Thursday, August 27, 2009

The official cocktail party thread

Twitter is not the best place to plan an event. Hence this post. Who wants to host? My place is an option, but an uphill walk from Ashfield station. Anyone got the perfect pad? Have at it.

40 comments:

  1. Alas, my house has suffered badly from winter passing with none of the renovation plans transforming into actual happenings, plus the garden running amok. Not the best spot for extending hospitality at the moment.

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  2. I would offer to host but my place is out in the sticks. Though it is mostly downhill from Thornleigh station.

    Have we any possible dates in mind?

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  3. I have a lot of space but the public transport around here it not ideal. So you'll be wanting to keep me as a last resort!

    Date-wise, I'm pretty open except I tend to be busy of a Friday evening.

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  4. Date is a significant factor. Is a Saturday night the best option for most?

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  5. Saturdays are generally good for me.

    Question: bloggy types only, or are we dragging dearly beloved non-bloggys along?

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  6. Given that if I host it, kicking dearly beloved out might be regarded as rude, I'd probably opt for all & sundry.

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  7. All and sundry sounds good to me. Unfortunately, I don't think you'd all fit in my studio (my house is a little bit 'come in, sit on my bed', which feels a tad familiar). Saturdays work for me (so long as it's sufficiently in advance - September's already looking a little full). But I'm beginning to worry about where....?

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  8. I think Ariane and I are both willing to host but wondering if there's a better option than our places re transport for car-less and wanting to drink rather than drive people.

    My place is less than 10 minutes walk from Thornleigh station but there's quite a long train ride to get out here and the service isn't very frequent on Saturdays.

    I just looked at my diary and the first Sat I could host would be 17th Oct.

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  9. Yep, Mim, sounds about right. For comparison my place is about 20min walk from Aahfield station due up. On the plus side it's good for rolling home. Also, there are nearly always cabs at the station for about $6 to my place.

    Presumably if people congregate at the station a few shuttle trips could also be organised. This is presumably also true for Mim's place.

    So feel free to assume it can go ahead at one or the other, pending killer location being revealed. :)

    I'm good for 17th October. Might be able to sort out clothing by then. :)

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  10. If we're talking mid-October, then it's possible that we could use my place after all. I had a chap around to tidy up a bit of the garden today, and he promised to keep on coming back. I should be able to get the kitchen at least painted by then.

    So I'm in St Peters, 10 minutes walk from Sydenham station (no platform lift), 422 bus stops a block away (some wheelchair friendly bused en route), cul de sac with reasonable street parking

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  11. Should we lock in a date and negotiate location closer to the date based on preparedness of everyone's house? Or if all else fails by means of secret ballot? :)

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  12. Sounds good to me, Ariane! And I'm pretty sure the 17th of October is clear...

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  13. The 17th October is in my diary. It can be moved (I am at least that technically capable!), so please speak up if this date is no god for you!

    HHL: Are you reading this? Are you thinking of coming? Does this put it smack bang in the middle of your HSC?

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  14. Oh yes - we should probably make sure it's after HHL's exams...

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  15. The 17th of October is before my exams, and I can always study on the train. Having a reason to get out of the house helps in study time anyway. :)

    This is going to be a lot of fun :D

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  16. I completely agree, HHL. I've been known to see a band the night before an exam! :)

    17th is looking good so far. Anyone else want to put in a bid or opinion or are we locked in?

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  17. The decision has been taken - my place it is.

    Shall we go with everyone bring a bottle in some organised fashion? Would people like to nominate if they have something they want to bring?

    What cocktails are the must haves in your mind?

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  18. I'll bring tequila, cointreau and lemons/limes!

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  19. I'm voting mojitos, due to ease, yummy and not too sweet. They need white rum, mint, limes and soda. I was also going to suggest some kind of fruit daiquiri, which is also white rum-based. An easy way to make 'em is to blend, say, a few strawbs with strawberry sorbet. Or mangoes, like mims just suggested on twitter!

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  20. I shall bring whatever you wish me to bring. And I shall wear flat shoes for that hill!

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  21. OK, so I've got Tigtog & hubby, Mimbles & hubby, Chally, WP & HHL so far. (Any other partners/friends?) Anyone know about FP? Hexy? Beppie? Jo Tamar? Who else have I forgotten? (It's late and I can't speak for my brain.)

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  22. I know Beppie was interested when I mentioned it to her a few weeks ago. She's trying to avoid a lot of internet in order to get more thesis done, so I'll send her an email.

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  23. O HAI.

    I actually haven't been all that successful in avoiding the internet lately, but I have been a lot quieter, because the part of my brain that I use to engage in serious discussion is all burnt out.

    Anyway, I would LOVE to come to the cocktail party -- just tell me what to bring (I don't actually know that much about cocktails, so I will be guided by your wisdom).

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  24. O yah, should email Jo Tamar. Will bully... I mean... bug.... I mean... speak persuasively at... with... FP ;-) Hexy doesn't seem to have been on twitter recently (or maybe it's *me* who hasn't been on, come to think of it!). Perhaps I shall mention it to a few other people. There's one I've been trying to convince to come to Hoydenish things anyway, so p'raps I'll try again... will get back to you!

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  25. So, everyone, for daiquiris and mojitos, if everyone is up for that, we need white rum by the bucketload ;-) I will bring limes and mint and sugar for mojitoes, and one large bottle of rum. If someone else could get another bottle of rum and mango sorbet + some real mangoes, that would be great. And we could probably, with our numbers, do with a third bottle of rum. And if anyone wants strawberry daiquiris, strawbs plus some strawb sorbet will make it numnum.

    Also, we'll need a fair bit of ice, Ariane... hard to transport, but will you be able to provide a whole lot, or shall we develop a transportation plan??

    If anyone else has any cocktail ideas, do let me know. I tend to forget about lots of them!! ;-)

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  26. @WP, thank god someone's organising this... Lord knows I'm not... :)

    Food is also a relevant concern. We'll start at 8pm - post dinner if that's ok with everyone. I will provide non-packaged nibblies and Mim has graciously said she'll bring some cheese and fruit. If everyone else could bring one bag of something - whatever floats your boat, I would be very grateful.

    Yes, I can do ice, no probs.

    I was also going to do champagne cocktails with green apples, so I'll provide bubbly and green apples.

    Toni is coming and has mint a-gogo in her garden, so WP, you probably don't need to bring that too.

    HHL - can you please bring pineapple juice? We can do pina coladas with and without alcohol, and we'll do a punch that also uses mint and pineapple juice.

    Chally - would you mind bringing some lemonade and maybe some coconut milk?

    Beppie - can you manage a bottle of white rum?

    I'll give this all some more thought and listen to everyone else's thoughts and then do another revision.

    Do we have any word from FP or Jo Tamar?

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  27. Upon review, I believe the cocktail list is as follows:

    Mojitos
    Margaritas
    Pina coladas
    Daquiris
    Martinis (as requested by my other half)
    Champagne cocktails
    Punch (non-alcoholic)

    We're also up for the gin.

    Toni - do you have any vermouth hanging about that you could bring?

    Does this seem like a sufficiently comprehensive list or is there something else we must have?

    I might do a hunt for frozen mango fruit, since they are still about $3 each, which seems excessive.

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  28. Yeap, I have very dry vermouth. I can also bring some Bombay Sapphire. We also have sour apple pucker for apple martinis (Andrew's fav)

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  29. Should we bring extra cocktail making & mixing devices? I can contribute blender, shaker and electric citrus juicer.

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  30. Mim - I have only 1 shaker, I think, so an extra shaker would be good. I have a blender with a citrus juicer attachment (which I've never used) as well as a big juicer (which I was planning on using for the apples). Do you think we'll need more than one blender? It's looking like about 12 or 13 people as far as I can tell.

    I have also discovered I have a shopping bag full of lemonades, so they may do in place of limes, especially if they are expensive at the moment.

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  31. Probably don't need a second blender but it would let us do 2 flavours of stuff at once without needing to clean the jug so much. I'll stick it in the car and if we don't need it no harm done.

    Do you have a lemonade tree? I want citrus trees but my gardener is unenthusiastic, when I suggested a lemon tree in the back yard his comment was "they have spikes." I think he imagines the kids will hug it or something. I might have to do something drastic and plant stuff myself :P

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  32. What would you like me to bring a bag of? Otherwise I can bake mini cupcakes or something, because that is how I roll, as it were. (Self, what was that sentence?) Just the one bottle of lemonade and tin of coconut milk? I can do that.

    Let me consult my emails. Lovely Jo is busy for most of that evening. She says she'll call someone and find out if it's too late to come by when she's done. She's disappointed because she thinks the cocktail party is a great idea.

    I am looking forward to it. :) I have arranged to borrow shoes for the occassion.

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  33. Dave brought a whole bag of lemonades to Ginny's party. Maybe he thought I was going to make Margaritas like last time. He offered some to Patrick but he declined and I was more than happy to take them off his hands lol; alas I left them there. But as wise ole Oogway once said, "There are no accidents". I guess thats my contribution lol - even though I hadn't planned on going :)~

    Hope it goes off without too many spills lol

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  34. OK, I may be starting to see over the rim of the deep dark pit I've been in. Where are we?

    We have no HHL, or probably Tigtog.

    We do have a Sophie.

    Ingredients required:
    white rum - WP & Beppie
    Pineapple juice - Sophie
    Coconut cream - Chally (yes, 1 should be enough)
    Lime juice - Ariane (courtesy of David and BudGSmuggler's bad memory)
    Sugar Syrup - Ariane
    Gin - Ariane & Toni
    Vermouth - Toni
    Olives - Ariane
    Champagne - Ariane
    Apples - Ariane
    Tequila - Mim
    Cointreau - Mim
    Mint - Toni
    Sugar for mojitos - WP
    Lemonade - Chally (1 bottle again!)
    Ice - Ariane

    Is that OK with everyone? Are all of you guys so mentioned definitely coming? (Just 'cos bring a bottle is a bit of a disaster when people don't bring something key). :)

    We're happy to provide lifts from the station, and I think everyone has phone numbers and addresses now. Please let me know if you don't.

    See you tomorrow!

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  35. This is just me confirming that I will bring a bottle of white rum, plus some manner of nibbley-thing. :)

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  36. Excellent, looking forward to seeing you, Beppie.

    Now - what am I going to wear?

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  37. Get dressed as your favourite cocktail lol. Heck its sounding so good, I'm thinking of making a last minute PITCH-er.

    Ive noticed no vodka on the list lol and no kamikaze's - what a crying shame lol, a little piss poor lol excuse the pun. No one drinks vodka Martini's but me? lol

    I wish I hadn't binged the brand new bottle of 44% strength Smirnoff last night + Triple-Sec lol. (such a terrible planner I am). I am not sure if my liver could handle another dose lol.

    However... I dont think I could live down missing a cocktail party...I would have thought more of the gals would have been into Cosmo's.

    If I can arrange transport, (being that I am from the hills district and the labour Govern. has slashed our proposed train system - dig dig; and my designated driver is on the Sunshine Coast lol)I may be able to bring, vodka, lemons and cranberry juice. Id like to be able to raid Dave's tree again before the night lol.

    I know Cointreau may taste marginally better than Triple-Sec, but you can get 500ml bottle of Vok brand for about 24 dollars, as opposed to only 350ml of cointreau for 30 odd. (just don't ever get the Continental brand, yuck)

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  38. Thanks for everything last night, Ariane. I had a great time.

    Please thank your partner for mixing all those wonderful cocktails too -- was much appreciated. :)

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  39. Yes I second that. Ariane and Crash are great hosts. Crash is very passionate about his cocktails. Just call him, Crash...Crash Bond. Loved the suits LOL. He couldnt sell me with the Gin martini though lol - Vodka all the way!

    I was meant to try some of the non-alcoholic punch too, but forgot lol. grrrr was it good? lol

    Special thanks to Andrew and Toni for driving me home last night. Very much appreciated!

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  40. Thanks guys, and same from Crash. We had a heap of fun too. Although the floor is a touch sticky today. :) I will get around to mopping it soon.

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