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Lets recap how my fantasy football season went this past year. We won't even talk about the unpleasantness that is the Dallas Cowboys.Work League ~ 5-8 for 10th of 12I don't even really know what to say about this one. I knew walking out of the draft that my team sucked and some questionable trades through the year made sure it didn't have any delusions of greatness. I spent most of the year deciding between the Ravens RBs and paid the price. The players were out there but because of school (at least that's what I'm blaming it on), I didn't watch the waiver as closely as I should have. The guy that ended up winning was because he watches waivers like a hawk. For what it's worth, there were 5 teams in this league at 6-7 and two people with that record made the playoffs.Father/Son League ~ 6-8 for 8th of 10I drafted well and started 4-1 as a result. Then I had some really bad lineup and injury problems and dropped the next 5. I didn't make any waiver moves during those 5 loses and again I'm going to blame school for that one. I picked up the next 2 games to move to 1 game out of a playoff spot but returned to my sucking ways the last 2 weeks and plummeted down the standings. Probably the most unfortunate thing about it is I was the team with the weekly high score the most weeks in the season... and we no longer pay on that. How I managed to do that and lose, I'm not quite sure. Oh that's right, in keeping with tradition I had the 2nd highest points against. At least my dad got 2nd place again (I beat him last year).Family Pick'em ~ 128 correct (141 won) for 5th of 9What can I say other than I was middle of the road all year long. I'm pretty sure it's because I suggested we up the entry fee 40% this year. At least I managed to beat the two people who missed a week and got high score 2 of the weeks.I think this is the first year since I've been playing fantasy football (10+ years) that I haven't made the playoffs in any of my leagues. I managed to lose to the teams in both leagues that weren't being actively managed, so I guess I deserve it. Mark it down as one of the more disappointing years in football for me.

[I hoped to publish this yesterday but Blogger FTP is broken. It's been broken for 3 days, which isn't like Google, but I did find a workaround by publishing via the IP.]Happy New Year everyone! Before you go all wonky on me about the post time, let me say I used future post and didn't write this instead of celebrating. We're actually going super conservative this year because we're trying to save money; a far cry from last year in London. We hope to do something small next year because I'll (hopefully) have just graduated... but this year it's fondue at home.After reading Jeff's post about his 2008 stats, I decided to do quick year in review. I switched my site usage tracking mid year so I don't have that sort stuff to share (I think only Jeff and I only care about analytics anyway). Since I finally finished tagging all my posts with labels/categories, and had to read all the old posts to do so, I decided to summarize what's happened over the year. I'm pretty sure there are posts for all this stuff if you missed something and really want to read more.

• I posted 103 times. That's 1 every 3.5 days.
• We traveled to England, Japan, California and Hawaii.
• I crossed 5 things off my Life List.
• The Cowboys have broken my heart... twice.
• I had somewhere between 2 and 4 boss changes. I honestly lost count.
• I delved into the world of smartphones with a BlackBerry Pearl.
• I turned 30 and had a great time doing so.
• I took 2,550 pictures with my Nikon D70.
• My Living Healthy campaign continued and I got halfway to my goal of 20% mass reduction.
• I sold the Audi and got a new Subaru.
• I competed in my 82nd through 89th amateur car races.
• I served as a best man in two weddings... for the same couple.
• I completed 25% of the requirements for a Masters in IST.
• I developed somewhat of an obsession with Allagash beer.
• We welcomed a new niece to the family.
• We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary.

Last night, I had Corsendonk's Abbey Pale Ale and while I'd love to share my thoughts I don't really remember a lot about it. I opened it after homemade fondue and two bottles of wine, so I didn't really pay the requisite amount of attention necessary to facilitate a review. I do remember commenting about unusual amount of carbonation and lacing but other than that, I just remember drinking it and then it being gone. Oh well, I guess there are plenty of internet reviews to fill the gap. It seems to review fairly well, so I guess that means I liked it. What I do know is opening another bottle of Allagash White after this one was a mistake.

Mike (or Mike H as Mike C requested he be called), who I don't think I've seen in the better part of two years, called on Friday to let me know he'd be driving through the area and to ask if we wanted to meet up. We'd just gotten back from AC and were mere hours away from a Caps game, but we managed to work something out. Since beer and food seem to be the only thing he and I ever talk about (how much else is there really?), it stands to reason that we met up for some serious grubbage. It wasn't until after the fact that it computed we spent a grand total of 20 minutes hanging out.At Mike's suggestion, we met him at Ray's Butcher Burgers or Ray's Hell Burger as it's better known. An offshoot of Ray's the Steaks and located on Wilson Blvd in Arlington, Hell Burger is amazingly absent from the internet if you don't count reviews. I actually didn't know anything about it going in, which can make for a pretty significant scramble if you've only got 20 minutes to order, eat and get the hell out. What follows is my Hell Burger cheat sheet; I enjoyed my meal and will be going back.

• Take a few minutes to digest the menu. It's fairly simple but I ordered based on suggestion because of the time crunch. I ended up with a burger that had a Post-It pad size slice of blue cheese and while I like the stuff, it was all I could taste. I'm convinced there are better combinations (I saw foie gras) that I just skimmed over. Note they ONLY sell burgers; no chicken sammiches here.
• 10oz really isn't all that much when it's high quality beef. You look at the thing and you're convinced there's no way you're going to finish but when the meat is super tender, juicy and extremely delicious it's surprisingly easy.
• Only order medium rare if you really like it bloody. My medium was perfect but a couple of the medium rares at our table looked more like rare to me. It will be super juicy no matter what, so eat over your plate.
• Be sure to eat it vertically (thumbs towards you, not down) or your bun will fall apart. A lot of the reviews I've read complained about the bun but if you eat it right, you won't have any problems. I even managed to eat mine without cutting it in half.
• They don't serve fries, which is probably for the better. They do have cheesey tater tots that were pretty good but the best side is by far the mac and cheese. For what it's worth, the mac and cheese is enough to make a non-beef eater want to go back (ask me how I know).
• Don't expect to have a beer while there, as they don't serve alcohol. They do have Dominion Root Beer on tap though, which is decent substitute.

Ninja edit: On a related note, my sister just posted this picture of my niece. Not only did I not know Five Guys has locations in NJ, I also didn't know they apparently have 300+ all over the eastern seaboard.

As you may have heard, we spent Christmas in Atlantic City. With no family local for the holidays, time winding down on my school break and a desire for just the two of us to get away, we decided it was time to take a break. We drove up to The Borgata on Christmas Eve and stayed two nights, with a quick road trip to have Christmas dinner with my sister's family and my mom. We ended up spending 12 of a 49 hour period in the car but I guess that's the kind of stuff we do.I spent a lot of time haunting AC in my college days, but that was a fairly long time ago. The Borgata wasn't around then and since people say it's the most Vegas-esque casino there, we had to check it out. It's large, fairly upscale, the casino is freakin' huge and even the cheap rooms are furnished well with nice bathrooms. It's not nearly as ridiculous as some of the casinos out west but it definitely has that Vegas feel... especially when compared to other places in AC.We had a "nice dinner" at Ombra on Christmas Eve and while the food was pretty good, the service and ambiance were just plain horrible. It's worth mentioning I had osso bucco and the marrow was just plain amazing. The sauce with it tasted a bit manufactured, but the marrow made that okay. The dining room was surrounded by glassed-in wine racks on 2 sides so even though there couldn't have been more than a dozen and a half tables in the place, we had to basically yell at the waitress to place our order. Well, that was if we could find her. I wasn't exactly keeping track, but I'm pretty sure we were seated 10 minutes before we saw her and waited another 20 to after dessert for the bill. Overall, bad times.Things didn't go quite so poorly on the casino floor. I played nothing but craps and managed to only lose $10 during the course of the trip. I started off pretty poorly and it wan't long before I dropped the first $80. Eventually one of the tables got hot and I was up ~$175 before giving a good bit of that back when the table cooled off. I spent the remainder of the winnings over the course of Christmas night and finally ended down in the final roll. Spending $10 for hours of entertainment and free ($1 tip) drinks? That's a better ROI than a movie and definitely a win.As a side, if you ever find yourself rolling along Route 40 in South Jersey, be sure to stop at the Elmer Diner. Not only is it a classic diner in every sense of the word, they also deep fry their scrapple instead of griddle frying it. It's fantastically delicious and if done right, it's actually better for you because a crust forms and keeps the oil from seeping in.

Christmas Day in the Borgata. It ain't Vegas but it will have to do. We decided to get away for a few days but couldn't let on because we surprised my Mom at my sister's house in NJ. More details to come in the next few days.

Merry Christmas everyone! Hopefully you all have a pleasant and enjoyable holiday season; I know I could use it. This post just isn't about well wishes though, I'm going to see how many different tags we can get on this post by talking about unrelated things. Actually, the other two things I'm going to cover are about Christmas presents I got from people... so I guess they are related.First up, a present from Mike. My recent droning on about beer (at least partially) led to him visiting his local Total Wine store the other day. He saw an Allagash I haven't talked about before, so he called me up to see if I wanted it. At $20 for 750ml, the price was steep but I figured even if I hated it, I could say I had it. In the end, he didn't make me pay for it but said I had to get him something in return. I guess that's a fair deal. First and foremost, I need to say that no beer is worth $20 (for this amount) and Allagash Interlude is no exception. I honestly like the beer, but I can't justify the cost when I can get a bottle of Taylor Fladgate 10 Year Old Tawny for the same price at Costco. (Which I always have open on the counter - those more observant will recognize it from an Italian wedding soup pic.) So you're thinking, enough rambling... what's the beer actually taste like? It smells of cherries or apricot and at first taste, it's very heavy on copper penny. Continue drinking and/or give it some air and the copper eventually vanishes to reveal the closest thing I've had to red wine in a beer. A portion of the beer is aged in French Merlot and Sirah oak barrels , which you can most definitely taste. The finish is fairly dry and were it not for the yeast and carbonation, you might actually forget you're drinking a beer by the time you finish. All in all, it's a complex beer that's really unlike anything I've ever tasted. I'd definitely drink it again, I just don't want to buy it.Up next is what my dad got me for Christmas. As I mentioned previously, we met up last weekend for our holiday dinner and it was then we exchanged gifts. I was surprised to find that not only did he have my race helmet airbrushed, but did so with an understanding of the things I'm in to. For a baseline, this is the man who bought his 10 year old son Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time. I probably shouldn't even describe it but rather make with the pictures. The basic gist is a gaijin slaying a dragon with my name in katakana on the front (A+ is my blood type - for emergency workers if I'm unconscious). Anyone who knows me, knows I'm nerdy for that kinda stuff. Rock on.

I hadn't heard of Blue Duck Tavern until it came up in my TripAdvisor search for a higher end downtown restaurant. We meet my dad for Christmas dinner every year and like to use the opportunity to find new places. BDT got decent reviews and being located in NW DC, we managed to get there in a half hour since it was Sunday night. It's located in the Hyatt on 24th and M but if you didn't know that going in, you wouldn't think it was a hotel restaurant.The restaurant is pretty small, with probably no more than 15 tables, and the decor has a casual elegance that asks a bit more of your appearance while avoiding the old-world stuffiness of other places. The kitchen is very much open, so much so that it actually seems like part of the dining room. Open kitchens are definitely trendy these days, but this one avoids all the cliches of being open for the sake of openness. It seems likely they did it because the restaurant would feel smaller with a closed kitchen, but in this case it works well. The kitchen is efficient, professional, subdued and far from a distraction. Should you choose not to pay attention to the cooks preparing meals, you won't notice they're there.Warm Roasted Beets, Poached Hen EggBayley Hazen Blue, Frisée and “Lardon”Game Terrine with Foie GrasQuince JellyLamb Shank Braised in StoutGremolataThe food (my first 3 courses above) was surprisingly good. Going in, I expected a decent meal with nothing really impressing. While not all the dishes were home runs, most were pretty darn good. The portions seemed shockingly small at first but if you're doing the typical 3+ course meal, you won't likely finish all of them. (I think that says a lot about portion size conditioning in America.) My first and third courses were simply outstanding and had I gotten the bone marrow instead of the terrine for the second course, I think I would have gone 3 for 3. Our sides were baked endive, mashed potatoes and blue cheese grits; the latter two equally as delicious as my other winning courses. Desserts impressed everyone as much as any other dish, although I'd recommend sharing or getting 3 for 4 people.The prices for mains were actually reasonable but I'm sure the margins are a lot higher on everything else, especially sides. After everything is said and done, expect to pay $80/head with 3+ courses and alcohol. All the courses were exceedingly rich, which I like in a nice meal, but you couldn't make a habit of eating there. Given the decor, the high level of service and good food, I'd recommend it as a date night, dinner for a special occasion or anything else where you're all dressed up and need somewhere to eat (hint: Kennedy Center is close).

Now if only I can manage this for the next year, I'll be golden.What do we do when we have something to celebrate around these parts? We drink. The night after I got these grades, I decided to open the last bottle from the Magic Mystery Box™; Allagash Fluxus 2008. I should note that 3 of the 8 beers pictured were for wifey, so I didn't down 8 bottles in the last 2 weeks... just 5. This one is a double white so it probably won't surprise you that I like it, a lot. Hops are nicely controlled and the flavor is heavy on the yeast with hints of apricot and ginger. I can honestly say this is one of the better beers I've had in recent history, which is saying a lot given my new found love of sampling beers. The alcohol is almost non-existent and for what it's worth, crept up on me nicely at a mere 8.7%. I guess we can put to rest my previous concerns about tolerance. It's a lot like the Tripel, just not nearly as dry and much more complex. This beer went down easy... really easy... I just wish it wasn't $15 per 750ml. Highly recommended.Bonus tip: Buy yourself some sopressata and your favorite ingredients for a salad. Pan fry four slices in a large, dry skillet (without overlapping) until they're crispy. Cool them on a paper towel, quarter the slices and put them on top of your salad. Dry frying will actually pull a lot of the fat out and adding the protein to your salad means you can make a meal of it without being hungry in an hour. For good measure, crumble some dry roasted almonds or walnuts on as well. The fiber will not only keep you regular but combined with the protein, will also aide in preserving that full feeling.

My first quad, Allagash Four wasn't quite everything I wanted it to be. The idea of fermenting a beer four times is intriguing but I'm not sure I can tell the difference between it and just a strong, dark beer. The taste is very malty, with a hoppy finish but I want to say the beer wasn't old enough for it's own good. You get the date or raisin flavor but there was a bit of a metalic taste that I didn't enjoy. I wonder if that doesn't go away with age but I've never been in the habit of cellaring beers so I won't start now. I've read some reviews that say the beer is "hot" or tastes of alcohol but I can't say I agree. Maybe it's my newfound alcoholism or just burnt out taste buds as it drank a lot better than the 10% it's sporting. Four definitely has the alcohol, flavor and price tag to prove it went through the uber-fermentation process and someone who is more discerning may find it to their liking. For my money, I'm rocking Allagash's Tripel.Being part of Allagash's Tribute Series, Hugh Malone Ale sports a pretty hefty price tag. At first taste, I did not like this beer at all. It was hoppy, with a bitter finish and the alcohol actually made me do that exhaling thing people do after they chug a carbonated drink. I thought I was going to have trouble drinking the entire 750ml but after the beer got a bit of air, everything changed. The hops never did fade but the smell of the beer changed to something really fruity and sweet; so much so that I couldn't help but smell the beer between gulps. I actually think the beer smelled better than it tasted, which probably isn't a good thing given the price. Again, I think this one might benefit from aging, but I'm not inclined. For the money, I'd rather buy a sixer of Blue Moon, a sixer of Guinness and combine them for whole lotta Black and Blue.

I realize 26 months is a strange number but I have a few things to report.

• I can zip up my racing suit again. I haven't been able to zip it up all the way, let alone sit down in it when I do, in years. Now I can zip it up, sit in the race car and actually race without breaking the zipper. Yay fire protection!
• My wedding ring now falls off my finger if I'm not careful. I didn't realize this was really even possible but evidently it is. I need to get a ring guard or have it sized down if I don't want to lose it.
• I think I like jogging. I got on the treadmill yesterday for the first time in probably six months and didn't hate it. Not only did I do something other than walk fast, I actually managed to jog for a solid five minutes. It's nothing like running a marathon but you have to realize I probably haven't jogged for more than 30 seconds in 20 years. I wasn't out of breath, I didn't have shin splints and I felt like I was in the zone. It was work but I didn't feel like I was going to die; it felt good. Maybe that's the why all those people run so much?
• I'm only eight pounds away from my intermediate goal. That's eight pounds away from skydiving baby.... yeehaw!

Wow, you blink and all of a sudden 8 days have gone by since the last post. I've been busy with school, a two day seminar on interpersonal communication at work and well, actual work at work. The school work has started in earnest so there's a bit less free time these days.Around this time two years ago, I was making arrangements to go to my 10 year high school reunion. I realized that not only wasn't I as slim as I envisioned I'd be for my reunion, I was probably the heaviest I'd ever been. I knew I wasn't going to be able to anything by the reunion but with the help of a coworker's encouragement, maybe I could by the 15 year one.It's been a long two years, there's no doubt about that. I can't say I had goals set for two years out but I'm happy where I'm at. I stopped weighing myself at regular intervals but do know I managed to escape a summer of hearty eating without any weight gain. Lets take a few moments to look at the successes and opportunities of my current regiment and progress.Successes

• The gym has become a part of my life. I still dread it at times but have managed to keep a routine despite moving two buildings away from the gym and starting school.
• I've worked out alternating weeks of 45 min x 2 days and 30 min x 3 days on the stair master. I've upped the "level" here and there and have really managed to lean out and power up my quads and calves.
• I add in upper body weight training when I can and have maintained my strength there. I took a few months off to focus on cardio but eventually refocused out of fear of losing muscle mass.
• People comment on my weight loss. It's rewarding when people you haven't seen in awhile (even heterosexual males) ask if you're losing weight. It makes you want to keep going to the gym and pumping when you're exhausted at the 40 min mark.
• I picked up some Under Armour shirts on sale and love the stuff. I thought it would be mostly hype but it largely isn't. A full review of it will come eventually.

Opportunities

• Still sporting a decent sized spare tire. There was a story posted in the gym of an empoyee that lost 70 lbs in a year. I'm admittedly not working as hard as he did but I probably should have more to show for my efforts after two full years.
• I'm still having issues with portion control. I'm doing late morning/afternoon Kashi GOLEAN bars via my amazon subscription and have a decent lunch, but dinner has been less than successful. I like food way too much not to enjoy my own delicious cooking. While I do cook healthy and try to limit intake, it doesn't always work that way. Curse you cooking skills! I'm sure not limiting my alcohol intake hasn't helped but that's something I won't give up.
• I haven't made much use of my bike. I stopped riding to work because we don't have showers in our building and the road to the office seems a bit too dangerous. I'd like to get some saddle time with fall approaching but I just don't know if that's going to happen with homework.
• I haven't touched the Wii Fit but a hanful of times in the last two months. It's still getting used by the wife, so it wasn't a waste, but I should really be making better use of it.

A friend recommended the Unibroue brand, so I picked up a bottle of La Fin Du Monde. I actually meant to get Don de Dieu, which is a triple wheat, but I forgot the name and ended up the triple golden ale instead. Expecting a wheat, I was surprised by the color and amount of hops, but I can't say that was necessarily a bad thing. If I had to pick a word to describe this beer, it would be raw. It has a very distinct yeast flavor all the way through and a slight sweetness that very quickly gets overcome by malt and hops. The alcohol, at 9% ABV, doesn't do a very good job of hiding. The beer is drinkable but it's not nearly as smooth as some other high ABV beers I've had. This beer reviews well and while I'm not a big ale person, the uniqueness of the yeast makes me want to try it again. Besides, who wouldn't want to drink a beer named The End of the World?Cointinuing with the tradition, I sampled another of the Allagash beers. I'm on a mission to try all their varities and up this time was the Grand Cru. India pale ales are my least favorite beer but I've seemed to like everything Belgian so perhaps I'll like their pale ale? Allagash seems to do everything well and this really isn'y an exception. It was a lot like the La Fin Du Monde, minus the yeast, so I won't repeat myself. It's a solid embodiment of a winter beer but as I've never really been much a fan, I can't say I'd buy it again. In my opinion, there are much better ways to celebrate Allagash. :-)

Chili really isn't that complicated... you just put a bunch of things in a pot and cook it for awhile. Okay, so it's not quite that simple but it's pretty close. My dad "taught" me how to make chili before I could drive and my current recipe is a derivation of what he showed me. I've changed it here and there to make it my own but I haven't really gone that far from the original. I like to make it on football Sundays and amazingly I've gotten to week 15 before I got around to it. I guess I'll blame school for that one. Anyway, here's what I do...In a large stock pot, combine and saute:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 very large onion, diced
• salt to taste
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped (add late to prevent burning)

When onions are translucent, add and brown:

• equal parts beef, pork and veal (This is adjustable but I like the combination for it's flavor. Most grocery stores sell it as meatball or meatloaf mix, so it shouldn't be that hard to find. I've used turkey with acceptable results if you have dietary restrictions or want to lighten things up a bit. If you use poultry, get something with a bit of fat and your chili will thank you.)
• black pepper to taste

When your meat looks like the pic above, add:

• 4 large cans diced and/or crushed tomatoes (adjust based on desired chunk factor)
• 1 large can red kidney beans, drained
• a ton of chili powder
• several dashes of ground cumin
• 8 squirts Tabasco brand Chipotle hot sauce
• 6 squirts Dave's Gourmet brand Hurtin' Jalapeno hot sauce

Now if you know me, you know I don't measure anything. For the chili powder, I just shake enough to cover the entirety of what's in the pot. The cumin gets just a few shakes to add some complexity, so that's probably a teaspoon. The hot sauces vary, both in type and amount, based on what kind of chili I want; this is a good general guideline. I use the Chipotle to add smokiness and the green stuff to add a tangy vinegary edge but neither are super spicy. My fridge has literally 20 different hot sauces to choose from but I think chili should be rich, not painful. I've been known to make the uber-spicy stuff but for the most part, I think adding a splash in the bowl is a better way to control the heat.Bring to a strong simmer and cook for two hours, stirring occasionally. Be careful not to burn the bottom and control evaporation with a lid to get the desired thickness. I like my chili pretty thick, so mine gets reduced by 20% I'd guess. You could eat it within a half hour of combining everything but I've found two hours is my sweet spot. I'll also keep it on very low heat throughout the day, so it'll continue to bubble and thicken.To finish, combine in a bowl:

• handful of pasta (I prefer spaghetti but anything works... just don't overcook it)
• chili to cover
• large pinch of cheddar cheese, shredded
• large pinch of raw onion, diced (I like the bite of the onion)
• small pinch of parsley, chopped (the green bitterness is a nice contrast)

Make sure the bowl is small because you're going to want to eat it as it ages throughout the day. In the olden days, I'd polish off countless large bowls but I've since learned portion control. Now I get to eat chili all day and still stay on track with the weight loss. Go me.If you don't have friends visiting, you're going to have leftovers. Combine the remaining pasta with enough chili to make a nice weekday dinner and freeze the rest for a rainy day. I've had chili that sat in my freezer for 3 months with no problems so don't be afraid to stash it. Be sure to make pasta fresh... or just heat it in a pot and scarf with a spoon!

If you found a piece of electronics that appears to have been left somewhere on accident, what would you do? I'd like to think I, and pretty much most of the people I choose to associate with, would turn it in or at least make a concerted effort to find the owner. I wonder if the people who find these things and decide it's finders keepers feel the least bit guilty. Do they not think about the person who may have lost it, or do they and then convince themselves the person doesn't deserve to get it back because they were careless? Do they sell it? Do they use it themselves? Do they rot in hell like other common thieves? I'd like to think so. No, I didn't lose anything... but I know someone who did. Well, that's if you can call leaving a cell phone in a restaurant by mistake and it being MIA when you return an hour later, "losing" it. Let's hope this is completely premature, but I somehow doubt it. I have little faith in the common decency of our society. Merry freaking Christmas.

I'd like to take a quick paragraph and say that I think there's hope for America. We spent the weekend in the more rural counties of Virginia and were downright surprised at the number of Obama lawn signs. We were in the heart of pickup driving, cattle raising, gun toting Virginia and about half the signs (and there were a lot) were for Obama. It's no real secret that I'm a Libertarian that will be voting for Obama because I think the current Republican ticket is something to fear. It was actually encouraging to see that; I think Virginia could actually go Democrat for the first time since Lyndon Johnson.Now that I've lured you in with beer and waxed politico, I guess I should get to the point. On the way home from the country, we paid a visit to my new friend Harris and picked up a few beers for an afternoon on the couch. Mr Teeter is my new friend because not only did he have a bunch of microbrews in 750 ml bottles, he also had a couple varieties of Allagash. I picked up a bottle of Allagash Tripel, since it's a favorite of mine, and also found one I've been meaning to try, Allagash Dubbel.The Dubbel is much, much darker than the Tripel and as such, is a heavier beer. It's very malty with a hint of chocolate but like so many darker beers, has a bit too much bitter for my tastes. If I had to put a name on the bitterness, I'd say burnt caramel. I haven't had many doubles in my time, but it's better than the ones I've had. It's drinkable, especially given the 7.0% ABV and I'd probably like it more were I into darker beers. As is, I'd rather have the White or Tripel but don't let that stop you from trying it. Helpful hint: Two 750ml 7-9% beers is just enough for a day of football.

Pending my grades, none of which I expect to be failing ones, I'm 9/36ths of my way to a Masters degree. It was about as much work as I expected (read: a crap load) but the semester actually felt like it flew fly by. I learned a lot more in the last three months than I ever thought I would... which is probably a good thing. I now get four short weeks to try and get my education reimbursement before next semester's money is due. On the bright side, I'll get 10k miles for getting an education.On a somewhat unrelated (relation will become clear in a sec) note, did you know Prohibition ended 75 years ago today? Yeah, I didn't either. Anyway, I decided to celebrate the end of the semester with a trip to Total Wine. You'll have to wait for the reviews to see what the Magic Mystery Box™ holds so until then, here's a teaser. Note there are no duplicates and everything is something I've never had before. Oh joyous day.

So it's the weekend after Thanksgiving and you find yourself with the carcass of a 22lb turkey... what do you do? If you're me, you make Italian wedding soup. It's traditionally made with chicken broth but I doubt anyone would know the difference. Here's a basic outline of how I make mine. Note that you'll need to save the carcass and some of the drippings from the actual day of cooking the bird. You could replace these two things with uncooked chicken parts if you're making it from scratch. Also note that I don't really measure anything so these are best estimates.In a large stock pot, combine:

• turkey carcass (some meat attached but fat and skin removed)
• 4 stalks of celery, chopped
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• water to cover

Boil the crap out of that for three hours, replacing water as necessary. After three hours, pull the turkey bones and allow to cool on a plate. Use a wire mesh sieve to skim the nasty floating bits in the pot.Return to a boil after adding:

• turkey meat pulled from bones
• 1 package frozen spinach, drained
• 1/2 cup turkey drippings or gravy
• water to cover

Brown meatballs via pan fry after combining:

• 1 lb ground meat, raw (I use turkey)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup Italian-style bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup Romano cheese, grated fine
• garlic powder, dried basil, salt and pepper to taste (1 teapsoon each?)

Drain the meatballs and add them to the soup after lowering it to a simmer. Note that I do not cook the meatballs all the way through but rather let them finish in the soup. Cook a box of acini di pepe (or similar small pasta) to al dente and set aside. Some people add the pasta to the soup but I keep it separate so people can chose the amount they want. It also makes for a better product when freezing the leftovers because you can cook pasta to order. I don't like freezing pasta in the soup.Combine the pasta and soup in a bowl, add a few grates of Pecorino on top and enjoy.Bonus tip: Pour the leftover drippings you didn't use for this recipe into ice cube trays and put the trays in the freezer. Once frozen, break them out into a freezer bag and save until you need a shot of turkey/richness in other recipes.

Two classes down, one to go. I'm still in the thick of the term paper for the final class, but I'm getting there. I'll be all wrapped up after my presentation a week from Friday and I'm really looking forward to the four weeks off. I plan to spend it waiting for my grades, praying the Cowboys make the playoffs, catching up on video games I refused to buy until the end of the semester and trying to get to New Years Day without gaining a single pound. I love gravy so I'm not sure how successful I'll be at that last one. If you're looking for a movie to see this holiday season, make sure it's not Four Christmases. We saw it free (with a donation to St Jude) and I think I would have rather just made the donation. I didn't think The Break-Up was that good, but it was waaaaay better than this. At least they didn't try and make Vince Vaughn, whom I find hilarious, a somewhat serious actor in that one. Hopefully The Day the Earth Stood Still can wipe my memory clean of it. Now on to the gobbling of gobblers!

This about sums up everything that needs to be said about that campaign. Is Dave a little bit bitter and acting accordingly? Yeah, probably... but he said what a lot of people we thinking; the bitterness just made him less impartial. I've always thought Dave was awesome and now I think he's even more awesomer.

Exactly one week ago, my second niece was born.October 8, 2008 @ 5:08 pm7 pounds, 15 ounces19¼ inches