Posts Tagged ‘Stay Rad’

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Augtobeerfest: An International Affair

August 23, 2011

Augtobeerfest.

I know what you’re thinking.  “Jeff just made that word up to be funny.”

Well, I didn’t.

I couldn’t.

I’ve never been funny in my entire life.

How dare you?

Last Saturday, Kara and I walked down to the El Toro Brewpub in celebration of Augtobeerfest.

Here’s their special event menu…

AUGTOBEERFEST! See?!?!?

If you check out El Toro on Yelp.com, you’ll find that the knock on this place is consistent.

They make amazing beer, but the food is suspect.

There was something about Augtoberfest that I think would have changed the minds of those critics…

25 ounce Marzen

Maybe it was the 25 ounce stein of Marzen I had when I walked in the door.  It was the perfect balance of crisp hops and round malts.

Bratwurst with bacon, sauerkraut, and german potato salad.

Maybe it was the bratwurst that I paired with the Marzen.  The tanginess of the sauerkraut.  The fatiness of the bacon.  The rich german potato salad.  It brought the flavor of the beer to a whole new level.

The Internationals!

Maybe it was the fun-loving music provided by The Internationals.  Quite possibly my favorite traditional German band.  Okay…  They’re the only German band I know…  And their music ain’t that traditional…

25 ounce Mo Hill Pils

Maybe it was the 25 refreshing ounces of the Mo Hill Pils…

Nachos!

Maybe I was still hungry and ordered some nachos to go with my  Pils…

Still rocking on Swiss horns.

Maybe people take pubs, and the food inside of them, way to seriously…

With great beer, great music, and amazing friends, how could you ever complain?

Prost!

El Toro, I’ll see you at DecemBEERfest.

Who’s coming with me?

Stay Rad,

Jeff

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Sit By Me and drink a margarita, amigo: Back to the land of the living.

August 20, 2011

Have you ever seen the movie Stand By Me?

Darlin', darlin' stand by me.

It’s bad ass!

Adventure.

Comedy.

Death.

The 1950’s.

Stand By Me has it all.

The only problem with the movie, is that it puts me in a weird mood.

The film takes place in the last week of summer, when four friends are about to enter junior high.

I hate the end of summer.

Always have.

Always will.

Let me explain…

I was always a good student.  I always loved school.  With a mother who was the first in her family to graduate college (putting herself through nursing school), and a dad who was a math teacher for over 30 years, I was never given the option not to succeed.  Having an older sister who is the smartest person I’ve ever met being the valedictorian of her high school class, the competition to break from her shadow was always there.  I did not need much motivation to try my hardest, and I took a lot of pride in bringing home report cards littered with A’s.

I loved my teachers.  Every single one of them.  Though I probably annoyed the crap out of many, I am certain that they knew how much I appreciated their hard work.

And friends?  Forget about it!  The friends that I made all throughout elementary, high school, and college were some of the greatest people who have ever walked this Earth.

As much as I loved school, I HATED going back to school.

Hated it!

HATED!

There you are.  It’s summer.  And much like Gordie LaChance and his buddies, you haven’t a care in the world.  You’re going on adventures.  Every single day… YOU PLAY!

And then it happens…

The end of July…

The beginning of August…

IT

HAPPENS

You start to see the ads.

Your friends start talking about it.

Your parents start bringing it up.

You start to realize that eventually you’re gonna have to go back to school.

And that is when the fun stops.

And that is when the mood sets in.

No more adventure.

No more taking the bus to the baseball card shop every day.

No more staying up late.

No more sleeping in.

BACK

TO

SCHOOL!

Every year it was the same thing.  From the moment of my back-to-school awareness until the end of the first day of school, I was in a mood.

The mood?

Nervousness.

I was just a bundle of nerves… and I would obsess.

What were my teachers going to be like?

Was I gonna have any friends in my classes?

Was I gonna get that girl to notice me?

I was filled to my ears with anxiety.

And the night before the first day of school was the worst.

THE

WORST!

I was so anxious, that I could not sleep… AT ALL.  I’d just have these thoughts and fears racing through my head.  I was a miserable wreck.

Having never slept the night before, on the first day of school I would always feel like a zombie.  Dragging myself from class to class.  Eyes glazed over.  And drool… There was lots of drool.

It would usually take me about a week to acclimate myself to the daily routine of school life.  And, like I said, I really came to love everything about school.

From a young age, I always admired teachers.  Having a dad who was one sure helped.  And I always kind of knew that I wanted to be one.  I figured that if you were a good student, why wouldn’t you be a teacher?  Why wouldn’t you share what you know?  Why wouldn’t you show people the tricks that worked for you?  It just made sense.

You must know, however, that there was an ulterior motive behind my pursuit of a career in education.  In retrospect, it seems silly.  But, at the time, it made all the sense in the world…

I figured that if I was always nervous about going back to school as a student, and the opposite of a student is a teacher, then going back to school as a teacher must be the best thing ever.

No more nerves.

No more anxiety.

No more sleepless nights.

Well…

I just started my ninth year of teaching this last week, and I’ve got to tell you…

IT’S WORSE!

I love teaching much more than I ever loved being a student, but I would never wish my back-to-school anxiety on my worst enemy…  It’s not like I have any enemies, but you know what I’m sayin’.

My back-to-school mood is so bad that I have been avoiding Stand By Me for the last nine years.  I just don’t want to be in that mood.  And that movie, as good as it is, is a trigger.

The first day with students was this last Tuesday, so of course I did not sleep a wink on Monday night.  I was a zombie.  I think I even drooled on one of my students.

It would have been nice to go straight to bed after school on Tuesday, but I had a softball game that night (we won), so I wasn’t much less of a zombie on Wednesday.

After school on Wednesday, we had a department meeting, so I was still a little drained on Thursday.

And of course I had to hit the gym after school on Thursday to train for my next half-marathon… So it wasn’t really until Friday that I started to feel normal again.

Kara is a teacher too.  She is technically back to school, but her students don’t come back until next week.  She did have some meetings to go to on Friday, so a bunch of her coworkers decided to do happy hour at El Amigo in San Jose.  She called me up to ask if I would join them.

I was all, “Okay.”

Like an old friend... El Amigo.

Happy hour at El Amigo goes until 6pm, but I wasn’t gonna make it until 6:15, so Kara got me a margarita before I got there…

The El Amigo House Margarita aged gracefully for 30 minutes.

Though most of the ice had melted, and the glass got a little sweaty, I was really stoked on this margarita.  Sometimes, margaritas can border on being too sweet or too tart.  This bad boy was neither.  In fact, it had a little richness going on.  Not a profile you would ever expect, but it was definitely appreciated.

Since I arrived so late, I was not in an appetizer type of mood.  I ordered the Plato de Carnitas…

Plato de Carnitas

Carnitas are a traditional form of pork that is marinated and slow roasted.  These thick chunks came with the traditional rice, beans, salsa, flour tortillas, and guacamole.  The Carnitas were very nice.  I used the tortillas to make my own burritos, ’cause that’s how I roll.

As far as restaurants go, El Amigo is all right.  I’ve had better Mexican food.  I’ve had worse.  What’s important here, is that it was time well spent.  Time where I could finally relax.  For that, El Amigo, I thank you.

When I got home last night, I tried to write a blog about my week, but my brain just kind of shut down.  I had something more important to do…

SLEEP!

This morning, I woke up feeling fantastic.

It’s great to be back in the land of the living.

Stay Rad,

Jeff

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About last night…

August 14, 2011

Here’s the deal…

I told you yesterday that I was going to a party.

And I did.

Kara and I headed down to Gilroy to visit our friends, the Rockings, and have a good old-fashioned campout in their backyard.

They provided the food and beer.

Fat Tire and a Taco.

And of course…

I brought the wine.

Red Splash 2007 Red Wine by St. Francis

I picked up the Red Splash 2007 Red Wine for $9 at BevMo, because I wanted something simple.

Just a nice red wine.

The Red Splash did not disappoint.

Here’s the breakdown…

Color: Dark burgundy.  Almost purple.

Nose: The wine smells very oaky, with a little vanilla action.  The nose is also very hot.  You can smell the alcohol.  That’s not a good thing.  There is a nice red fruit component with hints of cranberry, raspberry, and cherries, but the alcohol distracts from it.

Taste: I like the taste of this one.  The body is medium to light for a Cabernet/Zinfandel based wine, but there are some nice lingering tannins that stick around for a while.  It’s got that cherry and cranberry fruit that I smelled earlier, along with some good oak.  There is a richness to this wine.  It made me want some cheese.

Score: This is a good wine.  It’s not trying to be anything but a red table wine.  I could imagine that this wine has the chops to pair with a variety of foods.  Pizza.  Steak.  Baked potato.  A light salad with goat cheese and walnuts.  This wine makes me hungry, and that’s what a table wine should do.  Give it an 86+.  Give it a try.

Here’s the thing about last night…

We had a blast.

But it did get a little crazy…

A good idea?

Stay Rad,

Jeff

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K.I.S.S. – A lesson from Gordon Ramsay and Girls

August 13, 2011

I’ve been thinking a lot about Girls lately.

Okay…

That doesn’t sound right.

Let’s start over…

I’ve been thinking a lot about my old friend, JR, lately.  He’s in a band called Girls.

JR. Christopher. Girls.

Girls is an amazingly complex band.  At the same time, they are all about the simple things in life.

Love.

Heartbreak.

Rock and Roll.

Friendship.

Pizza.

Wine.

Girls.

It’s that simple.

Their first album is called, “Album”.

It’s that complex.

A few days ago, my buddy G-Rat shared an article on Facebook that he found on Eater.com.  It was an interview with JR (who was at one time a chef) about similarities between music and food.  The interview, to me, circled around one common theme.

Simplicity.

When asked about what he learned during his time as a chef, JR spoke of simplicity.

“If you have a couscous and want to put salt-cured olives in it, you don’t want an overwhelming amount of the olives so that the bites that do have olive say something. If you’re going to put parsley in it, chop it big so they can taste it. Maintain the excitement.”

So complex.

So simple.

When asked about the type of restaurant that he would want to open up in the future, he hammered the point home.

“Whatever it would be, it wouldn’t be fine dining. It would be rustic, simple, the kind of stuff I’ve made my whole life.”

So simple.

So right on.

That article, obviously, got me thinking about food.

The article also got me thinking about TV.

Reality TV.

Of all the reality shows on TV, my favorites involve food.

Since Gordon Ramsay stars in 500 reality TV shows, I can’t help but think of him.

One of his shows is called Kitchen Nightmares.  On the show, Chef Ramsay visits restaurants that need a little help getting back on their feet.

It seems like every time he helps out a restaurant, the theme of simplicity comes into play.

Make the menu simple.

Clean up the dining area to make it simple and elegant.

And the food.

Make the food with passion.

Plate the food with love.

Always use simple, fresh ingredients.

Simple.

Fresh

Ingredients.

Simple!

With that in mind, here’s what I had for breakfast today…

Breakfast.

Potatoes.

Onions.

Salt.

Pepper.

Rosemary.

Eggs.

Milk.

English muffin.

Simply delicious.

In the complex world of wine, we get so wound up with the minutia of it all that it gets overwhelming.  It doesn’t have to be that way.

Wine can be simple.

Sugar (from the grapes) + Yeast = Alcohol + Carbon Dioxide

That’s it.

It’s simple.

I’m going to a party tonight.

I will bring some wine.

And I will keep it simple.

Red Splash 2007 Red Wine. Simple.

K.I.S.S.

Keep

It

Simple,

Stupid.

Stay Rad,

Jeff

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The Rules of the Game Hen

August 11, 2011

You know I hate eggs (although I have been Facing My Fear).

I’ve alluded to my fear of birds (I’ll tell you about it some day).

I have, however, been really into roasting poultry lately.  There’s something really fun about tending to a bird in the oven.  Trussing.  Basting.  Butchering.  It’s kinda primal.

To those that know me well, I’ve been looking very primal lately.  Up until this morning, I hadn’t shaved in about a month.

I’ve also been getting primal in my eating habits.  I’ve been throwing a lot of meat on the grill.  You can’t get more primal than heating flesh over an open fire, can you?

Birds!

Back to birds…

I’ve been on a huge Rock Cornish Game Hen kick in the last few months.  I’ve got my Oven Roasted Game Hen down to a science at this point.  I love the richness of the bird.  I love the gamey (obviously) flavor of it.  It takes me back to those primal roots.  You remember how our Neanderthal ancestors used to crossbred chickens to produce smaller birds with bigger breasts and a tastier flavor, don’t you?

On Monday, I decided to mesh all of my primal inclinations, and roast a Game Hen on the grill… with the help of Weber’s Big Book of Grilling.

Here’s how to make it…

Almost always, game hens come frozen… So the day before, I like to thaw out the hen under some cold water in the sink (if you don’t want to quick-thaw it, put it in the fridge two days before you plan on cooking the bird).  After the thawing, I will brine the hen in a stock pot over-night.  The brine is made using a pot of water, half a cup of brown sugar, half a cup of salt, one bay leaf, a bunch of fresh rosemary and thyme from the garden, and one orange and one lemon thickly sliced.  This brine should ensure that the bird is juicy and flavorful when all is said and done.

The next day is when the magic happens…

Finely dice up some green apple, carrot, yellow onion, and celery.  Mix it up in a bowl with some room temperature butter, salt n’ peppa, and a little fresh rosemary and thyme from the garden.

Remove the hen from the brine, and try to stuff as much of the veggie butter mix in the body cavity as you can.  Using cotton butcher string, truss the bird up nice and tight so the legs and wings are snug against its body and the cavity is closed up.  Rub the body of the bird with more of the veggie butter mix.  Set any extra mix aside (we’ll find a use for it later).

Now it’s time to prep the grill…

Put a drip pan with thickly chopped pieces of apple, celery, carrot, and onion along with some salt n' peppa, fresh rosemary and thyme, and butter under the grates of the grill where you will be placing the bird.

Replace the grates on the grill.  It’s time to pre-heat.

The bird will be roasted using indirect heat on the grill, so turn on the three exposed burners to high and close the lid for about ten minutes (until the grill gets between 400 and 500 degrees fahrenheit).

While the grill is heating up, melt some butter in a saucepan with salt n’ peppa, rosemary, and thyme.  You will use this to baste your bird.

Now, let’s roast this sucker!

Turn the exposed burners down to medium high. Place the bird breast side down on the grates over the drip pan (not on the flame). I like to make sure that the cavity and legs are facing out to make it easier to check the temperature of the bird. Using a baster, coat the bird with some of that melted butter. Shut the lid.

Even though we are keeping the lid shut, you do need to pay attention to your grill.  You want to make sure that the temperature of the grill stays between 425 and 475 degrees fahrenheit.  Adjust the burners accordingly.  Every 15 minutes or so, go back to the bird to baste it with more of that melted butter.

The bird is done when the thickest part of the thigh is 180 degrees fahrenheit (45 – 80 minutes depending on your grill).

It should look like this…

Booyah!

I like to serve game hen with cornbread stuffing.  Remember the diced veggies and butter left over from stuffing the bird?  Mix those veggies in with your favorite instant stuffing.  It’ll be dope.

When the bird is done, remove the back and cut the hen in half.  Serve it on a plate with some stuffing.

Yum!

Yum!

“Hey Jeff,” you may be asking, “What wine should be used to pair with this bad ass game hen?”

Well…

Here’s what I had…

Joseph Drouhin 2007 Bourgogne Pinot Noir and a cook book.

I’ve had this  Joseph Drouhin 2007 Bourgogne Pinot Noir in the wine fridge for about a year now.  The current vintage is on sale at BevMo for $13.39, so I’m guessing it cost me that much.  Joseph Drouhin is one of the great shippers of wine from Burgundy.  This is his entry-level Pinot Noir.

Color: Of course this wine is light burgundy in color.  Like any wine made from 100% Pinot Noir, I was able to see my fingers through the wine.

Nice!

Nose: Red grape skins.  Minerals.  A hint of bacon fat.  Strawberry.  Red bell pepper.  This wine smelled delicious.

Taste: The fruit is a little bit tart up front.  Think of cherries, cranberries, and under-ripe strawberries blended together.  The mid-palate transitions to tomato seeds and vines.  It has a nice finish of green bell peppers.

Score: I liked this wine a lot.  It was really fun to drink.  It’s the kind of wine that makes you think.  This was a solid 89+.  Pick it up!

The Drouhin went really well with the bird.  The fat and gamey taste of the hen elevated the normally light styled Pinot Noir to having the full-bodied apeal of a Cabernet Sauvignon.  It also highlighted some raspberry flavors that had been hidden in my initial tasting.   Very nice!

One could say the pairing of the Burgundy with the game hen RULES… At least… I did.

Stay Rad,

Jeff

PS – When it’s time to clean up, don’t throw away the hen carcass or the veggies from the drip pan.

Use it to make a bad ass stock!

Throw all of those leftovers into a stock pot. Fill it up with water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and leave it uncovered for 3 hours.

When all is said and done, you're gonna have this awesome game hen stock. I used mine to make risotto.

Lates!

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The Last Stanza

August 9, 2011

Kara is on fire!

The other night I was feeling lazy, so she decided to pick up some wine and whip up some dinner for me.

What a bad ass!

Stanza 2008 Chardonnay

She came back from BevMo with the Stanza 2008 Chardonnay.  Right now, this Lodi wine is on sale at BevMo for $10.71… so it will probably sell for $10.99 when the sale is over.  Wilfred Wong gave the ’09 vintage of this a 91 (Surprise!  Surprise!).  Here’s my take…

Scope the juice, homie.

Color: Golden to light straw.

Nose: Pineapple with a touch of creamy oak.  The nose is dominated by the fruit.  Nice.

Taste: Medium in body, this wine is a nice blend of pineapple and honeysuckle.  A good balance of acidity and richness up front, with a clean finish of stone minerality.

Score: Stanza is one of those labels that BevMo is always trying to push on its consumers.  You know, the stuff that is always on sale.  The stuff that is always open for tasting on Saturdays.  The stuff that Wilfred Wong always scores 90 and above.  Normally, I try to avoid these wines, but I’m glad that Kara picked it up.  This is a very nice wine.  At the price, this guy is perfect for a lazy summer afternoon.  Score it an 86+, and do not avoid it.

Thank you, Kara.

Oh yeah… And there was also dinner…

Veggie meat and dill yogurt cabbage wraps and a soy bean and rice salad. Rad!

Thanks again, Kara.

Stay Rad,

Jeff

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Dessert… and just deserts.

August 2, 2011

My folks LOVE dessert wine.  They LOVE it.

I’m kind of like, “Eh… I can take it or leave it.”

For me, dessert wines are more of a special occasion drink.

Last night was the finale of The Bachelorette.

I’ve been sitting on some icewine that my folks gave us last year.

With my worlds colliding last night, it was time to have my just deserts… for dessert.

Jackson-Triggs 2007 Vidal Icewine from the Niagara Peninsula, Canada.

The Jackson-Triggs 2007 Vidal Icewine is produced when the Vidal grape freezes and the ice crystals are removed.  This leaves the grapes much more concentrated, and very sweet.  The grapes are picked very late in the harvest season, so the grapes’ sugar content is at 40.1 Brix.  As sweet as they are, the alcohol content is a very low 10.5%.

Here’s the breakdown…

Color: Gold.  Caramel.  Brown.

Nose: Apple cider.  Syrup.  Pear.

Taste: It is tough to describe this wine other than the fact that it is sweet.  It has a very viscous mouthfeel.  The fruit is straight up apple.  Apple covered in maple syrup.

Score: The Jackson-Triggs is what it is.  Icewine.  It’s dessert.  For the second blog in a row, this wine made me want some vanilla ice cream with it.  I think the creaminess could give a good balance to the straight up sweet flavor.  Think of it like apple pie a la mode.  This wine is good, but… In the end it is one-dimensional.  Give it an 86.

Now…

Back to The Bachelorette.

SPOILER ALERT!

Here’s what happened…

Ashley really liked J.P…

Ashley and J.P. at lunch before the stuff went down.

But then Ashley’s older and foxier sister was all like, “I don’t think J.P. is right for you.”  So Ashley started crying and called her older sister the B word…

"You're a B word!"

Having caught wind of Ashley’s sister’s disapproval, Ben (the winemaker for Evolve Winery in Sonoma) thought he had it in the bag.  So he was all, “Will you marry me?”

"Will you like marry me... and stuff?"

But Ashley was all like, “No!  Get out of here!”

So Ben was all, “Fine!  Be that way!  You’re lame!”

Then Ashley cried some more.

Then J.P. was all, “Will you marry me, then?”

"How's about you marry me, then?"

And Ashley was all, “Let me see the ring first!”

So J.P. was all, “Check this rock out!”

That's pretty big, right?

So Ashley was all, “Heck yeah!  I ain’t no foo!”

But then Ashley’s sister was all, “I still don’t get what you see in him?”

So Ashley was all, “I picked J.P. to make you mad, you stupid B word!”

Looks like someone got their just deserts.

Stay Rad,

Jeff

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This changes everything!

July 28, 2011

Remember The NeverEnding Story?

Remember when Bastian first starts reading?

There’s this troll-looking dude that flies around on a bat, and he’s hanging out with a guy in a top hat who rides a racing snail.  So they’re chillin’ in the woods, when they hear a rumbling in the distance.  It gets louder and louder and LOUDER.

Eventually, out from the trees comes a giant dude made of rocks riding a tricycle.

See? I told you!

They called him the Rock Biter, since his diet consisted of rocks.  I guess you are what you eat.

Anyway…

The Rock Biter starts hanging out with the other dudes, and they get to talking about this thing called The Nothing (an entity that is threatening to destroy their world of Fantasia).  The dude on the racing snail and the troll begin to tell of the things they had heard second-hand, but the Rock Biter had an actual run-in with The Nothing.

He told them about this beautiful lake that was in the center of his home town.  It was loaded with plenty of delicious lime stone rocks (which would be important to a rock biter).  But one day… One day The Nothing came, and then the lake was gone.

“What do you mean it was gone?  Did it dry up?” the racing snail dude asked.

“No.  It was just not there anymore.” the Rock Biter responded.

“What?  Like there was a hole instead of a lake?” the troll dude asked.

“No.  A hole would have been something.  There was NOTHING there!” the Rock Biter explained.

I totally understand what the Rock Biter was saying.  You can talk about The Nothing as much as you want, but there is no way you could ever understand it unless you experienced it.  In the movie, the Rock Biter moves with just a little more urgency because he knows what The Nothing is all about.  He wants everyone to understand what The Nothing is.

I started thinking about The NeverEnding Story last night while tasting some wine.

I started to think about The Nothing.

I’ve always been a fan of Riesling.  I’ve especially been into the Rieslings of Washington state.  I’ve never been afraid to bring a 6 dollar Riesling to a dinner party, because they are always crowd-pleasing.  They always have a nice balance of acidity and a little residual sugar.  Perfect with food.

Recently, I’ve been reading through Kevin Zraly’s wine book, and he spends quite a bit of time talking about the wines of Alsace (specifically Riesling).  While reading it, I was all like, “I know about Riesling.  I know that the stuff from France is gonna be a bit more dry.  I know it’s gonna have nice mineral notes.  I know it’s gonna have some good acid.  I know it all.”

Apparently, I had no clue.

It turns out that Alsatian Riesling is my Nothing.

Here’s what went down…

Alsace (France) vs Washington State

I picked up two completely different Rieslings from two different stores for two different reasons, and decided to taste them side-by-side…

F.E. Trimbach 2008 Riesling from Alsace, France

I picked up the Trimbach 2008 Riesling at BevMo for $21.99.  Easily, the most I’ve ever paid for a Riesling, but this is the first wine that Zraly suggests you taste in his book.  If I am to know about the Rieslings of Alsace, I’ve got to taste them.

I figured that if I really wanted to get to know this wine, I had to compare it with something I was familiar with.  So yesterday I picked up this…

Chateau Ste Michelle 2010 Riesling from Columbia Valley, Washington

The Chateau Ste Michelle 2010 Riesling will set you back $5.99 at Trader Joe’s.  This is my go to Riesling.  This is the one that I bring to parties.  This is the one that is just delicious.

And now…

The tasting.

Sing along with me! "Feelin' so fine. Tasting some wine... Side-by-side!"

Color: The Trimbach was a straw yellow.  It was considerably darker than the Chateau Ste Michelle’s pale yellow hue.

Nose: The Trimbach was hella complex on the nose.  Tons of small, not quite ripe, green apples.  White raisins.  There’s this crushed vitamin C characteristic that is really cool.  There’s also a little lime, fig, and motor oil.  The Rock Biter would also appreciate the lime stone minerality of it.

The Chateau Ste Michelle smells EXTREMELY sweet, in comparison.  There’s lots of fruit on the nose.  Pear.  Apple pie.  Peaches.

Taste: This is where it gets fun.  The Trimbach is RAZOR SHARP in its acidity.  I never understood the whole “Razor blades on the tongue” description that Gary Vaynerchuk talks about until I tasted this Riesling.  This is intense!  There’s a ton of lime and grapefruit on the palate.  There are also hints of green apple skin and walnut.  But really… the star of this wine is the dry, sharp, mouth-watering acidity.

The Chateau Ste Michelle, in comparison, is almost dessert-like in its approach.  I never felt that way about it before.  This thing is SWEET.  It has light peach and mango fruit on the palate.  There is a nice, clean acidity to this wine, but the fruit wins out.

Score: By all accounts, the Trimbach was everything I’ve read about Alsatian Rieslings, but nothing I could have ever expected.  This wine is a game changer for me.  I could write about this wine until my fingers fall off, and you still wouldn’t understand it.  Much like The Nothing, I need you to know how great this is.  Give it a 91.  Buy it.  Save it as an aperitif to a fancy seafood dinner at home.

The Chateau Ste Michelle is a good Riesling.  It is a respectable 87, and a real value.  I have no problem with popping this open with some Tuesday night Tai food.

But that Trimbach…

That Trimbach was something.

And since we had plenty of the bottle left after the tasting, Kara and I had the rest with dinner…

Meatless Mediterranean cabbage wraps and romaine salad of cucumber and dill by KaraIsRad. Entertainment by Dish Network.

The Nothing teaching me about Riesling?

Ain’t that something!

Stay Rad,

Jeff

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Going home… Wherever that is.

July 27, 2011

My father is a retired math teacher.

Every year, during the first week of school, he would show his students a video.  The only film to be viewed in his class all year.  Why?  “It’s the only movie that matters.” he would tell me.

The movie?

Donald in Mathmagic Land!

Check it out... Square Roots!

It’s a wonderful 27 minute animation, following Donald Duck’s learning of the magic of geometry from a voice in the woods.  Since my dad only showed it in his class once a year, the video stayed in our video cabinet for the other 364 days of the year.  As short as the film was, and with as much time as I had in my day, I would watch this film often as a child.

My favorite part of this one is when Donald Duck first realizes that he is lost.  First, he notices that all the birds have right triangles for beaks.  Then he sees that the trees look kind of strange.  He walks right up to one of them, and says in his ducky voice, “Well, whatdayaknow?  Square Roots!”

I thought that line was hilarious.  You can only imagine how stoked I was when I got to actually learn about square roots in school.  “Square roots!” I would shout in my math class while working on problems.

“You’re weird!” random pretty girls would say back to me.

Sorry.

I’m getting off topic.

I’ve been thinking a lot about ROOTS lately…

The Roots

"Roots! Bloody roots!" - Sepultura

"Don't forget your roots!" - H2O

A friend of ours just visited us from Japan.  She moved out there with her boyfriend a year ago.

She mentioned to us that in the time she’s been back in the USA, she’s started to feel homesick.  That’s a funny kind of thing.  A girl born and raised in Sunnyvale missing her home… Her home of one year.  Japan!

It’s funny.

It’s funny how our sense of home can change.

It’s funny how I can relate.

You know that I grew up in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  Ben Lomond, California, to be specific.  To those who I figure don’t know, or don’t care to know, about Ben Lomond… I just tell them I’m from Santa Cruz.  Not entirely true, but close enough.

Though I never lived in the city of Santa Cruz, I guess I could consider it my “home town”.  From the time I was old enough to ride the bus on my own, Santa Cruz was my play ground.  Once I learned how to drive, it was on.

Walking Pacific Avenue just to see what I could see.

Hitting up the Boardwalk to seek a thrill.

Working at the Boardwalk… and Juice World… and Streetlight Records… to get some scratch.

Going to punk rock shows.

Playing punk rock shows.

Cruising in the 1985 Honda Accord hatchback with my buddies from West Cliff to East Cliff and back.

Bonfires on the beach.

Bar hopping.

Santa Cruz is where I grew up.

Ben Lomond, however, is my home…

Well…

Ben Lomond was my home.

In 2002, while I was getting my credential at San Jose State, my folks sold the house in Ben Lomond and moved to Reno, Nevada.  Good for them.  The house is really nice.  Good for me.  When I go to Reno, I don’t have to pay for a hotel room.

But…

In a way…

Bad for me.

Bad for me because now that my parents don’t live in Ben Lomond any more, I don’t have a reason to go back to my home town.

As far as Santa Cruz goes, there are plenty of reasons to go there… I just don’t.  At least… not as often as I should.

It’s funny.

It’s funny that over the last 10 years San Jose has become my new home.

It’s where I went to college.  It’s where I made my career.  It’s where I fell in love.

It’s funny that for the last two years, I’ve lived in Morgan Hill.  It’s where I bought a home.  It’s where I got married.  It’s where I spend all my time.

It’s where I write this blog.

But let’s get back to my roots.

This morning, Kara and I went for a run…

in Santa Cruz.

Here are some pictures that Kara took with her phone (I should get one of those)…

West Cliff

Natural Bridges

It was such a beautiful, relaxing run.

We started at Lighthouse Beach State Park, right next to the Surfer Boy Statue.  The run took us along the West Cliff trail to Natural Bridges and back.

It was beautiful.

I saw the Monterey Bay.

I saw the birds, and mussels, and ice plants.

I saw the people.

The locals.  I was one once.

The tourists.  I am one now.

Dogs.

Bikes.

And I smelled it.  The ocean.  The briny briny sea.

It made me think of scallops.

It made me want some food.

Food!

Let’s do this!

After the run, Kara and I drove over to 99 Bottles on Walnut Ave. (between Pacific and Cedar) in downtown SC.

We sat on the patio…

99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

Here’s what I had…

Big Daddy IPA

The 99 Burger

Pickles, onions, tomato, lettuce, and the secret mustard-mayo sauce.

The beer was great.  Nice and hoppy up front, with a crisp finish.  The perfect beer to go with a burger.

The burger?  Meh… It was all right.  The condiments were really nice, but the actual burger… It wasn’t that great.  The meat was a little over-cooked.  It came off as being really crumbly.  I think whoever formed the burger from the ground beef squished it a little too much.  It’s the type of burger that you need a good beer with… to make you forget it.

Look…

Lunch was nice, and I really enjoyed going back to my roots… back to Santa Cruz…

BUT…

I was itching to leave.

I was ready to go home.

HOME.

Morgan Hill, California.

Stay Rad,

Jeff

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Bringing the Wine. Calling the Bluff.

July 25, 2011

At the end of a recent post, I found this comment…

“Dave Thevegetarian Says:
July 23, 2011 at 4:36 pm | Reply   edit

If I would have known my meal would be featured on Stay Rad, I would have picked more handsome looking menu.  I demand you come back soon for another night of vegetarian goodness.  Don’t blow this by not bringing more wine.

Thanks,

Dave Thevegetarian

PS – Seriously.  Bring more wine.  I’m running low.”

Later that day, Dave texted a picture of grilled halloumi to me, via my wife (I don’t own a cell phone), with the message, “Come on over… and bring the wine.”

Never having been one to back down from a challenge, I yanked two random (yet related) bottles of wine from the rack, grabbed Kara by the hand, jumped in the car, and shouted, “It’s on!”

Kara began to shake her head.  “Again?!?!”

Once we arrived at the House of Thevegetarian, I reached into my fanny pack to see which wines I had picked…

A Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah and a Syrah. Who'd a thunk it?

Since there was no halloumi left, we jumped right into the wine.

First up…

Montgras 2009 Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon - Syrah

Here’s the thing about the Montgras 2009 Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon – Syrah…

I first started following this Chilean blend a few months back when I saw that Jay Miller of the Wine Advocate gave this wine a 90.  When I saw that it was $9.99 at BevMo, I picked up a bottle and really liked it.  The next week, BevMo started their 5 Cent Sale.  I was stoked to see that it was on the list of 5 cent wines, until I saw that they jacked up the price of it to 17 dollars!  Since I liked the wine, I still decided to pick it up with a savings of $1.50 per bottle (when you buy two).  What’s crazy is that now that the 5 Cent Sale is over, BevMo lists the regular price of the wine at 17 dollars, but sells it for $11.38 with your BevMo Club Card.  Meanwhile, Wine Library lists the regular price as $12.98, but sells it for $9.99.  If I lived in New Jersey, or if I had a free shipping coupon, I’d hit up the Wine Library for this one.

Aside from the weird pricing thing with the Montgras, there is also a question about the blend.  I could have sworn that when we checked the back of the label, it said it was 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Syrah.  Jay Miller refers to it as a 50/50 blend, as do all of the websites that quote Jay Miller’s rating.  The Montgras website says it’s 60% Cab and 40% Syrah, so I should go with that, but remind me to have Dave check his recycling bin.  As Tom Cruise once said to Jack Nicholson, “I want the truth!”

Now remember… I’ve had this wine before, but have never scored it.

Here’s the breakdown…

Color: Reddish purple.

Nose: Chalk (I love chalk!).  Plum.  Raspberry.  Tobacco.  I really loved the bouquet.

Taste: There is an instant BIG plum attack, followed by tobacco and green bell pepper.  The one drawback was the tannins.  They were HARSH!  I love mine big and round.  Not harsh.  I made a note that it would probably be best served after some decanting or cellaring for a year or two.

Score: I was surprised by the Montgras.  Maybe it’s bottle variation.  Maybe I’ve become a harsher critic.  I just remember liking this wine a whole lot more a few months back.  The first time around, I would have said this wine lived up to the hype… But this time, I was kind of disappointed.  Don’t get me wrong.  The wine has a beautiful nose, and the balance of fruit and vegetal flavors is interesting.  The problem is those harsh tannins.  I just can’t get over it.  At 86 points I cannot justify paying 12 bucks for it.

Up next…

Kendall-Jackson 2006 Syrah. Crappy tasting room. Crappy cork. Coincidence?

Dude!

You know how I feel about the Kendall-Jackson tasting room by the Healdsburg Plaza.

You don’t!

Oh man…

Okay…

In short, it sucks.

If you want the full story, click here.

When I pulled out the 2006 Kendall-Jackson Syrah, Dave was all, “I thought you hated Kendall-Jackson.”

“Their tasting room is for the birds, but… I already had this Syrah.  We may as well try it.”

Here’s what I thought…

Color: Reddish purple.  Much like the Montgras.

Nose: Chalk (mmmmmmmm).  Plum.  Tomato.  Nice!

Taste: A very nice combination of dark fruit, chocolate, and bell pepper.  The tannins are very soft and round.  Good finish.

Score: Believe me, I really wanted to hate this wine.  I really did.  There was just one problem.  The wine was good.  You cannot deny how delicious this thing is.  I’m giving the wine an 87.  The Kendall-Jackson website says current vintage of the wine is $16, but I’m pretty sure I got it for around $12 at Safeway.  If you are in a pinch, and looking for a nice Syrah, you may want to give the Kendall-Jackson a shot.

The Thevegetarians had opened up some nice wines as well.  I really liked their wines, but I promised not to score them.

I can respect their wishes, but…

They did give us a tomato from their garden before we left…

Tomato del Vegetarian

Look… I said I wouldn’t score the wine, but I didn’t make any promises about tomatoes.

Lucky for me, I just found a ripe tomato in my back yard this morning…

A Rad Tomato

So I decided to do a little head-to-head tomato challenge today…

Who will win? Who gets cut?

Tomato del Vegetarian:

Looks: A light brick-red color.  This tomato was the bigger of the two.  It was about the size of a racquet ball.  There was a low flesh/seed ratio with lots of juice-filled seed-pocket space.

Bite: The membrane was a little bit chewy, but not unforgivably so.

Flavor: Sweet, but with a green sensibility.

Score: This tomato was very nice. Considering his inability to build a succesful fantasy baseball team, I was surprised that Dave was able to produce such a good tomato.  This tomato would taste great sliced up on a turkey sandwich.  I give it two wedges and a stem.

Not bad.

A Rad Tomato:

Looks: A much darker red.  Let’s call it ruby.  My tomato was about the size of a large ping-pong ball.  With a much higher flesh/seed ratio, this tomato had much smaller seed pockets and a meatier flesh.

Bite: There was a nice snap to the membrane, and the flesh was the perfect blend of meaty and juicy.

Flavor: Sweet and dark tomato flavor.  Much sweeter than the first one.  It had almost a salsa-esque flavor to it.

Score: With these two tomatoes, it’s all about preference.  I think the sweetness and texture allows this tomato to stand on its own.  I’d love to have this one quartered with a plate of charcuterie.  I give it three solid wedges.

The winner!

It looks like when it comes to tomatoes, the Rad ones always come out on top…

The cream always rises...

And just so you know I didn’t pre-plan my victory, I took this picture in the off-chance that Dave’s tomato would have won…

In Dave's dreams...

Stay Rad,

Jeff

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