Today is my mom's 80th birthday! Her health is good, her mind is sharp, and she looks great, so here's hoping that she sticks around for another fourscore years, at least.

Our mini-luau turned out very well. All of my relatives showed up wearing aloha shirts or muu-muus; and they even brought their own leis. I served baby-back ribs that'd been marinated in an Indonesian peanut-teriyaki sauce and slow-cooked in the smoker, along with bbq'ed shrimp and chicken in a coconut curry sauce. Basmati rice with mango chutney, and a mango-papaya salsa was served on the side.

I whipped up a batch of non-alcoholic punch using the Maui Sunrise recipe from Beachbum Berry's Intoxica!. It was good, but too sweet for my tastes, so I wound up adding the juice of 2 limes to tart it up a bit, and then diluted it with a few cups of water.

A very good time was had by all. My family is a hoot, and I love them dearly. I'm looking forward to doing this again on her 160th birthday.

Happy birthday, Mom!

Posted by MrBaliHai at 5:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

There won't be much blogging 'round these here parts until next week. I'm busting my hump at work, trying to cover for a recently-departed cow-orker, then I'm taking a few days off to get ready for my mom's 80th birthday party, which we're hosting this weekend. I'm planning to throw a mini-luau for her, along with 12 of my aunts and uncles. Should be fun, but it'll be dry, since a number of my relatives are on the wagon.

Speaking of the wagon (falling off of it, to be precise), here's a bevy of fine 'bloggage related to demon alcohol that I recently became aware of thanks to The Art of Drink:

Jimmy's Cocktail Hour
Republic of Rum
The Spirit World

Enjoy in immoderation!

Posted by MrBaliHai at 6:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)