Susan in FL

Gotta agree with RP, unfortunately... In comparison to what you're used to up there, the answer to your question would be no, there is no good beer in FL (especially Orlando and the attractions areas).

I get a kick out of typos. That's a good one!

The weekend... Friday night was usual happy hour bar hopping, including an especially good hamburger at The Brickyard in Daytona Beach. Saturday we successfully cooked together. The first course was so good, and since we followed the recipe fairly closely, I'll provide the link. I forgot to top with the seasoned walnuts for the presentation, but then again, I'm not crazy over walnuts so that didn't bother me. Cabrales Cheese Souffles with Endive and Asian Pear Salad Beringer Johannisberg Riesling Pan-broiled lamb chops with a warmed sun-dried tomato and Kalamata olive salsa Baked Polenta with Garlic Rosemary-roasted zucchini King Estate Pinot Noir Orange-Rosemary Creme Brulee Dogfish Head Immort Ale [Much to my pleasure, this had mellowed so nicely with age.] Last night was Linguine with Chicken, Garlic, and Basil; Salad with "Horny Melon" vinaigrette , and Beaujolais-Villages.

That's good to hear, Cusina. Congrats!Thanks for the link, Moopheus. Good info. Good luck to therdogg and all who have weight reduction goals, or are doing whatever it takes to maintain good health.

Very good points. Touche'! Edited to add afterthought: LOL about that... Putting on ten extra pounds twice in my life, and then losing them, is not what I would have thought of as yo-yo dieting! I guess one more time and I'll be a yo-yo-yo dieter.

All good advice, but whenever I have needed to lose a few pounds, I have always been well enough informed to do without consulting a nutritionist or physician. With modest goals and a good knowledge of health and nutrition, that seems fine to me. I know many people who have lost weight on Atkins and South Beach and the like, but I have never known anybody who kept the weight off. Besides, I love pasta, potatoes, and rice way too much to be able to survive a low carbohydrate diet! It's not the sweets that I would miss. I've easily lost 10 pounds two or three times, once just recently. There's only one formula; what works is less calorie intake and more calorie expenditure. Exercise is surely the key for me. What has been so much fun for me for the past few months is keeping track of calories and nutrition using the DietPower program. You can get a free trial. When I'm maintaining my weight, I still enjoy logging in my foods so that I monitor nutrition values as well as calories. You log in your exercise, as well, which gives you a higher calorie intake allowance! And, if you are under your calorie allowance in a day, you can carry them over into the next day. Has anybody else checked this out? It has lots of good features.

A for effort, but a no-go huh... I guess you won't be adding turkey wings to your repertoire as an expert wing man. Thanks for reporting back.

Very strange that you didn't taste licorice... perhaps it is because of the age. In my experience, I haven't liked it as much when it gets old.

We went to The Brickyard last night! You were right, what a delicious hamburger. The fries with it were really good, too. That was our "new" place for the week's happy hour exploration. Maybe we'll meet you there some night after work. Another mention for Leanh's Chinese Restaurant... I went Thursday for a New Year celebration. She does good things with duck. I took a look at the Vietnamese menu, but decided to stick with Chinese for the occasion. I want to go back soon, to try her Pho. For those who don't know: This restaurant is on Beville Road in South Daytona.

I sip it along side, always. They compliment each other, but I like to appreciate each. I think you will like it, since we had similar Sambuco reactions. Those cannolis do sound wonderful... I wish they would remain intact, in the mail!

Cool! (Don't you just love not having bad hair days anymore?)I can tell that it's going to be tough deciding because of the usual so-many-restaurants, too-little-time thing, but what a wonderful problem to have. Boulud is definitely on our short list. Thanks, Robyn. Please, if you read any more write-ups or think of anything else, keep your good information coming.

It is much to my surprise that I like something licorice-flavored, since I don't like licorice. Last night I tasted the black Sambuca that my husband had and it tasted horrible to me. But the licorice flavor of Strega is very smooth and soft, in my opinion, and you can get the flavors of many of the herbs it is made of (like around 70!), including mint, fennel, and the saffron which gives it the yellow color. It is strong and intense, yet delicate and not overly sweet... I just love having it with espresso after dinner, which my Italian father taught me. Please let me know if you try it!

I love Strega. Anybody else? I have good Strega memories... even have a Strega poster, matted and framed on the wall in my bedroom. Just a walk down memory lane, after a nice cup of espresso and a Strega tonight...

Yum!

Happy New Year! A colleague and I had a meeting over dinner at my favorite local Chinese restaurant. I had "Shanghai Duck" and a Tsingtao.

Uhhhh, wasn't trying to do that. Merely trying to explain the proliferation of pinot grigio everywhere. And when we do get haughty about things like this, it's because we know that pino grigio (and pinot gris and whatever other names it goes by) can be very, very good and completely different from almost all of what the public is exposed to that goes by the name pinot grigio. That's all. Brad, you did not seem to be doing that. Actually I appreciated your attempt to bring the subject back to "the original intent/spirit of the first post," as well as your info. And for those who do seem to stick up their noses at certain wines, in this thread or others, I really didn't mean that as a complaint. I know that if I had the opportunities to drink more high-end wines than I do, my taste would be even more discrimating than it is now.

Hi, Robyn. Great info, thanks. First of all, we have NO intentions whatsoever of spending ANY time on I-95 except for getting there! In fact, I'm thinking we will do the A1A thing on the way home. No Miami during this trip. We already have our reservation made for Singer Island, and plan to spend the whole time at the Palm Beaches. I've been reading about Clematis Street... sounds good and we'll definitely spend some time there, and I'm glad you mentioned the mall, too. I am one of the what-seems-to-be-a minority on eG who has year of birth displayed publicly, so that's why I didn't mention my age. To keep you from having to look... I am 50-ish. Like I said, good food and wine is more important to us than a certain kind of atmosphere. My friend and I will be willing to spend the money for expensive dinners if we get what we pay for, and also will be happy to find less pricey spots if they are good. Thus, the researching ahead of time... and so your comments and recommendations were well taken. And glad you mentioned the museum, too. I have been to Big Bear. It was a few years ago, and my Hibernation Pale Ale t-shirt is now soft and comfy , but I still have it, raggety as it is. I recall that it was pretty good, for Florida beer. If we don't make it to a brew pub this trip, that will be OK.

Interesting discussion. The original intent of my post was to state my surprise that Pinot Grigio became the best-selling imported wine in the U.S. What I was hoping for but didn't mention -- so I was glad to see it in your replies -- were some thoughts about the differences between Italian Pinot Grigio (which I have never been fond of and that might be because I haven't tasted the best), and "Pinot Gris." I really liked the 2002 Rancho Zabaco Reserve Somona Coast last night. It had much more flavor than I was expecting and was more of a food wine than I consider Pinot Grigio to be. It did, however, fade pretty quickly, so we didn't so much enjoy sipping on what was left after dinner. It was a good thing last night. The amount of wasabi powder in the crust was small, so the taste of wasabi very subtle. The wine with the soba noodles with cucumber and mango was the more appreciable match.As for my surprise, this helped explain it... Several of you stick your virtual noses up at wines that I like... I'm glad to be learning, and becoming aware of different perspectives. Cheers!

La Casita sounds great. It's on my list now. Thank you very much!

Tonight: Wasabi-Crusted Chicken Breasts Soba Noodle Salad with Cucumber and Mango Edamame Dressed with Sesame Oil, Garlic, Ginger, Etc. Rancho Zabaco Pinot Gris

Oh I love that restaurant. It was one of the best things about visiting my son, when he went to college there! That was a while ago, though. I'm looking forward to following this thread.

Thank you for the reply, but I might have missed your points. Real deal? I've been researching on Zagat, Mobil, Wine Spectator, etc., and haven't seen many of those mentioned on this thread since a year ago. I did read about Charley's Crab which did not sound too impressive to me... too much like what I can get all the time here. Also, I've read good reviews on a couple that Deacon listed. So far, I am leaning toward Cafe L'Europe, L'Esacalier At The Florentine, The Restaurant, and Cafe Chardonnay, but I always like to hear what someone says who has dined at restaurants recently, besides the reviews. Anybody know of these?

I think I've been at festivals and fairs and the like where people walk around eating deep fried turkey legs. I've never done it, but will be watching for your replies, as well.

This really surprised me. Anthony Dias Blue said Are you surprised? It is really, really weird, because tonight, before I read this, I bought a Rancho Zabaco Pinot Gris and it might have been the first bottle of Pinot Gris I ever bought. It was a great match with our wasabi-crusted chicken and soba noodles with cucumber and mango.

Good answers, especially ... !!They may not be as sophisticated about food as this group, but they are great athletes and in my opinion the races very entertaining and amazingly strategic! I can't understand why anybody would hate NASCAR, just ignore it if you don't like it.