Karl's Junk Pile Nothing valuable here

It's been a long time since I've written anything. It just seems to be impossible to spend time doing writing after a full day of work and playing with the kids when I get home. But maybe I'll write something soon; I have an idea for a series of short posts comparing the iPad2 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. We'll see if I actually do anything about it!

Last night we had dinner at Magnolia Grill. It's our favorite place, and we hadn't been there in a while. We couldn't get a reservation, so we decided we'd try just walking in. They have 5 or 6 tables they keep for walk-ins, so the chances of are usually good that you won't have to wait too long (and if you do, there's always the bar!). Two of the tables were open when we arrived, so we were seated right away.

We started with bottles of Bell's Two-hearted Pale Ale and then shared a tuna ceviche appetizer. Janet had striped bass and I had steelhead trout. Mine was served by the great chef himself, Ben Barker. For dessert we shared a pot de creme. We drank a bottle of Rochioli Sauvignon Blanc from the Russian River (Sonoma) with dinner.

All the food was superb, as usual. And it was nice to have a dinner out without the kids!

Some of the beers I had in February 2008:

• Brooklyn Bright Golding (on tap) is an English strong ale made with only one kind of hops: Kent Goldings.
• Foothills Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout (on tap and in the bottle) is a wonderful stout with chocolate overtones.
• Foothills Torch Pilsner (on tap)
• Foothills Seeing Double IPA (on tap) is a high alcohol (9.5%) double IPA that I could drink a lot of.
• Ommegang Three Philosopher's
• Ommegang Hennepin (on tap and in the bottle)
• Pyramid Snow Cap Ale is an English strong ale that tastes great in the winter.
• Saison Dupont Vieille Provision is a classic Belgian farmhouse ale.
• Lefebvre Blanche de Bruxelles is a Belgian witbier.
• Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen
• Harpoon IPA
• Magic Hat Winter Amber
• Dogfish Head 90-minute IPA (on tap)
• Bell's Kalamazoo Stout (on tap)
• Azalea Coast Navigator Doppelbock (on tap) is brewed in Wilmington, NC.
• Duvel is a Belgian strong ale
• Triangle Brewing Pale Ale (on tap)
• Triangle Belgian-Style Strong Golden Ale (on tap)
• Highland Gaelic Ale (on tap)
• Highland Oatmeal Porter (on tap and in the bottle)
• Breckenridge Vanilla Porter has too much vanilla for my taste.
• Saranac Black Forest is schwarzbier that's a little thin, but quite drinkable.
• Saranac Black and Tan is a mixture of their stout and an amber lager.
• Saranac Pale Ale

Last night Janet and I went to a beer dinner at Watts Grocery. The restaurant is fantastic; it's got great food, and a good beer selection. For this special dinner, food was paired with beers from Foothills Brewing, Triangle Brewing (right here in Durham), and Highland Brewing. We had a great time; the food and beer were delicious and we got to visit with our friend Oscar Wong from Highland. About the only complaint I could make is that there was too much food (I hate to leave great food like that on the plate!). I think the servings could have been halved and still been enough.

The food and beer pairings were:

• Fried oysters with remoulade and deviled ham on toast points with Foothills Torch Pilsner. The deviled ham was incredible. The oysters were plump. What could be better?
• Steamed mussels with andouille, onions, and pale ale, and french fries with remoulade and catsup served with Triangle Brewing Company Pale Ale.
• Pan-seared quail with a mustard pan sauce and warm bacon slaw (so very good) with Triangle Brewing Company Belgian Golden Ale.
• Smoked pork ribs with molasses beans and Foothills Seeing Double IPA. The ribs were smokey and chewy, like they should be. By this time I was starting to get full...
• Southern raclette melted on bread, served with chowchow, artichoke pickles, and sausage. The beer was Highland Brewing Company Gaelic Ale. Janet and I were so full at this point we barely touched the raclette and sausage.
• Hazelnut brown butter financier with praline cream and sauteed winter fruit with Highland Brewing Oatmeal Porter.

Last night Janet and I had our Valentine's Day dinner (late, of course) at Four Square Restaurant in Durham. It's on our short list of favorites, but we haven't been there for a while. We had Dogfish Head 90-minute IPA in the bar (we were early). For dinner we shared a prawn, tabbouleh, and curry appetizer and each had another 90-minute IPA. Janet had the rack of lamb (with a glass of a red Rhone) and I had roasted leg of antelope with antelope chorizo (and a glass of Zinfandel). For dessert we split an Espresso Crème Caramel. All in all, a very pleasant evening.

Some of the beers I had in January:

• Duvel is a Belgian strong ale known around the world.
• Bell's Porter (bottle) is another winner from Bell's.
• Allagash White
• North Coast Red Seal Ale is a pale ale with a nice hop finish.
• Boston Beer Sam Adams Winter Lager is a weizenbock with some spices.
• De Proefbrouwerij Cuvee Angelique is a Belgian brown ale.
• Foothills Rainbow Trout ESB (on tap) is a nice change of pace from the darker beers I usually drink.
• Mackeson XXX Stout is a sweet stout that I haven't had in years. I'd forgotten just how good it is.
• Bell's Expedition Stout (on tap) is an Imperial stout that is completely opaque. It tastes creamy and smooth. I could drink it everyday except for its price!
• Ommegang Hennepin
• Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence (on tap and in the bottle) is s tout brewed with Belgian cocoa.
• Terrapin Wake-n-Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout (on tap) is brewed with coffee from Jittery Joe's in Athens, Georgia.
• Pyramid Snow Cap Ale is an English strong ale that tastes great in the winter.
• Highland Tasgall Ale is a Scotch ale, one of Janet's favorites.
• Highland Oatmeal Porter (on tap) is probably my favorite Highland beer.
• Mendocino Eye of the Hawk Select Ale is an American strong ale with a malty taste.
• Triangle Belgian-Style Strong Golden Ale (on tap)
• Chimay Bleu

I also drank a few leftovers from December.

Last night Janet and I had dinner at Nana's, one of our favorite Durham places to go for a nice time without the kids. There are so many great places in Durham, we don't get to Nana's as often as we should.

We started in the bar (we were 30 minutes early because we couldn't wait to get out of the house!) with Triangle Brewing Company's Belgian-Style Strong Golden Ale (on tap). It's a very local beer brewed right here in Durham.

We split a risotto appetizer that had fried oysters. Normally, I'd get a seafood entree, but this time I went for a wild boar loin. Janet had a venison strip loin. Both were excellent, not too gamey, lean, with wonderful sauces and veggies. We stuck with the Triangle Golden Ale.

For dessert we had a pear and apple tart with a glass of Sauternes (a splurge).

All-in-all, a very nice dinner. We even got one of the "corner" tables in the smaller, more intimate room right off the bar area.

I guess the Holiday Season is over:

• Most people have taken down their Christmas lights.
• I've seen a lot of Christmas trees out at the curb for pickup. Ours will either go out back in the woods as part of a brushpile to provide cover for birds and other animals, or be turned into a bird feeder. I like to strip the branches off, stand the tree against something, and then smear a peanut butter/cornmeal mixture onto the trunk.
• Thankfully, I can walk into a store and not hear brain-damaging Christmas music now (bah! humbug!).
• And perhaps the saddest part of the season being done is that the local grocery stores aren't carrying Claxton fruitcakes anymore. I'm partial to the dark variety (which I haven't seen in stores in years), but like the regular, too. When I saw that my local store wasn't restocking them, I grabbed 4. I'm almost done with those. Maybe I'll order some from their website to get me through the year.

Wow, I was a real lush in December! Some of the beers I had:

• Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA is a good "back up" IPA usually available at the few parties I go to.
• Mendocino Winter Seasonal Imperial IPA is an easy-to-drink winter beer.
• Bell's Two Hearted Ale (bottle) is a terrific IPA. Not overly bitter, but with a great floral nose. And the taste is really nice.
• Bell's Java Stout (on tap) is a great stout with coffee added for flavor. I'm really starting to like Bell's.
• Bell's Winter White Ale (bottle) is Belgian-style white beer.
• Carolina Brewery Santa's Secret (on tap) is a spiced winter ale.
• Ommegang Hennepin (bottle) is a Belgian-style Saison beer. It's pretty common in our house.
• Carolina Brewing Company India Pale Ale is a local beer, and a decent IPA.
• Brasserie de la Senne Equinox Winter Beer is a nice Belgian strong ale.
• Foothills People's Porter (on tap) is another very good North Carolina beer.
• Anchor Our Special Ale (Christmas) is a holiday tradition I look forward to every year!
• Anchor Porter is a wonderful beer. I don't see it often around here.
• Rogue Santa's Private Reserve (on tap) is one of the brewery's John's Locker Stock special offerings. It's hoppy.
• Triangle Belgian-Style Strong Golden Ale (on tap) is a very local brew (brewed right here in Durham). It's got a spicy hop flavor.
• Achouffe N'Ice Chouffe is a Belgian winter brown ale. Very "nice".
• Highland Cold Mountain Winter Ale is the brewery's spiced winter ale. The recipe changes every year.
• Brouwerij De Regenboog Vuuve is a Belgian white beer.
• Clipper City Heavy Seas Loose Cannon Hop3 is a pretty good IPA.
• Cottonwood Endo IPA is a North Carolina beer brewed by the Carolina Beer Company.
• Fantôme Hiver is a Belgian saison. It's lighter than you might expect for a winter beer (it's a saison, after all), but it's definitely suitable for cold weather.
• Coors Blue Moon Belgian White Ale is the only Coors beer I like at all. I had it at a place where it was the only real choice on tap.
• Pyramid Thunderhead IPA.
• Brooklyn East India Pale Ale is a hoppy beer that's one of Janet's favorites.
• Saranac Chocolate Amber.
• Guinness, the classic dry stout. One of my favorites, but I don't drink it enough because there are so many other good beers to try!

As I reported here and here, I also had these:

• Triangle Bourbon Aged Abbey Dubbel
• Schneider Weisse Original
• Schneider Aventinus

Last night Janet and I had dinner at Watts grocery, a new restaurant in Durham. The kids stayed home.

We started at the bar with a few beers. I had two Triangle Bourbon Aged Abbey Dubbels, a locally brewed Abbey-style dubbel that's aged in oak bourbon casks. Very nice; the bourbon was just a hint in the aftertaste. The bartender informed us the brewery only had one keg of the beer left, so I'm glad I got to try it. Janet had Triangle Belgian-Style Strong Golden Ale, their flagship beer. Then she had a Big Boss High Roller IPA.

For dinner we shared a scallop appetizer. I had a pork porterhouse with double-stuffed baby Beauregard sweet potatoes. Janet had the papardelle with a root vegetable and mushroom sauce. We each had another beer. All was very delicious. Dessert was a carmel cake. I liked it; Janet didn't. We'll be back.