Beer Ice Cream
Here’s a link I saw about beer ice cream. It’s the perfect summer treat. There are a couple of professional pints, but also some tips to do it yourself. None of the places mentioned are local to New York or New Jersey, but I’m sure someone out there must be mixing beer and ice cream this summer.
I’ve got an ice cream maker, so this is definitely something I’m going to give a try at one point this summer. One thing I do like to do is use beer in milkshakes. Adding a nice rich stout to some ice cream (And some whiskey if you like) makes a delicious treat. The roasted, bitter taste of the beer goes very well with the sweet cream. It’s like an Irish Car Bomb Milk Shake. Adding Bailey’s seems redundant here since it’s basically cream and whiskey, but feel free to add it in if you feel like it’s not a true car bomb without.
First Mensiversary Gifts
It’s fun to celebrate marriage mensiversaries. Rather than make note of it every year, we’ve decided to make note of it every month. This isn’t that abnormal really, it’s just like having a regularly scheduled date night. It’s an excuse to take time out to focus on your spouse and mark it in some way of celebration. Nothing we do is hugely involved or deeply complicated. We simply make a point to do something out of the ordinary or special to celebrate our marriage. We try to do something different every month, but as the months mount it might be hard to keep that up.
Our first mensiversary snuck up on us pretty fast. It’s actually what prompted us to celebrate. I imagine noting the first month of marriage is something most couples notice, and we were no different. Still basking in post-wedding bliss we decided it was a fun tradition to start. Two weeks in Hawaii and Halloween being the first weekend we were back our first month was on us before we’d even really settled back to normal. We decided to get fancy burgers from Bobby’s Burger Palace nearby in Paramus and decided the first mensiversary gift was gourmet hamburgers.
I’ve written about this before, but as time goes by I’m going to try to document every month’s moment. Some are silly and some are born of convenience, but the purpose is always the same; recognize and remember our wonderful marriage.
Tags: celebrating mensiversaries, first mensiversary, first month gifts, first month wedding gifts, gourmet hamburger anniversary, mensiversary, wedding mensiversary
Fair Lawn Promenade Needs a Brewpub
Fair Lawn is getting something called the Fair Lawn Promenade along route 208. This is right next to the gym, so I noticed recently when they started leveling out the ground and clearing the weeds. It’s been empty lots for a long time.
My first thought: It needs a brewpub. The signs mention retail and dining, so why not? It profiles as a “upscale town center environment” and given the inclusion of some affordable two-bedroom apartments, it stands to reason that it will promote people just like me. By that I mean couples in-between owning a house and graduating from college. In my experience this is a demographic that appreciates real beer and would enjoy being able to get locally brewed beer a stone’s throw from home.
So why not a brewpub, preferably one with a beer garden, for us to enjoy? There are already a bunch of apartments within walking distance, which is where I live, so it’d be a great place for a happy hour or watching a game. It would create that nice city benefit of living within walking distance of a cool bar or restaurant while still living in the suburbs.
I saw brewpub even though a typical sports bar with a good beer selection would probably work too. This particular area could use a microbrewery serving good food, because to my knowledge there isn’t one anywhere nearby. Building from scratch could provide the ability to factor in a nice beer garden too, with long benches and trees.
Certainly if I had the capital to start up a business, I’d be all over this.
Tags: beer, brewpub, fair lawn, fair lawn promenade, microbreweries, new jersey beer, new jersey brewpubs
Heightened Senses
Lately I’ve noticed that some of my senses seem to be heightened. Not super-powers heightened (Not yet anyway, crossing my fingers there) but just picking up on things I normally don’t notice. Specifically my sense of smell has picked up. I’m now noticing the scents around me much clearer than I used to whether it’s a steeping cup of tea, or the aroma of my dinner.
I’m also seemingly noticing colors more sharply too. I especially noticed this during Christmas, when the Christmas lights just seemed to be brighter and crisper. I’m pretty sure my eyesight hasn’t actually gotten better, especially since over the past year I’ve noticed one or two of those random black floaters in my vision occasionally.
Hearing is another sense that I’m noticing has changed. Particularly that I’m picking up on more nuance within things. This can be as simple as a whirl of a print spool in the background, or background percussion on a music track.
Taste is the easy one. Most peoples taste buds change, and I heard somewhere every seven or so years is common. I’ve definitely gone from a very very picky eater as a kid to pretty much being able to find enjoyable food in just about any setting.
As I was not bitten by a radioactive spider or operated on by Dr. Strange, something else must be happening. My theory is that it’s the experience of age giving me a broader appreciation of the world around me. It’s not so much that I’ve gotten super powers, but that I appreciate the nuance and know to look for it. I know there’s nice background tracks in good songs, that the overall color scheme and constrast in Christmas lights makes an enjoyable display. I recognize and identify more scents as being specific to something else I enjoy, such as a cup of tea. I take note of that scent, and that information, and use it to further my enjoyment rather than letting it passively go in one nostril and out the other so to speak. Enough positive reinforcement in my brain associated with a smell, or a sound or image, makes me take a more active notice of that sense and think “Hey, I like this.”
Longhorn Steakhouse Review and Beer List
Me and my wife went to Longhorn Steakhouse for our 15th mensiversary last night.
First impressions for me at most restaurants are formed by the drink list. Naturally I look for beer first, but a nice signature cocktail list is impressive as well. Longhorn did well in that regard, they had a couple of interesting looking drinks and some margaritas. The beer was less impressive, but they did have 10 or so taps and they weren’t horrible. Mostly the expanded standards, highlighted by Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, Blue Moon and Leinenkugel.
As far as the menu, my biggest complaint would be that there didn’t seem to be any beers that cried out to be paired with steak. No porter, no malty ESB. Newcastle Brown Ale would probably be the closest. In essence the beer menu is a national one with very little thought put into it.
The food was pretty good. I actually enjoyed the appetizer, salad and sides more than the steak. I got some firecracker spicy chicken rolls, a Caesar salad, and a loaded baked potato. My steak was a bourbon-glazed bacon-wrapped filet that was cooked medium, although it looked a wee bit more than that. It seemed more a generic steak than a filet, and tasted like it. I guess you get what you pay for, but it does brand itself as a steakhouse so I was surprised that that was the only part I was disappointed in. It also needed more glaze and crispier bacon.
Ultimately stuffed, we passed on dessert even thought it looked delicious.
Tags: 15th mensiversary, beer, beer menus, beer pairing, longhorn steakhouse beer menu, longhorn steakhouse review, mensiversary, pairing beer with steak
Nine Month Mensiversary: Brunch
Skipping around a bit; i posted earlier about my first month anniversary and celebrating it. We’ve celebrated each month in some fashion, but I haven’t quite written them up yet. Well this weekend was nine months and we celebrated with brunch.
Brunch may not seem like a huge deal, but this was never about being a huge deal. We’d been recommended this place, called The Bethwood, as having good brunch, and we had not been out for brunch together since we’d gotten married. Sunday made for a perfect time to do so. It was a lazy day, just hanging out with each other, eating too much food and relaxing. A perfect lazy married Sunday.
The Bethwood was very good; omelettes, waffles, a Viennese table, carved meats, pasta salads, fruits, vegetables, pastries and bagels and breads and cheeses and all sorts of wonderful foods. We got there early, so it wasn’t that crowded yet. They served a complimentary glass of champagne to start too. This actually disappointed me; they chose a Verdi prosecco, which I felt was too sweet for a breakfast champagne. Still tasted good with a little orange juice splashed in it though.
Tags: 9 month anniversary, anniversary gifts, brunch, mensiversary, month gifts, monthiversary, new jersey brunch, nine month wedding anniversary, prosecco, rainbow cake, the bethwood, wedding annivesary