Not So Famous…

This burger was truly epic.  So epic, in fact, I took pictures. Gabe and I both ordered one.  When it showed up, I was sort of amazed.

It's almost too big to comprehend.

...so I used my hand for some scale. This bad boy was hard to eat, let me tell ya'. My thumb was just in front of it. No sneaky camera tricks...seriously.

...but here's Gabe trying to do so anyway.

But he ends up laughing, because this thing was a virtual planetoid. It's got it's own weather system!

And the verdict is.....

If you ever find yourself in Fresno, make your way to 777 E. Olive, and enjoy the Mighty Yeti.  Also of note was the FINE Oatmeal Stout they served.  Wonderful beer.

Oh, you want to know what’s on this burger of epic proportions?

• 4 strips of bacon
• 2 slices of ham
• onion rings
• 2 fried eggs
• 1/3 lb. beef patty
• 4 slices of cheese
• thousand island
• pickles
• onions
• lettuce
• tomato

And if you can eat it in under 5 minutes, they’ll give you a t-shirt.  lol

This post is WAY late. I meant to have something typed up the day after the concert, and I had every intention of doing so.  However, the concert was the 12th of September, and here it is, 9/23/08, and I’m still thinking about what I’m going to write. So here it is.  I’m sure some of the details will be fuzzy…it happened over a week ago.

The Food, Buffalo Bill’s Brewing Company:

Buffalo Bill’s is well-known for their fruit/beer infusions. I know many of my readers are not fans of fruit beers, and in some cases, I agree.  At one time I was quite fond of Pyramid’s Apricot Ale, but the last few times I have had that beer, I’ve noticed that the Apricot is huge in the nose, but not so much in the taste.  In addition, the actual beer flavor is weak in this ale, probably to avoid trampling the fruit flavor.  (For what it’s worth, I recently noticed that Pyramid has changed the name from Apricot Ale to Apricot Weizen.  It’s probably a wise move given that Weizen (wheat) most accurately describes the beer.  While wheat beers are technically ales, the flavor profiles of these beers are so different from ales, they really ought to be separately classified.)

The reason fruit and beer are so hard to mix is understandable, to be honest. Fruit extract or pulp, when boiled, loses a great deal of its flavor and aroma.  The delicate flavors that we associate with fruit do not make it through the brewing process unscathed.  In addition, fruit pulp added post-boil introduces a HUGE potential for bacterial infection.  It’s a scary thought to add something after the boil that has not been properly sanitized.  So, successful fruit beers are all the more impressive when they’ve managed to make a good BEER flavor meld with a good FRUIT flavor.  There are some beers that have done it.  Sam Adams Cherry Wheat is one.  However, most of the others come from the Buffalo Bill’s Brewery.

Buffalo Bill’s Orange Blossom Ale is really a stellar combination of fruit aroma, flavor, and beer.  I would never choose it above a regular decent ale, but it’s a good mashup.  Their Pumpkin Ale I was not all that impressed with, but I bet I give it a whirl again this Thanksgiving.  However, their Blueberry Stout is one of the most wonderful beers I’ve ever had the immense pleasure of tasting! It occurs to me that I’ve rambled about beers enough, but you ought to know that Buffalo Bill’s is one of the best brewerys I’ve ever visited, and that’s saying a great deal.

Gabe and I always get the Bill’s Burger with Bleu Cheese and Avocado when we’re at Bill’s. Seriously great burger.  The Ciabatta roll on which it’s served only adds to the beefy, rich goodness that is this burger. And with the Blue Cheese??  Man, if you’ve not had bleu cheese on a burger, you’re really missing out.  I don’t like plain bleu cheese.  The flavor profile is way too strong for me.  But the velvety and tangy mouthfeel it adds when on a burger is really something, and Bill’s does it to perfection.  Get one….now.

This trip, however, we had something interesting.  I’m a fan of the poppers.  I get them almost everywhere that has them.  They’re not USUALLY too terribly spicy, and I love that cheese.  So when I saw that Bill’s had some good poppers, I decided to order us a platter.  Man…………….I almost died from the awesomeness.  I don’t know what Bill’s breads their poppers with, but it’s some sort of dough.  Bill’s menu says “flakey, golden-brown crust”.  It’s definitely flakey, resembling Phyllo dough, pie crust or puff pastry. They’ve had an egg-wash brushed on it, and they’ve been baked, and my gosh….It was a taste sensation that could sweep the nation!

Finally, because I can’t NOT say anything about this, I had a couple different beers. I almost always open the evening with their Johnny MIdnite’s Oatmeal Stout.  An excellent example of the stout style, having one of these babies is like seeing an old friend for the first time in a long time.

I had a Tazmanian Devil, which is considered a Strong Ale, and it sure seemed that way! Malty goodness abounds here.

I had a Ricochet Red, which was your traditional copper ale.  Nicely malted and hopped, this one has the best of both worlds.  Less alcohol, to be sure, than the Tazmanian Devil above.

Finally, I closed the evening with an Alimony Ale, which is known as “Irreconcilably different.”  Also known as the bitterest beer in America.  I’ll leave the final comments here to Gabe.

It was a great meal, and we had a lot of fun.

The Drive, a.k.a. WHY I HATE THE BAY AREA!!!!:

Yeah, so we got lost.  Who cares?  John betrayed us again, and took FOREVER to find the satellites.  (John is John Cleese, and he’s the celebrity voice of my GPS Navigator.)  So we had a hard time finding the freeway, and even once John FOUND the dang freeway, the exits were so close together that we ended up missing a turn while in S.F. and had to double back.  I hate driving in the Bay Area.

The Music, Sonata Arctica and Nightwish:

Sonata Arctica is a pretty darn good epic metal band.  Their keyboardist plays a pretty cool guitar-style keyboard, and they sounded good.  I don’t know their songs, though, so I couldn’t tell you what they played.  If you get a chance to listen to them, I think they’re worth it, even though they’re not fronted by a female.  :)

Nightwish rocked the hizzouse, as usual. One thing I remember about this show is the individual personalities that come out in their shows.  Each member of Nightwish is practically a show in and unto themselves! I could watch a single member for an entire show, and then go back and watch the show again to see another member the whole time. They somehow manage to fuse their sounds and individualities together to form one of the raddest bands of all time. My favorite to watch is Emppu.  Whether he’s flashing the horns to Anette DURING one of his solos, (  \m/  ), nodding to an audience member indicating the radness of his sound, or tugging on Marco’s rockin’ goatee to the rhythm of the chunky guitar riffs, Emppu is a lot of fun to watch.  Imagine if Lucius Malfoy were to form a rockin’ band….minus the evil inclinations, of course.

Another thing I noticed was Anette’s calming influence on the guys.  Sometimes, when she wasn’t going to be singing for a little while, she’d go offstage.  Normally, it’s not my favorite thing, as I think the frontman/lady is an important part of the visual appeal of the show.  However, when Anette walks offstage, it’s like she’s giving the guys free reign to just thrash their heads off. When she walks onstage and starts singing, though, it’s like a balm of tranquility (to a certain extent) has washed over the guys.  Like they tend toward absolute chaos, and she keeps them from toppling into the gaping maw of anarchy. It’s a great aspect to the show.  She’s so cute and feminine, and she seems to really love the other guys, who seem more raw and untamed.  At one point, Tuomas came out from behind his keyboards and gave her a big hug, she hugged Marco, and I think she might have even hugged Emppu.  From what I heard of the guys’ lack of interactions with Tarja, I think this is a welcome aspect to their shows, and really helps us to see how much they love making music together!

They played a bunch of songs, and I’m sure I’d have missed a bunch of them, so I got them off of the journal of someone else who was there.  :)

Bye Bye Beautiful
Dark Chest of Wonders
The Siren
Dead to the World
Amaranth
Come Cover Me
The Islander
The Poet and the Pendulum
Whoever Brings the Night
Wishmaster
Sahara

Then they went offstage, like they were done.  Of course, we all chanted our lungs out, and they came back.  :)

Higher Than Hope
7 Days to the Wolves
I Wish I Had an Angel

It really was a ROCKIN’ concert.  They are one of my top 5 bands, easily, and if you EVER get the chance to see them, it’s worth whatever drive or hardship you need to overcome to make it.  :)

edit: For an excellent play-by-play of the show, check out this blog entry.  She also took pics and video!  :)  http://www.lastfm.pl/user/jukkakhan/journal/2008/09/14/25xbct_concert_journal:_nightwish_-_san_francisco_-_september_12th,_2008

Yesterday was our first sea day, and it was nice and relaxing.  The cruise liner we’re on offers a continental breakfast in your room if you so choose, so Kim and I started with that.  (I just had a coffee and yogurt, but Kim got a danish and some tea.)  There was more there, but I wanted more of a protein-based breakfast. (Read: meat.)  So we ate our pre-breakfast, and headed for the buffet.  As buffets go, it was fine.  Nothing to write home about.  (A blog, however, is another story.)

We then went to see what the Blackharts were doing, and the 4 of us (Kim’s brothers were still in their rooms) headed down to the game room to play some Phase 10, planning to at least observe a Guitar Hero tournament that was happening around 11:15, I think.

When we got to the Guitar Hero tourney, it was revealed that they weren’t as organized as the term “tournament” might otherwise suggest.  In fact, they couldn’t even get 2 guitars hooked up to the Wiis they were using, so it was more of a competition where the highest score wins.  (The tournament using Face Off or Pro Face Off would have been much different.)  Scott and Mark wanted to know if I wanted in on Expert, and I agreed, knowing I wouldn’t beat anyone.  I definitely need to practice more on guitar.

Mark failed Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benatar, while I chose Tenacious D’s The Metal to fail on.  Both of us failed quite well, considering how we thought we’d do.  Scott actually competed on Knights of Cydonia with two other guys and came in third.  It was pretty fun.  The boys stayed to see if Mark placed in the Medium event, and to play GH just for the heck of it.  The rest of us returned to the game room to finish playing Phase 10.

After Phase 10, the boys showed up, and we switched to Skip Bo, which was fun until Mark decided there was a distinct possibility that he might actually vomit, and left the table to go outside for some fresh air.  Incidentally, he won Skip Bo, thanks in part to my skillful playing. (read: the cards came up right for him to win.  If it were up to my skillful playing, he’d probably still be trying to go out.)

To explain why Mark didn’t feel so hot, you need to understand that we were on the open sea.  Now that we’ve made it to the Inside Passage, things are much smoother, but it is pretty incredible how even a LARGE ship like this one can be tossed around by the seas.  Gives a new respect for those who came to America by ship.  These ships are designed with stabilizing mechanisms, and they’re much larger than the ships people used to travel on. Yesterday was a rough day in terms of the ocean.  The Captain’s Log described it as moderate, but I think had we been on a smaller boat, it would have been described as “HOLY CRAP, WE’RE GONNA DIE!”  :)

Lunch was fun as we tried various things we’d never tried before.  When the food is freely available at no marginal cost, it tends to make one quite brave. After lunch Kim and I retired to our room for a nap and some more relaxation.

Dinner was formal last night, and everyone, everywhere was dressed up on the ship.  Formal, on the ship, means that men shall wear a dinner jacket of some sort, and a tie. I forgot to mention what I had the first night for dinner.

Saturday Dinner:

• Seafood Spam – No, it wasn’t REALLY spam, but it was a BUNCH of seafoods crammed together into a loaf.  It wasn’t bad, but apparently not too memorable, since when I was trying to remember what I had, Kim and I had a rough time of it.  lol
• Cream of Porcini Soup – Tasty, but not hot enough, and Kim thought it was a little earthy for her tastes.
• Mixed greens with a citrus vinaigrette – This was a salad.  Not the most spectacular I’ve had, but not bad at all.
• Seashell Pasta with Chicken. – There was a fancy name for this, but I can’t recall it at the moment. It was tasty.  The sauce was almost raw-tomato-tasting, but it was really good.
• Some sort of dessert. – I don’t remember what it was.  It was chocolate and somewhat dry.  I was kind of surprised that it was flourless, but since I’m not a big dessert guy, it wasn’t memorable.

Sunday (last night) Dinner:

• Crab Quiche – Quite good, except for the bits of shell I got.  Not many bits, to be honest. We were all kind of surprised at the size.  Quiche is normally small.  Either small pie pieces or little mini quiches.  I do enjoy some crab.
• Lobster Bisque – The highlight of the evening, really. I’d never had a bisque, though had seen them made on the Food Network.  I can see what the big deal is.  A strained soup with the best of lobster in it.  Richness, salty, and hearty is what I got.  A couple pieces of lobster in it.  Well worth the time we had to wait to get it.  lol
• Silver Salmon – While at sea, and while my wife doesn’t have to cook it, why not have fish?  This salmon was very good.  Not overcooked, no fishy taste.  Served with a cucumber salad to the side, and mashed potatoes, which were also good. This was a perfect complement to the Lobster Bisque, earlier, I think.
• Parfait flavored with Drambuie – Mark and I have a bit of a running joke about how Gabe and I love Drambuie, and how Mark believes it to be the nastiest tasting liqueur ever invented. This parfait was sort of a….uh…..well, it was not served in a glass with granola in it…I can tell you that.  It almost had the texture of really smooth ice cream, or frozen yogurt.  Very buttery and rich.  The Drambuie came at you as the very last flavor. It was mild, and gave a slight bite to the finish of this most excellent dessert.  It was a wedge of mmmmmm.

Today is our Juneau day.  Kim and her parents are going on some sort of walking tour, where they actually go on the glacier.  I expect some awesome pictures.  Meanwhile, the boys and I will be going on the Taste of Juneau tour.  Pub tours are my favorite.  :)  I’ll let you know how it all turns out.

Oh, and yes….the lounge singer was back again.  This time, we did call our steward, and were informed that there was nothing that could be done.  He was to sing until 12am.  (Which was more like 11pm, since we had to set our clocks back an hour coming into Alaska.)  So while I write this, it’s actually almost 9am for my West Coast readers. I like gaining an hour. I don’t like booming male vocals while I’m trying to sleep.  lol

I mentioned in a previous post that Kim was pregnant.  She’s 12+ weeks along now, and the morning sickness miraculously appears to have disappeared.  We’ve both read that most women’s morning sickness disappears with the end of the first trimester.  If I’ve learned anything about this life, though, it’s that you ought not get your hopes up.  So we weren’t.  :)

This weekend, however, Kim felt much better, which was a relief to me.  I still ended up doing the dishes (she’s still been quite tired), but I’ve actually been able to have some meals with my wife.  I even cooked sausage on the grill, and she stuck around.  :)  It was awesome.  We also went out to breakfast after we took pictures on Saturday morning.  She actually tried some of my corned beef hash, and liked it, which surprised the heck out of me.

That brings me to one of the reasons I was wanting to write today.  Kim and I were talking about how weird it is that we have completely different ideas about what breakfast should be.  We discovered this one day 4 years ago or so when we were discussing what our plans were going to be for Christmas one year, and I mentioned that Grandma would have an awesome breakfast set up, like she did every year.  I was informed, in no uncertain terms, that THAT sort of breakfast wasn’t real breakfast.  I was bewildered.  What could be wrong with sausage, bacon, eggs, toast, coffee, etc.?  Apparently, quite a bit.

I asked her, of course, what her idea of a stellar breakfast was.  Pancakes, waffles, and other assorted bread/pastry products with mounds of sugar.  While I have nothing against these kinds of breakfast foods, they cannot replace bacon, sausage, haggis, pizza, hamburgers, or anything else with a ton of protein; something with texture; something I can sink my teeth into.

In the morning, I usually have scrambled eggs with salsa.  If I have leftover meat of some sort like sausage, hamburger, ham, or haggis, it’ll make its way into the scramble.  Onions and potatoes are a nice rarity, but I usually don’t have that.  Lots of protein…helps me feel full.

Kim, on the other hand, usually has a bagel or toast.  When she goes out with her parents, it’s a short stack of pancakes with Strawberry Smuckers’ Jelly. I’ve seen her eat assorted breakfast sweets as well.  Her aunt has some recipe that is really wonderful called Dutch Babies, but I’ve got no idea what’s in it.  I want to say eggs, but that doesn’t seem right.  Kim normally cringes when eggs are mentioned in the morning.

When we were in Scotland, the traditional breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, mushrooms, broiled tomato, baked beans, potato pancake, and haggis or black pudding suited me just fine.  Looks like my forebears had the right idea about breakfast.  I loved every morsel of it.  Kim, on the other hand, didn’t really like breakfast, much.  The fruit that they usually provided with a continental-style breakfast wasn’t usually very good.  Cereals were somewhat limited.  One thing we both liked was the coffee and the toast.  When we got to the B&B in Ft. William, however, the lady of the house was an American by birth.  She made us pancakes, and Kim was in carb-heaven!

Another delicacy I enjoy on rare mornings: Breakfast Burritos with sausage, eggs, onions, potatoes, and cheese with salsa verde.  /drool

What do you like for breakfast?

I’m always on the lookout for ways I can improve my brewing process, while spending the least amount of money possible.  One of the things that I have been severely annoyed at of late is the fact that I can only boil 7 gallons or so at a time…because I have an 8 gallon kettle.  Well, I’m about to remedy that.

Off-the-shelf brew kettles are anywhere from $280 to $700.  This is a little cost-prohibitive, and really is only good for brewing large batches of beer.  We’ve never found ourselves in need of a 15 gallon pot for anything else, really.  So I’d be spending a lot of money on something that only has 1 practical use.  Well, the guy whose video card I recently worked on told me that if I ever found a 15.5 gallon keg, he’d help me turn it into a big 15 gallon brewing kettle.

This last week, I found a place online that would let me buy used kegs for whatever purpose.  http://www.chicompany.net.  I bought a keg from them, and it’s supposed to show up tomorrow or Wednesday!  WOOO! And the keg was only $65.  That beats the cost for a major kettle, any day.  Even if the parts cost $30, which they won’t, I’m still up!

Then I need to get with Mark and work with him to get this bad boy converted into an infinitely usable brew kettle!  YAY ME!!!  I’ll have pictures as soon as the keg gets to the house!

In other news: Today, we purchased our tickets for the Nightwish concert May 22nd in Orangevale, which ought to be a total blast! We’re stopping by the Squeeze Inn in Sacramento for some killer CHEESEburgers. Check this out:
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/oAgWlgoFCCvSKT4bERplSQ?select=guucg8YXAKbQMnMG-Fru1w

Yeah, that is a BUNCH of cheese on that thing.  Saw this diner on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, and we’re really looking forward to this food and the show.  If you’re interested, you can get your tickets here:
http://www.enterthevault.com/moreInfo.php?id=1463

Finally, we also have our tickets to the Symphony X show in San Francisco on April 18th!  For that show, we’re going to eat dinner at Gordon Biersch before the show….gonna be AWESOME!

You can get tickets for the Symphony X show here:
http://www.slimstickets.com/evinfo.php?eventid=20601&sid=

Address To A Haggis (in Scots) – Robert Burns

Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o’ the puddin-race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o’ a grace
As lang’s my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o’ need,
While thro’ your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An’ cut you up wi’ ready sleight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like ony ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn,
they stretch an’ strive:
Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive,
Till a’ their weel-swall’d kytes belyve,
Are bent lyke drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
“Bethankit!” ‘hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi’ perfect sconner,
Looks down wi’ sneering, scornfu’ view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him ower his trash,
As feckless as a wither’d rash,
His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro’ bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He’ll mak it whissle;
An’ legs an’ arms, an’ heads will sned,
Like taps o’ thrissle.

Ye Pow’rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o’ fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu’ prayer,
Gie her a haggis!

The Translation

Fair is your honest happy face
Great chieftain of the pudding race
Above them all you take your place
Stomach, tripe or guts
Well are you worthy of a grace
As long as my arm

The groaning platter there you fill
Your buttocks like a distant hill
Your skewer would help to repair a mill
In time of need
While through your pores the juices emerge
Like amber beads

His knife having seen hard labour wipes
And cuts you up with great skill
Digging into your gushing insides bright
Like any ditch
And then oh what a glorious sight
Warm steaming, rich

Then spoon for spoon
They stretch and strive
Devil take the last man, on they drive
Until all their well swollen bellies
Are bent like drums
Then, the old gent most likely to rift (burp)
Be thanked, mumbles

Is there that over his French Ragout
Or olio that would sicken a pig
Or fricassee would make her vomit
With perfect disgust
Looks down with a sneering scornful opinion
On such a dinner

Poor devil, see him over his trash
As week as a withered rush (reed)
His spindle-shank a good whiplash
His clenched fist.the size of a nut.
Through a bloody flood and battle field to dash
Oh how unfit

But take note of the strong haggis fed Scot
The trembling earth resounds his tread
Clasped in his large fist a blade
He’ll make it whistle
And legs and arms and heads he will cut off
Like the tops of thistles

You powers who make mankind your care
And dish them out their meals
Old Scotland wants no watery food
That splashes in dishes
But if you wish her grateful prayer
Give her a haggis!

As many of you know, when I was in Scotland, I tried haggis, and absolutely fell in love with it.  Now, I know that many of you will think I am a nasty, nasty person for eating something made from heart, liver, lungs, and steamed in a stomach. Before I tried haggis, I would tend to agree with you. It just sounds nasty…

However, it’s not nasty. When haggis is done RIGHT, it cannot be described, but it is one tasty dish.

When I got back to the States, I was dismayed to find that at least one of the traditional ingredients of haggis is prohibited by law. Lungs cannot be sold for human consumption in the United States, but that hasn’t prevented people from coming up with USDA-approved versions of haggis!

One of those companies is Caledonian Kitchen, based in Texas. Their Scottish Haggis w/ Highland Beef is simply wonderful. It is a dead ringer for the best haggis I had while in Scotland, at a pub called The Clachan near Loch Lomond. Just tasty!

Well, buying haggis from the Caledonian Kitchen, while satisfying, can be costly, because of shipping charges. Unless you buy several cans at once, it makes less sense to buy from them. They do sell to retail stores, but nothing nearby.

I DID find a store in Sacramento, though, that sells another brand of haggis. Stahley Quality Foods out of Chicago makes a skinless haggis, that retails for less than Caledonian Kitchen.  However, here’s the problem:

I’ve got a couple of friends coming over a week from this Saturday, and we’re going to make haggis-topped chicken with a whiskey cream sauce. I want to ensure that the haggis I serve is good! I KNOW that the Caledonian Kitchen haggis is superb. I don’t know about the Stahley’s.  I will tell you that I have had some nasty haggis before, and I’m pretty sure by the texture that it came from a can. The only two ways to get canned haggis in the States that I’ve seen is the Stahley’s and the Caledonian Kitchen, which means that it’s possible that the Stahley’s is the nasty stuff…  I’m concerned.

So what I’m doing is thusly:  I have ordered 6 cans of the Caledonian Kitchen haggis. It’s more cost effective to buy more cans, since shipping remains somewhat constant. And Saturday, Gabe, Kim, and I are going to Sac to buy a couple cans of the potentially gag-worthy stuff.  ;)  Gabe and I will do a test run of our haggis topped chicken or steak with the whiskey cream sauce, and see if it tastes like minced butt!

However, we’re also going to BJ’s Brewhouse while we’re in Sac, just to enjoy some good food and brews.  Finally, we need to kick over to BevMo for some single malt whiskey for the cream sauce, and I’ve got a recipe to bust me off some of that!  WOO!  Should be a fun weekend.