Category: Food

Family and Friends Are the Best

Posted on by chappyshi

I took a three day weekend starting 11 March to see my sister Kim, who had had surgery, and my parents who were visiting Kim and her husband Don to help out post surgery.  It was really great to see everybody but a particular highlight was meeting up with Aunt Anita and Uncle Dean at the Trellis Restaurant in Williamsburg, VA.  Aunt Anita had had hip surgery two weeks prior and should have been resting for six weeks but as usual she was out and about active as ever.

We had a great and very extended lunch…about 3.5 hours.  The server and the restaurant accommodated us w/o complaint as they should have.  Business died down considerably after the lunch rush.  We relived old times  but mostly updated ourselves on recent times and Aunt Anita and Uncle Dene invited us, the Chase kids in the area, to get together with them in Richmond sometime in April.  I certainly hope that we can make that happen.

Here are a few pics from the luncheon:

WTF UPS?

Posted on by chappyshi

As you may or may not know, I order green coffee beans online and roast them myself at home weekly.  I have been ordering from the same company for months since I started home roasting.  I have never had any issues with the deliveries from UPS until now.  According to the UPS website, they tried to deliver the package to me three times unsuccessfully, then they decided to hold it for pickup, then the address was wrong and they corrected it, and then it was scanned for delivery at 4:03 this morning.  It is now 8:30 in the evening, I have been in my apartment all day, and I am not seeing any packages, eh?

Here is what I have seen from those “InfoNotices” they put on your door.  On 9/27, “Your written signature is required to leave package(s).  I signed the back of the notice and left it on my door when I went out midday on  9/28.  Unfortunately, I did not do so when I headed out about 5:15 PM later that day so I missed another deliver attempt.  Another InfoNotice dated 9/28 was left on my door stating that the package had been left in the “office.”  This is normal but when I went to pick it up yesterday, 9/29,  the package was not there.  I went out later on in the day, 9/29, and left the signed release form on my door but when I got home sometime around 6:30 PM I had another InfoNotice on the door, right next to the signed release form, stating that “The sender required a signature at the time of delivery.”

I confirmed with the sender that all they required was a signature, it did not have to be in person, and the package could be left in the management office, as has happened numerous times before.  I have talked to UPS twice.  They wanted to send the package back which was unacceptable.  They wanted me to come pick up the package which was again unacceptable.  Then they wanted to charge me to redeliver which was of course totally unacceptable.  Get some customer service eh?  And were are my effing coffee beans?

Grocery Store “Butt” foonery.

Posted on by chappyshi

The last thing I want to see at the grocery store is someone sitting on the counter where I place my groceries prior to scanning them.  But when there is some kid who looks young enough to still be in diapers sitting there, I am likely to want to hurl.  What are people really thinking of?  It is bad enough that so many people are “self checkout” incompetent but do they really have to put “poopy boy” on the counter too?  They should have stools for the kids…

Pictures from Vacation in Salvo, NC, on the Outer Banks

Posted on by chappyshi

It took me longer than I had wished to get all these pictures together.  The downside of digital photography is that we can take too many pictures and look at them before printing or publishing them with minimal  monetary impact.  Nonetheless, I spent the time and put together a set of pictures from our recent trip to the Outer Banks.  Many thanks to my sister who made the arrangements and paid for the place!

Check out the pictures here on my photo album or browse to my photo album from the main page of my blog and look for the Salvo vacation pictures.  The only real downer of the vacation,  other than a couple of trips  to Urgent Care centers, was the traffic.  For one four hour stretch, we averaged 19 MPH!

Greetings from the Outer Banks!

Posted on by chappyshi

Trips to “Urgent Care” not withstanding (everyone is okay), we are having a great time at the Outer Banks (Salvo, NC).  Thanks especially to Julie for getting the house.  We have nice a house with pool and hot tub and are about a five minute walk from the, very uncrowded, beach.  Of course we are BBQ’ing like crazy!

Traffic was hell getting down here.  It took Kim, Don, and I 5 hours to drive the 125 miles down here.  Julie, Ed, and Ryan had about a 9 and 1/2  hour journey from Centreville.  Dave came down Sunday.  He had the longest drive but made it in less than seven hours.  Locals say the traffic was nearly as bad as they could recall it being.

Julie and Ed took a short trek down to the beach Saturday night but the rest of us didn’t make it out until Sunday.  Unfortunately it was in the mid-90’s with a wicked wind blowing from the south.  The wind was blowing major sand so we didn’t last too long on the beach.

Sunday night we had heavy thunderstorms, the wind switched to the north and abated considerably, and the temps dropped down to the mid-80’s.  That made for much more enjoyable trips to the beach!  This morning has been much of the same.  I headed down to the beach with my coffee, watched the sun rise, and took some pictures.

Here are a few pictures from the trip so far:

Northern Virginia Summer BrewFest, 2010

Posted on by chappyshi

The 3d annual Northern Virginia Summer BrewFest,  “A Celebration of American Beer,” will be held June 26 and 27th at Morven Park in Leesburg, VA, just north of Leesburg on Route 15 at Tutt Lane.

I went with my sister and brother-in-law last year and really enjoyed it.  The weather was perfect and the selection of beers was awesome.  Advance tickets are a bit pricey at $20 but cheaper than at the gate ($25) and that includes a 6.75 oz tasting glass and four tickets for tasting.  There is no fee for parking and parking (as well as exiting) is hassle free.

Follow the link above for more information including a list of last years breweries.  This year’s list has not yet been posted.

I’ll be out there Saturday afternoon…hope to see you there!

Why Are Eggs in the Dairy Section?

Posted on by chappyshi

According to the Merriam-Webster Online, a dairy is a farm and/or facility “concerned with the production of milk, butter, and cheese.”  I have never seen a chicken that could produce milk from which one could subsequently produce butter and cheese.  So why are the eggs in the dairy section?  Anyone…anyone?

Bibimbap..What Is It…Really?

Posted on by chappyshi

In the Washington Post article, “Eating Well on Singapore’s Seedy Side,” dated 09/27/2009, a particular Chinese dish, no name, is said to be tossed “bibimbap style.”  There is absolutely no indication of what “bibimbap” is in the article.  I know, only after having spent the greater part of ten years learning Korean and living in Korea for seven of those years, what bibimbap is…a Korean rice dish.

Certainly, 98% of the Washington Posts readers won’t have a clue though.  The only similarity to bibimbap that the Chinese dish has is that they are both served in hot clay pots filled with rice.  In Korea, vegetables, sometimes fresh, sometimes slightly marinated, including seaweed, kimchi (do I need to clarify that one?), bean sprouts, shredded Korean radish,  perhaps some meat, etc, are placed on top of the rice.  Oft times, a fried egg will top the whole concoction and always a side  of kochujang, red pepper paste, will be included.

One then adds the desired amount of kochujang and mixes up the whole deal and noshes away.  It is more of a summertime dish but really can be served year round.  My well thumbed Korean to English dictionary defines bibimbap as a “rice hash, boiled rice mixed with subsidiary articles of diet.  Bibim means “hash” or mixture.  Bap refers to a dish based on rice.  Bibim Naeng Myun, for example, is a cold noodle dished with assorted mixed vegetables.

It’s a shame that the Washington Post could put such an obscure reference in an article and then never elaborate on it.  I assume that the writer felt confident that the reference was common knowledge and that the editor didn’t have a clue otherwise.

Northern Virginia Craft Beer News

Posted on by chappyshi

I am pleased to note that we have two new eating/drinking establishments in my area:  Vintage 51 South Riding and Dogfish Head Ale House.

Vintage 51, hereafter known as V51SR, is an extension of Vintage 50, hereafter known as V50, in Leesburg.  V51SR’s website is supposed to be www.vintage51sr.com but is still not up and running, which is stupid in my estimation.  The restaurant  has been open for at least three weeks now but in truth it is still not up and running.  The menu is still not complete, prices are up in the air (a bit too high), but the beer selection is awesome.

V50 Leesburg brews some awesome beers in my estimation and I can get growlers there which is a major bonus.  However the drive to V50, 30 to 40 minutes, diminishes the value of the brew.   V51SR, less than 15 minutes away, has a nice selection of craft beers on tap from Ales, Pale Ales, IPA’s, Kolsches, Hefe-Weisens, Stouts, Lagers, etc, well as quite a selection of bottled beers.  Don’t expect to get a Coors, Bud, or Miller Lite there though.

They are supposed to be pouring growlers.  My initial impression is that they won’t be able to do so profitably, since they would be pouring growlers of beers purchased from distributors rather than those produced in house.  That impression has nearly been confirmed by at least one of their bartenders.  The initial pricing projections are way beyond what even the most devoted micro brew aficionado would spring for.

V51SR is in a weird spot.  First of all  let me say that the Virginia booze laws are wacked.  V50 in Leesburg brews their own beer on site.  They can’t sell their  own beer at another one of their own restaurants without selling it to a distributor and then buying their beer back from the distributor.  So V51SR would have to sell beer produced by the the same company that runs V50 and V51SR at a higher price than V50 sells it for.  WTF?

If you are half-way serious about craft beers, you will be familiar with Dogfish Head.  Their 60 Minute IPA is fairly widely distributed.  The 60 Minute IPA is a a great beer…it is the anchor of their product line for those of us who like ales.  Unfortunately, for one,  they don’t sell growlers.  I think if  they brewed the beer  on site they could sell growlers.  Secondly, the beer selection is good but also a bit exotic, particularly on the flavoring side.

Most people will like their Lawnmower Light and then have to do some tasting of the other beers to find what they might like.  The Aprihop is a good beer but I am not likely to have more than one at a time.  I recently had the “Festina Peche,” which I now remember, after finding reference to it on the web, was sour tasting, not as in bad but as in citrusy sour.  Like the Aprihop, I am not likely to have more than one at a time which could be a good thing.

Please don’t ask me about the food at either Dogfish Head or V51SR.  I eat at home.  I visit these places only to check out the beers and the talent.  I do know that both of the “Vintage” restaurants get many of their fresh ingredients from the Fields of Athenry Farm in Purcellville, VA, where, as I understand, everything is grown/raised, organically.  Fields of Athenry, is on Snickersville Pike, which is a great motorcycle ride from Rt. 50 west of Aldie to Bluemont on Rt. 7 west of Leesburg.

Enjoy your beers but not before you ride!

Life Is Tough

Posted on by chappyshi

What a rough day!  Beautiful weather.  Reading the Washington Post on the balcony loving life.  Headed off at about 3:30 PM for a friend’s house a few blocks over for a pool/birthday/football party.  Tons of food there all designed to set my cholesterol level even higher than it needs to be before I get blood work done tomorrow morning.  My back is bothering me from an incident 10 days ago so I couldn’t get involved in the Cornhole competition which was looking quite intense.

My intention was to cut out of there after two beers which I did…with some difficulty.  I went to the Giant to get some beers to have at the house should I desire them.  On the way home, I stopped by Julie and Ed’s to check the house and found a crab and clam feast going on at the neighbor’s house.  Chris and Courtney invited me over.  Kathy Slover, who I always enjoy seeing, was there.

Chris had three bushels of live female crabs and just keep cooking away.  I had to get home at about 7:30 PM but before I left three or four more people showed up and the feast just kept going on.  I really did not want to leave but my cat needed to be fed and I needed to find some sanity.