Look. I don't know what was up with this. Or if this is just the way it's supposed to be. But it was super flat. Like drinking Coke that had been left opened in the fridge for a week. But I did get this sweet jug. It's going to be my surreptitious liquor jug. Juggy.
Ok. I was really excited to find a doppelbock at Wegmans after having Celebrator over the summer. This is brewed by Spaten-Franziskaner. And I have to say it's a little thin. It kind of tastes like iced coffee. It smells very bread-y but the taste is just not up to par, and it goes flat pretty quickly.
I got the idea the other night when a classmate ordered a pie by phone rather than by a website or third-party website. Italian salami. Must be ordered through a live person.
Under the hood, short frenched onions, green pepper, and mushrooms. I was going to add olives, but I forgot about it until much later.
I have to say that fresh tomatoes on a pizza is one of the best toppings ever. Also, another random pizza that I've had that turns out to be really good is mushrooms and jalapeños.
And a swirl of Genoa salami. I was looking for a leaner salami, actually, but I didn't see one at the deli. But salami is far superior to pepperoni. It's bigger, thinner, less greasy, and crisps much, much better. All that trouble we used to go through to get pepperonis on top? Nothing compared to salami on top.
This is actually brewed in New York. As a dubbel, it's incredibly bitter. Toasty, nice carbonation, but I find it a little lacking in the flavor department compared to the Maredsous brews. Hm, meh.
I do like it, but it seems I keep thinking about Brother Thelonious. I would like to find something a bit sweeter than what I've been getting.
I'll admit. I don't know much about these Belgian Trappist ales with their dubbels, tripels, and such. All I know is that they keep getting toastier and toastier. And I'll admit, this one was toastier than I'd like, but it had the sweetness and heaviness I've been looking for.
I had some of this witbier at a picnic earlier this year, and I liked it a lot though I didn't have the time to fully enjoy it since I was trying to drink a whole lot of beer before going to do some TA stuffs. But I finally got around to picking up my own sixer and have it in a glass.
Unfiltered and deliciously cloudy, it has a really refreshing mouthfeel. The picture is rather dark and doesn't even come close to reality. The color is really nice, incredibly pale compared to what I normally drink. I also think it has a nice spicy taste that I couldn't put my finger on until last night. It reminds me of Dr. Pepper.
It's been awhile since I've actually put some effort into making something. And the last time I tried making this was in high school. I've gotten smarter and handier with a knife since then.
The rounds were slotted and stuff with minced mushrooms, mozzarella, and Parmesan. I cut garlic powder into the flour and oregano into the bread crumbs. (I've also gotten better at breading things.)
I pan-fried them for a few minutes each side to develop a crust and then baked them for another 10 or so. In retrospect, I should have baked them a bit longer. And added butter.
I used that trusty GV Green Pepper & Mushroom sauce and added some crushed red pepper which I had finally gotten around to buying. All in all, it was pretty ok, but there's a lot of tweaking to be done.
First off, doesn't pumpkin have a really mild flavor? I can't taste anything. Whatevs.
Well, I really thought I had written something down here. I can't say I really noticed much of anything here. It's a lager. But toasty? I was under the impression that it would be fuller. But it's a lager.
Here are some more crappy pictures.
I had bought these pizza crusts back in September, and they've been sitting at the bottom of my refrigerator where I keep forgetting I have them. Anyway, I finally got around to using one of them since I had a bunch of other random ingredients that I had bought without anything in particular in mind.
Over a bed of spinach: feta, shrimp, chopped up artichoke hearts. I was going to put some kalamata olives on top, but the ones I had weren't pitted. So they just came along on the side.
This was actually a reheating, and I think it was better the second time. When it first came out of the oven, parts of the bottom were a bit soggy. I had cooked it on aluminum foil instead of a slotted sheet or on the rack which was a mistake. I ate it up with some hummus (which seems to be missing something. I might try some cumin.), a yogurt dill sauce that I've acquired a taste for, a bit of chili sauce, and some olives. I've bene eating a lot of olives. I fucking love olives.
I haven't been able to get a hold of any other sangioveses for a long time, so when I saw them at a liquor store's moving sales, I picked up a few different kinds. I remember liking the first one I ever had a lot.
This is one kind of fell flat. In the first sip, it was immediately berry blastin' like Kool-Aid or something. And then it just sort of disappeared. I had to check whether or not I had actually swallowed it. I just found it very thin. Or light, if I wanted to be optimistic.
It's had a little bit of time to open up, and it's doing better. It's starting to have a little backbone but probably wouldn't stand up to anything heavily spiced.
I made half a dozen of each. The cannelloni was hot Italian sausage, bella mushrooms, and onions. The manicotti was just ricotta. I had initially thought to use spinach and ricotta, but I forgot about the spinach until after I had already stuffed the shells. So it just went on top. I figure a bit of green all around wouldn't hurt. It turned out mostly ok, but nothing to write home about either.
Here's my first go at my food processor. I don't have any numbers for these but it's easy enough to figure out the taste. The hummus turned out pretty great. The baba ganoush not so much. I haven't quite figured out what's off.
Hm, this one was awhile ago. I think I remember it being characteristically inky, a bit sweet, and dense but not heavy.
Addendum, 122209: It seems to have lost something. I think it was entering its flabby phase. Virtually no tannin astringency, just juice and not a very interesting one at that.
Ok. It might look gross. But I assure you. It was delicious.
About 2.5 lbs of ground beef into two standard loaves (with onions, mushrooms, Worcestershire, seasonings to taste), half a dozen big potatoes, topped with bacon. I would have liked to cooked them in a shallow or slotted pan. I spent about 20 minutes spooning beef and bacon grease. I guess that's what I gt for 80/20 beef. It could have stood a bit more bread crumb but otherwise excellent.
We saved this one until my birthday. Definitely worth the wait. At room temperature, the palate was super clean and refreshing, medium weight in the mouth and not overly rice-y and slightly fruity. I thought it had a slight apple finish. The first half went down straight and the other half went in screwdrivers. かんぱい！
Wow, this is a really old picture. Consequently, it's also very, very bad. Guest review by Tag:
Not good! Oh, man! Use it for cooking.
There are some random drafts that will post out of order. Stuff is buffering.
