Susan in FL

Beautiful... What nice plating!

Tonight was a Southwestern-style chicken salad on a plate of mixed baby greens, with black bean and corn salsa, and a French red table wine (Chevalier de Bayard), on the sweet side, which matched up much better than I expected. With drinks before dinner we had brie spread on halved radishes, and Saga Bleu on celery.

I've lost track of what was when, but one recent dinner while I was on vacation was: Clams Seviche Grilled cajun style skirt steak with green olive relish Potato, cucumber, & dill salad Another was: Shrimp Gazpacho Cornish hens with vegetables and I think this was the night we also had the salad of cucumber, onions, celery, and gorgonzola

Oh yum, that dinner sounds good. We were in Pensacola for the weekend and I ordered cheesy grits with both dinner Saturday night and brunch on Sunday. They were both to-die-for dishes, and seemed better than what I make at home. M.M., will you share your usual recipe or description of how you make yours? As usual, I am way behind on posting dinners, and we've had some good ones. I'll start with tonight in trying to catch up. Edamame and Tin Roof Sauvignon Blanc Grilled skewered pork (marinated in Mango Marmalade, soy sauce, garlic, and EVOO) Warm mango and avocado salsa Forbidden Rice A good Spanish red wine, but I can't remember what it was and my husband already took out the trash for tomorrow's pick-up with the bottle in there

Woody, great posts, as always! My month of vacation comes to an end this week, and I had lots of fine dining out, including the trip up north. We had wonderful meals in Rehoboth and Lewes, at Dogfish Head, Blue Moon, The Buttery, and Striper Bites. Will post more later... Thanks for your continuing coverage of the Rehoboth dining scene.

Looks delicious... I've added it to my list of eG Dinner Ideas. Is that a toasted English muffin?

Maybe it says about you what it said about me when I bought my first fresh whole truffle for myself for my birthday a couple years ago! I have a big smile from your post. I so agree with you all about aged parm-reg, aged balsamic, and Cabernet, and next time will include pear. Like you, pears don't excite me, but I can't resist what gave you that reaction. I do love pears with whatever-good-bleu-cheese-it-is-at the moment and Port.

Lisa, I'm just popping in to let you know I'm reading this and enjoying it very much. We were away, sans computer, and I missed the beginning of it, but I'm with you now. As always, great writing, and real fine photos, too! Thanks for sharing your world.

Holy shit, this beer is good. I did not know this barleywine until Lloyd's generous gift! ...Heavyweight Brewing Co. Old Salty. This is the 2003. It is a way too drinkable barleywine! Great mouthfeel. [i love to say that.] It's very smooth, roasty, with just the right mild amount of fruit flavor. At the very beginning it seemed thin, but the more it gets to room temp, the fuller it gets, but the bad news is my glass of this almost gone. With it, I am munching on some Poppycock Just Nuts, the fancy cashews. This is way too good.

Absolutely.... one of my favorite dinners ever was at L'Epicurio on Atwells. A long time ago I wrote an article about my food trip to Providence. I am looking for it so I can post a link or copy and paste.

Try a nice piece of aged Parmigiano Reggiano with some really high quality aged Balsamic vinegar (old enough to be really viscous and concentrated - I use a 20 year old) drizzled on it. :wub: This is truly one of the most delicious things EVER. Oh yes! I am with you on that... Divine!

Oh yum. Thank you for that.

Thanks, OK-Bob. That is a great suggestion for a pairing with the smoked porter. I will go lay that baby down right now. So right about Lloyd... you have quite a lot of experience in meeting up with him yourself, don't you?

S'kat, I am getting close to needing my fix of pizza. I've been on vacation and have dined out a lot and have had more time to spend on cooking, so it's soon going to be time for a dose of good pizza.

Tonight was a recipe testing for David Leite's Culinaria: Skewered swordfish (very fine), jumbo shrimp (fresh local), red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, Vidalia onion, homegrown bay leaves, lemon wedges, marinated Mediterranean-style and grilled. Along side was Israeli Coucous with Peas and Mint. There are no photos, as there was some kind of glitch with my camera after having the setting on PC. Last night a declicious crab and corn chowder, and sandwich of smoked chicken, homemade garlic mayo, lettuce, tomato, sweet onion, and avocado. The night before was a seafood feast, including the crabs from which the leftovers came for the soup: Mussels steamed with beer, herbs, etc.; raw clams; grilled tuna and papaya, cucumber and mint; and steamed crabs. The night before that was rotisserie-cooked goose on the grill, truffled fries, and grilled Vidalia Onion.

Dogfish Head Aprihop... A surprising good IPA, to me considering that it's a fruit beer. I just posted a few comments about it on another thread. The memories of this still linger! I want more.

Ah, yes. History is that back in the day the British pale ales for the Indian Empire were made stronger and given more hops to protect them on their long journey. They are characterized by the high hop bitterness, aroma, and alcohol content. That is a quickie version of why they are IPA's. I'm sure someone else can chime in with a link or a longer story.

Good endorsement! I will report back after the smoked porter. Anybody, any ideas on what food it might match up with... snack, lunch, dinner, anything?

Thanks, RP! Sound interesting and good. Russ and I recently met an eGulleteer in person and went to dinner with him at a great little Middle Eastern restaurant (finally entered the discussion of the definition of Shawarma). I can imagine getting a take-out from them and washing it down with some Aprihop. But oh woe is me we have only one more bottle. Now that I know it is bottled, it will be on my shopping list for the next trip up north. So, to report about this bottled Aprihop... We split a bottle of it before dinner and it was delicious. I have never said that a bottle version of a beer is better than the draft, but maybe, maybe this was or very, very close. I've had this on tap at Dogfish Head two or three times, and tonight's taste of the bottled might have been better than what we had on tap at the brewpub put last week. It could have been just because I was hungrier tonight or who knows what, but it was real fine, with emphasis on the hoppy flavors and subtle and pleasant on the apricot flavor. Thanks again, Lloyd.

Hey... A Mainiac! Hello! The beach is awesome right now. It's been in the 80's, sunny, with comfortable humidity. We've had very little rain which is great for enjoying the outdoors, but a little scary for threat of fires; however, so far so good. Thankss for your reply about the Fuggles IPA. I don't know Chamberlain or Prelude, but sounds good. I might PM you about a trade of some kind, for a taste of those next winter, in case you are interested. I don't know WTF I could send you from FL, but it may be worth a discussion. You're in a great beer area, with actual competition. That I envy, but I do not envy your weather. Please do report back after your rigorous testing.

It's so good to be an active hophead again. We're enjoying the best supply of beer that we've had in a long time, after beers from Lloyd and our recent shopping trips up north. I've always wanted to taste Hop Hazard by River Horse Brewing Company, for the name of it if nothing else! It lived up to my hopes. The label claims that brewing this beer was a balancing act. Their challenge was achieved in my opinion. Usually I prefer beers that are considered by some to be somewhat imbalanced, leaning toward the hoppy side. Maybe my taste is developing about this balance thing. If this truly has a "malt rich base," this is my kind of malt/hop flavor profile. At any rate, it is dry hopped, with a lovely hop bouquet, medium bodied and smooth, and has a good, clean finish. Are other River Horse beers this good? Another yummy one was Shipyard IPA. It had been so long since I had this beer, I forgot how good it is. It is single hopped (Fuggles), so it's interesting in an educational way, as well as good, to taste this hop flavor. This may sound weird, but I thought it tasted earthy and clean. It was crisp and citrusy, with good bitterness. Does anyone know if this Fuggles IPA is the only IPA that Shipyard makes? Shipyard ales are among my favorites.

I sure will, Lloyd. I'm planning menus for some food and beer pairings in the coming weeks, and I'll keep you posted as we taste the new ones. I'm also thinking of sipping some Aprihop tonight before or after dinner. I'm eager to see how that tastes bottled. So far, we've had the Impy Pilsner and Millenium and they're great! I think the Millenium will even improve with age. Do you think so? We like the Pilsner, too. It is more balanced than I expected and it makes for a good spring brew with some substance to it!

There is something special that unites those who love beer, and in my experience it is different than the bond among wine officiandos, food enthusiasts in general, and other communities of people sharing interests. Several years ago I met a bunch of great beer friends online, met some of them in person, and have since kept in touch with many online and a few in person. What fine people they are, and so generous when it comes to sharing sought-after beers. Several weeks ago my husband and I sent one of these beer friends a check for two cases of beer that we might have missed if he had not bought it and held it for us. We planned to pick them up when we traveled to Delaware for closing on the sale of our house up there. Last week was settlement, and on the way home we met Lloyd to pick up our cases of Old Dominion Millenium and their spring brew, an Imperial Pilsner. We appreciated that, and knowing Lloyd, imagined that he would throw in a couple bottles of something else as a treat. Wow! Imagine our surprise and joy when this was his gift of beer to us... A 750 ml bottle of Deus Belgian Ale!! A pint of 2003 Alaskan Brewing Co. Smoked Porter 2 bottles of: Clipper City Small Craft Warning Uber Pils 2003 Anchor Brewing Co. Merry Christmas Happy New Year OSA Troegs Mad Elf Holiday Ale Victory Storm King Stout 2003-04 Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout Old Dominion Oak Barrel Stout Dogfish Head Aprihop Heavyweight Brewing Old Salty 2003 Barleywine Allagash Grand Cru This is truly an awesome selection of beers. Thank you so much, Lloyd!

Lots of traveling and lots of good dining out to report... But tonight, on the eve of a 15 hour drive north, we had an easy dinner which often means grilling steaks. Mojitos First course of king crab legs and cheap bubbly; Grilled beef tenderloin steaks and vegetables; Truffled fries; Salad of sliced tomato, onion, guacamole, gorgonzola, and pine nuts; Malbec; Cream puffs and Port Best regards, and see you all in a week or so...