“I found your love like I found religion: in an aluminum trashcan in the middle of the Utah desert.” ― Jarod Kintz,

January 4,

Utah became the 45th state admitted to the Union on January 4, 1896. Utah is the 13th-largest, the 34th-most populous, and the 10th-least-densely populated of the 50 United States. 

With approximately 63% of Utahns reported to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints(LDS) /Mormons, Utah is the most religiously homogeneous state.Which is why Mormons are usually the first thing associated with Utah, even over Sundance! Cheers to them though, this influence has done them good as they are one of the healthiest states, and they report the lowest teen pregnancy rates, birth out of wed lock rates, and abortion rates. There is more to Utah than this this!

Looking at this impressive list of people Utah has gifted us with!
Cheers to:
David Archuleta
Rosanne Barr
Butch Cassidy
Jewel
The Osmands
James Woods
Bringham Young (man & university)
The Green River Killer (they probably could have kept that one)
and of course...The Sister Wives!
Yeah Utah!

Mormon Surprise

Our LDS friends do not part take in many things conventionally deemed "unhealthy"; this includes alcohol and caffeine  A popular New Years drink in the LDS community was a mixture of ginger ale and white grape juice creating a light bubbly mocktail to celebrate with.

It's no surprise to anyone reading this, but, "Surprise!" we've spiked ours!

Ingredients

Vodka
White Grape Juice
Ginger Ale

Preparation

In a Collins glass pour 1.25 oz of vodka over ice

Add equal parts ginger ale & grape juice to your liking.

For some reason I just feel like a better person drinking this ... weird right?!

Utah! People working together
Utah! What a great place to be.
Blessed from Heaven above.
It's the land that we love.
This is the place!

- Line from Utah, This is the Place (Utah state song)
Sam & Gary Francis

"It's better to be a pirate than to join the Navy." --Steve Jobs

Imma, Imma, Imma be rockin' their iPod to the infinite...

January 3, 1977

36 years ago Apple Computer was incorporated. (Computer was removed in 2007).

Apple was established on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne to sell the Apple I personal computer kit.  The Apple I  (sold as a motherboard with CPU, RAM, and basic textual-video chips; not even a computer by today's standards)  went on sale in July 1976 and was market-priced at $666.66 ($2,723 in 2013 dollars, adjusted for inflation.)
Apple was incorporated January 3, 1977 without Wayne, who sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for $800. Talk about kicking your self in the tush! Wayne continuously resisted Jobs offers, moving around different smaller electronics companies. He is now retired and sells stamps, rare coins, and gold from his Pahrump, Nevada home. He had never owned an Apple product until 2011, when he was given an iPad 2 by Aral Balkan, making him the owner of one of the most high-tech pot holders ever! (Okay, I made that part up.)

Today Apple is a global phenomena,with over 394 retail stores in fourteen countries, as well as the online Apple Store and iTunes Store. It is the largest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalization, with an estimated value of $626 billion as of September 2012.

So cheers while listening to your favorite playlists! While surfing the web from the subway! While jamming out on the tread mill...better wait til after. While recording your friend do Karaoke, but right before you upload the video to YouTube!

Thanks for the good times Apple. Cheers to 36 years!

White Russian Krispies

So in honor of all the technological innovations gifted to the world by Apple, we are going techie with our drink today! Matter of fact...it's not even a drink at all! This delicious snack is thanks to an incredible site called MolecularRecipes.com. This edible version of the White Russian cocktail is an idea of molecular mixologist Eben Freeman.

In this fun edible version of the cocktail, the Rice Krispies cereal is coated with Kahlua coffee liquor and served with vodka milk. 

 Kahlua Infused Krispies 

   (about 4 or 5 servings)

    Ingredients

- 3.5 oz Rice Krispies cereal

 -4.5 oz Kahlua liquor

    Preparation

1- In a large bowl toss the Rice Krispies cereal with 1.5 oz of Kahlua liquor until all the cereal is evenly covered but does not get soggy.

2- Spread the cereal on a dehydrator tray to form one layer. Use multiple trays if you need to.

3- Dehydrate the cereal at 130 °F for 1 hour.

4- Repeat steps 1 to 3 to add one more layer of Kahlua.

5- Once the cereal has been dehydrated for another hour, repeat steps 1 to 3 one more time but this third time leave the cereal in the dehydrator for 8 hours or overnight until it is completely dry and crispy.

 White Russian Krispies 

(1 serving)

Ingredients 

Vodka Milk

- 4 oz half and half

- 1½ oz vodka

- ½ tsp. sugar

-Kahlua infused Rice Krispies

Preparation

Vodka Milk

1- Fill half of a cocktail shaker with ice, add the vodka and sugar.

2- Shake the cocktail shaker vigorously a few times to chill the vodka and dissolve the sugar.

3- Strain the vodka into a bottle, jar or desired serving container.

4- Add the cold half and half and stir it.

White Russian Krispies

Combine Krispies and milk in your favorite cereal bowl and enjoy! no judgement here!

Wanna take it up a notch? Use your above ingredients and make Kahlua Krispie Treats. Yummy!

Here’s to the crazy ones.

The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules.

And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,

disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.

Because they change things.

They invent. They imagine.

They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire.

They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?

Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?

Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,

are the ones who do…” 

― Apple Inc.

New Year...New Drinks!

Don't call it a come back, We've been here for years. Well maybe not here for years... more like a few months. 

We are coming back! Come on! Did ya really need us for an excuse to drink during the holidays?Between holiday parties and families, you can find a plethora of reasons! And who wanted to drink yesterday?! Barf... water and Tylenol please!

So get to your liquor store, get your shaker out! We are gonna start the year off with a bang!

Let's start by celebrating 2013! No way the Mayans were gonna let a John Cusack movie predict the end of the world!

Do You Like Apples? How Do You Like Them Apples?! - Will Hunting

October 21,

National Applejack Month

October is National Apple Jack Month! For those of you who just said to yourselves, "I love that cereal," leave this blog now. This is not the place for you!

Applejack is a strong alcoholic beverage produced from apples, more like a super hard cider. Popular in the American colonial days, Woodchuck couldn't handle this stuff! While hard cider was very popular, it was difficult to store. Therefore they would concentrate the hard cider, by freeze distillation, also known as jacking. The cider would be left outside, then the frozen bits would gradually be removed,  removing the water, as the alcohol will not freeze. By way of jacking, the colonials could turn a cider with a 10% ABV, into a 30-40% concentrate (60-80 proof). It's said that Johnny Appleseed actually sewed his seeds to provide the rural farmers with means to the hard cider and Applejack. Hell of a guy that Johnny! Now that I think of it, it does make sense! Look at any of his pictures, he's wearing a pot on his head and he is barefoot...been there!

 A popular brand of applejack is Laird's. The oldest native distillery in America, their first recorded commercial sale was in 1780.

Cheers to our ancestors, who were always looking for a better buzz! Cheers to Johnny, the original party guy!

Jack Rose

Jack Rose is a classic cocktail, popular in the 1920s and 1930s. In Ernest Hemingway's 1926 classic, The Sun Also Rises, Jake Barnes, the narrator, drinks a Jack Rose in the Crillon Paris hotel bar while awaiting the arrival of Lady Brett Ashley.

The Jack Rose is one of six basic drinks listed in David A. Embury's classic The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks.

There are various theories as to the origin of the drink. One theory has the drink being named after and perhaps even invented by the infamous gambler Bald Jack Rose. Another great possibility is that the name came from the fact that the drink is made with applejack, and it is rose colored! Hold the phone....that's the stupidest idea ever! I bet the gambler, known for his ability to lie, made it up!

Ingredients:

1 oz Fresh lemon or lime juice

1/2 oz Grenadine

2 oz Applejack

Directions:

Shake all ingredients well with ice; 

Strain into a cocktail glass or serve over ice.

Garnish with an apple slice or a cherry.

Johnny Appleseed Chorus -Disney

Oh, the Lord is good to me
and so I thank the Lord
For giving me the things I need
The sun, and the rain and the apple tree.
The Lord is good to me.

If I leave here tomorrow, Would you still remember me?

October 20,

Lynard Skynard Day

Lynyrd Skynyrd,  The original Southern rock band, formed in Jacksonville, Fl, in 1964. During the 1970's the band would garner worldwide recognition with hits such as, "Sweet Home Alabama," and "Free Bird." 

On October 20, 1977, just three days after the release of Street Survivors, and five shows into their most successful headlining tour to date, Lynyrd Skynyrd's chartered Convair CV-300 ran out of fuel near the end of their flight from Greenville, South Carolina. Though the pilots attempted an emergency landing on a small airstrip, the plane crashed in a forest in Gillsburg, Mississippi. Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray were killed on impact; the other band members (Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, Leon Wilkeson, Billy Powell, Artimus Pyle, and Leslie Hawkins) and road crew suffered serious injuries.

Following the crash and the ensuing press, Street Survivors became the band's second platinum album and reached No. 5 on the U.S. album chart. 

Lynyrd Skynyrd disbanded after the tragedy. In 1987, the band reunited for a full-scale tour with five major members of the pre-crash band: crash survivors Gary Rossington, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson and Artimus Pyle, along with guitarist Ed King, who had left the band two years before the crash. Ronnie Van Zant's younger brother, Johnny, took over as the new lead singer. 

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the group No. 95 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2006 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The inductees included Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, Ed King, Steve Gaines, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson, Bob Burns, and Artimus Pyle.

A toast in there honor!

Alabama Slammer 

A nod to one of the greatest songs in history, Sweet Home Alabama!

Ingredients:

1/2 oz Vodka

1/2 oz Southern Comfort

1/2 oz Amaretto

1/2 oz Sloe Gin

OJ

Preparation:

Pour the liquors into a highball glass filled with ice.

Fill with orange juice.

Free Bird 

Songwriters: Allen Collins, Ronnie Van Zant

If I leave here tomorrow

Would you still remember me?

For I must be traveling on, now

'Cause there's too many places

I've got to see

But, if I stayed here with you, girl

Things just couldn't be the same

'Cause I'm as free as a bird now

And this bird, you'll can not change

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

And the bird you cannot change

And this bird you cannot change

Lord knows, I can?t change

Bye, bye, baby it's been a sweet love

Yeah, yeah

Though this feeling I can't change

But please don't take it so badly

'Cause the Lord knows

I'm to blame

But, if I stayed here with you girl

Things just couldn't be the same

'Cause I'm as free as a bird now

And this bird, you'll can not change

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

And this bird you cannot change

And this bird you cannot change

Lord knows, I can't change

Lord help me, I can't change

Lord I can't change

Won't you fly high, free bird, yeah?

Eat'em Up Tiger's, Eat'em Up!!

October 17,

3 Down...1 To Go!!!

Bless You Boys!

Tonight at 8:00 the Tigers will take on the Yankees at home! Everyone in the D is hoping for a sweep! So grab a drink and watch the game! 

We are one game from the World Series!! Go get'em boys!!

Tigers Milk

Ingredients:

1 oz. Brandy

4 oz. Cream

1 oz. White rum

0.25 oz. Sugar syrup

Directions:

Combine the rum, brandy, sugar syrup and milk in a shaker filled with ice. 

Pour directly into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Sprinkle with ground cinnamon.

I'll drink to your health, share your wealth, run your life, steal your wife. - Grateful Dead, U.S. Blues

October16,

Feeling "Grateful"

On October 16, 1947, Robert Hall "Bob" Weir a founding member of the Grateful Dead was born.Weir played mostly rhythm guitar and sang most of the band's rock-n-roll tunes (Jerry Garcia sang The Dead's more melodic tunes). He is known for his unique style of complex voice leading, bringing unusual depth and a new approach to the role of rhythm guitar expression.

On New Year's Eve, 1963,  a 16-year-old Weir and another underage friend were wandering the back alleys of Palo Alto, looking for a club to sneak into, when they heard banjo music. They followed the music to Dana Morgan's Music Store. At the store, a young Jerry Garcia, unaware of the the date, was waiting for his students to arrive. Weir and Garcia spent the night playing music together. It was then that they decided to form a band.  Originally called Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions, the band was later renamed The Warlocks and eventually the Grateful Dead.
Happy Birthday Bob!

Liquid Marijuana

I don't have to explain this choice, do I?

Ingredients:

1/2 oz. Spiced Rum

1/2 oz. Blue Curacao

1/2 oz. Coconut Rum

1/2 oz.Melon Liqueur 

Fill with Pineapple Juice

1 splash Sour Mix

Directions:

Pour all liquor and a splash of sour into a glass filled with ice.

Top off with the pineapple juice.

Listen to some amazing tunes and chill

To make as a shot, pour all the ingredients into a shaker with ice

Shaka Shaka Shaka

Strain into a shot glass

Nice

"Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right" 

Grateful Dead

Scarlett Begonias