Beer geek

Here's a link to a post on the New York Time City Room blog about the Sixpoint Craft Ales Hop Obama beer Jesse had at Jimmy's No. 43 in November.

We both really liked the Hop Obama a lot so I'm excited to hear that they're bringing it back under a different name.

I liked this quote best from Paul Kermizian, the co-owner of Barcade, in the City Room post:

“We get beer geeks and we get video game geeks. Surprisingly, there’s a lot of crossover.”

Cheesy stuff to do in the news

There are two interesting tidbits in the New York Times's Food Calendar:

1.Hudson Valley Sampler

Cheeses, wines and other products from the Hudson Valley will be served at a tasting to benefit Columbia County Bounty, an organization that supports farmers, on Feb. 15 from 2 to 5 p.m. at Deffebach Gallery, 125 Warren Street, Hudson, N.Y., $40 from www.hudsonvalleycheesefestival.com.

2.Cheese and Beer

A class in pairing cheeses with Belgian beers will be held on Feb. 16 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Artisanal Cheese Center, 500 West 37th Street. The fee is $85: www.artisanalcheese.com.

I was particularly interested in the former because work is beginning to pick up on my graduate thesis project, which is related to the locavore movement and supporting farmers directly.

As for the latter, I've been to Artisanal twice (I even organized a client event there!) and had the cheese flights, which are amazing! It's a wonderful restaurant and a classy bar, so it's a great place to stop for an after work nibble of cheese and sip of wine even if you can't commit to an entire flight of cheese.

Alas, Jesse and I are hoping to be in Boston the weekend of these events so we probably won't be able to attend. But we are aiming to be at:

3. Single Malts, Free

A free tasting of single-malt Scotches will be offered on Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. at D.B.A. Brooklyn, 113 North Seventh Street (Berry Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn. (718) 218-6006.

Of course there are lots other things on the calendar listed so you should check it out, especially the free chocolate tastings at La Maison du Chocolat, and the champagne tasting led by expert from Chrisities! New York Magazine also has a good guide to Valentines Day weekend if you're looking for some ideas.

Cheese in the news

There are a number of reasons I never liked our former president, G.W. Bush. But the story "U.S. In Long-Running Trade Dispute With EU in yesterday's" All Things Considered program on NPR has given me yet another to add to the list. Just before leaving office, Bush increased tariffs by 300% on Roquefort cheese from France in retaliation against the E.U. ban on hormone-treated beef.

I'm not a big fan of hormone-treated anything, and I have nothing against cheese-eating surrender monkeys. So naturally I'm not a big fan of the tariff, never mind the fact that I prefer Stilton.

It's been a busy first week for President Obama as he has taken on foreign policy and diplomacy, economic recovery and stimulus, torture and Guantanamo Bay. But I have to admit that for my sake, and for cheese-eaters everywhere, I hope blue cheese rates some space on his to-do list so he can overturn Bush's war on French cheese soon.

Käsesalat

To get in the proper spirit for the snow storm that was forecast for last weekend, Jesse and I went ice skating at the Wollman Rink in Central Park.


Although we did not partake of the chili-cheese fries and hot chocolate as recommended, we did head over to Fig & Olive afterward for dinner.

We were anticipating a carb-heavy weekend (Jill requested Frito pies and I had already bought the ingredients to make pizzoccheri) so we both ordered salads. I considered the Fig & Olive Salad, but even I--who blog about cheese--was intimidated by five kinds of cheese in one salad. Jesse once ordered wurstsalat while he was in Germany, expecting a salad that came with wurst. Instead, it was a salad made of different kinds of wurst. I suspect that the Fig & Olive Salad may be a käsesalat. Maybe next time, when my tummy is feeling more intrepid.

We did indulge in their crostini and olives, and wine. My favorite crostini was the manchego with fig spread and almonds, and the rosé was excellent.

Fig & Olive
Hours
Monday - Saturday: 12:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Sunday: 12:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

808 Lexington Avenue
Between 62nd & 63rd St.
New York, NY 10021
(212) 207-4555
Map

Making much of muffins

When Jill was younger (around  elementary-school age) she used to bake muffins, which my Dad would take to work in basket. He would put them in the kitchen at work with a sign, "Jill's Muffins - $1) and a cup for collecting money. She made a tidy profit ( for a 9 year-old) and my Mom bought her a Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library Muffins & Quick Breads cookbook so she could expand her repretoire.

Three years ago when Jill and I moved into together into our very first grown-up New York apartment, my mother sent us assorted hand-me down kitchen wares (like the crockpot and electric skillet), including the William-Sonoma Muffins cookbook. Jesse is a big fan of muffins (as am I), and so I try to whip up a batch every once in while as a treat. Last week I made Chili-Corn Muffins using a jar of Santa Fe Ole Green Chile Sauce that Jesse's mom had sent us earlier this fall in a care package.

Chili-Corn Muffins

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cornmeal

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sale

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

3/4 cup sour cream (I used plain greek yogurt)

2 eggs

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup diced, peeled green chilies

1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit. Butter standard muffin tins (I use a silicone muffin pan, which I swear by).

In a large bowl stir and toss together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and chili powder. Set aside. In a medium bowl whisk together the sour cream, eggs and melted butter until smooth. Stir in the chilies and cheese. Add to the dry ingredients and stir just until blended.

Spoon into the prepared muffin tins, filling each cup about two-thirds full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Cool in the tins for 3 minutes, then remove.

Makes about 12 standard muffins.

We ate them with a yummy Squash and White Bean Soup recipe from Real Simple for a homey Sunday night supper.

Panacea

Well, today was an absolutely terrible day at work, which is really saying something since work is usually kind of awful on a regular basis. To recap:

Of my total workload about 90% consists of mostly successful retail and travel campaigns with a sales executive that I love working with.

But as of today, due to company-wide reorganization, I am now no longer working with that sales executive or on any of those campaigns and have to transition them to another account manager.

Instead I am keeping (and getting more of) those other 10% campaigns in other categories that aren't performing very well, one of which canceled their budget with us just in time for our meeting with them this afternoon.

But everything is all better now, for the moment, as my sister has shared her red wine and stinky cheese with me to help take the edge off the day. Nothing like stinky cheese to make a bad day better.

According to the cliche, I know that when life gives you lemons you're supposed to make lemonade. But that's tomorrow's work. For right now, I'm going to lick my wounds and take advantage of the lemonade that my sister has used her time and talents to make today.

After all, that's what sisters are for, right?

More Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Jill and Jesse were big fans of launching kamikaze paper airplanes out the window during the parade. (You can't see it because of the glare, but Jesse is in the middle of folding one in the photo.) I was in charge of checking off floats and balloons as the parade progressed (which is what my coffee mug-full of mimosa's is anchoring down in the photo).

Thanks to my coworker, Priscilla, who took the photo and provided the bagels- and mimosa- makings!