Day 3 – Surprise Birthday Party (Houston) and 13 Celsius

I know…another trip to Houston so soon, but you will have to get used to it. Being from there, I visit all of the time. Now, for sister NYC’s surprise she’s been waiting to do. Actually, Sota doesn’t even know that NYC is coming, so she must be our first target since she is hosting the party at her house. When we arrive I tell NYC to go hide next to Sota’s garage and I’ll show up at the door by myself to extinguish any inkling of hope that she had that NYC was coming. Then, I tell Sota that I need to put some things in her garage for the night, so she opens the garage door, and bam….NYC pops out from around the corner and scares her half to death….she sceams, but then realizes that it’s NYC and screams a little more. It was a good surprise! Next, we help decorate, bring out the alcohol and put out food, including the Blunt cake, Baked Plantain Chips that I made and the Mango Salsa that NYC made (recipes will be included below). Everything looked very Jamaican, especially our paper towel joints and the parsley and basil filled snack bags made to look very similar to dime bags. I was proud of our decorations. Soon friends started showing up, equally shocked that NYC was there, and we were ready for the Birthday girl to arrive, who I will call SC (short for Sacred Heart, which is the school where her and NYC became best friends). To make the event even more exciting we had NYC hide upstairs, so SC couldn’t see her after her first stunner, which is the party. She finally arrives, completely flabbergasted, but after a few minutes of thanking everyone, NYC comes out wearing a dreadlock wig, and SC completely looses it. Amazing! We really got her good. Since SC had gotten there much later than everyone else, she had a lot of catching up to do, so most of her friends were shoving shot after shot down her throat, and before we know it, she has Chunder Falls in the bathroom. Now that’s a party! SC didn’t leave too long after that, but it was pretty late. For the rest of us stragglers, we didn’t care, so we headed to our favorite wine bar within walking distance, 13 Celsius, and closed it down!

 
13 Celsius


Rating: Impressive!
Location: 3000 Caroline St, Houston, TX 77004
Category: Wine Bar
Pricing: Affordable
Favorites: Wine list, Service, Ambience, Convenience
Comments:
This little wine bar is within walking distance to Sota’s condo, so we frequent there quite a bit after a night of drinking. I love the rustic looking ceiling and the giant L-shaped bar that fills up most of the place. The employees there are always super friendly, they have a great selection of wines and many of them are decently priced. The best aspect is we can stumble home to Sota’s place!

Baked Plantain Chips
4 green plantains, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp all spice
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl toss all ingredients together until well coated. Spread on 3 cookies sheets lined with foil with no overlapping. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until crisp. Cool and serve.

Mango Salsa

2 tomatoes, chopped
1 mango, chopped
½ cup chopped red onion
½ cup chopped cilantro
1-2 jalapenos or habaneros, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lime
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and serve.