Tastes like Jello

We completed a crucial project on our wedding list this weekend - Hurricane taste testing.

As anyone who has read this blog at all probably knows, I credit the beginning of our relationship to the time Dan and I spent in the New Orleans area rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina. It's been important to me since day one to incorporate New Orleans into our wedding day somehow, without going straight to the typical Mardi Gras "theme" that really doesn't make the connection at all. I've also been saying for MUCH longer than we've been engaged for that we should have hurricanes as our "signature drink" at the reception as an easy (and tasty) way to showcase that incredible important time together. 

We spent a little time recently looking up different hurricane recipes online, and quickly realized that many of the recipes are insanely complicated and would end up costing us a fortune on the bar tab. The solution? Pat O'Brien's hurricane mix - which is way more authentic New Orleans than any recipe concoction anyways!

Thankfully, Mr. Lawler had a few packets of mix at home from our trip to NOLA last winter, and he generously donated them to our tasting. He also provided a couple different kinds of rum, which was all we needed, making the taste testing totally stress free for me - thanks almost-father-in-law!!

Manda, Bridget, Aris, Allie and Jeff joined us for the testing, and Dan and Mr. Lawler made it fun with a couple different ratios of mix-to-rum so we could all decide which "recipe" tasted best.

Manda joined in the fun with a glass of the mix sans-rum. Her thoughts? "Tastes like Jello before it goes in the fridge!" -

My dad and Uncle Joe stopped by later for a quick test as well -

After a couple hurricanes and some Party Rock Shuffle tutorial watching at the house we all walked to Ribfest (YUM) where we ate a bunch of food, drank a bunch of beer, and did a bunch of dancing and singing along with the live band. We ended the night with late night pizza at the house... and more dancing (at least on my part). Based on how much fun we all had Saturday night, I'd say the taste testing was a success!