I know sometimes it feels like I just went out for a pack of cigarettes to the corner store and never came home to mom and the kids, but I have been super swamped this week with a bunch of IRL stuff. It’s homecoming weekend, and while I am super opposed to people coming back, they’re coming anyway, and I have three people staying at my house. Fortunately they are all early adopters and vaccinated and respectful of my wishes, which is no parties and only THEY are allowed at my house. Regardless, I spent the last couple of days tidying up, changing sheets, etc.
To help avoid any controversies regarding get togethers at my house, I bought a keg and delivered it to a house down the street, and that is going to server as the party house. It has been so long since I paid attention to beers (I missed my soberversary again this year-I think I am up to eight or nine years now), I had a helluva time ordering a keg, and had to call a friend to find out what to get. He told me to just get something “drinkable,” and all I could think was “I’m a fucking alcoholic if something has alcohol in it it is drinkable.” At any rate, we settled on a Pilsner.
Side note- as I was picking up the beer, I was wondering what beer I would drink if I ever fell off the wagon. There’s just so many to choose from and I think I finally decided if it was in the summer, I’d probably just go for a bucket of ice cold Heinekens. But that is neither here nor there because I don’t intend to fall off the wagon.
My friend Steve arrives tomorrow, so I am thawing out the 30lb turkey I had raised for me last year and then never used because I cancelled Thanksgiving, and we are going to cook that and a bunch of other stuff for them to take to the tailgate. Steve’s an interesting guy and I am looking forward to spending some time with him. He lives in Boulder but came back a few days early to spend time with his family, including his brother, who is a retired Secret Service agent (and was a pretty big deal on the Presidential Protection detail), but now lives on a bunch of land in western Virginia and has an apiary. He’s bringing some of his amazing chipotle honey and I am stoked about that.
I forget if I mentioned it, but Steve has a business in Boulder he just started with his partner, and they make Beetburgers, which sound weird but are pretty damned good. I had him ship me a bunch and they should arrive tomorrow, along with a bunch of green chiles he mails every year for homecoming. Oh, and if you live in Boulder, the company is ILoveHeartBeets. Check it out.
So, like I said, busy. Just gotta get through this weekend with no covid and get my parents off to their winter place undiseased. Those are my only goals.
John Cole
first
TheOtherHank
@John Cole: You win!
dopey-o
I got sober just in time to miss the craft brewing revolution.
But i would get a keg of Guinness. Or Schlafly Stout, since freshness counts.
Origuy
I like beets. Sounds like you are having a good time. A few selected people around, cooking good food, and anticipating the arrival of more. Glad your parents are healthy.
BGinCHI
Would a burger made out of beets be sweet? Or earthy?
I can’t really imagine it.
Beets taste like dirt to me, and I always want to like them more than I do. They are so pretty.
PJ
@John Cole: It only counts if you spell it “frist”.
Paul T
I’ve been sober for….a long time……(I always think about it this time of year, since I was in rehab many long years ago on this date)….anyway, don’t ever send me out to buy wine or beer or whatever people drink these days. Just too confusing. It is bewildering how drinking has changed. The bottles behind the bartenders are set up in Fisher Price primary colors. It is very weird.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Eleven years for me last month.
PIGL
Well I’ve been drinking, and I’m tired, but I’m to blue to go to bed…
I always think it’s commander Cody but really it’s asleep at the wheel.
trollhattan
@BGinCHI:
Beets have gone to charm school since I was a kid, when they were dirt spheres like you say. Pickled were the only ones I’d eat.
Now they’re sweet, tender and even better, available in a rainbow of varieties from deep red to nearly white. The yellow varieties are probably my favorite. IDK if they’ve been altered in some fashion or if they simply learned how to grow, store and distribute them better.
Ground into “burgers”? Dunno. I have never tried a vege burger that I liked. They all seem like smoke-flavored tapioca. Do like a proper falafel patty (pretty rare) which are nutty and chewy and chock-full of umami. Fake burgers are none of the above.
NotMax
Unoccupied house or is it going to be a “Surprise!” delivery for the tenant/owner?
Hate to be Mr. Wet Blanket but whoever is staying at your digs, if they attend the party, will be bringing back to your place anything they’ve been exposed to by whatever other crowd is gathered ’round the keg.
In Hawaii, gathering restrictions remain in force:
Jackmac
Thirty-eight years sober. Hard to believe it’s been that long and I’m grateful for every day of it.
NotMax
Admittedly have never understood precisely what is meant by Homecoming and why it’s treated as a BFD, as none of my alma maters included it as a thing.
jl
Avoiding deadly pestilence is a worthy goal. I hope all goes well.
Chetan Murthy
@NotMax: I think it’s for people who had a good time socially, at whatever-school-it-was. For those who spent it desperately miserable, it’s …. not a thing.
trollhattan
@NotMax:
Have been to three sporting events in six days: 1. was a college XC meet held on a golf course here in the Valley. No mask rules (meeting CA and county rules) because it was outdoors and not a packed crowd. No problem. 2. was a pro hand-egg competition in the South Bay. Needed Covid card or clear test to enter the stadium with 60k others. No social distancing in the entry queues. Will call that sketchy. The true threat was the light rail away from the stadium, which they packed to an unbelievable level, more than a hundred folks in each car with nary an opening window in sight on a broiling hot day. Counting the days after that. 3. was pro soccer outdoors last night with state (OR) and county rules requiring masks at all times, even in the stands. That seemed completely safe.
IDK what normal means.
Steeplejack
The beer world is getting almost as complicated to navigate as the wine world. If I’m out someplace with a lot of beers on tap I’ll often ask about pilsners and lagers just to narrow down the choices. My current home quaff is Vienna Lager from Devils Backbone, a regional brewery in Lexington, VA. It’s pretty good and it’s available most places. Occasionally I’ll get something else to mix it up. When I go to my local for a burger and onion rings I have one of their own 60 Minute IPAs. Sadly, I’ve done that only once since we (briefly) thought the pandemic was ending in June.
Chetan Murthy
@Steeplejack: Huh. every now and then, I’ll try something American-made. I’m a fan of Belgian beers and German (Aventinus, Franziskaner, Schneider) and …. well, I’m almost always disappointed. The only one that I’ll choose is Allagash double/triple/curieux. I wish I had your problem, sigh.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Red beer with meat, white beer with fish?
:)
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
Pretty much.
Yutsano
@Jackmac: MAZEL TOV!!!
Ruckus
18 yrs since I stopped with the alcohol. I wasn’t a heavy drinker but was starting to drink more often and noticed that I was drinking more than I realized. Every once in a while I make good decisions.
It may have been my early start, the family story is that my parents threw a party and I was going around drinking out of the glasses people set down. Drunk at 3 yrs old, hard stuff, not a beer drinker right to the end.
I salute anyone who recognizes that the ability to regulate their drinking can be damn near impossible and makes that decision to stop. It sounds harder but I think it’s really harder to control than to stop.
NotMax
FYI.
The 11 Rs who voted for cloture
John Barrasso of Wyoming
Roy Blunt of Missouri
Susan Collins of Maine
John Cornyn of Texas
Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
Rob Portman of Ohio
Mike Rounds of South Dakota
Richard Shelby of Alabama
John Thune of South Dakota
.
None of whom (zero, Big Fat Goose Egg) voted in favor of the actual debt limit extension.
206inKY
Beet burgers are the absolute best. I have spent half my adult life searching for them: Roam Burger in SF and Citizen Burger in Charlottesville are the best I’ve found.
I desperately wish I had known about ILoveHeartBeets when I drove through Boulder in July, I would have totally stockpiled dozens! These look delicious!
206inKY
@trollhattan: They’re amazing as a burger base. It is sweet and earthy and gives grounding without totally dominate the other flavors in the patty. I never liked the Borscht at my childhood church, and still don’t like beets as a standalone dish, but they’re unmatched as a veggie burger.
I hope John’s friend finds a national distributor at some point because the pictures on the website look incredible.
Ten Bears
I’ve such a revulsion I don’t even think about what I might drink were I to fall off the wagon.
If I did though, I imagine all would it take to not … is a whiff …
sab
The trendy new artisan beers are weirdly like soda pop. Weird flavors. Not beerish at all.
In summer I like the non-alchoholic beers. Kind of like unsweetened pop. But who has good non-alchoholic beer is very counter-intuitive. You would think that Guinness’s would be good (Caliber) but it actually tastes like carbonated lawn clippings. O’Doul’s is equally bland. Sharps is actually tasty, and some of the Belgian brands are quite good.
My non-drinking husband won’t go near the stuff. Why drink fake beer if you don’t want to drink at all. He has a valid point. Also too, booze and hot weather just aren’t a healthy combination.
sab
We have a friend who just got through a bout of renal near failure until he finally got his doctors to sit up and notice. Then they were good.Covid isn’t helping anything. Good doctors are overwhelmed.
Quite a severe diet now. Potassium is everywhere. Who knew? Pasta is okay, but tomato sauce isn’t . Also no cheese. So what do you do with the pasta?
Burgers are okay. What about ketchup?
Potatoes are only okay if you soak them until they are not potatoes anymore.
Grilled him a hamburger which he said was the first food with any taste he had had in weeks.Big discussion over condiments.
I hate getting old. Health issues are so much more complicated, and my brain ain’t what it used to be.
sab
@sab: I am on a high blood pressure medicine that leaches potassium. My husband is on a different one that does the opposite. Cooking is getting really complicated, and nobody tells you much unless you ask insistently.
Except the anti- cholesteral guys and the anti-sugar guys. Both have valid concerns. But their concerns blot out the real issues that are not discussed. Every medical condition is different. And some families have conflicting medical issues.
raven
Twenty nine years here.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us
Pilsener is a good choice if you’re going for drinkable. Yes the craft beer market is crowded and complicated these days. The way I pare it down to something I can wrap my head around is stick to the classic British/Scottish/Irish, German/Czech/Austrian and Belgian styles. I stay away from anything that says “double” or “imperial” unless it’s a German dopplebock or Belgian triple (those are classic styles that have stood the test of time). Double IPAs etc are just too big for palate – a regular old IPA has more than enough flavor. Ditto for Stouts. I like American Ambers and Cream Ales which are balanced and drinkable.
dimmsdale
Interesting question, “what would I drink if I fell off the wagon?” A Kir (does anybody know how to make them anymore, or even drink them anymore?), Wild Turkey 110 rocks, Bloody Mary. I think I’d also need dim lights, an illegible bar clock ringed in blue neon, the faint essence of spilled beer, mildew, and alcohol, and a bowl of goldfish for nutrition, and I’d probably never leave. We didn’t have no stinking “craft beer” in those days, nor bespoke vodkas–even the ‘tequila ritual’ with the lime slice and the salt on the back of the hand was a little froufrou and showboat-y. Just give me the mescal–the bottle, dammit, not the stupid glass. If I get the worm at the bottom of the bottle by the end of the night, and I’m sensate enough to realize it, Plus for Me!!
After all these years, there isn’t a single alcoholic beverage I miss, in the least. Congrats on sobriety, everybody on the thread! Cheers and excelsior!
raven
@dimmsdale: I’m witcha!
NotMax
@dimmsdale
Steeplejack
@What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us:
When I visit family in Las Vegas I like to get Alaskan Amber Ale. Can’t find it here in NoVA.
Miss Bianca
I am taking a trip to the East Coast to clean out my sister’s house and an planning a tour to western VA. As a mead drinker/brewer looking to (possibly) relocate to that area, I would love to meet your friend’s brother the beekeeper!
ETA: If your friend Steve (as opposed to your cat Steve) has that beet business going, I think they also make a mean little pickled beet package that I have picked up in grocery stores out here in CO. Small world, if so!
dnfree
@trollhattan: I’ve been a vegetarian for 25 years. Many years ago when my youngest was home from college, I served her a vegetarian sausage I thought was pretty decent. She said, “Mom, it’s been so long since you had meat you don’t even know how bad this is.”
I think I’d like a beet burger. Only thing I don’t like about beats is the mess of preparing them.
nclurker
i was a wine merchant for decades.drank a good bit all the time
also believe up to a bottle of wine a day,taken with food ,is beneficial.
to quote louis pasteur.”there is nothing more healthy,or hygenic,than wine”.
that said,about ten years ago,i limited my drinking to only saturdays.
unless my saturday evening meal really calls out for wine,a shot or two of irish,
and a couple of pints of guinness usually does it.
cheers all
Ramalama
@NotMax: I had Kir Royales when living it up, briefly, on a road trip with my aunt and grandmother in W. Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein. In the late 80s. Marvelous memories. I guess I’ve not seen Kirs on offer when I got older. Hmm.
Ramalama
@dnfree: I hate beet clean-up too. I think I’d love these beet burgers. They’re probably very popular in Boulder. I lived there for a time, and was mostly vegetarian. I’d eat beef if I felt a craving. So maybe 2x a year. My housemate had me tag along to a meal at the Hotel Boulderado (I was his beard). His relatives told me I could order anything on the menu. When they were told I was a vegetarian, and when I declared that I’d have a steak, they were so so so so thrilled. Like they were turning me. They were cattle farmers. Corrupting a vegetarian in Boulder, of all places.
Benw
Happy belated soberversary. 4.5 years for me.
cain
This cat is extraordinary..