Look at My Stuff - Donnie Baseball

Disclosure: I grew up a Yankees fan. So, it being the 80's, I loved Don Mattingly (and Dave Winfield, Dave Righetti, etc.)

(But hey, now I pull for a team that can't do anything right!)

So here's my Don Mattingly action figure.






And here's Donnie Baseball battling it out with Obi-Wan Kenobi with a dinosaur in the background.

Look at My Stuff - Star Wars Edition

Because one post about my Star Wars action figures wasn't enough, I bring you this post.

In middle school I sold off most of my Star Wars action figures. Apparently I managed to miss a few while herding them for the yard sale. Like these two duders. I have no clue who they are, except that they look pretty lame. Then there's Yoda.





Pictured above are two different versions of Yoda. On the left is the modern action figure. I think I bought this one around the time The Phantom Menace arrived in theaters. He's pretty lame. On the right is the old 80's version. He's got his own snake, cane and bathrobe to go along with some crazy eyes. You don't get that attention to detail these days.

Dogfish Head Midas Touch

I think this is one of the beers that they recreated based on some super-duper anthropology type stuff.

It um... tastes... interesting? On the bottle it said something about brewed with grapes. There may be a slight grape juice or something taste. It reminds me more of mead that I've tasted than beer.

I'm certainly glad I didn't buy a six pack of this. At the same time, its interesting enough that I might try one of the other beers they re-created based on residue from a shard of pottery.

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

So I wanted to try this for sometime after I read about it in a New Yorker article a while back.

For being 12% abv, it doesn't have a strong alcohol taste to it. I'd say it doesn't taste like a brown ale, but I'm not an expert at these sorts of things. Its closer to a porter than a brown ale. A lot of heavy roasted malts in the taste. Overall, its pretty drinkable and enjoyable. I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to pick up another bottle though (even if it was aged in a gigantic wood barrel).

Unibroue - Don De Dieu

I really like this beer. Its pretty fruity and citrusy (pretty sure that's not a word) than most of the beers I usually like. A pretty great summer beer. Just don't drink 4 of them in a row or you'll be plastered (9% abv)

That's it.

Look at my Stuff - I Can't Believe I Pull For These Losers

Baseball arrived in the District of Columbia in the Spring of 2005. I went to the first game of the second home series, thanks to my former place of employment. The Newtster tagged along.

An inning or so into the game, I yelled out "N-A-T-S NATS NATS NATS!" Yes, I know its remarkable similar to the Jets cheer. But people just turned around and stared at me. People, its a baseball game, you're allowed to cheer.

4.5 years later, Nationals fans (all seven of us) still don't know how to cheer.



Also pictured above:
1. Cubs ticket. A friend in Chicago and I went to a game. I believe it was the first start for Mark Prior (or Kerry Wood) coming off an injury. I drank a bunch of beer and was generally amazed at how small the stadium was.
2. A portion of a Nationals vs. Brewers ticket. It says its a day game, but I can't remember skipping out of work that year for a game, considering I didn't really get "hooked" on the Nats until the 2006 season.

Bonus Request: If anyone has that ridiculous video of me cheering at the Nats/Cubs game from 3 years ago, post it now.

Look at my Stuff

This one is obviously pretty old. I think I unearthed this when my parents were moving out of my childhood home a few years ago. It must be (at this point) 19 years old.

A few things that I remember about the visit:
1. I was super impressed with how fast the elevator moved.
2. I wondered if you could extend a tight-rope between the WTC and the Empire State Building. I now realize this is an absurd distance, but you could tight rope walk between the towers.

Harpoon Helles Blond Bock

Honestly, I drank this the other day, and I don't remember much about it.

It was probably alright, I'm not sure I'll buy another though.

Random Beer Thoughts

Somewhere in the move I managed to misplace the pictures I took of the beers below, so you get some lame text instead of lame pictures.

Left Hand Imperial Stout
It has just the right amount of carbonation. Tastes a little like molasses. Its a good, big flavored stout. I'd buy it again.

Ithaca Cascazilla
Described as "Monstrously Hoppy Red Ale"

Definitely hoppy for a red ale, but not like an IPA. It works. Its has a sweet malty taste to it. I like it. Bonus points for having a fire breathing lizard on the beer label.

Sierra Nevada BigFoot Ale
big taste upfront. very bitter at first with some malty sweetness. this is not a beer that you would sit down and have a few at a time.
i think i need a summer ale of some sort after that.

Look at my Stuff - Pt 1

A new city (sort of) means a new feature for the blog!!

In this new recurring series, I will present you with stuff that I own.

Some of it will be interesting, most of it will inevitably not be interesting. You be the judge.




Pictured above is an Obi-Wan Kenobi Star Wars Action figure. If I recall correctly, I received this figure by saving proof-of-purchases off of Kellogg's Cereal Boxes in my younger years. I'm not sure why I kept this one figure, but sold off basically every other one I owned. He doesn't even have a totally super awesome lightsaber that pops out of his arm.

Hi?

Mandy and I have successfully moved back to DC.

"Regular" blogging will resume momentarily.

Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar

We went out to eat last week at Lost Dog Cafe. In addition to the enjoyable gimmick pizza (they put on a ton of sauce and cheese, the crust can be droopy but the edge is awesome), they typically have a great beer list here.

On this particular trip, I was in the mood for a darker beer. My options were the Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout or Rogue's Hazelnut Brown Nectar. I choose the later.

For some reason I concentrated on the "Brown Nectar" portion of the name, and not the "Hazelnut" adjective. This beer was extremely sweet and not a good match for the spicy onion rings that we ordered as an appetizer. It tasted like someone poured a hazelnut coffee creamer in a beer. I definitely wouldn't order this again.

Bonus Newtster Thoughts: "Tastes like a Werther's"

Victory Golden Monkey

Hmm.

Not sure what to write about this one. Its a belgian tripel. It doesn't taste as strong as it actually is. It has a medium amount of carbonation. Slightly sweet/caramel flavor. Maybe its slightly... creamy? maybe a slight hint of banana, but not as much as some others out there.

Hmm.

I'm not sure I particularly like this one, especially since I can't come up with a good way to describe it.

Bonus Mandy Thoughts: "It smells and tastes like a Belgian. Not a person. A beer."

Lagunitas Maximus

Pours with a nice head.

Smells good. Nice hops floral aroma. [This is incredibly cheesy, but exactly what I wrote while drinking it]

Very nice. I like it a lot. Nice bitter aftertaste. Good times. I actually like this a lot. Good fruity taste. I'd highly recommend this.

Bonus Mandy Thoughts: "Doesn't smell as hoppy/aftertasty. I like it better than other ipas. Not as bitter aftertaste as other ones you have me try. Slightly fruiter."

Stone Smoked Porter

Hmm. Definitely smokey. I'm not sure I like it. I'm not really getting a lot out of this. Slight coffee taste to it. Not really creamy or anything like that. It has a pretty bitter aftertaste.

The charcoal/smoke taste just overwhelms it for me. I mean, its on the label "smoked porter", I just didn't think it would be this smoked. I won't be buying another.

Leffe Blonde

This is one of the first beers that I remember really liking. Like almost everyone else in college, I went on a little trip to Europe at one point. Prior to this, I think I drank a lot of Icehouse and Southpaw. I was in Brussels for two or three days, and we drank a fair amount Leffe Blonde and Brunne, as it was pretty ubiquitous there.

This had an ample amount of carbonation with a slightly nutty flavor. Its a little sweet as well.

Its always a good one to have about once a year. In the end, I much prefer the Leffe Brunne though.

Blue Moon Honey Moon

I'm not sure if I've ranted about Blue Moon here yet. I don't think I'll start now, so this will be short.

This had a pretty sweet finish (not a good thing). ugh.

I will not be buying this again.

Blue Point Summer Ale

A little more "traditional" in the summer ale category.

A little fruitier and not as malty as the brooklyn. Its nice. I like it.

Bonus review from Mandy: "I prefer [Magic Hat] #9 if I'm going to have a fruity beer. Its not offensive. Its fruiter than Sam summer and Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Brewery IPA

Nice floral smell.

I actually drank a Club Lemonade (thank you Butcher Block) immediately before enjoying this, so I think my taste buds are a little off. It has a little more caramel taste than I remember, and its not overly hoppy. Maybe this is because I typically drink it out of a bottle (a "beer tasting" no-no).

I guess I just enjoy more hops in my IPA. This didn't have the bitter aftertaste that I'm looking for in an IPA.

Its good for its availability in NYC, but I won't be buying this after I leave here.

Brooklyn Summer Ale

Hmm. A little darker than most "summer ales", which I don't think is an actual type of beer.

I like it though, its maybe a little maltier than a lot of summer ales, but it still not too heavy for my tastes.

Its a good start to the summer beer season, much better than the Blue Moon summer seasonal that we had a few days earlier and will be written about at some point when I crack open the last one (I'm not in any rush).

Left Hand Milk Stout

I purchased this at the same time as the Lagunitas Brown Shugga, as I was looking for some beers on the darker end of the spectrum. This lived up to what I was hoping for.

It poured pretty dark, with not a lot of head. It had a slight coffee smell. It had a nice amount of carbonation and tasted slightly sweet and of coffee. I liked it a lot.

I'd definitely recommend this, especially if you're a fan of sweeter stouts.

Lagunitas IPA

Part two of my Lagunitas drinking extravaganza.

This poured with a nice head and left some lacing on the glass as I drank it. It had a nice hop flavor and was pretty drinkable. All in all, I think I like it a lot. I'd definitely buy a six pack of this. But I generally have a soft spot for IPAs.

Lagunitas Brown Shugga Sweet Release

A few Friday's ago, I went into the neighborhood beer store (the one with the good selection). I felt like a brown ale, possibly because I've been drinking Avery's Brown Ale anytime I see it on draft in the city (its an amazing beer). I saw this on the shelf with "brown" prominently displayed on the packaging and thought it would hit the spot.

I was in for a surprise when I opened it at home. Long story short, its actually a strong ale that's brewed with brown sugar. Not a brown ale. Woops.

As such, my entire experience with this beer was tainted. I guess it was good. It fairly malty and was just slightly bitter. Even thought it had a high ABV, the alcohol didn't overpower everything else. In the end, if you're looking for a brown ale, don't buy this beer. If you're looking for something that will get you buzzed from two beers, this is for you.

Dunkin' Donuts

Mandy brought this donut home for me recently. She said it was a "very berry" donut or something of the sort. Whatever it was, it was scary looking.

The frosting almost tasted like strawberry Quick (that's not good). The donut was filled with vanilla creme (like a Boston Creme). Overall, it was pretty terrible, mostly because of the icing. If they still have these in stores, I'd recommend staying far, far away.

Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA

I've always liked the standard Sierra Nevada ale. It works in a pinch. Its not bland or overly bitter and can be generally found at every corner deli.

I read somewhere online about this beer and was intrigued. This IPA is supposedly one of the first new year round brews for Sierra Nevada in sometime

This poured with a good head. It was actually maltier than I expected. Its not extremely hoppy/bitter (for an IPA). I think I actually like this better than their standard ale.

I'd definitely buy this again, just probably not in my neighborhood (a six pack would've been $12).

Blue Point Toasted Lager

Hello, blog. As I haven't really been doing any interesting cooking this past month, I've decided to share my drinking adventures instead.

Up first is Blue Point's Toasted Lager. Generally available in the tri-state area (that's NY, NJ and CT; not MD, VA, WV and MT or whatever).

I'd had a couple of these over at Hobo Gary's at some point, but I couldn't remember whether I liked it or not. After drinking a six pack over the course of a week, I'm still not sure if I really like it all that much.

It has a nice amber color and pours with a sizeable head. It goes down smooth with just a slightly bitter aftertaste. I could probably drink a lot in a row. In the end, its really just tastes like a standard lager to me. I'd probably save my cash in the future and just drink Yuengling instead.

Sal, Kris and Charlie's

It was very spring-like this past weekend, so Mandy determined that we should do something outside. We made our way to Astoria and walked along the river for a while.

The nice weather was also the perfect cover for me to make a trip to Sal, Kris and Charlie's. I'm not sure how I'd heard about it, but it the reviews said they made amazing sandwiches. That was enough for me.

I ordered an italian combo. It was pretty good. It came with hot & sweet peppers on it, I'd try to get roasted red peppers instead next time. The provolone (at least I think it was provolone) was a bit sharp, I would've preferred some mozzarella instead (or some milder provolone). Everything else was thoroughly enjoyable.

Oh, the sandwich was very large. I ate about 2/3rds of it for dinner and then the rest for lunch the next day.

I'm not sure if its worth a trip to Astoria solely for the sandwich, but not a bad option if you're in the area.

Roasted Chicken

This post comes with the following advice: don't go grocery shopping after 4 beers. You may end up with a 7lb chicken. It was on sale!!

I prepared this monstrosity of a chicken by roasting it in the oven for about 2 hours with some rosemary and lemons inside. The white meat was thoroughly dried out (exactly as Mandy likes it) while the dark meat was pretty close to perfect for me.

More Pizza!

This was the third or fourth time we've made pizza.

I can't remember if we used a different dough recipe this time or not. Mandy is typically in charge of the dough-making. We did bake the crust again without toppings for about 5 minutes, and then for a few minutes with the toppings. It seemed to work out a little too well. It may have had something to do with the pan we used (a dark baking sheet vs light baking sheet) or the recipe.

In the end, the crust's texture resembled a Celeste frozen pizza. It was pretty crispy and not very chewy. It was pretty good, but not the best we've had.

Here was Mandy's pizza, burnt to her exact specifications:


And here was my pizza, looking perfect (if I may say so):

Brownies

After buying a massive amount of cocoa powder in order to make molten chocolate cake, I had to come up with something else to bake to use the remaining powder (probably 4 cups).

I settled on these brownies from Alton Brown. The reviews said they would occasionally come out cakey. People adjusted with less eggs and things like that. I just went with the original recipe.

They weren't hard to make (except for sifting the brown sugar, ugh). They weren't super chewy but they were super chocolaty. The Newtster devoured one brownie in approximately 5 seconds, so I suppose they passed the taste test. Mandy also seemed to like them as long as she thought of them more as chocolate cake or something than brownies.

If I have cocoa powder sitting around again, I'll probably make these.

My Other Project

I think we need to talk, Joe Cooks Dinner and Stuff.

I've started another blog. I'm terribly sorry. Its not you, its me (well, and your readership). I just don't think everyone here cares about Wake Forest basketball as much as I do. So I don't think its appropriate for me to go on about offensive efficiency and +/- numbers here.

I promise I still want to be friends. I'll still cook (and stuff) and post here. Really, I promise. I mean, look I've still been posting here even though I've been going behind your back for over a month now. [Cue slap in the face]

Why did I wait to tell you? I wasn't sure it'd stick. I'm still not sure I'll keep it up. But I had to come clean.

I really hope you'll be able to forgive me.

Chocolate (lava) Cake

I decided to try and make chocolate lava cake for Mandy's birthday. I'm not entirely sure why I chose this, but Mandy likes chocolate so I'm sure that had something to do with it.

It was fairly easy to make, and I'll certainly try it again with one or two adjustments. I would be to only make two cakes (the recipe called to split the batter between 4 small ramekins). Between the baking time and the amount of batter in the ramekins (not enough), it was basically baked through. It came out more like a flourless chocolate cake than a chocolate lava cake. Luckily Mandy's was still fairly molten or however you want to describe it.


(These are 5 oz ramekins but look pretty large here for some reason)



2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
5 tbsps butter
3 tbsps sugar
3.5 oz dark chocolate (basically one bar)
3 tbsps flour
4 tsps cocoa powder (teaspoons here)
pinch of salt
1/8 tsp vanilla

Butter the ramekins.

Whisk the eggs, yolks and sugar together until they are a light/lemony color.

Break the chocolate bar, melt with butter. Don't cook the butter to the point where it breaks down, just melt it all. Either do it real low in the microwave or in a double boiler setup.

Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture. Whisk until combined

Add cocoa powder and flour (sifted in). Add the pinch of salt and vanilla. Mix well.

Split the mixture between ramekins (it called for 4, but I would do 2). Tap down to get rid of air bubbles.

Wrap & chill for 30 minutes.

Pour hot water into the baking dish (should come halfway up the ramekins). Rest the ramekins in the dish. Bake at 425 for 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes.

Kitchen Disaster

Whenever I make bacon, I drain off the fat into a bowl and place it somewhere in the kitchen to allow it to solidify.

What follows is a recipe for a kitchen disaster:

One bowl of bacon fat
Open window
Curtains
40 mph wind gusts

Place bowl near open window & curtains. Let sit overnight with heavy wind gusts.

See the picture below for optimal outcome.

Green Curry Chicken

Mandy suggested I make this for dinner for myself and I complied. I think she just really wanted me to get rid of the can of coconut milk that had been in our cupboard for months.


List of Ingredients:
About a pound of chicken (I used chicken thighs)
Green Curry Paste (about a tablespoon, I should've used more)
Two cloves garlic
Can of unsweetened coconut milk
Some chicken stock (I have no idea how much I put in, probably about 1/2 cup)
Handful of green beans
One red pepper


I heated the some olive oil with the two cloves of garlic and curry paste. I then sauteed the chicken until it was cooked almost entirely through. Then went in the remamining ingredients, which I brought to a boil, then simmered for about 20-25 minutes. While the curry was simmering I made my rice.

Pretty straight forward. It doesn't have a "complex" taste like you might encounter at a Thai restaurant, but its good enough for my dinner.

Random Deliciousness

I present to you, chicken fried in bacon fat.

They were eventually placed onto some nachos along with bacon, red peppers and cheese.

Delicious.

French Toast

Mandy recently baked some cinnamon bread. It was alright, although I believe she did not like it at all.

So in an effort to eat the entire loaf myself, I made a lot of french toast. I believe I made some for three or four straight days.

Where the bread failed as simple toast, it excelled as being the basis for french toast. I simply soaked the bread in an egg/milk/cinnamon mixture and then fried it in some butter. I served it (to myself) with a light dusting of cinnamon sugar.

The Maury Show!!

Oh man. What a day.

When Mandy and I first moved to New York, we decided we would try to be in the studio audience for as many shows as we could go to. I went to see Conan with some friends. A larger group of us (including Mandy) later saw The Colbert Report.

We were scheduled to go see a taping of Letterman, but something got canceled along the way and it was rescheduled to a time that Mandy couldn't go to. I decided to bail on that instead of going by myself.

So apparently while bored one day, I applied for tickets to the Maury Show. I basically forgot all about this until about two weeks ago when I got an email informing me that I had two tickets for a Wednesday taping.

We showed up at around 8am to the studio (which is located near Penn Station). We actually got to line up inside (better situation than the Colbert Report which was outside). They then lets us into a waiting room where we got to sit down and watch... The Maury Show!!! Well, it was just airing on the local channel here.

Eventually, they led us into the studio. Mandy and I were then placed in the front row. Not bad seats, except that a PA or someone of the sort sat right in front of us. Their job was to write prompts on big cue cards for the guests (gotta stick to the script right?). They also prompted the audience for reactions to whatever the guests were saying. This was a large step up from the dude at the Colbert Report who would come around during commercial breaks yelling, "YOU HAVE TO LAUGH LOUDER!!!! LAUGH LOUDER!!!!!" Very pleasant fellow.

Before Maury came out, the producer came on stage and asked if anyone wanted to dance on stage. This prompted about 20 girls to get up and do their thing to that terrible Beyonce song that has her singing about all the single ladies. When Maury finally came in, he proceeded to dance with the ladies. Good times.

During commercial breaks, Maury would pose with people on stage. Quite a show.

We were in the audience for two show tapings. The first was "I Suspect My Significant Other is Cheating" or something like that. There were "lie detector" tests involved. The second taping was all paternity tests.

One of the men subject to the paternity test had been on the show for three prior babies. He had been proven to not be the father in those three cases. When this test also came back negative, he ran around the audience with four fingers held up in each hand yelling "Four for Four!!! Four for Four!!!" high-fiving people as he went around. Very amusing.

For the second taping, a group of five clearly drunk people showed up with "Maury" spelled across their faces (i.e., one had "M", another "A", etc.). They were made to take the marker off their face. Very sad. The "M" continued to make a commotion, yelling out random comments during taping. The director eventually threw him and his friends out. It was welcomed by the audience.

Overally, it was a pretty decent experience. I'd say the two tapings were a little overboard, one would've been enough quality entertainment for one day.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last Friday I was a man possessed in the kitchen. Mandy and I whipped up a batch of mac'n'cheese with bacon and I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies. The mac'n'cheese came together faster than ever before, mainly because I remembered to start the sauce before I did anything else.

But anyway, onto the cookies. I like my cookies chewy. Not "cakey", not crisp. Chewy. Once again, I was using a modified Alton Brown recipe. His calls for bread flour, which I did not have. In theory, it should produce a chewier cookie because of the extra protein in the flour, but I've also had mixed results with it in the past. As I just picked up a large bag of bread flour for Mandy's bread baking, I'll probably try using it again someday.

Once again, our oven gave me some issues. It runs on the hot side, and definitely has hot spots towards the front of the oven. The first batch came out a little too done, but the second batch was just perfect.

If you find yourself interested in baking cookies (and more specifically chocolate chip cookies), the Good Eats episode "Three Chips for Sister Marsha" is recommended viewing. You can search for it on youtube. It explains some of the science behind egg whites, flour and sugar types in baking. Good stuff.

I'm still cooking and stuff

Hello again.

I've still been cooking, but I've been neglecting taking pictures.

So, here is a picture of some mashed potatoes and steak.

The fillet mignon was given to me by my parents. I seared it in my newish cast iron skillet and then threw it in the oven for a few minutes. There may, or may not, have been bacon fat involved.

It was pretty decent.

My parents also got me a 10 pound bag of potatoes. I haven't been eating them as frequently as I should. Oh well. But on this particular night, I whipped up a batch of mashed potatoes for myself. Once again, they were pretty decent.


If anyone wants to discuss making steak without a grill of any sort, just let me know. I have plenty of theories.


In other news, I've been spending time on a project that is way too dense for Joe Cooks Dinner and Stuff. If I manage to keep up with it for more than a week, I'll probably unveil it to the public. Later duders.

Glugg

Another holiday tradition in my family is glugg. My grandfather apparently made it every year and it was always quite the hit (I was not fortunate enough to try his original concoctions).

Together with my mom, I whipped up a batch (vat) while I was home this past week.

It is really quite simple and quite delicious/intoxicating. When it is first put together it tastes like a slightly sweeter manhattan, but if you let it sit for a day it loses a lot of its edge once the spices get "all up in it."

I'm also not quite sure what the reflective film is on the second picture, but I'm sure it is either adding to the deliciousness or alcohol content of the drink.

Glugg (yields enough to get lots of people drunk)
1 bottle rye whiskey (we used seagrams 7)
1 bottle port (can't remember what we used)
1 bottle sweet vermouth
handful of almonds
1/4 cup dark raisins
1/4 cup golden raisins
10-12 cardamom seeds
6-10 cloves (i think that's right)
4-5 cinnamon sticks

bring it all to a slight simmer. add in simple syrup (2 parts sugar to 1 part water heated up) to taste. done.

If you want to put on a show and burn off some of the alcohol, you can light the whole thing with a match (just don't blow yourself up if you're using a gas stove). This will reduce the drunk yield so I don't think I'd recommend it.