Tag: Food and Drink

New Lew

There are days – often called Monday – when you wake up wondering why you wrote that two years ago, what you are going to say at the seminar and why you never followed up on that dream you had at 21 to mow Fenway. Then…you find out the noisy neighbours have moved out and that what you wrote is not what it was being taken for AND your copy of the newly published text Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Breweries (includes Washington DC) by Lew Bryson was delivered today! The third in the series after NY and PA and I am sure as good – especially as he has that chapter on “Regional Foods” through which I learned to seek out, from the volume on NY, the hot and the garbage plate. Don’t you all really need a copy?

You will probably find some deeper delving in the next few days at the beer blog. Way to go, Lew.

High Proportion?

What does it say about a country when one of your top judges says this as was quoted by the BBC in relation to the longer pub hours coming to England soon:

Judge Charles Harris QC was particularly critical of the plans, saying a high proportion of British people become “pugnacious and bellicose” after drinking. He contrasted this to the continental drinking habits, where people “sit quietly chatting away at cafe tables”.

Nice to know that the guy in charge of sentencing British people thinks so highly of them.

Sadly…Out Of Business

Once upon a time I was going to collect “…a-rama” photos. I even saw a “Photo-a-rama” in Paris in 1986 but passed up the opportunity being the pre-digital world of pay per print. I feel for the creditors of Billy back there in Old Saybrook Connecticut but the concept was sweet and I was ready to buy when I pulled in the parking lot.

“Syrian” Sandwich

I was in New London, NH yesterday on the way down the
interstate 30 miles north of Concord and was at a place called Pizza Chef – or something like that – and had a “Syrian” which was basically a pita cut in half (destroying the pocket effect) with stuff between inside and baked. This was incredibly good. What happened was the cheese glommed into the veggie contents and the pita halves got a crisp consistency – all fed into my gaping maw for about 5 bucks and toasty warm. No messy tomato sauce or anything.

I have no idea if the Syrian was just this one shop’s specialty or whether it is a broader New Hampshire thing.

April In Portland

Isn’t there a movie where Maurice Chevalier sings about Maine’s industrial seaport?

Anyway, hitting the road for a week to eat marine life and boo the Yankees. So the mantraps have been set and the pride of lions released from their cages at our house. I have never taken more than a long weekend in the spring and certainly never gone south in the winter – being albino between the freckles it is a bit pointless – so I am looking forward to some version of that beach life even if a bit chillier. Beach.

Update: for my pal Michael – this is a mantrap.

Update #2: [Some road notes that you probably do not need to care much about.] As sweet a six hour drives as you would want with little people to Holyoke MA and the Holiday Inn: 401 to I-81 to NYS Thruway to Mass Turnpike to I-91.   We were here before and I will pay for a little time passing since refurbishment as long as there is a good indoor pool. Ninety-nine bucks.   The Mohawk Valley is quite a something and around Little Falls there steep incline in the highway for six miles that makes me wonder about those poor saps that actually built the Erie Canal.  WRVO Oswego NPR is audible from Kingston to halfway between Utica and Albany – 350 km or so.  I bought some instant grits to bring home even though AA Gill described it as something like the throw-up of someone else’s child.   Also Friendly’s never disappoints and never surprises.  If you think sugar is a poison you probably should not go.  Not that there is much sugar but I’d have to put up listening to you bitch about everything else as I ate a few booths over.

Speaking of…Well…

I never knew that cheese was that difficult.

Just to be clear, when last across the border I bought this…for someone else…someone who has begged me (then threatened me ever so subtly) not to reveal his name. He later admitted on a recent trip he had bought four cans for his own needs. So it was left to us. Children tried it once. Then it sat for a couple of weeks and I thought I would try it. Sort of a lighter Cheese Wizz meets aerosol – more like cheese wazz all in all.

Note: It’s been kind of downhill since the green pants.