Susan in FL

This was new to me. It's interesting, so I hope anybody familiar with HOLY GRAIL ALE will post impressions of it. (Anybody from UK know the brewery?) This beer was part of my much-talked-about husband's recent beer shopping (the recent beer shopping much talked about, not the husband). We drank a bottle of this last night. I thought it had a nice pleasant taste -- more on the mild, clean side than most of the hoppy beers I adore. It's dry without a lot of bitterness in my opinion, refreshing. Apparently its ABV is 4.7. One could drink a few of these! I would love to taste it from tap in a pub. Here's the website. I am sorry to say I am ignorant about what is where, even after traveling to London in December. Where is Masham? BTW, Russ found this in Atlantic Liquors in Rehoboth (DE), and after tasting it, bought more from either Weaver's or State Line in Maryland.

That is really good to hear. It will be several months before we are in Miami again, but that story makes me want to go to Via Quadronno to support such efforts to right a wrong. I hope others will, and report back to us. Thanks, Ari.

We are in need of some updated information on eating in and around Destin and Fort Walton Beach. ...Any recent openings of good restaurants, closings, changes, old favorites unchanged, reviews, recommendations?

You got it! ...All of you. I imagine lots of us eGulls enjoy the cooking for one luxury more than the average population. Mottmott, I love how you described it, "Luxury, self-indulgence, total freedom." Yes.

I love being Home Alone and cooking for just myself... wish I had the opportunity more often. I see this original post was a year ago, so it's not like the suggestions are still needed; however, I wanted to comment. It's a great topic! I like to either think about it and go for what I'm hungry for, or go to the market and just browse around and buy what looks good, and go home and fix it. Often I cook something my husband is not fond of, which isn't much. However, he is not as crazy over veal as I am, and often I fix that. Our Publix is good about carrying various steaks and chops in packages of only one or two, so it's easy to shop for one here in FL. I also enjoy dining out alone, so that's another option when we're apart.

You go girl, we are behind you all the way! (I love your attitude!)

Very interesting! I did not know that almond stout existed. I would be sure to try that if I had the opportunity. I could very easily make it a major mission in life to taste all stouts. Maybe I will take another trip up north myself. Thanks!

Ahhh... Good call.

Welcome, and thank you in advance for doing this blog. I am tuned in, with great interest.

What/where is your work fridge, Chris? ....Not a culinary setting, I take it. I would be interested to know who brews the beer for Trader Joe's too, Amy. And, if anybody has tasted any others. I wish we had Trader Joe's here... I hadn't even been in one until this past August when I was in Philly. Then I could see what everybody has been talking about!

Tonight: Soup made from leftover braised leg of lamb and the white beans & spinach that accompanied the lamb. We added barley.

Last night, in keeping with the philosophy in my Signature, we started with a (blue) cheese course, and beer. Main course was Goose Gumbo!

Thanks for the mini-side-discussion! You could very well be right about Publix, and possibly attempts to cater to the food tastes of the snowbirds. Maybe sometimes I don't give enough credit to Publix, where it is due. It really is a good chain. Not only do they carry lamb in various cuts including ground, but they carry duck, goose, and quail! It's better than grocery shopping was for us in Delaware. Speaking of Delaware, wow NulloModo, that looks GOOD!

Great story about the 21st birthday celebration, Holly. I am heterosexual, but not wondering about it because I understand. I wish to comment though, Mizducky, that your posts are well written and I appreciate the seriousness of the issue. I'm following the good discussion on this thread with interest.That being said........ I wanna know where to go to get your check delivered to you in a stiletto pump! I love it!

I do wish there was a cheese forum on eG! I have yet to try the Lunacy, and even though I am not usually fond of that style beer, I would love to have some so I can experience it.

That sounds wonderful. I am going to copy that idea and some of your picnic menu soon! ...A great idea. Thanks! Klary, how cool is that, "the inside out dish" ... I'm glad I could be of some inspiration to you. The combination of those flavors is delicious, isn't it? A day or two later I fixed the rest of the gorgonzola & walnut raviolis with a butter sauce, and it didn't taste nearly as good to me as the beets/ beet sauce did.

For you and anyone else unfamiliar with scrapple (or for anyone's amusement, for that matter ), here is a step-by-step on my way of making a scrapple sandwich. Frying Frying Closeup Butter the Bread Cut Ready (No beer with it for breakfast during the week. )

That sounds wonderful. Here's the link to click for anyone else who is interested in reading about what sounds like some awesome beer & food matches. We drank an oatmeal stout and a barleywine with the blue cheeses. As mentioned in another post, we went with one oatmeal stout to follow in the beer theme of the day (Wild Goose) and it wasn't the best choice for a beer and cheese pairing. A sweeter, heavier stout would have been much better. The 2005 Big Foot was very good with the blues, however. My favorite match-up of all the combinations was the Big Foot with the Cashel Blue. Oh my.... The accompaniments were bread, sliced pears, walnuts, and toasted pinenuts, but I found the way to go with the Big Foot and Cashel Blue was to put a finger full of the cheese in my mouth, savor and swallow, and then suck down a nice long taste of Big Foot.

Yes, we do have How To Have Fun down pat. Our fourth and final oatmeat stout of the day was with our cheese tasting. I do believe that another kind of stout -- sweeter, for one thing -- would have been better with blue cheese, but since we were on a roll with oatmeat stouts we had one more. This was my least favorite oatmeal stout yesterday, but it's hard to say whether it was inferior or because it wasn't a very good match with the cheese. We have five more Wild Goose Oatmeal Stouts, so I venture to say I will find out.

ROFL! ...How true! I read the link, Mooshmouse, and it describes scrapple well. Obviously I am in the Food For The Gods Camp. My way to explain the delight is... it tastes so good! And, I just love the crispy outside... But it has to be a nice soft texture on the inside to enjoy the crispy outside. Some brands taste better than others, and some brands cook to perfection easier than others. Rapa is a brand of scrapple. Often there is heated debate among scrapple lovers of who makes the best. Rapa is my husband's favorite and it was what I was raised on. My favorite is Delaware Maid, but I don't know if they make it anymore; Russ couldn't find it when he was up north. He also brought home Kirby & Holloway and Habbersett this time. While I'm "here"... brunch today is a scrapple sandwich. I like mine on soft bread with butter.

Thanks, Rachel and Jason. It's nice to see what I'll be trying to do! Thank you too, Chufi, for your as always beautiful and inspiring photos.

I have really enjoyed looking at your blog. I waited until near the end to post on the thread because your skill and expertise is so foreign to me, I wouldn't know what to say except to compliment you! I am sooo not a baker or pastry person (and really don't want to be), and I didn't read all the technical parts thoroughly. However, I don't know when I enjoyed looking at the photos of a food blog as much as yours. They are absolutely amazing. I did read enough to know the time and effort you put into your week of blogging and thank you very, very much!

I am so amazed that the ground lamb is hard for some of you guys to get, when here in small town Florida where it is often difficult to find certain good ingredients, it's readily available in our Publix. Any idea why that is?

Bayley Hazen Blue, Cashel Blue, and Aged Cabrales. The aged Cabrales was stinking up our fridge, even though it was wrapped, wrapped, and wrapped. We're going to have barleywine and stout with them, as soon as the cheeses get to room temperature. I'll report back!

Russ also shopped for cheeses when he went to Delmarva, and three that he brought home are blue cheeses. I was searching for some ideas of what to drink when we taste the blues, and came across this. Click here for a good article on Beer and Cheese.