Someone’s In the Kitchen with Daddy

I asked and, while there isn’t any of my favorite mixer in NH, there are several places that carry it in Mass. – granted they’re at least an hours drive from here – but since most of those liquor/package stores are close to family, I’m all set!

WooHoo!

So if anyones wondering what to bring to Thanksgiving dinner (or any impromptu cook-out this summer) just swing by:

Blanchards, 103 Harvard Ave, Allston, MA 02134
617 782 5588.

Charles Street Liquors, 143 Charles Street (Beacon Hill), Boston
617 523 5051

Liquor Land, 874 Harrison Ave, Boston
617 445 0560.

Haley’s Liquor Store, 116 Washington Street, Marblehead
781 631 0169.

Kappy’s, Rt 114 – 175 Andover Street, Peabody
978 532 2330.

Austin Liquors
20 Boston Turnpike Road, White City Shopping Ctr, Shrewsbury, MA
508-755-8100
&
117 Gold Star Boulevard, Worcester, MA
508-853-8953

and It can get a little Dark N’ Stormy around here – despite being a bright, sunshiney day!

As mentioned in previous posts, I’ve been on an on-and-off quest to remake my precious Dark N Stormy. Today came version number… pick one, I’ve lost count.

This afternoon I found myself trolling the aisles of WholeFoods, which always makes for a glorious day – especially since It’s been about a year since I’ve set foot in one. (Note to Whole Foods: You just opened up a new store across the pond in London… can we get one in New Hampshire? Please!!!)

I grabbed, among other things, some fantastic sushi for dinner (car food supreme!) and my choice of water to wash it down, I spied a “new” ginger beer. I say new, its from a company that’s been making it for over 100 years in the UK. I only bought one bottle – trying to invoke Murphy’s Law to hedge my bets that it would be a good one…

(but as I’ve learned you can’t invoke Muphy’s Law – you can’t wash your car to Make it rain)…

And so, once again, the Dark N Stormy comes up short. Drinkable, but just not right. Probably akin to using fat-free milk in a Sombrero. I’d previously found (and tested) another ginger beer with the mysterious quillaia, close but not quite. Now i’ve learned that the ginger mash needs to ferment in Bermuda stone vats before bottling… Today’s gingerbeer from Fentimans was indeed fermented – in stone bottles no less – But alas, not in Bermuda stone.

I drank this one, despite the frustration – others have been poured down the drain, so this one was above par at least. I did some more google searches for the beloved Barritt’s to see if there were any more clues to either it’s availability – or it’s secrets.

I’ve also stumbled across other sites where equally frustrated Bermudian ex-pats, and tourists alike are unhappy with the state of other ginger ales and beers. Misery and company. Depending on which sites you read (and choose to believe), Barritt’s products are simply unavailable in the US or the UK… or they are available in select liquor stores (despite being a non-alcoholic product) across the US, and it’s territories. (I’m thinking positive here… and even made an inquiry to the companys help line as to the nearest vendor – fingers crossed it’s not in Montana).

So now I’ll be checking out the local liquor stores, whilst waiting for a response from the company (or an order form) before I lose hope.

No, I won’t lose hope… Worst case (or perhaps best case?) I’ll be taking a flight (or cruise) back to the island, and I’ll be bringing an empty suitcase (or two) with me. Customs restrict the number of bottles of alcohol one brings back into the county (Black Seal, while touted as hard to find, is available locally) however there’s no restriction on bringing in cases of soda!

I’ve been sampling the premium kits from Mr. Beer that I’ve made (and blogged on) several weeks back. I have a habit of blogging whilst things are “cooking” and still fresh in my mind (and exciting, no?), and from time to time become a little neglectful on the follow up. (and neglectful to avoid run-on sentences that run on and on and on…)

Anywho… After making a couple of the standard kits – West Coast Pale Ale, Irish Stout, as well as a few recipes involving other standard kits – coffee bock, porter, and apple pie ale, I thought I’d give the “premium” kits a shot.

To date, I’ve made, bottled, waited (and waited) for The American Devil IPA, and Sticky Wicket Stout to be drinkable, and have tried them at various times over the past couple weeks. These kits have been the easiest by far to make (I had a heck of a time getting the ingredients to dissolve on my first go (granted the kit was a couple years past it’s expiration date), and The American Devil was the first to actually smell like beer from the get go.

My first sip of said IPA was heavenly. Surely the premium kits are the way to go! But as some of the other beers have evolved, matured, changed over the weeks these did as well, and now I’m not so sure. I wonder if these homebrews are like wine, and are best with certain foods?

In the instance of the coffee beer, it went from tannic and cold black coffee in nature to quite drinkable (though not worth re-making… cooking with may prove to be another story.) as for the most recent IPA it went from great on its own, to best enjoyed with food… The jury is still out on the Sticky Wicket… but I think I liked their standard Stout better. I definately liked the basic (included with every kit) West Coast Pale Ale best of all to date. (I wonder if waiting a couple years before I made it had something to do with it?)

Well… time’s over for the winter brews… time to make some great beers for summer… just enough time to “cook” something up for the annual family picnics.

Cabernet Sauvignon that is.

I don’t like it. Or so I have thought these past several years. Not the grapes, but rather because of the oak barrels it is aged in. For the same reason I don’t really care for chardonnay or whiskey.

My wife and I spent a couple days touring the Seneca Wine Trail, Fingerlakes region, New York, and we got to talking with one of the winemakers at Atwater Vinyards. He let me sample some chardonnay that was aging in stainless steel tanks, and had never seen oak. This was where I learned to avoid “oaky” and any synonyms when reading wine labels to pick out something I’d like. Of course I reasoned that I liked non-oaky chardonnay’s and didn’t think about how that might pertain to other wines.

Several years have gone by, and my views of wine haven’t changed. Though, I’ve added Pinot Noir to my list of faves, along with Beaujolais Nouveau, Riesling, Chianti, Tempranillo (soooo good with chocolate) and the uber cheap (but quite good) Cafe Chardonnay from Gallo.

A food/wine pairing event last October, really opened up my eyes to how different foods really effect how wine tastes – for better, or more often in my case, for worse. We tried 4 wines – 2 white, 2 red -pesto chicken, tomatoes, cheese, olives chocolate and fruit. Surprisingly, each wine was my favorite, or least favorite depending on it’s food partner.

Eyes opened.

I also know that our tastes change every 7 years (or is that just how long it takes for all our taste buds to replace themselves).

Whatever the case, now that my wife is doing these in home wine parties, I’ve sampled about a dozen new wines the past few weeks. I’ve tried 4 cabernets and each of them was dramatically different than the last…  I’m enjoying a good one right now from Monterey California (beware of worsening grammar and punctuation skills)… and lo it’s described as oaky, with licorice (I hate licorice… don’t I)

If I didn’t know, I wouldn’t now!

Well, throw time, experience and prejudice out the window people, I have a whole new world of wine to get to know all over again…  28/100 of my way into the wine century club!

you are my poison girl, you’ve got me hooked on you.

One more time with feeling!…

Yeah, I’m at it again… not so much trying to lose weight, but rather to get in better shape. It’s been a long time since my running days, and the knees are forevermore just not up to reliving my glory days on the track – and I couldn’t stomach the less than gourmand fare I was able to burn when I could run 6 minute miles forever. How exactly did I make Varsity on grape soda and ring dings? Oh yes, sixteen.

So now, I turn to trying to remain somewhat active in my daily routine, and eating well. Alas, it’s been a long time since my stricter vegetarian days, my vegan days, and my stint at macrobiotic days. I’ve forgotten most of my recipies from that time, and mindset. A couple of favorites do remain from those days… but it’s been a long time since I’ve bought or consumed umeboshi plums, sea vegetables (outside of a sushi joint), diakon, lotus root, and various coffee “substitutes”.

I still consider myself vegetarian, or at least “vegetarian minded”. Red meat is still off the table, though my body will now tolerate small amounts of cheese again. The real problems at my table aren’t really so much “what’s for dinner” so much as what’s there to snack on, what’s for dessert, second dessert, late night snacking, and so on…

Just because one is eating organically, vegetarian or otherwise, doesn’t mean one is eating healthily. There can still be too much sugar, and overprocessed foods in our daily diet. Fortunately I’ve learned what sorts of foods I really like, and as long as I’m eating seasonally, locally, and as diversely as possible, we’ll be fine.

Unfortunately the siren’s song of, well, mostly carbs in thier most delightful forms, can be too hard a temptation to resist.
But I’m going to give it another go… and the first step is to wean myself off sugar (and all those empty calories).

I’m currently on day four without coffee. I wasn’t drinking it as much as I used to. In and after college I lived on it. Lately, it’s been simply the a.m. (OK and evening) beverage of choice, in the form of a mocha. Hot or iced. I had making them down to a science. But between the sugar, chocolate syrup and artificial creamer, that’s just too much sugar – I’m making the transition to stevia…. but coffee still needs a little sugary sweetness. I can take my coffee black (with sugar) but not straight up. If I can’t make it right, best not to try to make less than desirable substitutions. And believe me, between fake coffee powders, roasted teas, rice and soymilks, goat milk, splenda and other articicial sweetenters, it just isn’t worth it. Stevia works in tea just fine, however, I’m still searching to find a tea I can get behind.

A few years ago I fell in love with Yerba Mate – the orange blossom variety to be specific. This was fanstastic, hot or cold. Full of nutrients and so on like green tea, but that hint of orange flavor, without the tannic quality of unsweetened black tea, or the dryness of green tea. Alas, my source dried up, and I had to order online – massive quantities (and other flavors too!), however I think there was something in there that I became allergic to, and lo, I was back to coffee…

I’ve been tying other tea’s, herbal or otherwise, trying to find something else with a hint of orange that will fit the bill. Something that’ll help keep my daily sugar intake within or below weight watchers acceptable level. A couple contenders, but no true winners just yet.

Are carbs off the table too? Banished? No way! Whole grains form the basis of several of the food pyramids, and diet philosophies. They’ll remain, if not homemade, then as whole, as close to nature as possible. I’ve got an oatmeal bread recipe I’m working on that I like much more than any storebought loaf, and my Christmas cookies are made with organic wholegrain flours. (So I can feel a little less guilty about eating too many of them). Hopefully by that time, I’ll be fit and trim, and a couple cookies will make me no worse for the wear.

Until then, lots of vegetables, keep moving, no sugar, and fingers crossed that this headache will go away! At least it’s not January, and I can skip the implied guilt of trying to keep a resolution.