Tag Archives: food

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Beer

Slowly catching up with things but more importantly here is the first post on the promised beer lovers guide to the USA – or, what Jim has drank and enjoyed so far …

Last trip was music, BBQ and beer based; this time around it is food, beer tasting and seeing the sights. I haven’t been keeping a score system of what is the best – as it is very hard to find a bad beer. But what I have been doing is trying to write down all the types and from which brewery. I’ve mentioned before the price of beer – and it is value for money – so the price makes it more enjoyable when sampling as many different beers. I have included most beers on my list and the only one to leave off is a Singha we had with a Thai dinner in Spokane (and an excellent dinner it was too).

Before I get into the first blog, we have left Portland (Friday over here) and started our meandering drive down the Oregon/California coastline. This is supposed to be one of the world’s best drives and from what we have seen so far the scenery is breathtaking (not everywhere but the bits that you do see are worth seeing). More on this later, so back to the beer …

I’ll do this by cities. First up is Vancouver B.C. (have to put on the British Columbia bit as there is another Vancouver in Washington that confuses the locals).

Not bad but nothing outstanding. First up was a Steamworks Cascadia Golden Ale  which we had on our first night so any beer was a good beer. This was followed with a Molson Canadian with our seafood feast at the Fish Shack (see the earlier blog on this). Now this is something I would definitely buy if I found it back home – nothing great but very drinkable.

Fugly Ale

Fugly Aly – mmmm!

Next cab off the rank was a novelty beer at the Cactus Club restaurant. This is a bit of a chain renowned for waitresses in tight skirts, TVs on the wall and good food. And on the night we went they had a special beer, which Jim just had to try. It was called the Fugly – which was an Ugly Ale (house brew) topped with a splash of frozen bellini (peach schnapps). This beer was unique and actually quite nice. And the food was pretty good too. Here’s a shot of the beer and my creole steak and prawns (or surf n turf if you prefer).
 

Creole Steak and Prawns - yumm!

Creole Steak and Prawns – yumm!

We also ventured to the Yaletown Brewing Company restaurant (think big bar) where I went for the flight, which if you are unaware of the technicalities of beer tasting is a sample of several of the tap beers. I went for the IPA, Pale Ale and Lager and must have been too excited because I can’t find what happened to the photo of the beer, unless I just drank that and only took a picture of my food – deep-fried pickles and a BBQ chicken pizza (the beer is in the background). This was a good place but we were in an area booked out for what looked like an after training work function (which made for interesting people watching – e.g. the party guys, the nerds, the guy who sucked-up to the boss, the guy who thought he was on a thing with the younger office girl until their table got crashed by maybe some of the tutors) and the waitress did not change the TV from Modern Family to the NFL.

Deep fried picklesBBQ chicken and beer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And to finish off Vancouver we went for a few stubbies of local brews at the Hotel – a Stanley Park lager and pilsner and an Eastside Bitter.

Stanley ParkEast side bitter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing was disappointing – and the tally so far is 9. I thought about rating and tasting notes and blah, blah, blah but that just gets in the way of drinking.

 

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The owls were flying

Okay, back to the holiday – or should I say vacation. I mentioned we picked up our car in Seattle for the drive over to Spokane and then from Spokane, driving on down to Portland.

We have a Nissan Altima with Oregon plates, which helps in fitting in with the crowd. It’s not bad to drive but there is some terrible glare through the windscreen, i.e. bouncing off the rather large dash. The radio is okay and does well at selecting all kinds of music in this area – country or christian. Although we did find one that was original rock, think AC/DC et al.

Staying on the right is not a problem, just those damn windscreen wipers being where the indicator should be.

The first drive was about 4 hours which was very scenic as we drive through the forested mountains but then flattened out to not very much as we got closer to Spokane.

Home » The owls were flying » Seattle to Spokane
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The second trip, well that was the opposite, although at one stage we drove through a dust storm – very windy, very dusty. Especially in one place – Connell – that had a prison and trailer park; and dust and a not so clean rest-stop but when you gotta stop you gotta stop as there aren’t many opportunities and it does add to the fun(?) of the trip. Although we did a detour to stops for lunch at Bacon & Eggs in a place called Walla Walla, which is a bit of a wine area and fantastic food.

And I almost forgot, the trip was that much more exciting as Mr Garmin sent us on Washington side of the river to the older state highway, rather than the Oregon side on the newer interstate – still got to the same place just a different view.

Home » The owls were flying » Spokane to Portland
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Excuse some of the photos as not easy using a camera while driving and there are the customary bugs on the screen. I’ll stick a map in here when I can remember how to do it … and I remembered

 

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And the Footy Season is Gone

Last weekend and the Hawks came through and won their eleventh AFL premiership, beating the first-timers Fremantle Dockers. Not an overly exciting game but it was football – or actually there was some excitement or maybe some groan moments. Freo just couldn’t kick a goal and the footballer voted as the one that most others want to hit – Haydn Ballantyne – just couldn’t do anything.

I was most disappointed as I had tipped Fremantle and Nick Fyfe for the Norm Smith. If Feo had won, Fyfe might have been a chance to bring home some bacon for me. But alas, the only pork I has that day was some excellent ribs. Pulled out the BGE and tried out a rib rack I scored for my birthday RibRackand it worked a treat. The ribs were excellent, and so were the dogs and so would have been the chillie but Sophia and Dano left that at home – another day, maybe. But something that doesn’t wait for another day was the Mountain Goat I chose from Dan Murphy’s. I went there to pick up a six pack and extras but came back with a six pack, carton, extras and key-ring. They had a tasting night with some specials – and I am a sucker for a special. I went for the IPA, after trying the Hightail Ale, Steam Ale, Summer Ale (bit sweet for me), and a special brew in conjunction with Brooklyn Brewery (fine establishment and great beer – visited there on our first trip to USA) Hopfweizenbock – not a quaffing beer for watching the footy, maybe with a nice meal (not that the ribs and dogs weren’t nice, just you didn’t need a knife and fork).

But the footy is now over – draft and exchange period to look forward to and will Carlton make the finals on their own in 2014 – Go Blues. I can now cheer for the Ravens, but I doubt they will go back-to-back. And we’re off to the States again with tickets booked for the 49ers – should be good, so will the food, beer and sites – if they are open as I hear USA is closing down.

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We Got Pulled Pork and Ribs

We usually have a bit of a BBQ for 4th July and have a few friends over – only problem it is always absolutely freezing cold and even though the Egg has some heat it’s not the kind to keep you warm and huddle over. Anyways, a few of our regulars were away so we toned down the invite list and maybe will reschedule our USA night for some other day.

But it was still a good day to pull out the Egg and I sat in the carport watching it warm while strumming away – this is what came to my head as I strummed some slow 12 bar blues:

It’s cold out here … It’s cold out here … And when the barbey’s done … grab yourself a beer … It’s cold out here

Pulled pork and ribs … pulled pork and ribs … and when the barbey’s done … grab yourself some bibs … pulled pork and ribs

Soft buns and slaw … soft buns and slaw … and when the barbey’s done … grab yourself some more … soft buns and slaw

And this is what came out of the Weber and Big Green Egg

 

Beer can chicken

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Let’s Get These Ratings Finished: Dallas

To quote from that all-time classic The Blues Brothers – “Well, this is it?”

Not that far off twelve months ago we embarked on our bars, beers, music, food and BBQ tour (with the dog trainers conference thrown in for a reason for travelling). By stretching out these ratings it brings back the memories. And for the final memory we have Dallas – key things to know about Dallas: have a car and have some time to use it. We had neither but still enjoyed ourselves, especially as we scored yet another hotel upgrade.

Accommodation – we stayed at the very, very nice Magnolia downtown. Loved the complementary beer and cookies, hotel staff were friendly and accommodating – the shuttle was a bonus and took us beyond the limits because we asked nicely. Would recommend this hotel with a 4.5 out of 5.

Food – this was such a long time ago I don’t remember everything but I do remember the excellent Mexican at the Iron Cactus (see the earlier tequila post), and first night we ate at some pub around the corner – typical pub. We didn’t venture but what we had was enough for a 3 out of 5.

Activities – there was probably quite a lot we didn’t see but 100% for the sixth floor museum and the Dealey Plaza. And Caroline wanted me to mention how disappointed she was with Nieuman Marcus (means nothing to me but I’m sure it means plenty to others). We were restricted without transport but didn’t really find enough to get us over a 2 out of 5.

X Factor – in my notes I have written “dead downtown”, and it was surprisingly quiet. We never went to Fortworth as again we were relying on shanks’ pony so I am sure there is plenty more than we saw but I can only give a 2 out of 5.

So that’s it folks. The end of the ratings as after Dallas we flew to LA then home. One day I may tally the scores or if you are very bored then you can look back through the older posts and add them up yourself.

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Nearly Finished the Ratings – Austin

Austin, Texas is one of our favourites – we’ve been there before and will be there again. Search and have a read of some of the earlier posts, but because I started this, turn the page for Austin ratings.

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I Should Never Have Started the Ratings: Lafayette

Okay, I’ve been a little slack of late but hey, at least I can strum a few chords on the guitar now, which is keeping my spare time occupied. I find it kind of relaxing and enjoyable – just like Lafayette.

We didn’t really know Lafayette but didn’t have the time to go to New Orleans  as we were making our way West (maybe if we hadn’t been there before we would have found the time). And one of the things we wanted to do this trip was to see the swamps. So, Lafayette it was.

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Hope You Had a Good One … Mate!

Thursday January 26 2012 – Happy Australia Day 😀

So, did you get up to the traditional Aussie stuff – wear some thongs, drape an Australian flag out the window or on the car, wear some green and gold, watch the cricket, have your own game on the road out the front, fire up the barbie (as in BBQ and not the doll), kill off a few stubbies of VB, eat a baby lamb or one of our national animals, get excited because you have a day off and start to feel ill for the Friday sickie so you can have an extra long weekend, go to the beach or the park, go to some local celebration or even better a citizenship ceremony, or just kick back and do naff all wondering why you have a day off?

Well, I tried to cram in as much as I could – pity there was only a sprinkling of Australiana involved. Started on the Wednesday night when we went to the Espy in St Kilda (gets a tick) to see one of our friends in a local band (another tick) – Faith and Gasoline (check them out on youtube), this was after some very nice Asian at Chinta Blues and Asahi beer (no ticks there). A few after show beers at the Prince of Wales (another tick), drank Carlton draught (tick) in a pint (no tick) and finished with a Jack Daniels and dry (if it was with coke could almost have scored a tick as at the distillery they told us Australia is the third largest consumer of Jack Daniels).

Did the right thing and caught a cab home. Very friendly driver- has been driving cabs for about five years and settled here as a refugee from Ethiopea many years ago. Spent three years in a refugee camp before coming to Australia – some of his family went to USA, others Norway, but he loves Australia and finds it so safe and friendly (ticks all round).

Australia day very tired, walked the dogs, went back to bed, crumpets for breakfast (not really a tick) with the vegemite still in the cupboard (bad, bad) but I did have honey (okay, not as Aussie as vegemite but at least it’s traditional and you know what is in it). Lunch we headed to Pollywoodside (tick) but didn’t go on board (close to a tick) and ate at the Boatbuilders (tick) with a burger and fish and chips (two ticks there) but had a Pepsi (doesn’t count as a tick). Followed up by a look around DFO (they would love to give it a tick but I don’t think DFO earns a tick).

Home and went to the park with the dogs (tick) and a throw of the American football (no ticks there) but we did listen to the cricket in the car (tick – needs more Kerry O’Keefe and less Geoff Lawson). Still on the sport theme flicked on the Foxtel for a bit of ESPN USA sport (no ticks – can’t help it if I’m not really that enthused by tennis) and sat down to some very nice risotto (no ticks) and a catch-up on Deadwood (if Gus Mercurio was still alive he’d fit in well like he did in Cash & Co and Tandarra – look those up young-uns, these were about Australian Deadwoods so would have earnt a tick but because Deadwood is American there are no ticks).

And that was about it, excited to be Australian and knowing that I have the Friday off without taking a sickie – ready to put to use my new rotary hammer from Bunnings (tick).

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Are We There Yet? The Ratings – Natchez

I shouldn’t have started this but because I have, then I must finish – soon.

Anyways, we left Clarksdale (a day too early as there was a festival starting that afternoon but just no time), headed down Highway 61 for a coffee stop at Vicksburg then onto Natchez via the Natchez Park Traceway (I’ve put the turn-off on the map as a marker because we headed away from our route then back again).

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I Haven’t Forgotten the Ratings – Clarksdale

Without tallying the results, it would be obvious we really enjoyed Clarksdale, which is summed up nicely in the previous posts – too lazy to link so search Clarksdale and find them for yourself (there are several to choose from).

It had pretty much everything we were after – surprising accommodation, good food, good music, interesting things to see – but one thing we weren’t after and that put a literal damper on our two night stay – real crappy weather.

On the map I have put markers for Tupelo (the birthplace of Elvis is worthy of a marker) and two markers for where we stayed in Clarksdale.

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