Hungry Times Two

Two days until we move: beer me! The fantastic Nodajito, mint and lime never tasted so fine.

We're negligent bloggers, but we have good excuses -- I swear. I won't go into them because they're not that exciting - well, house buying is pretty big, but it's also incredibly tear-your-hair-out, cry-a-little-and-curse-a-lot stressful. Thankfully we're drinking away our stress. That's healthy, right? Sure. Last weekend we did a fun brews cruise by bike with our friends, a roughly 15-mile tour from south Charlotte to NoDa, just east of Uptown. We hit up Olde Mecklenburg, Triple C, Noda Brewing and Birdsong. My fave is NoDa , as you can nibble dishes from the food trucks conveniently parked in their lot, and they have a nice casual slab out behind their tasting room with nice benches to congregate and chill. On Saturday, we hit up the NC Brewers and Music Festiva l near Huntersville,  with friends. The tickets get you several hours of unlimited tastings from breweries across North Carolina and a select number of out-of-state visitors. Scott was amused t...

Who turned on the damn furnace? Whew, it is way too hot way too early here in the D.C. nether-region. Despite temps inching towards the 90 degree Fahrenheit mark, we made it to Charlottesville this weekend for some fun! Thanks to the perusing of this C-ville blogger , our trip was peppered with tasty experiences all weekend long. After a short and traffic-free two-hour drive, we pulled into the parking garage in downtown Charlottesville just in time for the last hour or so of their kickin' farmers market. We ambled around to see the market vendors selling everything from jam to jewelry, and all in between some pretty swell looking produce. Scott couldn't resist the strawberries, so we snagged a quart of them for lunch. We decided to grab some lunch from a downtown spot and drive west to Skyline Drive and Shenandoah Nat'l Park. Luckily, Baggby's on the downtown pedestrian mall had some delectable-sounding sandwiches, so Scott scored the Cold Grinder and I chose ...

Holy Moses, a three day weekend is just a few hours away. I got a little giddy while enjoying my less-crowded-than-usual commute this morning, and then I reminded myself why we have Monday off in the first place. Respect to our military and those who have served. Scott and I hit the road tomorrow for Charlottesville, where we'll rendezvous with two college friends and roam around the Shenandoahs. For food recommendations, I'm relying on this C-ville blogger for some tips. Some places we plan to hit up: Starr Hill Brewery , the Bluegrass Grill , and this yogurt joint that supposedly is crazy good. We hope that whatever your plans are this weekend that you have fun and taste something wonderful!

Okay, so this blog post title is a TAD sarcastic! Beer, raw oysters and clams, fries, donuts and more beer is not exactly healthy, in a nutritional/pysiological sense, but they're definitely a mental health/pleasure boost. The first photo comes from The Brewer's Art, where I spent Friday after work with two co-workers for happy hour. And yes, that IS a pitchfork on the tap, which is appropriate for the beer it dispenses - Ozzy ! I had a Chimay glass of it and a pint of Zodiac ale - most satisfying after rushing a grant application around for signatures, etc. The following day, we spent Saturday in Baltimore for Jason Dick's birthday, the man with the classic quote, "If you think something happened, then it probably did." We met up at Federal Hill's Cross Street Market, where we proceeded to inflict serious damage on Nick's Seafood supply of bivalves. Three Natty Boh's and a plate of Maryland oysters was the start of many an oyster and clam (cher...

National Bohemian beer is back on tap after 15 years! We've lived here almost one year now and much like PBR has a hip/shtick/cool factor across the country, National Bohemian beer , or "Natty Boh," is experiencing a resurgence around here. And as well it should be, given that it was originally brewed in Baltimore's Brewers Hill neighborhood. The original brewery complex is now a mixed-use development of self-storage, housing and nearby shops/restaurants.

As promised: our weekend in Pittsburgh, a lovely city situated on some amazing bluffs and ridges at the confluence of three rivers! So charming, and the people were very, VERY polite. DC/MD/VA residents, are you hearing this? POLITE! Anyway, accentuating the positives: We arrived Friday just in time for dinner - we decided to take our friend Jim's advice and try out a former church-turned-brewery: Church Brew Works in the Lawrenceville 'hood. We tried our first ever pierogies, dumplings filled with cheese, chased with a Pipe Organ Pale Ale for Scott and a Pious Monk Dunkel for myself. We didn't linger too long, as we had to rise early to get in line for the..... All-Clad Factory Sale! This was the line when we arrived - it doubled back twice in front of us and took us about 45 minutes to make it into the warehouse. The organizers work very hard to ensure this event doesn't turn into madness - only 30-40 people are allowed in every 10 minutes or so for crowd control. W...

Sometimes you don't need ambiance. Sometimes you don't need a six page wine list. Sometimes you don't need small plates drizzled with some kind of prettified infused reduction sauce. Sometimes you just want a beer. Or four. Plus food. Like a burger, maybe? And accompanied by something nice and fried - tater tots, perhaps? Well friends, thanks to pal I.J., I found just what's described above - something that can only be called "A Dive Bar." Silver Spring's Quarry House - Monday Nights. A bevy of normal folks pack the place to enjoy half-priced burgers, dollars off all beers during Happy Hour. Happy indeed! You know you're headed somewhere special when you take to the grungy stairs heading down to a 70-year old basement space under an Indian restaurant on Georgia Ave. Johnny Cash is on the jukebox and strings of colored lights and dimly lit sconces provide just enough light to make out the menu. The beer list is impressive - they even offer Orkney Skull ...

Just at the moment when both parties in HTT feel like they're crawling out of their skin and going insane in their membranes, a kind friend issues an invitation to their house share at Dewey Beach. Thank you, dear friend. You know how to cure what ails us. Aptly described by another friend as "Do Me Beach," it's quite the meat market/rowdy beach to which many in the DC Metro area flock. I visited for the first time in June and well, it's no Charleston or low key NC-style barrier isle, but the area does have its charms. I'm thinkin ' a crabcake somewhere in Rehobeth and a first-time trip for Scott to the Dogfish Head Brewery - I'm gonna get my Namaste on. Grilled fish. Icy drinks. Dips in the water. Come on, quittin ' time! Hope everyone enjoys this first weekend in August - how did it get to be August already?!

Like, duh, it's a given - anywhere we go, Scott and I will seek out the food and drink opportunities to the hilt. Our recent adventure in Colorado did not disappoint in that regard. Whether you're coming off the hiking trail and need recharging, trying to escape the magnifying-glass sharp sunshine, or ready to quench your thirst, you won't run out of options in Boulder. What did we like best? Here's our top 5. 1) Celestial Seasonings - a different kind of brew. Yep, CO is known for its beer but as an Anglophile, Scott is a big tea drinker, and as for me, well, I like it to cool me down in the summer, to warm me up in the winter (or at my office, where the frigid A/C is always on full blast), and to calm me when my emotions need a little tea party break. Luckily, the Celestial Seasonings factory in Boulder beckoned and we didn't resist its charms in the slightest. With three family members, we signed up for the tour - receiving packets of Sleepytime blend as our ...

A friend sent me this link today about the DC area's best crab cakes. Somehow I think I should totally take a day (or two) off and just visit them all in a whirlwind feast of crab goodness. I do love me some crab. Right now I am fantasizing about a crab and avocado salad... I have never had one but I have seen many recipes for them and even on menus before and I never took the plunge. Something about the soft flaky crab meat joined with the cool and creamy avocado just seems decadent and absolutely wonderful. Methinks I need to make that happen. I am in the land of crab, yes? Over the weekend I visited the Delaware coast and hung out in Dewey Beach ( paaaaaarty on, man!) and Rehoboth (both family-friendly and a gay mecca). In Rehoboth I enjoyed a great crab crake at Claws Seafood House - not too bready , broiled instead of nasty fried, and plenty of substantial lump meat). We also lunched at Dogfish Head Brewing and Eats , where our incredibly witty waiter told us their cr...

You know when you've made a meal out of a cup and a half of cottage cheese and go out for a jog that leaves you wincing and wondering if you have any knee cartilage remaining that you're on one hell of a guilt trip. Such was the case on Sunday, when I plead my case to the Weekend Food Gods, asking for amnesty despite the last two days of food gluttony. It was gonna take more than some fat-free dairy products and sweaty poundin' of pavement to undo what I'd done. Scott and I hosted his dad visiting from GA and well, those men like to eat. Put fresh cocktails in their hands and full plates of good food in front of them and they're all kinds of congenial. I can't say I'm not partial to their ways. Who can blame them? On Friday evening, after Scott's dad learned the joys of navigating the streets of D.C., we set out for a place I found on UrbanSpoon.com. {US is a handy site - considering the recent controversy over the legitimacy of Yelp.com business review...

Scott and I decided to set aside any ambitions of getting our tiny new apartment organized yesterday and instead went out exploring D.C. for Valentine's Day. We parked our car at the College Park Metro Station near our apartment and hit the Green Line for Chinatown/Gallery Place. We were ravenous at about 2 pm, so we hit one of the first places we saw - Chinatown Garden. One visit made me wish we'd consulted the DC Ethnic Food site before hitting the town. The complimentary pot of hot tea was nice, and their steamed pork dumplings were tasty as a meal starter. I thought ordering from the "authentic" back page of their menu would be a smart option. However, our server led me astray when she recommended the salty pepper soft shell crabs after informing me my choice of shrimp and scallops was not available. "It's from Maryland. Very good," she said. I beg to differ. The crab were incredibly briny and so fried that I couldn't taste crab at all - just a ...

I posted these links for Facebook folks, but figured I'd share them here as well. http://www.slate.com/id/2186219/ http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/cans-or-glass-mmm-this-requires-a-think-over-a-drink/2007/04/02/1175366158790.html http://www.treehugger.com/files/2004/11/ecotip_glass_a.php Lately, I've been buying beer in cans, thinking it's more sustainable because aluminum's 100% recyclable, it's lightweight (meaning less fuel's consumed shipping the beer) and frankly, I'm lazy, so throwing a crumpled can in the recycling bin is preferable to driving a load of glass bottles to recycling center (Metro Nashville does not recycle glass via curbside - you've got to drop it off yourself if you want it recycled). Anyway, I came home from the grocery store stumped: what's most sustainable, cans or bottles? The short answer: local beer, in glass bottles. 2nd runner-up is long-distance beer (i.e. out-of-state or country) in aluminum cans. Still, I know...

Co-blogger is networking like mad at a work conference in Minneapolis and I've received word that amongst other things, he's consumed beer cheese soup. Exhibit A: Thanks to lovely Laurie for the evidence. Yes, this is popcorn garnish you see. Crazy, huh?

Hope all the "Rent" fanatics catch on to this post title... I dined at Rumba last night with some friends and lo-and-behold their wine on Sunday eve is half-priced . I scored a bottle of red for $12 and, as I drank one glass there, they corked it for me and I took it home. Nice deal for a Sunday when the liquor stores are closed and you want a bottle for snuggling on the sofa and whatnot. ;-) Asheville's becoming quite the microbrew hot spot - back when I lived there (up until 2005) the best places to grab a homemade pint were Barley's, home of the Highland Gaelic Ale, Jack of the Wood for their Green Man line, and Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company, makers of the divine Shiva IPA. Now there's a couple new games in town - Pisgah and The Wedge, to name a few. Didn't get a chance to try them, but I was amazed to hear about all the competition. I did check out a new watering hole, The Thirsty Monk, which specializes in Belgian beer, now occupying the former Almo...