In response to overwhelming demand... Well, JustJAY asked. The 5th infamous cookout & potluck at Mark's. JustJAY said it was time for another cookout. Who am I to argue?

For the new folk, it's a friendly cookout in Alexandria down near Mt Vernon, about 5 miles south of the Woodrow Wilson bridge. I especially encourage new members to come meet the gang! We eat, talk MINI's, eat some more, shoot some pool, race MINI slot cars, eat some more, all go out in the driveway and look at each others cars, eat some more... You get the idea.

It'll be Saturday, Sept 29th at 3453 Little Hunting Creek Drive in Alexandria VA. It's about a mile from Mt Vernon. It'll start around 2 p.m. and run till...

While coming down Rt 1 is 'shorter' and more direct the traffic sucketh. I strongly encourage all coming from points the DC area and north to come down the GW Parkway along the river. It's a beautiful drive along the river with little traffic and no red lights. Link to maps & directions.

No rain date needed as I've got a nice covered porch and rec room so we need not fear the weather.

I'll be doing burgers, dogs, and brats on the grill and will have bread/rolls and condiments. I'll have soda and iced tea. I'll ask folks to bring a side dish and if you want something stonger to drink to BYOB.

Here's a list of suggested food items to 'sign up for'.

Soda, Tea, Burgers, Brats, Dogs, Rolls, condiments, ice, plates, cups = Mark

Cowboy Caviar: KDGBLU
Baked Beans: RHiniaHBMCSC + 1.5
Potato Salad:
Taco Salad Dip: MININurse
moderate Sangria and a small Italian antipasto: Lastrega + 1
Macaroni salad: crpagan +1
Pasta salad:
Coleslaw:
Chips & Dip: Haemish maybe + 1 and maybe +1 canine. Tsst!
Dessert Cake:
Dessert Pie:
delicious cookies: e30r56 + 1



Please RSVP here so than Mark can get a head count.

I'm pleased to announce the MINIature Mt Vernon Raceway V 1.0 (a.k.a. The Tail of Mt Vernon) will be available for testing at the cookout. This is a first temporary circuit to try out some things. The winter project is to make a wooden track with 3 lanes about three times this size with a track hand made by routing the grooves etc. I should have a pair of 'Special edition' DCMM MINIs ready for the cookout too. I'll finish it up this weekend, and if all goes well will have a computerized timing & scoring system on line as well so we can truly see who's got the right stuff..

 

I'd definitely be up for it, sounds great! Maybe I can actually bring my MINI this time instead of the Mustang.

 

Sounds tasty to me! Count me in, and please let me know what I can bring!

 

I hope I will be there again! Those were good brats!

 

Ok, sounds like a plan Mark. I will l put in the calendar. Everyone, please RSVP on the calendar so than Mark knows how many are attending.

 

Sounds good.

If I'll be able to make it, I'll bring Pad Thai noodle.

 

i would love to come but ill be at h20 that weekend ....if the date chnges for some wacky reason im def in though =)

 

i'm always down for some good cookin! mmmmm... good. oh wait, that's quiznos!

 

I can make this one...

 

Good! Missed you last time around. I was just looking and the first two years I had the 'spring' one in late July. This year it was earlier, in late June (I guess I was just antsy to have a party) and a lot of 'regulars' had other plans. I'll move it back to July next year.

 

This sounds great. I am looking forward to my first event. Really looking forward to meeting everyone.

Zac

 

I'm there....Cowboy Caviar again?

 

Welcome! We all look forward to meeting you.

Great!

 

I'll bring Potatoes salad and Pasta salad instead of Pad Thai, since it goes with BBQ better.

 

Oh I DON'T KNOW!! Pad Thai goes with EVERYTHING

 

 

Olga and I will be there.....just let us know what to bring.

 

Believe it or not the Bourque family will be there (pending any unforseen last minute disasters or sickness). Yay!! We missed the one in June, so I'm really glad to have a second chance.

Baked Beans: we will bring the beans - Famous Daves.
Potato Salad:
Macaroni salad:
Pasta salad:
Coleslaw:
Chips & Dip:
Dessert Cake:
Dessert Pie:
Dessert Cookies:

 

Looking forward to seeing everyone, and thanks for the pot luck sign ups...

I'm going to have SOME kind of MINI Cooper racing this time. Slot Cars, it remains to be seen if it'll be HO or 1/32 scale... To those who I discussed it with a while back, no I haven't even begun the routed wood track. This'll be small normal layout in the meantime. Too many projects not enough time! That's what happens when you have a 40 year old boat!

 

your boat's 40 yo? whoa...talk about Break Out Another Thousand

 

Yup (Almost, I rounded up a tiny bit) Wish it were a 22 year old 40 foot instead of a 22 foot 40 year old. :-) Eventually. I do a bit of research now and again. Alas most of the boats I like are rare as hens teeth in the U.S. In fact my current boat is Bristish built. I'll likely go shopping in Europe or the Caribbean when the time comes to pull the trigger. Tough to find a pilot house dual helm ketch, yawl, or schooner with ratslines, bowsprit, stern pulpit seats, etc around here.

The other one is they say sailing is just like standing in a cold shower with your clothes on tearing up $100 bills.

Back to our regular scheduled programming, at least I hijacked my 'own' thread.

 

I have one question....what is "Cowboy Caviar"? I see this mentioned on here all the time, and have no clue what it is! Sure seems to be popular though.

Also, don't know if I will be able to make it or not, the fiancee and I still haven't been to a single get together since joining here months ago :(

 

Cowboy Caviar is a dish my sister turned me on to 2 summers ago. It's simple to make, nutritious, and yummy.
The ingredients include plum tomatoes, avocado, black-eyed peas, red onion, cilantro, a dash of oil and red wine vinegar and one or 2 other ingredients that I can't remember at the moment.
It's served cold, with tortilla chips. We like it so much that sometimes I make it for a side dish....goes great with anything.

 

And how about some Vodka? Pawel and I will think of some other Eastern European delicacies, hehe, to make this party worth while.

 

wellllll...normally, there isn't a lot of alcohol consumption at Mark's, since most are driving home after.
It'd probably be better to bring food of the list instead....