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A Match Made In Heaven
Give me a crusty, yeasty, warm, fresh slice of homemade bread, with a slab of butter on the side, and I’ve just about died and gone to heaven.
But alas, I’m not a bread baker. All that kneading and rising and baking and sweating ... sounds like a lot of work. That’s why the idea of beer bread was so appealing to me. My two loves married in under an hour ...
Things Are Not Always as They Seem
Remember The Suicide: the beverage we made as kids at 7-Eleven when we first could mix our own sodas? That's what I thought of when Phil suggested a Corpse Reviver #2 cocktail for a Halloween happy hour drink.
I might have rejected the idea based on name straight-away. But Phil and I have similar cocktail tastes. We both enjoy Vespers, Journalists, and Moscow Mules.
Gary mixed us up a tester. The Corpse Reviver #2 is ... a laboratory experiment. It's unusual, but grows on you. It seems strong, but it's not. You think you've had enough, but you'll have another. And like it. In a creepy sort of way.After-Hours Anticipation
It seemed like any other day in the Timba household:
The kids had to be fed, dressed, and sent off to school. Then work, of course, and errands and chores. And the shuttling to and from after-school practices, dinner arranging, and attending parent/teacher conferences at two different schools.
And, oh yes, it was our 15th wedding anniversary.
One Extra Spooky Beer
It was a dark and stormy night . . .
Okay, that’s not exactly true. When you live in southern California, pretty much none of your stories ever start out that way.
But with Halloween just around the corner and my senses tingling from watching a low-budget horror flick with friends, I was craving a more sinister atmosphere.
A Little Kick
Sometimes we need a creative kick for our projects. This week's free Tuesday at the San Diego Museum of Art definitely helped. Who isn't inspired by 20th century art within breathing distance?
Starlite, a local dining and drinking lounge, too, offers up inspiration by the glass. They make their own bitters (we must try that), and brandied cherries, and often mix their vodkas with things like cucumber and black pepper syrup.
One of my favorites, though, is their take on the Moscow Mule, called a Starlite Mule, served in a chilly copper cup. It's light and refreshing, but somehow serious and straightforward.
Flying Fish
Living in a landlocked state, I'm always a little leery about trying the fish-of-the-day at my local restaurant. Who knows where that fish came from, and how long it took to get here? So, when I was visiting Seattle this past weekend -- where I could actually see the water the fish called home -- I couldn't wait to order the local salmon...and a glass of Pacific Northwest wine.
Better Late Than Never . . .
By now, most Oktoberfest celebrations have wound down. So I was feeling kind of sad that I'd failed to partake in any of the local festivals. Especially since I had a hankering for something German and malty . . .
Fortunately, there was still plenty of evidence of the season in my local grocery stores, in the form of special release Oktoberfest beers. Perfect.
Treating Cocktails Like Art
Spiced apple cider is the secret ingredient of the week. Heated up on the stove on low, soon the house begins to smell like pie. Usually, I serve it as a hot after-dinner drink, but we have so much homemade triple sec, G got creative before my mom came over for dinner.
G slid a butternut squash in the oven to roast for soup and then began experimenting with different spirits, triple sec, and apple cider. I don't usually care for the main ingredient in his final creation, but truly, I had to overlook that.
This cocktail tastes like cobbler in a glass.
Valderi, Valdera
Most people celebrating Oktoberfest wouldn't dream of drinking anything but beer. Huge steins of it. But, this German-inspired festival isn't all about the hoppy stuff. In fact, plenty of revelers prefer a glass of wine with their Sauerbraten. Me included.
As I headed to our local fall celebration, I anticipated trying a German Riesling, maybe even a Spatburgunder made from Pinot Noir grapes. I made a beeline for the wine booth, but was immediately disappointed. No German wines in sight. I settled for a glass -- er, plastic cup -- of Australian Shiraz.
Oh, the Places You’ll Go . . . for Beer
When you head to a school fundraiser featuring African music, dance, and stews, held on a farm in the middle of beautiful nowhere, you do not count on finding good beer, too.
That’s why I was pleasantly surprised recently to be curled up on a lawn chair in the green valleys of Wisconsin, watching a fine show and sipping on a wheat brew that was downright tasty.
As day turned to night, the valley behind us faded from sight and the spotlighted African dancers before us hit their stride. And I sipped on a second Crack’d Wheat from New Glarus just to be sure I wasn’t dreaming. Yep, it was good all right. It tasted like ...
Fall Is for Cooking Together
Last week we were still clinging to summer, then swoosh! Fall dropped in. A strange thing for southern California, and it tilted our brains. The autumn air must have chemical-altering properties, because we felt driven to make candied apples and roast pumpkin seeds. And, once we saw the piles of sweet navel oranges at the market, our own triple sec.
Good triple sec -- that orange liqueur we douse so many of our drinks with -- can be expensive. Spending an evening or two in the kitchen playing chemist together sounded like brilliant fun. Here's what happened.
All Quiet on the Home Front
I'm a single mother again this week. While my husband jets around the world for business, I'm keeping watch on the home front. Clearly, single motherhood (albeit temporary) is not without its stresses. Being the only taxi driver, schedule keeper, homework helper, housekeeper, diaper changer, and cook available to my three kids can be downright exhausting.
I've learned to look on the bright side: Simple, kid-friendly dinners—and a glass of French red wine -- Côtes du Rhone -- for me. Last night, I prepared one of my kids' favorites: Sliders. Mini-burgers with American cheese on sweet Hawaiian rolls. Heaven.
Rocky Mountain Beer High
John Denver doesn't mention beer in his ode to the Rocky Mountains, but I think that's because he wrote it before the Great American Beer Festival came into being.
For surely this heavenly gathering of some of the greatest beers in the U.S. would have had him waxing poetic about malts and hops, in addition to cathedral-esque peaks.
This year I made my maiden voyage to the festival in Denver, and it did not disappoint. I sampled many a beer I knew I'd like -- IPAs, barley wines, Belgian style ales -- as well as many a beer I was surprised to love. Like Left Hand Brewing's SmokeJumper.
Last week, we had some very special guests staying with us: our just-turned-five nephew, Drew, and his family. Our patio was buzzing with Hoola Hoop rattle, sidewalk chalk scraping, some fancy dance-Karate moves, and a big question mark as to what to serve for Thursday Happy Hour.
Drew requested raspberries. Not being raspberry season, we did the next best thing: a bag of frozen organic berries from Trader's. They sweetly transformed into two kinds of drinks -- one for the grown-ups and one for the kids.
