When you aspire to write a novel
You may end up living in a hovel
If your day job you quit
In a premature fit
Of rage, then to your boss you must grovel!
In response to Mind and Life Matters limerick challenge.
Aspire – a limerick
Category: blogging
A cocktail fail but a food and beer win!
Week 6 in the Year of Drinking Adventurously!
The Far East is not being well represented so far! This week is another fail, I’m afraid. The beverage to sample this week was supposed to be Huangjiu, which translates to ‘yellow wine’ or ‘yellow liquor’ but really isn’t quite either one. Like Japanese sake, it’s a unique thing of its own. Which I hope to try someday, maybe when I get back to San Fransisco for a visit. I think I should be able to get back on track next week.
So, since I can’t tell you about Huangjiu, I’ve decided to torture you with the beer brewing adventure instead! The first batch -a Belgian blonde ale- is kegged and ready for consumption. Most brewers name their beers so this one is called: Blondes Prefer Gentlemen. The next batch is an English Ale so I want to name it Naughty Princess Meg! (Not that I’m a princess or anything…) Here’s what it looks like:
I’m not really going to torture you with the process. You’ll need more than my blog to figure out how to brew your own beer. Anyway, once it’s all cooked up, it goes into a fermenter, which is nothing more than a glorified 5-gallon bucket with a valve in the lid to release the air bubbles created by the yeast “burping” out CO2. Next, it gets transferred to a glass “carboy” for secondary fermentation and to let the dissolved particulates settle to the bottom.
The first Sunday in February is a time of great rejoicing or great sorrow, depending on which football team wins. It is also a great time of feasting and merrymaking. At the party we attended, most of the gathered crowd cheered for the Broncos who eventually prevailed. When your team isn’t playing (we’re in Philadelphia Eagles territory), the party is more about the food and drink.
One of my few domestic skills is baking. Not desserts, cakes, pies and the like… No, I bake bread: Italian loaves, French baguettes, brioche, challah, cinnamon bread, English muffins, AND pizza and stromboli! And yo, it’s Philly, so the native dish here is the cheese steak. The cheese steak Stromboli (actually 2 of them) I took to the party was filled with a grilled New York strip steak, sauteed peppers and onions, and mozzarella and cheddar cheese. Served with my own marinara, it was wiped out in minutes!
Anyway, that was my Superbowl weekend. I hope you all enjoyed yours! Weekend, that is, I know not everyone was glued to the fiasco that passes for the National Championship. Back to drinking adventurously next week!
Dragon Fire
Week 5 in The Year of Drinking Adventurously!
This week’s adventurous choice is Baijiu -a Chinese spirit distilled from sorghum. Baijiu means “white liquor” and that is exactly what it is. Check out the pretty bottle:
I hate that they Americanized the name! Actually, I’m not entirely sure this is authentic baijiu, but it was the best I could come up with. So as you can tell, I didn’t overindulge in the baijiu. In fact, I made one cocktail with it: a strawberry-lime slushy thing that would have been better suited to a summer day than a winter evening.
Did I mention I had to order it online? Pennsylvania has some frustrating liquor laws, let me tell you. And, I’m learning that the internet is extremely unreliable for finding places that sell these unusual alcohols. Remember how I couldn’t find Japanese whiskey last week? My friend Rachel found it in a liquor store in the Allentown area. That’s an easy drive from my house. Grrr…
Anyway, Baijiu… Listen to the description on the side of the bottle:
Mischievous, mysterious, seductive, sensual, sizzling, spicy, smooth, enticing, surprising, tantalizing.
Sounds naughty! What does it taste like, you ask? I did take a little sip of it by itself. It’s hard to describe. Sorghum, a member of the grass family, is the main grain used to make a mash from which the spirit is distilled. Actually, that’s a huge simplification. Other grains go into the distillation process as well, which, according to Jeff’s book:
is a really long and complicated affair.
The baijiu I bought is infused with dragon fruit, lychee, and hot chiles, which gives it a fruity, spicy, floral background taste. (Another clue that this is isn’t the real deal!) It’s often consumed as a shot and at 70 proof, this stuff is totally shootable. I might end up drinking it that way or on the rocks. Maybe it will make me seductive and sensual! Pfffft! I may just sneak it into my girlfriends’ drinks in lieu of rum or tequila. You can’t tell the difference under grenadine and pineapple juice.
These exotic alcohols are killing me. Next week is another entry from China. You might end up having to hear about the beer brewing experience after all! Batch one, a Belgian Blonde Ale, is finished fermenting and ready to be kegged! The English Ale from the day of the blizzard is up next.
Don’t forget to check in with Lula and see how she liked the baijiu!
Meg Sorick, Author/Artist 