Best Beer Ever: Firestone Walker 14

I drank the best beer ever.  I did not drink it tonight, but I thought about it tonight, and thus I am sharing my review of Firestone Walker Anniversary Ale 14.  At 18.99 for 750 mL I probably would not have tried this beer of my own volition (Dude, that’s more than I usually pay for a bottle of wine – sometimes three bottles of wine!) so I am profoundly glad that I attended a beer class at which someone else had the good sense to crack open a couple of bottles of this – and share them with the rest of us.  As suggested by its makers, we drank this at almost room-temperature.

Even from its packaging, FWAA14 comes across as a Serious Beer.  The bottle is in a freaking box and there is more to read on and in the box than the average first grade class manages to trudge through in a year.  Some of the notes are more relevant than others; ignoring them will not diminish your experience, it will just make you a little less of a geek.  Personal choice, etc etc.  FWAA14 further lets its drinker know it is a Serious Beer by having an ABV of 12.5%.  In liquor terms, that’s 25 Proof.  Not fooling.

Despite it’s packaging and it’s high alcohol percentage, above all, Firestone Walker Anniversary Ale 14 crooned smoothly to me, “try me, drink me, enjoy me, yessssssss.”  And I did.   This beer is helluva smooth, warming the mouth before it slides down the throat.  Vanilla. Chocolate.  Oak.  Bourbon.  Whiskey.  Caramel.   Cherry.  Coconut.  Forget port – this beer is a drinkable dessert.  It’s the epitome of a sipping beer.

Find or invent a special occasion and buy a bottle of this beer.  Put it in some fancier glasses – like snifters – and toast yourself.

Peanut, Peanut Butter, AND RECALL!

recalled peanut butter

I totally bought – and ate – peanut butter affected by a recall.

I rarely buy the reduced fat; I usually buy something fattier and more natural.  This time, I thought it would be something good and healthy to do for myself.

I was wrong.

Five Good Things

1.) In conjunction with my four-day-weekend project, I am going on vacation at the end of the week.

2.) Because I am a grown up, there was no reason for me not to have a dinner entirely of cheese…so I did.  Osteoporosis prevention, etc.

3.) On Sunday, I went to one of my favorite brunch places in tundra.  I gobbled up their pork belly, poached eggs, polenta, and an english muffin with a lovely bellini.  I love me the brunch.

4.) Gas where I work is twenty cents cheaper PER GALLON than the gas where I live.

5.) It’s less than six months until I move away from the tundra!

Baconalia Review: Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies with Great Lakes Porter

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies with Great Lakes Porter

Bacon and chocolate chip cookies with a nice, rich porter. ..sounds like dessert to my face!  I’m currently in the midst of planning a bacon party that (at this point) will focus entirely on baked goods.  For whatever reason, I’m actually trying the recipes ahead of time this round.  Perhaps I am growing up and becoming more responsible or perhaps I just really like to bake and post cookies to friends.  Regardless of the present and the future, these cookies were the first cookies of my bacon cookie past.  These cookies predate my whole “Baconalia” concept and I got the recipe from a friend, rather than from the internet.  Seriously.   The first time I made these cookies I was completely unaware of the internet’s boundless infatuation with bacon.

Five Good Things

1.) I made lentil soup last night and it is amazing, particularly as leftovers.

2.) My favorite Buckeye made a random trip to my tundra last Saturday, so I got to see her!  It was wonderful and almost makes me want to visit Ohio so that we can spend more time together.  (Of states that I have visited, Ohio is my least favorite.)

3.) I will be home from work by 4:30pm tomorrow and have the whole evening free.  Granted, I’ll probably use it to do practical things like laundry and sweep the floors, but that’s still better than 11pm laundry.  The probability is also high that I will relax on the couch, eat my leftover Chinese takeout, and watch TV.  50-50, probably.

4.) I found a check that I thought I lost.  It is only a little old, so it is still good.

5.) One of my good friends received an acceptance to her top-choice graduate school.  As an added bonus, the school is in the town I’m moving to in the fall!

Five Good Things

1.) My produce market randomly had a fantastic selection of prime produce yesterday.  Mango, blueberries, peaches, asparagus, and CORN ON THE COB all will be devoured by me this week – in addition to the usual spinach, apples, and grapefruits.  I am pumped. 

2.) The antithesis of produce and my guilty pleasure, Stouffer’s mac ‘n cheese, is on sale at Walgreens this week.  I clipped a coupon for that too.  For some reason (my Scottish background?) I feel LESS bad about eating (delicious) crap when I buy it on sale.

3.) More on this later, but I had a major haircut and do not feel frustrated with the change.  I feel like I have a lot less hair.

4.) Fraggle Rock is on On Demand.  Heck yeah, I’ll dance my cares away.

5.) My new book club starts soon.

Five Good Things

1.) After a couple of consecutive weeks of failing to post a 5GT on Monday, I’m back on track.

2.) I went puddle stomping at work today. 

3.) There were puddles (for stomping) because the snow is melting, which is great both because it is getting warmer and also because it is easier to get down my street with smaller banks down its side.

4.) Free beer (class) tomorrow! 

5.) I bought amazing asparagus; I am going to eat it alllllllll up.  (And then, well, you know.)

Five Good Things

1.) Our last several snows have consisted of the light, fluffy snow that is easy to brush off and like shoveling feathers. 

2.) My extended forecast includes a high temperature ABOVE freezing!  Beach day.

3.) After several rounds of phone tag, my brother and I finally got a chance to talk today.  The primary topic?  Geneology. 

4.) One of my friends is making me a delicious dinner tomorrow night.  I’m not exactly sure what it is going to be, but promised that I won’t be allergic or intolerant to anything.

5.) The beer I liked best at beer school hits the shelves at my grocery store tomorrow.  Can’t wait.  I’ll tell you more about it after I get a chance to buy some.

Baconalia Review: Beef Bacon With Delirium Tremens

beef bacon with delirium tremens

 

Beef bacon is sort of like the East German swim team of bacon.  It’s a bit huskier, a bit hardier, and bit more muscled.  While it’s clearly a cousin of bacon, there’s not much dainty about it and you’d best not offend it in a dark alley.  Whatever though – I am much more interested in eating my bacon than in offending it.  I bought Wellshire Farms beef bacon at my local Whole Foods, so I am sure it is quite ethical.

Unlike turkey bacon, beef bacon renders plenty of fat while cooking.  It cooks down quite a lot actually and I employed some of its fat to get the turkey bacon started.  I totally save my rendered bacon fat (Baconalia 3 Plans!) and found beef bacon fat significantly huskier and muskier than normal bacon.  Since I could tell the difference by smell alone, I did not mix the fats.  What can I say?  I’m a purist of sorts.

Sock Contest: A Trick

clearly he has some nordic heritage

I like clean, although I like the state of clean a lot more than I like the activity of cleaning.  Last Saturday, I invited some friends over for a potluck dinner (more on that another day, probably with pictures).  Unfortunately for me, it’s the time of year of snow and slush and salt and sand; all of which are pretty much hell on my floors.   Just as guests often bring wine or treats, their shoes often bring the quadruple floor assault.  Fortunately for me, my friends are considerate and I am tricky-smart. 

I know I can simply ask people to remove their shoes at the door.  Unfortunately, that is kind of boring and not fun, two adjectives I strive not to have associated with myself.   While I doubt no-shoes-at-my-house is news to any of my buddies, I still like to warn them ahead of time as some of my friends are fancy and coordinated and do things like think about what shoes they ought to wear with an outfit –a nd then actually remember to wear them.  Enter the sock contest.