Rich Pawlak

Sounds weird, but I'm really wishing they did this promo with Moretti Birra Rosso, a superb, malty, red-hued beer that hard to find but utterly delicious.

1. The Marker at the Adam's Mark Hotel 2. The Mosholu, if host Nick Bongiorno is still there 3. a place in Huntingdon Valley, PA, on Philmont Ave, called Sandro's I think, has the great Alfio Ganglinese coming in occasionally to do them, as he did at his namesake restaurant, Alfio's in Glenside, for years. 4 La Buca did one the last time I ate there.

My all time favorite fast food sandwich has to be an original Chick-Fil-A sandwich,as tasty a chicken cutlet as there is, buttered roll, two pickles, a brillaint combination. 2nd Place goes to an Arby's Roast Beef with Horseradish Sauce 3rd place goes to a Wndy's Double Burger with cheese, god help my still beating heart.

Lloyd, beer writer Lew Bryson had also heard that things were not good at Frederick; the Wild Goose Snow Goose we included in our Christmas Mix, he feared, would be the last of that beer that we would ever see. Sad.

The only good thing about this, is the goofy name for the beer. But as has been said many time before: we get the government we elect and deserve.

Here's my contribution: If we had 16 burger-eaters show up at Blue Smoke yesterday (I'm excluding Bond Girl's catfish order), and we estimated that the burgers were about 8 oz. before cooking, that means we consumed 128 ounces, or eight pounds worth of beef on Saturday. Someone check my math, willya? If we've had five BC meetings with approx. that means we've consumed about 40 pounds of burgers in the past couple of months. (And that's not including the buns, pickles, tomatoes, etc....) Yeah, and those stats will make her seem positively.... gamine!

I must also add the new Capital Rotisserie ( a really awkward name), across from the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, a terrific restaurant featuring rotisseried meats and fowl as well as some fabulous other dishes from ex-Yardley Inn Exec Chef David Cunningham. A truly sensational, quirky restaurant.

"gamine" = "too cute for words"

Grabbed another beer out of the 2003 Christmas Mix, and this time it was Otter Creek Alpine Ale, from Otter Creek Brewing in Middelbury, VT. Billed on the label as an "apres ski" beer, it was nice and dark when poured, with a tan head trhat dissipated very quickly. Stinky nose, nothing that would indicate the bold beer in the glass. Made with four different kinds of hops (they don't list them), it is surely a hoppy brew, with nice traces of molasses and caramel to balance those hops out. Actually a vbery nice beer, warming, with more nut and caramel notes as the beer warms. Good choice for the Xmas Mix, Lew!

Huge Indian-Pakistani communities in our area, due toi both the pharmeceutical industries here, as well as the academic institutions. And the food is fantastic.

Opened my second beer from the Christmas Mix, this year's Avery's Old Jubilation, one of my very favorite winter beers, from Avery Brewing Co. in Boulder CO. It poured very dark copper-red into the glass with a dense, dark tan head that hung around for a while. Big estery aromas of pie crust and molasses, almost like Amish Shoo Fly Pie, if you've ever had that. Delightful. Big, sweet, roasty first sip, with tastes of roasted chestnuts, almonds, nutmeg and dates. A nice bite of hops and a big bowl of malt in perfect balance. I'm glad I have a few bottles of this, from participation in another Holiday Mix case, it's just too good to drink just one per winter.

Rosie, first off, Happy and Healthy New Year! I hope your list will grow to include : Mambo's , fabulous Puerto Rican in Trenton Chambers Walk Cafe and Enzo's in Lawrenceville Goodfella's, a surprisingly good Italian chain op in East Windsor Chapala, very good Mexican in Hamilton All 5 were very good experiences, repeatedly so, for me this past year.

Oh JJ, come to Lawrenceville, Princeton and Plainsboro, Indo-Pak cuisine everywhere, including Palace of Asia in Mercerville, Kolluri Korner in Princeton and Passage to India in Lawrenceville.

Lew, that is a WHOLE lotta living in two days. Wow.

I cracked open my first beer from the 2003 Christmas Mix, and it was the bottle we knew least about, the Pivovar Klaster Winter Lager, from the Czech Republic. Bright green bottle, with the image of a happy little imbibing monk in the corner of the label. The beer poured clear and golden, with a big pillowy white head. Big skunky aroma, like some of those Belgian boon guezes that have that "horse blanket" smell (yeah, that's not what I call it either). This is one funky pilsner, with a lot going on the first sip, including a little alcohol burn. It's only 5.8 abv, so I wonder why. Kinda tastes like some of those "funky" guezes too, a little like grappa (well, bad grappa anyway), a little like Czech slivovitz, that plum brandy firewater, and then something like beer, but one funkadelic beer. As the beer warms , it does get a bit softer around the edges, but this is either a completely skunked import, or one roller coaster of a George Clinton of a beer.

Holey moley, good to see you here, Cornelia! Wake Ray up and drag his ass to the computer once in a while. It's good to see you posting here!

Great topic idea Bob! If all goes well, I'll be sipping a small snifter of 1994 Samuel Adams Triplebock, given to me by good beer buddy Mike Gates, bless his generous heart. Then maybe (maybe), I toast the new year with a glass of 1998 Perrier-Joet La Fleur champagne.

Had a Pyramid Snow Cap from Washington state last night, and it was a almost syrupy sweet malt monster, with nice big gulps of dates and almonds in the first few sips, followed by lots of black strap molasses, building and building as the sips continued. Not a bad beer at all, mind you, but a bit too much on the sticky side for me. I think a few bottles of this may be perfect in my next oil change.

Sorta like asking, 'Which one of your kids is your favorite?", Lloyd. This year was a rich one for beer, so many good ones, so many truly outstanding ones. For me, 3 really stood out: Victory Hop Wallop, debuting at the very last minute, it's a killer Imperial IPA (But don't tell Victory that), so floral and citrusy and ripe with those aromas, tasting it is almost secondary; but when you do, Oh Sweet Jesus what a big bold IPA it is, without all of the unnecessary complexities of other Impy IPAs. Anchor OSA 2003, rich and smooth, without the nasty pine oil scent and flavor of previous years, but with the richest, sweetest mouth of plums you could ever hope for in a beer like this. Legacy Duke of Ale, from the brothers from Reading, PA that brought you Pretzel City beers in the late 90's. Well, the boys are back, under a new name, but the Duke remains the same: a big, hoppy, yet silken brew that smells sweet, and bites hard.

I love Corsendonk Christmas. Thanks for the post!

No, no, that should be HAPPY BURGER to Elyse!! (and a belated HB to her mom). F&P: no problem. It will be nice to have you back in the fold, I'm sure. HOPPY BIRFDAY, ELYSE! Yeah, you're still cute.

I have also enjoyed Pomi crushed tomatoes; they make a sauce of stunning brightness and color. I've also had great success with Luigi Vitelli whole pear or crushed tomatoes, which bear a label stating that they are either packed in Turkey (usually the crushed tomatoes) or Italy (usually the whole pear tomatoes). Amazingly vibrant color when turned into a red gravy.

I made a quick stop at the Grey Lodge after our latest gathering of Pizza Club, on Sunday night, and, meeting up with tavern owner Mike Scotese, ordered the rare and beautiful Hop Wallop. Golden yellow, crisp white head, and a barstool-filling, grapefruity, citrus aroma. Big floral taste, with a big pucker of a finish. Wallop is right. Quite a kick at 8.5 ABV. I felt its strength during all of the drive home. Can't wait for my next pint.

Well, we've filled all the slots for this year's Christmas Mix, and I'm looking forward to meeting some of the eGulleteers and other beer fanatics who will be joining us on Dec 29 at the Grey Lodge Public House in Philadelphia. We will have a cheese sampling from DiBruno's of Philadelphia, brought by one of the new Mix sharholders, to enjoy with our holiday toasts, so it should be a terrific time. Join us anyway for a holiday beer! Here is what we ended up with for the 2003 Christmas Mix, after a few changes due to availabilty: 1.Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale 2.Troegs Mad Elf 3. Wild Goose Snow Goose 4. Bert Grant's Deep Powder 5. Anchor Our Special Ale 6. River Horse Frost Bite 7. Victory Old Horizontal 8. Old Dominion Winter 9. Appalachian Susquehanna Stout 10. Monk's Cafe Sour 11. Abita Christmas Ale 12. Clipper City High Seas Winter Ale 13. Pyramid Snow Cap 14. Penn St. Nickolaus 15. Avery Old Jubilation 16. Geary’s Hampshire Winter 17. Bell’s Java Stout 18. Weyerbacher Winter 19. Pivovar Klaster Winter Lager 20. Otter Creek Alpine Ale 21. Anderson Valley Winter Solstice 22. Harvey Christmas Ale 23. Heavyweight Old Salty 24. Flying Fish Grand Cru Winter Maybe the best Xmas Mix ever, and all of it, for under $35. I can't wait to sample some of these beauties.

Finally openined this year's Harpoon Winter Warmer, from Harpoon Brewing Co., Boston, MA, and what a cinnamon stick! If this is the scent, aroma and flavor that arouses men most, then this should definitely do the trick, but the cinnamon and spice in this brew makes it almost undrinkable. I think this may best be served over ice cream, or with some ice cream in a beer float. It looks tasty enough, rich coppery-orange, with a decent off-white head that fades fairly quickly. And the intial aroma could fill a small room. But it's pretty hard to get through this glass without wanting to rinse one's mouth with water, just to quell the overwrought cinnamon. Woosh! An Altoid of a beer.