Category: Food

Categories
Beer Food

St. Patrick’s at Rose & Thistle

St. Patrick's Day at Rose & ThistleHappy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! I took the day off and slept in, played some Call of Duty 4, watched some TV, and then met Mr. & Mrs. Ghost Dog at Rose & Thistle at a bit after 3:30pm. We were joined briefly by Snooks, and then later Kelly, Miranda, and my brother Travis and his wife. Had a great time hanging out, drinking several pints of Guinness, eating some delicious food, and playing darts. One more day off (tomorrow) and then it’s back to work. I love vacation.

Oh, the kegerator (hereby known as The Precious) is doing well. The keg that came with my purchase ran out that night (there wasn’t much left in it) so yesterday Snooks went with me to go pick up a fresh keg of Great White. I spent last night fiddling with the CO2 regulator pressure, and reading up on all the bits I’ll need to run Guinness, which is my ultimate goal. Mmmmm… Guinness.

Categories
Beer Food Work

Gold Dust and the Moon

Tonight Kelly and I joined several others to celebrate our friend D’s birthday at a relatively new bar in Southeast Portland called Gold Dust Meridian. Kelly and I shared the bus down Hawthorne, but were early for the birthday gathering, so we decided to swing into McMenamins Back Stage Bar for a drink before walking down the street.

Gold Dust Meridian is a dimly lit, moderately swanky bar that’s not overpriced and has good food and a decent beer selection (including the delicious Terminal Gravity ESG). The staff were friendly, and our server was both attentive and organized (he had the foresight to preemptively split up the bill for the table by people who’d arrived together, which meant the confusion usually associated with big groups was avoided).

My brother was sitting at Moon & Sixpence and I’d told him I’d stop by, and fortunately Miranda was with us and wanted to go that way herself, so she drove Kelly and I over there and we hung out for a few beers.

Fun night. Needed it pretty badly after the week… the fun of software development and release deadlines never ends. 🙂

Categories
Beer Entertainment Food Movies Work

Long week, good weekend, Legend

Since last weekend’s adventures, I had another long and fairly stressful work week. The weekend was pretty fun though, despite two things: 1) a possible resurgence of some sort of virus (sinus pressure, a sore throat and a cough, dammit), and 2) a friend coming into town on Friday (I say friend, though he’s a total bastard and I hate him, but not really, I just like to pretend I hate him). Started off by going to Mash Tun for some dinner and drinks Friday night along with Snooks and L. Saturday we all met up at Kennedy School in the early afternoon for some drinks, and then went to Delta Cafe (blogged before here) for dinner. I both love and loathe the Delta… the food is really good, but the greasy smell gets woven into both your clothes and your very being. It can be a bit overpowering. The last time I was there I had made the mistake of bringing my wool coat in, and the next morning on the bus I realized that I was ‘that stinky guy’, all because of the greasy scent. This time I wore clothes I could burn later. 🙂

Intersection near Kennedy SchoolToday the nice weather returned. I spent most of my day relaxing indoors, playing a bit of Call of Duty 4, and watching shows recorded on the DVR. Kelly went to a friends baby shower, and after she got home I drug her to Kennedy School to see I Am Legend at the theater. We’d arrived with just enough time to sit in the Cypress Room for a beer before heading to the theater. The movie was pretty good, and I enjoyed it quite a bit despite the, at times, poor CGI (some of it was pretty bad, though overall I was able to get past a lot of it and it didn’t distract me). The representation of a vacant and dead city (with nature taking back what’s ‘hers’ with grass coming through the streets, deer running free, etc), and the main character’s almost super-human ability to avoid insanity in the face of near total solitude was well done. Overall I though it was pretty good, and well worth seeing on the ‘big screen’ for a few dollars, with some beer and popcorn.

Categories
Entertainment Food Television

Sicky

Still feeing a bit ill, though it’s not as bad as it could be. I think I’m either fighting it off successfully, or I didn’t get the same flu that many of my coworkers had gotten. The symptoms are a dull headache, sore throat and nasal congestion (pretty light on all three), a slight cough, and an occasional fever. There are times when I feel nearly 100%, and others where I feel 60%. If that makes any sense.

Yesterday, during one my my better moments I ran to the store to pick up more cold medicine and something for dinner (fixin’s for a reuben sandwich, which sounded really good in my sick state). Last night Kelly and I watched a lot of stuff off the DVR, including all 3 new episodes of Lost, and the rest of the season of Psych. Lost is good, and I’m really waiting for the next couple to find out… er… nevermind, won’t sway it, I’m sure some of you reading haven’t seen ’em yet. Anyway.

Today’s beautiful out. Kelly said she wanted to go out and spend time in the yard. I do too, so I may bundle up a bit and see if some time outside will do me good. Even if I don’t do much, just being outside in the warm-ish sunny weather will be nice.

Categories
Beer Food

Valentine Moon & Hot Sauce

Louisana Hot SauceI woke up this morning, went into my office, and found a bag on my desk from my lovely wife Kelly. In the bag were some Samuel Smith’s beers (stout, porter, and India pale), and the biggest bottle of Louisiana Hot Sauce I’ve ever seen (32oz). I love this hot sauce (it’s not very hot, but it’s really tasty and goes with anything), and had recently purchased a tiny 3oz bottle a couple days ago. Kelly found this beast of a bottle, and bought it for me for Valentine’s Day. That’s right, I don’t need flowers or chocolates or wimpy cards, I need beer and a giant bottle of HOT SAUCE! Raaaawwwrrrr! Remember, hot sauce goes good with anything… soup, pasta, pizza, eggs, potatoes, salad, toast, cereal, ice cream, fresh fruit, etc. This bottle will be empty in a few days. Yes, Kelly knows me well.

Another example of Kelly’s love for me (and her willingness to eschew the typical Valentine’s Day trappings of overly-packed Italian restaurants), we went to Moon & Sixpence, where we had a few pints and some dinner (Kelly had the Ploughman’s, and I had the Steak and Mushroom pie, which was very tasty). Wonderful night, much needed after my day. Love you Kelly!