Several weekends ago my friends and I embarked on our second annual "Why don't we live in a beach house?!?" beach house trip to Oregon. This year was a huge departure from the style of our previous trip in that we actually planned ahead. Rather than scramble for a place to stay when we arrived at Newport we booked our beach house months in advance. It was a beauty of a house that could sleep 15 and included two kitchens and a jacuzzi. The plan for our weekend trip: days on the beach, evenings in the hot tub, and as many brewery and distillery visits as we could cram in.
The party consisted of three veterans from the 2007 trip and eleven friends of ours from various social circles. As one of the original three it was partially my responsibility to make sure it would be a memorable trip. My friend Jon is well organized and a very strong planner so we let him take the reins but I was left with the important decision of which distillery to visit besides Rogue.
The decision came down to either House or Integrity Spirits. Integrity just entered the absinthe market with a new product called Trillium but House makes the Aviation Gin that I know and love. I finally settled on House Spirits. The tour was easily arranged by email and Matt (in charge of tours) was very communicative and flexible. Tours are available almost every day by appointment unless they happen to be out of town.
When we arrived Matt brought us all in to the distillery and began his spiel. We were given a very informative talk about the history of House Spirits as well as background information on vodka, gin, and aquavit. We experienced a little thrill of excitement when we were allowed to stick our fingers in a stream of gin still going through the distilling process. My friends (including a homebrewer and biochemist) had a ton of questions and he answered all of them well.
When we were finished assailing Matt with questions he led us to another part of the distillery to talk about future products. House Spirits has a rye whiskey in the works that will be aged 8-9 years and they plan to release what they are calling an "apothecary line." They will be bottling their small-batch and one-off products and making them available in 350ml bottles. He also enticed us with a description of their custom whiskey program. The $4900 price tag seemed high until he mentioned that a barrel yields at least 100 750ml bottles. We all have some ability at mental arithmetic so the changes in expressions when we realized that perhaps we could make this work were almost instantaneous.
After the tour Matt led us in to the Spirit & Cocktail Boutique where we sampled the Medeyoff Vodka, Aviation Gin, Krogstad Aquavit, and Marteau Absinthe. The absinthe was tasted first neat, than with water added, and finally with a little simple syrup. Imagine our disappointment to discover that it was not yet available for purchase! Not one of us would presume to be call our self knowledgeable regarding absinthe but it was a pleasure to drink.
We were at the distillery for an hour and a half or so and we all had a fantastic time. All of their products are excellent and I'm excited to see what is in store for the future!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
What's for dinner?
I enjoy cooking but I can be incredibly cheap and easily intimidated by recipes. Anything I make with regularity will be very simple to make and only require 2 or 3 ingredients that are not already stocked in the pantry. I thought I'd share my favorite finds from other blogs.
Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter
This ridiculously simple sauce is always a hit. I like to make it in a large skillet so it reduces more quickly and I "chop" the tomatoes in the pan with kitchen shears.
http://orangette.blogspot.com/2007/09/start-with-tomato-sauce.html
Simple Rosemary Roast Beef
I usually skip the rosemary and use this to make beef dip sandwiches. A friend turned me on to "Better Than Bouillon" beef base. The combination tastes way better than you think it should!
http://jessthomson.wordpress.com/2007/11/08/
Pasta Carbonara
What's not to love! My only complaint is that separating the egg requires extra dishes. When I'm on a Carbonara kick I'll end up eating this for breakfast a lot.
http://www.thepauperedchef.com/2007/03/pasta_carbonara.html
English Cucumber Sandwiches
I was originally inspired to make them by "The Importance of Being Earnest" and later they were a big hit at our "Four Ingredients in 20 Minutes" cooking contest.
http://www.thepauperedchef.com/2006/02/cucumber_sandwi.html
Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter
This ridiculously simple sauce is always a hit. I like to make it in a large skillet so it reduces more quickly and I "chop" the tomatoes in the pan with kitchen shears.
http://orangette.blogspot.com/2007/09/start-with-tomato-sauce.html
Simple Rosemary Roast Beef
I usually skip the rosemary and use this to make beef dip sandwiches. A friend turned me on to "Better Than Bouillon" beef base. The combination tastes way better than you think it should!
http://jessthomson.wordpress.com/2007/11/08/
Pasta Carbonara
What's not to love! My only complaint is that separating the egg requires extra dishes. When I'm on a Carbonara kick I'll end up eating this for breakfast a lot.
http://www.thepauperedchef.com/2007/03/pasta_carbonara.html
English Cucumber Sandwiches
I was originally inspired to make them by "The Importance of Being Earnest" and later they were a big hit at our "Four Ingredients in 20 Minutes" cooking contest.
http://www.thepauperedchef.com/2006/02/cucumber_sandwi.html
Thursday, August 7, 2008
May
An old friend of mine is back in town this week while he prepares to move from Korea to Hawaii. Although he's very dear to me he's not particularly reliable so I was surprised to receive a call from him inviting me to meet up for dinner. I was fresh out of the gym when I received the details and arrived at the restaurant a good twenty minutes after the rest of the party.
My dinner companions had just finished consuming their appetizer but had decided not to order dinner without me. I ordered a pint and quickly scanned the menu in hopes of minimizing the wait before food would finally arrive. I didn't have to wait long for my beer but the waitress managed to disappear before we could ask her about ordering. It was becoming evident that this dinner would drag on.
I like the people I was dining with but they are very awkward to converse with. We had all worked together at my last job but one of them was my boss - particularly disliked by my coworkers. The rest of the party consisted of her husband, my friend, and his brother. I met my friend through a role-playing game and his brother is by far the shyest person I have ever met. The food could not arrive fast enough - and they really made us wait. It was a good twenty-five minutes before we saw a plate which is not a reasonable wait for a Thai restaurant.
I allowed myself to order the Phad Thai - for purpose of comparison. I like to challenge myself to try new things but I have certain weaknesses. May's Phad Thai wins high marks for presentation. My dish arrived covered in banana leaf which the waitress peeled to the side. She spooned some chili flakes and sugar on to the noodles and tossed them for me. The other person who ordered Phad Thai was merely told to watch and copy her moves. As far as taste, it was acceptable. It wasn't too slimy, or too saucy, and ketchup didn't appear to be an ingredient. The downfall is they charge $14, almost twice what I'd normally expect to pay. For that price I'd expect to be blown away.
By the time we finished my friends had been there for two hours - and only about a quarter of that time was spent with food in front of us. The waitress was clearly trying to rush us out the door before some of our table had finished eating. We weren't exactly taking our sweet time!
My dinner companions had just finished consuming their appetizer but had decided not to order dinner without me. I ordered a pint and quickly scanned the menu in hopes of minimizing the wait before food would finally arrive. I didn't have to wait long for my beer but the waitress managed to disappear before we could ask her about ordering. It was becoming evident that this dinner would drag on.
I like the people I was dining with but they are very awkward to converse with. We had all worked together at my last job but one of them was my boss - particularly disliked by my coworkers. The rest of the party consisted of her husband, my friend, and his brother. I met my friend through a role-playing game and his brother is by far the shyest person I have ever met. The food could not arrive fast enough - and they really made us wait. It was a good twenty-five minutes before we saw a plate which is not a reasonable wait for a Thai restaurant.
I allowed myself to order the Phad Thai - for purpose of comparison. I like to challenge myself to try new things but I have certain weaknesses. May's Phad Thai wins high marks for presentation. My dish arrived covered in banana leaf which the waitress peeled to the side. She spooned some chili flakes and sugar on to the noodles and tossed them for me. The other person who ordered Phad Thai was merely told to watch and copy her moves. As far as taste, it was acceptable. It wasn't too slimy, or too saucy, and ketchup didn't appear to be an ingredient. The downfall is they charge $14, almost twice what I'd normally expect to pay. For that price I'd expect to be blown away.
By the time we finished my friends had been there for two hours - and only about a quarter of that time was spent with food in front of us. The waitress was clearly trying to rush us out the door before some of our table had finished eating. We weren't exactly taking our sweet time!
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