Game of Thrones Marathon and S4 Premiere

I’ve got to come clean.

This year, I really wasn’t planning a giant blow-out party for the premiere. I’d already seen the first episode, and now sort of live far away from my friend groups, so I just figured it would be a quiet affair.

At least until HBO sent a box of swag, and asked me to tweet about how I used it. What started as a simple email to friends quickly became a large undertaking, involving several days of food, games, and many, many helping hands. My favorite of the swag, apart from the epic iron throne wall decal, is probably the wax seal coasters. I’m a sucker for wax seals:

There were so many highlights to this party that I don’t even know where to start.

We tried a number of new things this year, with great success. One of the best antics was based in stealing. When guests arrived, each was given a small pouch that contained a number of coins and gems. I declared that the person at the end of the night with the most loot would win a prize. Apart from storing one’s gems in the pouch, there were no rules, and chaos ensued. Purse strings were cut, guests who had imbibed too heavily found themselves bereft, and general amusement reigned. What I liked most about this was that it worked so well with the other parts of the evening. Buying, bartering, and betting also featured heavily: Want a temporary tattoo to honor the Red Viper? No problem! That’ll be just one coin, please. Want a better seat for the episode? How much is it worth to you? When several games came to a neck and neck conclusion, bets were place on who would win. It was a blast!

Games throughout the evening included Liars’ Dice, the Game of Thrones card game, and Cards against the Realm, our own homemade version of Cards Against Humanity. And yes, I’ll probably make a version available as soon as I’m able… We kept a stack of blanks nearby, and added cards as we felt inspired.

Specialty cocktails were created by Chris and Alix. They used a number of amazing specialty ingredients, the most versatile of which had to be the King’s Ginger liqueur. My two favorite cocktails were the Dornish mimosa (with blood orange, siracha, and champagne) and “Political Intrigue”, Chris’s Lannister cocktail, with ginger, champagne, goldschlager, and sparkling cider. He’ll be creating one for each episode, and I’ll put them together in a recap post, with the recipes.

Food was somewhat of a potluck affair on Saturday, as friends were coming and going most of the day. I made a few new recipes, which will be posted soon, including elk meatballs and marzipan. Alix fielded the food for Sunday, starting us off with corn fritters and a decadent Beef-and-Bacon pie, made with black forest bacon. Leftovers also abounded, despite our best efforts. Bread and salt made a brief appearance just before the premiere aired, and was gone by the time the credits rolled. I made my first Manderly Pie (recipe coming soon!), with one key ingredient substitution.

Check out the photos, and be sure to send along yours, too, for the FB gallery!