I’ve Had Better Fridays
Today’s will be a short post. Hopefully you’ll understand why in just a moment. But next week is spring break for the kiddos, and it’s going to be a little bit of a spring break for me too. Mostly because the little ones will be with their gramma in Rhode Island for a few days, while I come back home to play… er… work.
It’s hard to keep those two things straight.
My first thought was towards The Cheese Traveler, and maybe this would be the week I’d finally get to try one of his awesome grilled cheese sandwiches. But then I remembered it was going to be Passover. Dammit.
Easter sounds like a lot of fun. You get to eat bread, and maybe even a HoneyBaked Ham. Man, it’s been a long long time since I’ve had one of those. But the truth is that I do love the Passover seder.
But before our first seder tonight, I’ve got a crapload of work.
One, Two, Ten, and Twenty-Four
I’m going to keep this short today because I’m a little tired from last night’s Official Yelp Event at Slidin’ Dirty. If you were there, you already know how great it was. If you weren’t there, you’ll be seeing pictures next week, and then you are going to kick yourself for not clearing your schedule.
The turnout was amazing. The food was delicious. The drinks were fabulous. The staff worked their asses off. The owners really got a better sense of the local Yelp community, and got to show off what makes their restaurant super special.
Last night I met a lot of new people, saw some old friends, and had great conversations. I even fell for one of the oldest April Fools’ jokes in the world. It was a ton of fun.
But today’s FLB post isn’t about that. I promised yesterday that today I’d elaborate on the statement, “Just having a few sips of something doesn’t let you fully experience it.” Maybe this is painfully obvious to you, but given the popularity of tasting flights, I thought I’d weigh in on the matter.
Slow Down, Geezer Drinking
I’m more of an old fashioned prankster. So today I won’t be trying to fool you in my prose. Today’s post is not a ruse.
Tonight I’ll celebrate this foolish holiday at Slidin’ Dirty with a room full of Yelpers and their compatriots. There will even be extra special treats for those early birds who check into the event first on their smart phones. The doors open at 7pm, but you have to be on the list to get in. And, regrettably, the list is full.
If you want in on future Yelp events, keep an eye on the events page, follow Yelp Albany on Facebook, subscribe to the Twitter feed, or do whatever it is people do on Instagram.
Yeah. I’m old. And for a while I thought that staying hooked into social media would keep me young. But that was a false hope. I’m slowing down. Last Saturday I hung out in a bar and did some afternoon drinking. I was able to drink three ten-ounce glasses of beer. That was it. I wanted more, but I just didn’t have a fourth in me.
The interesting thing is that this change isn’t just affecting how much I’m drinking, it’s actually changing what I’m drinking.
Bread Stuffing
Egads! Do you know what happens on Friday? I have to stop eating bread for a week. And it’s not just bread, it’s all wheaty things that swell with water. So pasta is out. Beer is forbidden. Whiskey goes bye bye.
The five grains we avoid during passover are wheat, barley, spelt (also known as farro), oats, and rye. Fortunately, my observances aren’t as strict as those who fully commit to traditional festival observances. For example, we don’t take all the prohibited grains out of the house, we don’t use a separate set of plates, and we eat a host of things that most people would avoid.
Still, for someone who lives on carbohydrates, gluten and all things bready, this holiday is pure torture. So, I’m doing the only sensible thing someone like me could possibly do. And that’s gorge myself on bread now in preparation for the want to come.
Nuts to Nutella
Who doesn’t remember discovering Nutella? Maybe the details of the very first time you’ve tried it have scattered into the dust of time. But learning of the magical existence of a spreadable chocolaty condiment was a life-changing experience for me.
It opened me up to the possibilities of other cultures who did things very differently. And that eventually led to the discovery of crepes. Crepes led to making other fancy desserts. A deeper love of food wasn’t far behind.
Nutella also went through a dark time a while back. Like all products of the era, the formulation changed to include partially hydrogenated fats. And that’s when Nutella first dropped out of my life. It’s not hard to deal with the loss when when one has an ample supply of great challah and high quality chocolate. Eating the two of those together is also a fantastic chocolate and bread experience.
Then a few years ago, I found that Nutella had changed the ingredients yet again to replace those nasty manipulated oils with palm oil (which even though it is problematic for a different set of reasons, was still an improvement in my book). Nutella came back into my life.
As of today, once again I’m done with Nutella. But this time, it’s not the brand, it’s me.
Funday Comes Early
Last night was All Over Albany’s seventh birthday party. And man am I tired. As always, it was a great time. I had some stimulating conversations with interesting people, but none of them were long enough and like always, I hungered for more.
There were some people who I only got a chance to wave at from across a crowded room. Some people I only saw as they were leaving. It’s why after every AOA party, I wish these were quarterly affairs, and not just annual outings.
This was also my first time in the the Takk House, and it’s a fantastic venue. Now I’m curious how long it will take before the downstairs bowling lanes are refurbished.
Anyhow, now I’m tired. And I got this one press release just this week for an event that’s happening tonight. It’s a bit pricey, but still the money goes to support a worthwhile effort. And I’m sure it will be a night of tasty delights.
Here’s what you need to know (unedited except for the addition of some carriage returns).
Eight is Enough
Spring is the wrong word. I’m still following the advice of Kurt Vonnegut and considering this to be the unlocking. And it’s true. The snow is melting away. All the ice is off the driveway. There’s only a little bit left on a shady corner of our roof and you can spy a small amount more in a short length of the gutter.
There is an upside to below freezing temperatures in late March. It gives you a way to use up the last of your winter storage vegetables in one final, mega pot of soup.
I may not have gotten all the vegetables in the pot, but I came awfully close. And it used up a bunch of odds and ends. Plus I got to use two of the new tools I acquired this winter. Here’s how it went down.
AskTP – So Much For Goals
Well, so much for answering questions as they were asked. It’s good to have goals. It’s better to achieve them, but maybe I’ll do better next time around.
This past week has seen an unprecedented amount of traffic to the FLB, and it’s coming from all sides. We’ve got farm advocates, animal rights folks, small government backers, ethical omnivores, and a whole lot more. It’s really amazing to see how this incident has brought together opposing sides of multiple issues towards one common goal.
Of course, it’s a lot easier from the outside. Surely, despite all the support, this has been unimaginably hard on farmer Josh and his family. At least West Wind Acres’ GoFundMe campaign seems to be going well. In the first few days, donations seem to be coming in at a consistent pace of roughly $5k per day, all in small increments.
While Josh sorts this out (his hearing is tonight, if you want to get out and support him in person) things continue to move on at the FLB. There are questions that need answers. And until the legal matter is settled, I’m just going to leave questions about WWA out of this roundup. Fortunately, I have a significant pile of other questions to tackle.
So without any further ado, onto the questions.
Good Food, Bad Decision
It’s not even spring, and there are too many good things. Once the weather gets nicer, and more people start leaving their houses, it’s as if the events tap get opened up and everything happens all at once.
Perhaps the fact that it’s technically spring has something to do with it.
This past weekend sure didn’t feel like spring. But below-freezing temperatures didn’t stop a line from forming at the door of The Low Beat on Sunday of people trying to get into this month’s Rock N Roll Brunch.
By the time the doors opened, the line stretched all the way down to the corner. For brunch. It was remarkable. Clearly chef Josh has struck a nerve with his changing menu, sustainably raised ingredients, and thoughtfully integrated vegetarian and vegan dishes.
Brunch was delicious, but it was a terrible idea.
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