B's Guest Post: SKIPPERS!

Hey ladies, B here.  You know, Spencer's dad and all around husband of the year, right?

AET has asked me to write a guest post about the greatest adult beverage in the history of the whole planet of Earth.  It's summer time, the weather is getting nice, and in harbor towns all over the Great Lakes, people are looking forward to their annual perch fries, cookouts, and various other parties.  And there is no better drink to get you groovin' to Van Morrison tunes on the beach than the classic "Skipper!" 

More formally, this cocktail is known as the "Skip 'n Go Naked," because that's exactly what you'll want to do after a few of these bad boys.  In our family, it's commonly referred to as the "Skipper."  It's a tradition to take these with us to the beach of Little Traverse Bay in Harbor Springs, MI for the annual Lobster Party at my aunt and uncle's cottage.

It's bubbly, it's refreshing, it's cold, it tastes like limes, and here's how you make it:

Before the Party:

- Prepare one can of frozen Lime-Ade per package directions.  Minute Made makes one, but you can pretty much use any brand.
- Add Lime-Ade to a large pitcher or other durable transportation vessel, you're going to need to bring this to the beach with you and pour from it
- Add an entire bottle of light rum, like Bacardi.  The pitcher should essentially have 1 part rum for every 1 part Lime-Ade.  Don't worry, if it sounds like this is too boozy, we'll dumb it down later....a little
- Buy a case of light beer.  It doesn't need to be low-calorie, but you definitely don't want anything too dark, thick, or wheat-y.  Perhaps since our Up North paradise is so close to Canada, we usually use Labbatt Blue or Blue Light.
- Buy a sleeve of Solo cups and a big bag of ice, enough to share

At the Party:

- Designate a "mixing cup."  We usually mark it with hockey tape or a sharpie marker.  If you use a Sharpie, make sure to mark it before you get the cup wet, or the marker will smudge.  Yeah, we're pretty experienced in this.
- Grab your cup. 
- Add ice as high as you like it
- Fill your own cup half way with the Lime-Ade/Rum mixture
- Top off your cup with beer
- Pour the entire contents quickly into the Mixing Cup and quickly back into your own glass to get a homogeneous mixture.
- Prepare to have your mind blown.

Make sure you have plenty of supplies.  People are going to see what a raging good time you're having and they're going to want one too.  Even your uncle who drinks nothing but Dewar's will have two of them before dinner.  I speak from experience.

Here's a quick pic of my cousin and me holding our Skippers at the Lobster Party two summers ago.  This photo was taken exactly one week before he served as my Best Man and AEO became AET! 

And before you ask- yes, those are pants with Lobsters embroidered all over them.  AET may not have mentioned it on this blog, but she's the world champion eBay-er, and she found these for me a few years ago.  They get one or two uses a year, and they're fantastic.  And since I've lose a little weight in the last couple of years, they actually fit now!