Over the weekend Toney and I attended a “Beer & Food Pairing Event,” at a local fancy-ass grocery store. Or, as a big part of their clientele probably prefers, “market” or simply “grocery.”
“I’m off to the grocery, dear.”
“Ooh, can you pick me up some capers and buttplugs?”
“Of course, darling.”
Here’s a rundown of the offerings, and my quickie review of each:
Allagash Abbey Dubbel paired with Spicy Tuna Roll & California Roll. The beer was a Belgian, brewed in Maine, and was very tasty indeed. The sushi, on the other hand, made my lower jaw retract. Not a fan of the trendy, hipster raw fishies… Heck, I don’t even like ’em all that much grilled.
Yuengling Lager paired with Steamed Clams and Sourdough Bread. I’ve had roughly seven million Lagers, so there was nothing especially novel about that. My favorite standard-stock! The clams were freaking seashells, with a little hunk of chewed bubblegum inside. It tasted like fish, but had something gritty in it. Again, my lower jaw went back.
Victory V12 paired with Mojo Pork Tenderloin with Black Beans and Salsa Verde. I don’t remember anything about the beer, so that’s probably not a good sign. I like some of the Victory brews, but have also had a few that were kinda forgettable. The pork got bigger the longer I chewed, and had some kind of green shit on top. I opened my mouth over a trash can, and let everything fall out.
Sly Fox Rt 113 IPA paired with Chicken & Feta Sausage on a Whole Wheat Bun topped with Brushchetta. The beer was excellent, so good I tried to locate a 6-pack on our way out the door. But I couldn’t find it within two minutes, so screw it. I’m a very busy man. The sausage sandwich thing tasted OK, but I couldn’t get over its whiteness. Sausage is not supposed to be white, so I threw most of it in the garbage. If I’d been blindfolded, I have a feeling I would’ve eaten it all, and wanted more.
Stoudt’s American Pale Ale paired with Two year Grafton Reserve Cheddar on baguette. Again, the beer was superior. I’m a big fan of the hoppy IPAs and pale ales, and this was a good one. I was able to locate a 6-pack before irritation set in, and bought it. The cheese was really good, too. I wouldn’t mind pulling a Costanza and stripping to the waist, and eating a block of the stuff the size of a car battery.
Lindemans Kriek Lambic Spritzer paired with Sorbet. This one was on the patio, and it was pouring rain outside, so we wimped-out on it. Anyway, I didn’t like the sounds of that “spritzer” in the title. Ya know?
We attended another such event a few months back, and I thought the food was better last time. But, I’m sure others would disagree. With their pinkies out.
I also got to spend roughly twenty minutes with Nancy and the Gang this weekend. They were on their way back to North Carolina (or is it South Carolina?), and wanted to have dinner with us. But, of course, it was complete chaos and they didn’t get to town until almost 10 o’clock.
They stayed at a motel, and had all their earthly belongings packed inside a Ryder truck and their l’il dandelion-powered car. But they came by the house for a few minutes, and Toney went to breakfast with them the next morning.
Nancy hugged me, and Nossy gave me one of his horizontal handshakes. You know, when a person extends their hand palm-down and going side-to-side? Oh, it’s very European dandy… We probably won’t be seeing as much of them now. They’ll be living a lot farther away from the compound.
They seemed to be upset about this, for some reason… How odd.
The next morning I went to Sheetz to get some cash from their no-fee ATM (money for nothing), and the whole gang was there. It looked like they were topping off the gas in their truck, and Nancy was buying two massive coffees.
I walked over to their vehicles, and Nossy was having some kind of episode. His hair was all messed-up, like Albert Einstein, and he acted like he was about to start crying. He was muttering something about their mortgage papers, and his chin was quivering.
“Well, you guys have a safe trip,” I said, and walked away.
I tried to tell the translucents goodbye, but the hammer-head dog lunged at me with its teeth bared. I wanted to poke it in the eyes, like Moe, but was afraid I might pull back nothing but a wrist. I notice all three see-thrus were wearing shirts that recently belonged to our boys.
And so it goes.
Before I call it a day here, I’d like to invite you to buy twenty or thirty of the new Surf Report shirts, and also read the silly new mockable (which makes me laugh).
I don’t really have a Question for you today, so just tell us what you did this past weekend. Anything extra-exciting? Use the comments link below, and I’ll be back here tomorrow.
See ya then.
@ Malcom
As a landscaper I can promise you seeding is a waste of time and money until late September. If you decide to wait and seed this fall, you will need to overseed in the spring and again the next fall.
If you want to do it now, you will have to sod and water it and water it and water it. If you live in an area in the south (as in south of Michigan) you will have to water it twice a day if you don’t get rain for the first 3-4 weeks. You need to water deeply. You can then start to spread the waterings out to get the roots to start going deeper for moisture.
You can cut it the first time as soon as you start spreading out the waterings and you must bag the cuttings the first time. Mulching after that is fine.
As important as all that is, the prep of the soil is just as important and the sod needs rolled both directions after it is layed. Good contact, watering and fertilization will keep you from losing what you just paid many dollars to get installed. Hire a professional with a good rep and get it done right.
I will also ask what’s the update on S&M moving in with N&N? That sounds like the richest vein of comedy gold waiting to be mined.
If it’s gonna stay quiet …you folks mind a beer list of my local offerings…?
Land Shark( Buffett’s beer)..Had that before…kinda ok…kinda Coronaish…not ‘bad’.
the rest here … I’ve never tried.
Long Hammer IAP
Stone Mill (organic pale ale)
W ’09
Mirror Pond
Barrell Pale Ale
India Pale Ale (IAP)
Longboard
Shocktop (Belgain White)
Fire Rock (pale ale)
Mojo (IAP)
Fat Tire
Mighty Arrow.
There!…they have the Sierra stuff, St. Paulie etc..Moosehead, Bass, Adams…the usuals for the tourists.
Just wondering. Oh…they sell sod too!!
I’ll be up late…or is it …I get up early …-d
@Jason…I know about the orange thing. Not really needed but I just bought a new orange just because.
Hey Jeff,
Give that Lindeman’s Kriek Lambric I try if you see if around. That shit’s expensivse but damn good…tastes more like a raspberry champagne than a beer but damn good cold.
I guzzled a suitcase of Yuengling Saturday after running three miles, mulching then mowing the yard. Physical exercise does have some benefits….the golden elixer was even tastier than usual!
As someone who periodically visits my old hometown of Ottawa, I gotta say the place got a little less interesting (if possible) once I heard that your inlaws have packed up and headed south again. There was always the faint hope of spotting them, or at least guessing if this or that college-prof-looking type was N or N, they shall be missed…
My weekend, well it’s like this, big hockey drunken Game Seven Friday night, I win the office pool again, after that it’s working evenings then drinking beer at night, by day pricing a new car, getting prepped for a new gig in a new town, gotta get all my sh_t together quick, I’m moving on, recently quit my job of the last 17 years or so, time for a new handle too, maybe jeff_in_sw_ontario?
Coming soon to the 519, but not London, my fellow Canuckistanis….
Friday night we went to retrieve secrets from camp. Then spent two hours in a pizza hut talking to a woman I know from girl scouts who sat ON TOP OF me. Spent another half hour trying to convince secrets that woman is NOT my lesbian lover.
Saturday…cleaned and then went with Mr.Man to Lowes. While in Lowes I had a foaming at the mouth fit in the area carpet section. Got MY way (for once).
Stopped and picked up steaks…grilled and drank while watching rented Valkyrie movie. Not bad.
Handcuffed Mr.Man…never mind…
Sunday morning, drank enough coffee to fill a bathtub. Heard a nasty rumor that the Lone Ranger and Tonto were in jail…(turns out it was the Lone Ranger’s sister)
Avoided all phone calls from my mother…
Brought oldest secret BACK to camp to be a counselor, only to have to pick her up and bring her to Urgent Care and sit for HOURS.
Bronchitis…
Came home…had a beer…slept.
Wow..my life is boring.
@DTO – Blue Moon is OK, but be aware it’s a (IMHO inferior) copy of Hoegaarden. Try the real thing at least once, just to know what it’s supposed to taste like. Hint: it doesn’t need fruit. If 10.99 seems like a lot for a six-pack, think of it as “$2 beers” in a bar so it seems cheap :^) Re: your later post, Shock Top is yet another Hoegaarden clone, made by a different major (Miller?). Long Hammer is a good, solid, IPA, made by Red Hook IIRC; not my *very* favorite, but it’s good. IPA of course stands for India Pale Ale, which is a general term for a style, not a specific brand.
Lindemans makes decent fruit Lambics, and they get bonus points for using actual fruit (rather than flavored syrups). Kriek = cherry, framboise = raspberry, peche = peach (the other varieties are not found very often). Which brings us back to one of my favorite summertime drinks, the Dirty Ho: pour a Hoegaarden into a glass that’s too big – a large wineglass, maybe a Guinness pint glass – and top off with some Framboise or Kriek. It’s “girly” enough for women who like that sort of thing, but sufficiently tart (!) for men who don’t. Very nice and refreshing, perfect for Sunday breakfast.
Weekend? I went to the car dealership early Saturday and argued them into replacing a small plastic bit under warranty. Took apart some of last year’s debris from my backyard raised-bed gardens; upgraded a computer. Thought about mowing the lawn, but didn’t actually do it. Had some beers (Stone IPA and Dogfish 60 Minute). Did laundry. Watched some DVDs. Way wicked excitin’.
Apologies for gettin’ all Jorge on your ass.
I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane this weekend, it was pretty cool! Free-falling from 10,000 feet is quite a rush! Good thing I paid extra for that ‘chute. Or is it?
I guess that counts as exciting, for me anyways.
Yow. I only jump out of airplanes when they’re parked on the ground. Even at that, we’re talking Cherokee-class.
This weekend – Grilled some steak. Drank some killer beers from Flying Dog outta Mland yo. Gotta try the Double Dog Double Pale Ale… down Killer down. They also do a great Belgian Chamay Red knockoff, a killer barley wine and a great barrel aged porter. Steadman from Hunter Thompson does their logos and labels. I suggest them highly. Mowed the lawn, That’s about it. Cleveland summers are great.
@chill…thanks!
I thinned out my radish seedlings … I better get a crop out of all this!
@ Willie Williams:
Thanks for tips on lawn production. I live in central NC – what is involved in soil preparation? Tilling and liming? A friend here suggested an 18-6-4 mix, and peat moss over seed rather than straw.
Not planning to go to seed until Fall – too tired from clearing and there is a bunch of poison ivy to be taken care of as well as more old rotten logs to be moved. Plus we have entered the dogs days of summer here, way too hot for any of this.
Thanks again.
DTO:
It’s done from about 20ft.apart and it means, “I won’t kill you…right now”.
Godfather Part I, Tom Hagan when leaving the movie producer’s mansion, uses this exact gesture.
Well done….
I got hammered with my brother-in-law and discussed infidelity and the American sexual climate while my sister (his wife) flew to Rio for a girls weekend with her recently divorced best friend… awkward…
Then I ate a whole pizza on Saturday while watching roughly 18 hours of TV and enjoyed it so much I did the same thing on Sunday.
Friday…. I watched the Pens win Lord Stanley’s Cup!! Unbelievable game!!!
Saturday….. Went to bunches of estate/yard sales in the AM. Spent $100 and was loaded up with shit (to sell)! Then went to a vintage/antique car show with friends for rest of the day. I could write paragraphs about some of the weirdo sightings there…SHIT! I can’t believe they let some of these people breed….over and over and over.
Sunday….Strip District ( on bike) for lunch on Roland’s balcony…more good people-watching! And then spent rest of day in the sun at a South Side bar…..good times.
@ DTO-Veal Brats are the best!!
Jeff,
Living herein great old Southeast PA (West Chester, D-town, Exton or Lionville) you get most of all those beers. You must have been at Wegmans for that shindig. Sly Fox and Victory our by far the 2 best Microbrewers’ in this area. I use to be a frequent Barfly at the Fox when I worked at a restaurant down the street. http://www.slyfoxbeer.com/
P.S. if you can spare say 40 some dollars on a case, or if it is in a restaurant or bar try a beer called “West Coast IPA” by Green Flash Brewing Co. The Hops will punch you in the face!
Hop Wallop by Victory
Hop Rod Rye by Bear Republic Brewing Co. (22oz)
These guys are winners too, you will not be disappointed!