Jumpin' At The Woodside

Hope you're warm and cozy on these chilly winter eves approaching the New Year, enjoying the bowl games as well as some fine libations. I was in ol' Willy Penn's Commonwealth for the Christmas holiday. It was the night before Christmas Eve (or Christmas Eve Eve) and we decided to venture downtown following a hearty evening meal. My niece Mac and her husband Justin were in town from coastal Carolina, having only moved there from California this past summer. I thought Porter's Pub would be a nice destination for its excellent beer menu and east-coast charm -- a small space with an exposed rock wall. Porter's is famous for its pewter mugs hanging from the ceiling. " Experience every one of our 60 imported and micro craft brews and you will earn a pewter mug with your own personalized engraving! " It wasn't that crowded, but all the spots were taken at the bar and tables are reserved for eaters. We decided to have a drink there, and see if some spo...

Happy Friday! Tonight's brew is the last of the Sierra Nevada 30th anniversary series finally available here... Our Brewers Reserve: Oak-Aged Ale . "... a marriage of our three most acclaimed ales, Oak-aged Bigfoot, Celebration Ale, and fresh Pale Ale blended together and generously dry hopped." Ahhh, a very nice beer to enjoy in front of the ol' yule log! OK, so it's not a real fire, but I like it. We had our company Christmas party this week at Strike City for the second year in a row. Had a good time bowling and hanging with friends, we need to add this spot to our "Team Building" itinerary. Only thing I didn't like was it seems I remember back in the day having more slide on the floor, so that you slid to a stop as you finished rolling the ball down the lane. Not that I'm a big bowler, and last time I bowled was at last year's Christmas party, but it was hard to get used to the sudden stop when you're expecting to slide. Ah, didn...

I made chili again this past weekend, and think I finally have my recipe ready to share with all -- and just in time for the holidays! As I mentioned before, this was a Rachael Ray recipe that I modified so I can't take all the credit. I'm very pleased with the changes I made, and hopefully you will be too. Printable Recipe Ingredients • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided • 1 pound ground turkey and 1 pound ground sweet Italian sausage Note: the original recipe called for 2 pounds ground sirloin. Feel free to substitute meat as long as it totals roughly 2 pounds. • 1/2 pound baby Portobello mushrooms - chopped, quartered or sliced. Note: I prefer a mix of quartered and sliced, but whatever you find esthetically pleasing is fine. • 1 large Vidalia skinned onion, chopped Note: feel free to substitute yellow or white onions. • 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped • 1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped • 1 - 3 habanero peppers, seeded and chopped Note: p...

Happy Friday, hope y'all staying warm! This evening's brew is Great Divide's Hibernation Ale , an English-style old ale with malty hoppy goodness! "Hibernation Ale has been our celebrated winter tradition since 1995. This robust, dry-hopped ale has a malty richness balanced with a complex hop profile and hearty, warming character. 8.7%ABV" If you click on the image ( larger view ) you can see a few of the outside Christmas lights that I put up last weekend. It's been cold here all week with lows in the 20s, and next week they're calling for lows in the teens - what up with that, this is the south! We had "Team Building" last night at Duckworth's Grill and Taphouse . Not bad... had a half-rack of ribs, a skewer of grilled shrimp, sweet potato fries and a couple Foothills Hoppyum IPAs from Winston-Salem, NC. This was the first place I've found that's had quite an extensive beer list of local NC brews. The Hoppyum was good, but would ha...

Happy Friday and a Hoppy Birthday to the Monkey! Hope he's enjoying a nice hoppy ale in celebration of his birthday this evening. As for me I'm enjoying a hoppy good ale that's finally available in Carolina... Sierra Nevada's 30th Anniversary - Black Barleywine Ale! Perfect for a chilly evening. They're even calling for snow flurries here tomorrow night! That's Vita V. popping up in the background of the photo to see what's doing. She's a great cat and very happy, she loves to run around and play. It seems like when I take a photo of her, that "happy cat" side of her doesn't seem to come through. I guess Vita V. must truly be experienced in person - that is if she comes out of hiding when new people are afoot. By now you may be wondering about the title of this post. I've been experiencing some pain in my lower back and glute, off and on for a few months now. I could tell the pain would come if I sat for too long without a break to str...

I was in Florida to visit with my Mom and Walter for Turkey Day. A huge tradition in our hometown is watching the Phillipsburg vs. Easton high school football game - the oldest continuing rivalry in football! I found a link where we could watch the game in sunny Florida and not only did we watch it, but it was via the WiFi network I set up outside on the patio in the warm Florida air! They have Total Wine stores down there same as the Carolinas and Virginia, but wow the Total Wine down there is really a beer lover's paradise. I got a bunch of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, and found the 3rd and 4th beers in the Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary series - beers that as of that time were not available in the Carolinas. That's the "Grand Cru" above, 4th and final in the 30th Anniversary Series and a combination of their Bigfoot Barleywine, Celebration Fresh Hop Ale and Pale Ale. Sunset cocktails... I also found the Avery Old Jubilation Ale... it's malty goodness! Had a g...