Susan in FL

I sure hope you all will post a lot of photos for those of us wishing we were there. I am this excited about your gathering, and I'm not even going... I guess I would be beside myself if I were going to attend!

That is too cute! Great food pic!

Awwww.... We have a local independent ice cream place here that once a month, gives dogs free ice cream. I haven't taken Josie, my bassett hound granddog (of whom I have temporary custody) out to the free ice cream night yet, because she goes pretty much wild when she is around other living beings. She still is so much puppy, that she would go nuts about all those dogs and kids and I would totally lose control of her. But every time I take her to the vet, I take her there afterwards and buy her ice cream. They have a special that they make for dogs, a cup of vanilla with a milk bone dog biscuit stuck in it.

I enjoy hearing where "in the country" you get some of your ingredients. Pookie, I assume it's easier for you "in the city" to find many of the same? Speaking of TJ Maxx, whenever I'm there or Ross or Marshall's I always go through the food section. The last time I browsed those shelves, I got a spritzer bottle of white truffle oil! Does anybody else, country or city mice, get some good finds at those stores?

I have followed these topics and enjoyed them -- just haven't posted about it before. Thrift shop shopping ( ) was new to me when I first moved to FL. It is BIG around here. I go to one of the thrift shops that benefits Hospice once or twice a week, and other organizations' shops in between. Just today I bought four beautiful Christmas plates which I will use during the holidays. It was a Christmas in July sale, and all holiday stuff was half off, plus as a Hospice employee I get half off. The four plates which are an exclusive from Pier One cost me $1.58 and that included tax! I wouldn't be able to find paper plates at that price. I have loads of kitchen stuff from these places. My problem is that I sometimes feel guilty, the deals are so good.

I am sooooo glad you posted this. I missed the review and would not have known about it. This is on my list for the next time I'm in Orlando. Thanks!

Posting this before you edit: It sure is a feast for the eyes! If it all tasted as good as it looks, that was one incredible meal.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Tag Team Foodblogging from Ontario, Canada. We will be seeing comparisons between CaliPoutine's food life in the country and Pookie's food life in the city. An added bonus at the end of this blog will be CaliPoutine's trip from Exeter to the Heartland, for the eG gathering. Pookie will be staying home in London, and during that time will be playing a more active role in holding down the blogging fort. The blog will run from today through Saturday, 5 August, with a one day extension for additional photos to be added, including pictures from the Heartland gathering. A special welcome is extended to Pookie, first time eG blogger. She and CaliPoutine virtually met during CaliPoutine's first blog, Diversity and Deviled Eggs, later met in "real time," and have remained friends since. The plans for this week include a get-together for dinner. More about the country mouse and the city mouse to come . . . Take it away, Calipoutine and Pookie, and thank you for sharing what promises to be an exciting week.

Michael, do you have access to various years of Bigfoot that you can purchase? (If you say yes, I will probably be contacting you via PM to talk about that. )

One is from the country. One is from the city. Our next eG foodblog is a tag team blog! They are friends who met right here at the eG Forums; in fact, how they met is related to eG foodblogging. Kris's blog will conclude Saturday night, and the next will begin Sunday, 30 July 2006.

Hi, Lloyd! Still after all this time, we can depend on you to jump in with answers. There should be a beer trivia game show for you to win and get rich and famous. You could be the Ken Jennings of Beer Information. Hope all is well! Nice to see you.

Awww, that's what I want mine to look like!

That is a crazy good-looking garden!

Hey Richie! It's hard to believe your twins are growing like they are. I just finished my 2003 Anchor Brewing Co. OSA. Though it's not my kind of beer, I think the three years have done it good. It's dark in looks and taste. The first thing I thought of was a Porter, but I would want a Porter to be drier. This is one of those beers that I don't describe well. I tend to focus on what I don't like about them rather than what's good about them -- in this case I don't care for the sweet malt and sticky pine flavors. So we also have the Sierra Nevada Celebration 2005 in common... I'm looking forward to that, and the 2000. You mentioned that the Old Dominion 2004 is an Impy Stout ; do you know what the 2005 is?

There's only a week left this month, and I just recently remembered a great time of year for beer lovers, Christmas in July (CIJ). I better get with the program! What Christmas/winter holiday beers have you tasted this month, or plan to taste? How were they after six months, or some years later for those who save some vintage beers? Do any of the beer bars you visit have a CIJ celebration this month, or are any winter holiday brews on tap? After I remembered, I chilled and drank an Anderson Valley Winter Solstice Seasonal Ale, and put a few more in the fridge. The Anderson Valley went great with a sandwich and it was surpringly hearty and smooth -- not too heavy on the spices for me, which sometimes is the reason I don't care for these kinds of special brews. I think I appreciated it better this time around than I did during the winter. So, here's what I found in the cool bottom of my bedroom closet and now have in the fridge waiting: Troegs Mad Elf Holiday Ale (I think this is two or three years old); Old Dominion Winter Brew 2005; Sierra Nevade Celebration Ale, 2000 and 2005; Pyramid Snow Cap Winter Warmer (I think this is pretty old; if I recall correctly, I don't like this much); and Anchor Brewing Co's Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2003.

I intend to make a breaded pork tenderloin sandwich! Thanks for the idea. Yesterday I drank the Czechvar and the Sweetwater IPA. The Czechvar was what I expected, a good lager. It would be a fine session beer. Apparently this is the original Bud recipe which is now marketed under this brand name, after the Anheuser-Busch dispute. The Sweetwater IPA... Oh my. Sometimes it is best said for me on the label, and that might be the case for this beer: "This mammoth IPA is defined by generous quantities of premium hops. Extensive dry hopping contributes to its very intense hop character. This beer is unfiltered and as always unpasteurized to leave all the natural flavors intact. This is the beer you've been training for!" I did know, as soon as I brought the glass of this beer to my face, that the aroma could be described as very floral and citrusy. The taste was in keeping with the nose, and it was a nicely bitter finish. This is definitely among my top ten IPAs. Tonight I drank a couple of Carlsbergs from the bottle, not a glass, and brewed in Denmark, not Canada. It was that kind of night.

Yes, it's Kris! Click here to begin the enjoyment.

Ann's blog was supposed to end late tonight, her time. However Ann, due to a number of circumstances, including that the heat has been screwing up your internet connection, feel free to take as long as you need into tomorrow to complete it. I will leave it open until Monday morning. I think that everyone will agree that a little bit of overlap between the end of yours and the beginning of the next will do no harm.

Your sandwiches look good! I've never had a breaded pork tenderloin sandwich, much less be on a mission like you. That is cool. Have you settled on what your favorite recipe is? It sounds like great beer food. Last night I drank the Tommyknocker Pick Axe Pale Ale, which according to the label is a Classic English Pale Ale. I started sipping on it before I ate and then finished it up with the food. Good plan that was. Beers strike me differently with and without food. For me, this was one of those better-with-food beers. At the start, it was a good aroma of floral and citrus, which actually got my hopes up for it to taste better than it did. The hops were pretty bitter, but not the tasty bitter I look for. It seemed too bland, until I began eating. I had sausages with a really, really good fried peppers and onion mixture I had made the night before, and french fries with Sauce Andalouse (that's addictively good). Then I went from sipping to washing down the food and the beer was more flavorful. It had noticeable maltiness and was probably what you would call light to medium bodied -- or what I would call light to medium anyway. It was a little thin on the finish. Thank you Todd, from Abbey, for overall a very good beer! I can't wait to try the others.

I have good news and bad news. Let's get the bad news over with first. The bad news is Ann's beautiful blog ends late tonight, her time. The good news is another blog starts tomorrow, Sunday, 23 July 2006. It promises to be another fun and fantastic feature. Some hints: We will not leave North America, but the blog involves travel. It features the return of one of our favorite eG foodbloggers. And, take a look at this photo full of hints... From Kraft mac & cheese to a fine looking bag of premium rice, what a variety!

I'd say, "Oh My God". Wow, that looks good.

Petite tête de chou, I'm not so good at describing beer flavors either, but irregardless I had a great beer talk with the owner of a new beer and wine bar (eight weeks new) at happy hour tonight. It felt so good to find people here in central FL with whom to talk beer like this, and it revived my enthusiasm! I will renew my efforts to write some tasting notes. But anyway, this place, Abbey, is the best beer bar I've found in Volusia County. It is in DeLand. The web site will have more content soon -- any minute now actually -- and I'll be posting some other topics about the place. Among others, four Dogfish Head beers were on draft. I was by myself and had a half hour drive home, so it was hard to pick just one. I decided to have an Aprihop, since I have a few bottles of it at home that Russ brought back from his trip to DE last week. I got the first pour from the keg, and really enjoyed the freshness. This is a fine beer. They have a package license and sell bottles of beer to go. I bought some and Todd gave me some new ones to try. I will be returning the exchange on another visit. He didn't know Victory or Old Dominion. I didn't know Tommyknocker (CO), Sweet Water (GA), or Czechvar (Czech Republic) and several others. What I brought home with me was Tommyknocker Pick Axe Pale Ale, Sweet Water IPA, the Czechvar Lager, Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre, Dogfish Head Golden Shower Impy Pilsner (a Dogfish Head that is new to me), Avery Samael's Oak-aged Ale, and Thomas Hardy's Ale 2005. I'll post about them as I drink, in the days to come.

I am an ex-DelMarVa-ite. Russ made a quick trip to Delaware recently and as usual, brought back some of my local favorites: fresh clams from the Indian River, Rapa Scrapple, and Lewes Dairy cream (which is not ultra-pasteurized!), among other goodies.

All right! Glad you tried it. I have never mixed it with anything, but I love it next to espresso, as mentioned in the beginning of this topic. Some like it mixed into the cup of espresso. Your reaction reminded me of my first taste of Campari recently, and now I'm sipping on that pretty regularly. After the revival of this topic, I'm ready for some Strega after dinner some night soon.

It is almost this easy, and the more I do it, the easier it gets! I especially like selling books on eBay because you can type in the title, author, or the ISBN, and you will automatically get a description of the book including a stock photo for your listing. Click here to see the book I have up for bid now, utilizing the automatic description plus a brief addition of my own. Of course free is good, but now you can buy or sell a cookbook on eBay, to benefit the eG Society. Take a look here. (You can buy or sell anything on eBay now, as a way to contribute.) ...End of shameless plug.