How to Make Hubbies Happy Part I

One thing I think nice, young Catholic girls do wrong, is ban all forms of alcohol from their homes, or make their husbands feel bad if they drink a beer, etc. I can't talk for some of my wifey friends, but I was raised with a cluster of girls that thought alcohol was just plain evil, not to be associated with, all of whom have carried this through into their marriages. That is just wrong, unless, of course, your husband is a recovering alcoholic or sensitive in any way to alcohol. In that case, yeah, duh.

I experience a very fine comraderie with my husband in this sphere. He is a beer buff, and since we spend a lot of our time together, it would be very sad if he wasn't able to share this part of his life with me, so, in order to make him happy, I learned how to like beer, and now, yeah, I'm a beer buff too. And you know, I'm a much happier and lovable person, and my husband had the joy of sharing something he likes and enjoys with someone he loves, and had it appreciated. It works the other way as well; if I want to watch a sappy romance, which he would definitely rather not watch, he will still sit down and make an effort to laugh at the jokes, enjoy the acting, and every once in a while actually does enjoy himself. This keeps us together as a married couple, instead of splitting off to pursue our own particular interests, or keeping something that we enjoy away from our spouse, for fear that they might not like it.

My husband also happens to like mixed drinks, but they have to be done well. I went out and got a couple of two/three ounce shot glasses, a stainless steel mixer, two martini glasses, two highball glasses, and some odd sized glasses (all at the 99 cent store by the way; you don't have to spend a fortune), and a couple of bottles of the basics, to stock a little tiny corner of my china cabinet, which is now his liquor cabinet. Depending on what your husband likes, gin, rum, a coffee flavored liquor, cream, club soda, tonic water and lime/lemon juice are pretty good starters. You're not going to turn your husband into an alcoholic by letting him enjoy a drink or two in the evenings. I think it's kind of like indulging in some ice-cream or other desert after dinner. Lots of desert is harmful, but not in little, enjoyable quantities. Same thing with alcohol.

The rest of the ingredients can be found in your cupboard; powdered sugar, brown sugar, butter, spices, salt, etc. I don't usually indulge in these kind of pleasures myself (I could be pregnant most of any time), but I do take a little sip just to make sure it comes out all right. ;) Find out if your hubby likes certain drinks before or after dinner, or with desert, etc. If he's a beer lover, keep one or two big mugs in the freezer, and a couple beers in the fridge; when you pop off the cap and pour it, try to pour the beer as close to the mug as possble so there's the least oxidization as possible, then set the mug upright to develop a nice "head", which is the foam. After about a minute, serve :-D

Here are some basic recipes that your husband might enjoy, and that will be easy for you to make.

Classic Gin and Tonic
In a normal (8oz) drinking glass combine in order:
4-5 Tonic Water Ice Cubes (freeze tonic water in an ice-cube tray)
3 ounces Gin (we use Seagram's Extra Dry Gin-experiment)
4 ounces Tonic Water
1 Tablespoon Lime Juice (you can find this in the liquor section of the store)
Stir well, serve with a kiss :*. This is a nice, relaxing, cool beverage after a long day's work.

Hot Buttered Rum (my own version)
In an 8 oz coffee mug:
Cream together app. 2 tbspns. salted butter with a very small pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg, & cloves and 1 Tablespoon (adjust to taste) Dark Brown Sugar
Pour in 3 oz Dark Rum
Fill the mug the rest of the way with boiling water, stir well, serve with a yo-ho-ho.

Cafe Dessert (my own recipe)
In a three oz shotglass, pour:
1oz Kahlua/Starbucks Coffee Liquor/or other Coffee Liquor
2oz Heavy Cream/Half&Half/or Whole Milk
Stir slightly, serve with a milk moustache ;)

If this is interesting, I'll put more on later. There's nothing like eating a good dinner in a clean house, then settling back with your husband for some reading or a movie with a nice drink.