thanks wife

For Valentines Day Lelaine took me to a wonderful dinner that combined two of my favorite things: pizza and beer. On Monday we went to Pizza Paradiso in Georgetown for a six course food/beer pairing. All of the beer was from Troeg's and one of their guys on hand to give a rundown of each beer and answer any questions.

She bought two tickets and let me know that I could invite whoever else I wanted. Since I enjoy spending time with her...and since she doesn't like beer so I knew I would get hers...I told her I wanted her to be my +1.

It ended up not being six different pizzas, but the food was still very good, with one exception. First was a Pale Ale with pickled carrots, cauliflower, onions, and mushrooms. This was the exception. I don't understand why anyone would pickle anything. Why waste a perfectly good carrot by making it taste terrible? At least Lelaine liked it, and the beer was good. Lelaine even had a couple sips of the beer before handing it over to me.

Second was trout with the Dream Weaver Wheat. The trout wasn't bad. I'm not a fish guy, but it was pretty light and not overpowering. It was nice with the beer since both had a lemon taste. Dream Weaver isn't my favorite wheat, but it is good. Lelaine loved the fish and thought the beer was ok.

Next came sausage and wheat berries with Nugget Nectar on cask. I wrote a post about Nugget Nectar a couple weeks ago. It was great to have it real, as casks don't have added carbonation other than what the beer naturally makes. The sausage was great, and the veal glaze that came with it was good, but I don't think I will be rushing out to buy wheat berries anytime soon. Lelaine liked the food but the beer was a little strong for her wee self.

Fourth was a "Breakfast Pie" of pancetta, spnich, potato, egg, and blue cheese served with Troegenator, a dopplebock. We both thought this pizza was our favorite course. Unfortunately they don't offer it on their regular menu (except for the next course, I don't think of the food is regularly served), because otherwise we would be going back tonight. This beer was also a little too strong for Lelaine. I had never had it before, but liked it. Nice roasted malts. I wouldn't make this a session beer, but it was pretty good.

The last main course was a roasted vegtable pizza and the HopBack Amber. This is the first time in my life I have ever had a vegetable pizza. It was good, but it could have benefited from some...meat. Fortunately Pizza Paradiso has excellent crust, so even something with inferior, or at least missing, toppings is still going to be tasty. HopBack Amber was the beer that first hooked me on Troegs. I like it so much that not only did it make the list for my 30th birthday, but it is probably in my five favorites. It is every bit an IPA as it is an amber ale, due to the amount of hops, and that is why I like it. Along with Fat Tire, it is one of my two favorite amber ales.

For dessert we had a basil cherry goatcheesecake with Mad Elf. Having basil in a dessert was new to me, but it definitely worked and made it seem very fresh. I can't say I know much about how to pair food and drink, but this one was obvious. Mad Elf is Troeg's winter seasonal, made with cherries and honey. The beer and cheesecake were a great combination.

It was a great gift and we both left happy.

JIman

This weekend we were blessed with the presence of Mr. Jeremy Iman. All the way out from Phoenix. He left his chickens - yes, he has two of them that live in his back yard - behind and came to visit that nation's capital. Mom, too bad you weren't here to spend time with him.

We had a very nice weekend. One particular highlight was going to Lelaine's favorite cheese shop and waching Lelaine and JIman get their highfalutin cheese fix in by trying all kinds of things. The guy behind the counter was quite impressed with JIman comparing one of the cheeses to the earthy taste of his home grown eggs. Another was on Sunday when we went to Dumbarton Oaks, a fancy house/museum/grounds, in Georgetown. The above picture is a crazy action shot of JIman jumping near a pond.

The weekend was marvelous. I had a couple unfortunate run ins with buffalo wings, but a good time was had by all. Hopefully Lelaine and I are able to make it out to Arizona to see his castle.

del boca vista

My parents rented a condo on Bonita Beach, Florida, for the month of February and Lelaine and I used the long holiday weekend for a trip to go down and see them and my grandparents, who live in nearby Naples.

The condo was nice, with views of the bay from the bedrooms and the gulf from the living room. But the best part was all the wonderful decorations. From every conceivable beach knick-knack to the pink flamengos strung like Christmas lights in the fake tree in the guest bedroom, the decorations were terrible/fantastic.

Saturday night everyone went to dinner on the beach. My mom had made reservations a while ago for Valentines dinner on the beach at sunset. Unfortunately the thick layer of fog didn't cooperate and there was no sunset, but the food was nice. After dinner we went to Mimi and Papa's house and Mimi and my mom handed out what has to be the worst ever whipping in hand and foot to my dad and me.

The fog hung around for part of Sunday. We had brunch with Mimi and Papa and then hit the beach when the fog lifted. The water was cold, but my dad and I went in the water for a little while. The weather was much nicer Monday morning and we spent the day at the pool. Our flight was oversold so we stayed an extra day, as it isn't often that you get to spend quality time with the fam at Del Boca Vista (in Seinfeld, Jerry and George's parents buy condos in phase III of Del Boca Vista, a retirement community in Florida). We thought about going kayaking in the bay the next morning, but to my dismay we didn't do it. My parents said if we had, they wanted to rent a boat to follow us and watch us try to navigate the bay. I guess next time we go down I will make fun of them as they do water aerobics with the old folks.

Being in Florida in February is pretty nice, particularly for Lelaine, and it was tough to come home. Sadly, there are no Publix key lime pies or palm trees lining our neighborhood streets in DC.

ski

The last two weekends I have gone skiing. I am not particularly good, but I have a great time doing it. Last weekend, my friend Justin and I went to Liberty, which at just over an hour away is the closest ski area to DC. It was Justin's first time skiing and other than an incident in which he was mysteriously attracted to the trees, did a good job.

While he went to ski school - rightfully so, he didn't trust me to teach him - I ventured out on my own. With only 16 runs, Liberty is pretty small. The front side, which is mostly greens, was packed. Lines of 20+ minutes just to go up a 300 foot lift. A lot of smart people decided it would be faster to walk to the top. I eventually found the back of the hill, which doesn't have any greens, and it was a lot better. No lines at all for the two lifts on the back. After Justin's lesson ended we went met up and he showed off his new skills.

Yesterday, Sam and I went to Wisp in far western Maryland. At three hours each way, it was a bit of a hike for a daytrip, but we both had a great time. It was nice to get far out of the district for a day. The weather was warm, but it had been under 32 degrees all week so there was plenty of natural and man-made snow.

Sam is very good skier and gave me several tips, which miraculously helped quite a bit, enough to the point where I managed to very cautiously make it down a couple wide open blacks while staying in relative control. Wisp is more than twice the size of Liberty and had a lot of great runs. The greens were a bit too slow, but it has some very nice blues, including one that goes through a tunnel.

Throughout the day we joked about wiping out on the last run before we headed home. Sure enough, on the last trip down I took quite the spill after catching an edge. By the time I arrested the slide, which included a 360 degree spin, I had to hike back up at least 50 feet to retrieve a pole that was lost at the beginning of fall. I'm happy to report that there were no injuries and my iPhone survived. There was a lot of ice to pick out of my clothes, but the hot chocolate in the lodge warmed me up.

Wisp was pretty fantastic and I have a feeling we will return at some point. I'm hoping to get out at least one more day this winter, but it is 66 degrees as I type so not sure if conditions will cooperate on whatever days I am free.

good beer weekend

I went to a liquor store the other day in search of a six pack of Troegs Nugget Nectar. Troegs, from Harrisburg PA, is one of my favorite breweries. Nugget Nectar is a limited edition take on their Hopback Amber Ale, which I love. It is more or less an imperial Hopback Amber.

While at the store the guy behind the counter asked me if I liked Hopslam. I have read all about it before, but have never been lucky enough to actually see it. It is brewed by Bells in Michigan and is probably the most fabled beer for hop heads. Apparently they had received a shipment earlier in the day and had a very limited quantity. Since it is only brewed for a couple of weeks, I snapped up a six pack and headed home.

I have enjoyed trying a couple bottles of each this weekend. The Hopslam is good, but pretty strong. It is like filling your mouth with hops, honey, and grapfruit. Definitely not a session beer. NN is wonderful. It isn't too strong like a lot of imperials, but definitely has a lot of flavor. Might even try to pick up another six pack of it while available. Having it available made watching the first three quarters of the Super Bowl, which I thought were kind of boring (the first three quarters, not the fourth), exciting.