JanKris Riatta.

Riatta is a blend of sangiovese (50%), zinfandel (25%), and cabernet sauvignon (25%). The first glass was way in your face with the fruit in the sangiovese and zinfandel blowing out everything else. The sangiovese was bit tart for my taste, small tannins. A little sucking aeration in the mouth really brings out the fruit which is apparently what this winery is going for (or were, since this was the last batch before switching management).

A day opened let it mellow and finally let the cab show through more prominently. Still soft tannins. The sangiovese takes a back seat to the zin, so still in your face but without all the yelling.

Pama Pomegranate.

I read some reviews on it before buying it since the store was offering a nice price on it. It touts that it is the world's first true pomegranate liqueur.

I had a sip of it straight at first. It was sweet, rather tart, and very distinctly pomegranate. It wasn't too sweet, but the combination of the sweetness with the syrupy texture makes it unpalatable straight for me, at least.

I mixed it with some seltzer which was quite good. I also tried it with some seltzer and New Amsterdam. It may have been a combination of too much seltzer and the citrus in the NA, but it didn't blend well there. At only 17%ABV and considering how strong the flavor is, I don't see it adding much alcohol to any drinks where it's used.

I imagine it would make a good pairing with neutral spirits like vodka to add color and punch while the spirit brings the alcohol. The booklet that came with it suggested a margarita. I've had a pomegranate margarita, and while I'm not necessarily a fan of tequila and overly sweet drinks, I did find that pretty good. Some experimenting will be had.

GuS Extra Dry Ginger Ale and Tuscan Melon.

I actually bought this soda thinking it was ginger beer and not ginger ale. I didn't read the label very closely. GuS is Grownup Soda, marketing their less-sweet taste. I like it, but I was a little disappointed with how little ginger bite there was. I'll probably just stick with Canada Dry, maybe a diet version.

The melon was decidedly less amusing than the one that said "I am DELICIOUS," but it was still pretty good. I had intended to buy a cantaloupe, but this looked like a cantaloupe and was the same price so I got it. I actually let it get a little overripe on accident, making it taste sweeter than normal, I think, unless that's its normal flavor. And unless that's its normal flavor, I couldn't discern any difference from a standard cantaloupe other than the different rind.

Pork Burgers.

Sourced from Elise. Basically flattened Swedish meatballs. AWESOME. The bread I was intending to use went moldy so I had to treat them more like schnitzel. They would probably be awesome with some sort of creme sauce.

Kimchi and Zucchini Quiche.

Sourced from Closet. I didn't have as much kimchi as was called for, but mine was probably more fermented than would be expected so I figured it would be ok. The combination of cheese and kimchi weirded me out a little, but the brown rice crust was a nice idea. In the end, it was basically like rice hotpot but not as good.

Blueberry Boy Bait.

Sourced from Smitten. Essentially a pound cake with blueberries. It was good but I was a little underwhelmed.

Prosecco.

I've been squatting on this bottle for about two years. I don't think it suffered any mal-aging though I don't think cellaring it did it any better either. I enjoy a sparkling wine every now and then, but I found this prosecco to be too sweet for my taste though refreshingly carbonated.

Fish Tacos.

I've been making an effort to eat fish at least once a week. Usually that means a can of tuna somewhere, but sometimes I remember to defrost a filet from the freezer. Most of the time, I just fry the fish in some way, but that gets old pretty quickly. Also, I don't think I like haddock even though I'm certain I've had it in a fish fry and I've never disliked a fish fry. Cod is superior, though not as much as catfish for fish fries.

Ommegang Obamagang.

Kegged only, I had a first taste at a brewfest and picked up a couple (super sweet but pricey) growlers at the brewery at their fest.

Superbly dark though not as heavy and malty as one might expect. More coffee than chocolate. To be honest, I don't think it would have been good bottled, but it's good off the tap.

Sweet and Sour Pork.

Sourced from Jaden via Elise (hot). I subbed pork instead of chicken. I nixed the ketchup so it didn't have that characteristic red tint, and I ended up needing more salt than I thought. The critical components that I wasn't aware of beforehand (all of them) was that the pork gets tossed in a egg+cornstarch mix. I guess the cornstarch helps thicken up the sauce later. The sauce was equal parts pineapple juice and vinegar though I used a lot more than was prescribed and ended up needing to add cornstarch later. Using green peppers instead of orange and red looked bad.

Corn Fritters.

I had some corn to use up. Wheat flour was a bad idea here.

Doritos Sour Cream and Cheesy Enchilada Collisions.

New Doritos flavor combo. The Enchiladas don't taste as much like the taco BO, but it still has that indistinct Mexican flavor. Note that I didn't say "seasoning". It basically tastes like a cross between a Nacho Cheese (RIP Nacho Cheesier) and a Tacos at Midnight.

The Sour Cream is more palatable. It looks like Cool Ranch (RIP Cooler Ranch) chip, but tastes like a Cool Ranch chip with less MSG. Overall, unimpressed.

Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar.

I would have to say this is one of the better nut brown ales I've tried. Most nut browns are just weak variations of a brown ale. This one had a robust, full body with a smoothness that most brown ales lack (Newcastle, I'm looking at you.). The creaminess brought in some sweetness to help support the noticeably nutty tones. In the end, however, it's no Blackstone. But if this is a (mildly) distant second, everything else is dead last. I'd buy it again.

Goose Island Harvest Ale.

Beautiful red amber hue (copper) with a sweet, floral nose from a good dose of hops. Creamy but still crisp and clean. Hoppy but bitter all the way through. Basically, it's unlike any other Oktoberfest-style beer that I figured this would be like. It's a bit heavy for a session beer, but I like it all the same.

Victory Storm King Imperial Stout.

I mangled my pour because it foamed up a lot more and a lot more quickly than I expected. The body is super rich, not unlike a Black Chocolate Stout, though there's no real chocolate tones here. It's also very creamy and the head leaves rings not unlike a Guinness Draught. A bit of tobacco but mostly just...dark and stormy with a bitter finish. As an imperial, it drinks with the ease of any other stout, though the body tends to linger on anything it touches. I like it. After marking their Hop Devil and Hop Wallop as unimaginative, Storm King raises Victory up a notch in my book. The next test will be Golden Monkey.

Ham & Broccoli Mushroom Alfredo Macaroni.

Start of a new cooking cycle, and I didn't buy any meat. This is what happened. All the ingredients are in the title.

Beers.

I've had a variety of beers recently that I feel like I should make some note of. I drink a lot of new beers at bars and such which has two consequences. They don't get logged here, and if I wasn't impressed, then I won't go buy bottles (assuming I can find them). So here are 46 beers that I've had out and about but never purchased at the store for one reason or another.

1. Great Divide Titan Brewing Co. IPA - This was either bland or 1-D, don't remember which or maybe both.
2. Middle Ages English Brown Ale - Weak.
3. Middle Ages Dragonslayer Imperial Stout - Lighter in the mouth than I expected, it shows itself only on the back end with strong overtones of chocolate and pipe tobacco. Not bad at all, though I didn't necessarily care for the mouthfeel.
4. Sweetwater 420 Pale Ale - I don't know if it's because I'm so accustomed to IPA that pales taste dead to me or what, but this didn' live up to the hype.
5. Abita Amber - Plain old amber.
6. Abita Wheat - Bready but too lager-y.
7. Abita Turbodog - Nice and dark, I see why it's their most popular, but not for me.
8. Victory Wild Devil - Hop Devil brewed with wild Belgian yeast. Had a strange nose and a strange taste, the combination of which I didn't really like.
9. Victory Hop Devil - A solid, hoppy beer, similar to Hoptical Illusion but with a better nose though it retains a pretty flat character.
10. Victory Hop Wallop - To me, it seems like an imperial-ized version of Hop Devil and even hoppier.
11. Rogue Shakespeare Stout - Slightly heavier than Guinness Draft, only confirms that regular strength stouts are not my thing anymore.
12. Rohrbach's Stock Ale - Pretty good, hoppy brew, better balanced than Hop Devil or Hoptical Illusion but still nowhere near a Goose Island.
13. Rohrbach's Vanilla Porter - Similar to Atwater Block's Vanilla Java Porter but does a much better job on bringing out the vanilla.
14. Rohrbach's Bluebeary - I pretty consistently like blueberry-based beers.
15. Unibroue Blanche de Chambly - Meh.
16. Unibroue Ephemere - Cool, crisp apple taste. I like it.
17. Unibroue Chambly Noir - Meh.
18. Great Lakes Brewing Co. Blackout Stout - Meh Imperial.
19. Great Lakes Brewing Co. Dortmunder Gold Lager - I remember liking it for a lager.
20. Southern Tier Phin & Matt's - Unremarkable.
21. Southern Tier Hop Sun - Unremarkable.
22. Southern Tier Raspberry Wheat - Characteristically bad.
23. Southern Tier Pumking Imperial Ale - Tastes like pumpkin pie very clearly and cleanly. I'd buy it.
24. Southern Tier Iniquity Imperial Black Ale - I remember not liking it that much because it just tasted too concentrated.
25. Goose Island Bourbon County Stout - FUCKING AWESOME.
26. Liefmann's Kriek Cuvee - Very interesting taste, sour and sweet, tastes like the color red. I'd buy it to get another taste at it.
27. Ommegang Obamagang - I don't remember anything outstanding about this one.
28. Anchor Steam Beer - Expected more from the hype.
29. Anchor Steam Porter - Porter.
30. Lake Placid IPA - A pretty decent IPA. It might have been a good sub for Goose Island but now that Goose Island is distributing up here...
31. Pink Peppercorn IPA - I didn't really get the pink peppercorns.
32. Blue Point Hoptical Illusion - The only IPA available at some of the bars. Strong and 1-D, it does it in a pinch, not that there's that many other choices ta those times anyway.
33. Boulder Mojo IPA - Don't remember, so maybe unremarkable.
34. Highland Kashmir IPA - Don't remember, so maybe unremarkable.
35. Blackstone Brewery Maris Otter - Reminiscent of Matilda, but more like cigarettes and not as good.
36. Blackstone Brewery Chaser Pale - Don't care for Kolsch that much.
37. Blackstone Brewery Maibock - Bock does not compare to doppelbock.
38. Blackstone Brewery Red Springs Ale - American-style amber spun off of Bitter-style. Pretty good.
39. Blackstone Brewery American Pale Ale - Meh.
40. Blackstone Brewery St. Charles Porter - Nut Brown is superior.
41. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale - Sierra Nevada isn't that great.
42. Magic Hat #9 - Barf.
43. Dundee varieties - Microbrewery version of macros?
44. CB Cream Porter - Surprisingly bad for CB, but I also don't much care for porter.
45. Kirin Ichiban - My favorite Japanese beer and quite good and light, goes well with sushi. It's surprising I haven't bought it but there are always other more pressing beers to try.
46. Sapporo - Do not want.