Pregame - I had heard that parties on Queen Anne get broken up pretty early, so when the invite went out... we would startup the BBQ at 5PM. Another precaution we took was to turn our lawn into a beer garden. We went to the Home Depot and got some fencing stuff. The fence really added some authority to our scheme of looking like young professionals blowing off some steam (read: yuppies drinking).
Game Time - Jennthe is probably the best person in the world. Jennthe and I were interns together last summer, and therefore "forever connected" (for those of you familiar with Boeing, I was trying to work in "Forever New Frontiers"... but, I didn't feel like expending the mental energy). Jenn came over like 5 hours early, and started making the best asian food I've ever had: Lumpia. What are Lumpias? (I don't know how to pluralize words in Tagalog... sorry). Short answer: Filipino Spring Rolls. But... they are oh so much more. Here is how Jenn made them, but the contents of a Lumpia can be as numerous as the islands of the Philippines.
- Finely dice 4 carrots
- Finely dice 4 stalks of celery
- Finely dice 1 medium onion
Now mash up all that stuff with 4 lbs of Ground Beef. Thats the stuffing for the Lumpia. Now roll these guys up in some Lumpia wrappers (available at Uwajimaya). Lumpia are usually long and skinny (almost like a taquito). Make sure to use some egg-whites to "glue" the wrapper shut. Now you wait for your friends to show up because unlike revenge, Lumpia is a dish best served warm. Put about 4 inches of oil in a tall pot, and get it pretty warm. Now fry your Lumpia in there. They should take about 4 minutes in the oil to cook.
They were pure heaven. Jenn also made some ridiculicious potatoes (I just made that word up... ridiculously delicious smashed into one word).
Me and the roommates also served up some India Pale Ale that we brewed a couple months ago. I don't want to brag... but it was easily the best IPA I've ever had. Side note: A group of my friends brew beer in my basement. You can read about beer-brewing exploits here.
I just want to give a quick shout out to all the people that brought beer and food... you guys rule. I also just want to thank everyone for coming, it was awesome. We'll be doing that again a couple times this summer.
Postgame - The party really shut down about 10:30PM... and everyone went to the Paragon (a bar that is only about 6 blocks away). And when we got there, there was one of the coolest bands I've ever heard. There were only 2 guys; a guy on a guitar, and a guy playing a stand-up bass. What was the first thing we heard them play? The music from Mario level on Bowser's floating ship. It was intense. Then they played Stairway to Heaven... which rocked unbelievable amounts of yuppie-butt.
Unlike a college or high school party, this BBQ was amazingly easy to clean up. My friends all "respected" the house, and put their can and whatnot into the garbage... so it only took about 45 minutes to clean up the house this morning.
And because when people found out about this last night, they seemed upset that I hadn't told them already... so I figured I should probably just tell everyone. Today is my 23rd birthday.