put all of the ingredients into a shaker and shake before straining into an old fashioned glass to serve. The second way is to pour the ingredients in the above order over ice. A third was is to shake the ice, vodka and Kahlua before straining into a glass and then layering on the milk and cream.

Then you have the Kicked Up White Russian Milkshake (created by Emeril Lagasse)

2oz Kahlua

2oz Vanilla Vodka

1 oz Crme de Cacao

2 scoops vanilla ice cream

toasted sweetened coconut flakes, garnish

unsweetened cocoa powder, garnish

In a blender combine alcohol and ice cream, blend until frothy. Pour into two glasses and garnish with the coconut flakes and cocoa powder. Serve immediately.

If you want more of a kick you may want to try a Blonde Russian? This replaces the cream with Baileys. This cocktail is delicious, but lethal.

A Colorado Bulldog is where you make up a White Russian and add a splash of coke.

If you enjoy rum based drinks then a White Cuban may suit. Take the same White Russian recipe, but substitute the vodka with rum.

After trying the numerous variations, don’t forget to take the classic White Russian on another taste trial, you won’t regret it.

Drink recipes: Fresh juice cocktails – Part 3

With a simple syrup base, and some fruit juice, you can make a variety of different drinks. Here are instructions for making a simple syrup, and different flavoring and drink ideas.

Making the Simple Syrup. First of all, you need to make the simple syrup. A simple syrup is water and sugar heated together until boiling and the sugar is dissolved. In traditional lemonade, for example, the water and sugar are merely mixed with lemon juice. Heating the mixture, as when making a simple syrup, helps the sugar to dissolve completely.

The ratio of water to sugar for a simple syrup is 1:1. Use 1 cup of sugar for every 1 cup of water. Mix together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and allow to cool. This is how you make the simple syrup.

Adding a Flavoring. A drink made with a simple syrup could have many different kinds of flavoring added. Fruit juice is a very popular idea. Some fruit juices that would work well are orange, tangerine, lemon, lime, grapefruit or cranberry. Be sure you are using 100% juice, not a fruit drink or cocktail mix. Fresh juice will taste the best. Mix one cup of fruit juice with one cup of simple syrup. Wait until your mixture has cooled and you are mixing your drink to add the fruit juice.

Another flavoring option is fresh herbs. Add about cup torn mint leaves to 1 cup of simple syrup. Basil would work for this also and provide an interesting flavor. Fresh herbs should be added to the mixture before boiling, and removed after through straining. Finally, you can flavor your simple syrup drink with an extract. Extracts should be added to the mixture after boiling. Add 1 teapoon of extract per 1 cup of simple syrup, or more to taste. Some ideas are vanilla, almond, mint, orange, cinnamon, lemon or even rootbeer extracts or flavorings. Use your imagination.

Mixing the Drink. Once you have made your flavored simple syrup and allowed it to cool you can make a drink with it. If you have used fresh herbs or an extract to flavor your simple syrup, the ratio of simple syrup to water is 1:2. Mix 1 cup of flavored simple syrup with 2 cups of water for 3 cups of your mixed drink. If you are adding fruit juice, mix 1 cup fruit juice, 1 cup simple syrup and 1 cup of water. Mix your flavored simple syrup with soda water for a sparkling drink, or flat for more of a juice taste.

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