Pre Season Baseball

A friend of mine gave me two tickets to the last Phillies spring training game. T-Bone and I went done to Citizens Bank Ballpark for the first time in 2011. The attendance was apparently 36,000 but it seemed pretty empty. Although the Phillies lost to the Pirates we had a good time. The highlight for me at the ballpark outside of the baseball is the food.

After going to 8 different ballparks last year I really believe that Citizens Bank has the best food. Yesterday I had the BBQ Turkey sandwich from the Bull's BBQ. It is my go to sandwich at the ballpark. Of course I was still hungry so we went to Campos. The great thing about a pre-season game is that there was no lines. We got the Heater. A cheesesteak with pepper jack cheese and buffalo sauce. It was great. Try it when you get the chance. They also have a store in Old City at 2nd and Market.

Fantasy Baseball

We finally had our draft on Thursday night after PrimeTime screwed up on his first attempt. Pretty happy with my team. This year I even know who all of them are, and I didn't even have to pick a Met. I suppose it is for Major League Teams only.

My pitching was better last year (Lee, Price and Wainwright) but I think I have a better line up with Fielder, Pedoria, Tulowitski, MichaelYoung, Suzuki, Hart, Chris Young and a decent bench of Konerko, Oritz and Soriano (ok he was a disappointment last year for me and I dropped him, but he was my 19th pick this year). Pitching of Kershaw, Carpenter, Hughes, Buchholz, Cueto (I swear the guy starts 3 times a week), and De La Rosa (he is going to have a breakout year). Closers are Broxton and Cordero. Probably average to slightly above. We shall see.

It is fun to play.

Corned beef

Mrs Cast Iron made Corn Beef and cabbage tonight for dinner. A little late after St Patricks day, but delicious none the less. I tried the Harpoon Celtic Ale - An Irish Style Red to go with it. Not much to this beer. It is only available in the Spring, but is only average. Not too different from a lot of beers.

Last week I also tried the River Horse Lager from Lambertville NJ. Again not spectacular, but nothing wrong either. Just average.

Finally I had a Greene King IPA the other day at lunch. It was light at only 3. something APV. It was tasty. This is were the good news ends. I come to find out it is the official beer of England Rugby. Can't endorse something like that. I love the Wallabies too much. Greene King IPA

Pittsburgh

Just came back from a trip to Pittsburgh.  I have visited this city many times over the years and outside of Primanti Brothers there is no culinary value at all. The beer is average, and the food probably less so. The funny thing about it is that the locals love it. I just don't get it.

Minnesota and Chicago Beers

While in on my Minnesota trip I tried a couple of local brews.

Summit Extra Pale Ale - Very drinkable beer. Would be great as your everyday beer. Most people would like it. Has a good level of hops without being over powering like some others. At 5.1% APV it isn't too heavy either. Summitbrewing

Sheep Head Ale - This was an overly hoppy beer, which although drinkable, I wouldn't go back to it. Nothing wrong with it, just not my taste. APV is 7.7% so it is heavy on that side too. Sheephead

Fat Tire Amber Ale - This was a good beer that I had tried before in Colorado. I wouldn't have too many in one sitting at as it just seems heavier than it actually is. (APV is 5.2%). A little different style of beer but worth the try. I also like the name. Fat Tire

312 Urban Wheat Ale - A nice light beer. Could drink a few in one seating as it is only 4.2% APV. Had good flavor. This would be a great summer beer that would be a great replacement for the mass brewers.
312_urban_wheat

Masa

Went on a visit to Minneapolis this week. I had the opportunity to eat at a very good Mexican restaurant called MASA. Who would have thought about Mexican food in Minnesota? Masa-restaurant. The food was more contemporary than Tex Mex, fresh and tasty.


We started with the MASA Margarita on the rocks which was excellent. Not too boozy at all.


For the appertiser the table shared:

Queso Fundido con Hongos - Melted Chihuahua and havarti cheese with mixed mushrooms, onion, tomato, serrano and Dos Equis Amber; served with warm tortillas

Arroz Negro con Calamares en Salsa Verde - Black rice with calamari in salsa verde

Guacamole Picado - Mashed avocado with white onion, tomato, chile serrano, cilantro, and lime; served with raw vegetables and tortilla chips.

The cheese dish and guacamole were excellent. The calamari was good but not really enough for the group to share.

For a main course I had "Bistek con Chipotle Ancho Marinado y Cebollitas Verdes". I couldn't pronounce it but the description sold me. A grilled 10-oz. hanger steak with charred tomatillo-chipotle salsa; served with refried black beans, grilled scallions and chipotle sea salt for $23. I also tried the "Serrano Relleno" which was two serrano chilies filled with queso anejo and lightly fried in meringue batter;served with charred tomatillo and chile piquillo salsa. The chilies were spicy but not too hot. They had great flavor but didn't burn your mouth so that you couldn't taste the rest of your meal.

Tire Bite

Having recently been introduced to Flying Dog beers I have purchased a few different ones to try. Each time I'm loving them. Tonight's new one was the Tire Bite Golden Ale. This was was light and delicious. You could drink a few of these but unlike mass produced you will not be sacrifice flavor. APV is 5.1%.

Tire-Bite

Enjoy.

Stay Thirsty My Friends

On a whim I  bought a Dos Equis the other day and just had the lager with dinner. I good "green bottle beer", but with a much better advertising campaign - The most interesting man in the world.

My favorite quotes:

His blood smells like cologne
This reputation precedes him, like lightning precedes thunder.
He once had an awkward moment just to see how it feels, and
He lives vicariously through himself.

The whole campaign is in the attached link from YouTube.

What are yours?

Extra Credit

For extra credit in the burger challenge we all went to The Dandelion at different times. The reviews follows:


From myself, PrimeTime and T-Bone - "

Good overall burger but expensive at $16. Tomato Horseradish sauce was excellent. Would have scored higher if the price was better. Great atmosphere. Scores Cast Iron 3.5, PrimeTime 3.5, T-Bone 3.

Now Bone Marrow went all out on his description:

Mrs. Bone Marrow and I plus 2 friends, Fan & Sister of Fan, had dinner at The Dandelion on Monday night. While the service was very attentive, the actual delivery of our beverages was oddly a little slow for us. Mrs. B had the Fish & Chips and declared them to be freakin' excellent!  The fish was flaky, moist and the batter was crisp and light!  She gave the Dandelion a 4.5 rating...an obvious but acceptable novice rating was applied here.  In an attempt to hone her foodie rating skills, she will be attending the "Philly Cooks" event in the city tonight. Our friends both choose the Roast Organic Chicken Breast.  I forgot to get their opinions / rating but based on their completely empty plates, I'm guessing that they enjoyed the dishes. 

I, of course, had the House Blend Burger. The combo of the smoked bacon, crisp pickle slices, shredded lettuce and the tomato-horseradish sauce was absolutely fabulous!  It was hands down a much better than Butcher and Singer's " Butcher Burger". Also, exceptionally tasty were their thick cut fries which we liberally added sea salt from the cool containers with the little wooden spoons. Overall, a gross score of 4.15 from me but a .5 deduction due to the pricing.  No way on earth is a burger worth $16...I don't care how you doll it up.  Both Bone Marrow's enjoyed the Philadelphia Yards IPA which seemed to go well with our meal.  Good favor and not so heavy that you got filled up and couldn't enjoy the food, too."

The man has a way with words.

Three more tried

I tried three more brews from recent beer exchanges.

The first was Pandora's Bock from Breckenridge Brewery in Colorado. Pandoras bock. APV is 7.5%. It was a good tasting beer that despite its APV wasn't overly heavy. It wasn't overly hoppy either.

The next was a Yards Philadelphia Ale. This was a pleasant easy to drink ale. Nothing to right home about but nothing wrong with it either. Better than mass produced beers but no as good as others I have tried. ABV is only 4.5% so more than a couple can be consumed without going off the deep end. Philadelphia-pale

The last one was Troeg's Nugget Nector. This wasn't to my taste. I was too hoppy for me. I guess when they say "Squeeze those hops for all they’re worth and prepare to pucker up", they weren't joking. The APV is 7.5%. I have three extra bottles so I guess the PrimeTime, T-Bone and Bone Marrow will get an extra beer to try for this months swap. Nugget Nectar.

The return

Mrs Cast Iron and a friend went to the flower show today and afterwards I met them for lunch at Reading Terminal. I walked them around and spoke of our food experiences. We decided to eat a Beck's Cajun Cafe. Becks Cajun Cafe

We also chose the Jambalaya Bowl. I hadn't tried it when I went with PT, BM and TB. I know that the others raved about, and know I know why. It was hearty, spicy and full with chicken and sausage. The corn bread was fresh and delicious. We capped it off with a huge Whoppie Pie from Beiler's Bakery.

A great return after 5 weeks.

Joined another one

A friend of mine told me about a beer exchange in the neighborhood, so I contacted the organizing and was invited along. It had 12 people each bringing a case of beer. It was really well organized, it has its own website, password protected, and each person posts their beer choice prior to the event. Of course as luck would have it two people still managed to buy the same beer. No problem each of us still got 11 different beers. I contributed the Founders "Double Trouble".

For taste, this was a close cousin of the Dog Fish Head 90 minute IPA. This beer was 9.4 APV, and was equally as big. It was delicious but not one that you are going to drink too many in a seating. Apparently this is a seasonal ale available January through April.

Double-trouble

Another thing about this beer exchange was the beer rating link on the website. It is below:

Tasting sheet

Lots of good info and things to think about when drinking a beer.

Cheers.

We started, 1 Down

We visited the first restaurant for Burger of the Month Club. For February we went to Butcher and Singer. I have been here a few times and had some pretty decent steak with exceptionally quick service, but this visit was about burgers. A burger at a white table cloth restaurant for $9.95 is exceptional value. I think we expected more, there was nothing special about the sauce, the cheese was disappointing, and it was almost non existant. One burger was ordered medium and it still came very pink. Overall it was scored 3.25* by me, 3.3* by Bone Marrow, 3.25* by PrimeTime and 3.75* by T-Bone. The overall average score was 3.3875. We also had three Guest judges from "Integrity" who are rookies when it comes to scoring and I think a little in awe of the sophistication of the restaurant and burger discussion. They scored it a 4. They are certain welcome back on our next adventures.

Let down

After having the 90 Minute IPA I found a Shelter Pale Ale in the fridge. It was a little thin for my taste, and really didn't have any lasting flavor. I don't think there is anything really wrong with it, but compared to its big brother I was disappointed.

shelter-pale-ale

Wow

T-Bone came through with his beer for our exchange. He contributed a Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial Pale Ale. This one will but hair on your chest. It is big, flavorful and not to be taken lightly at 9% APV. If you like hoppy beers this should do it for you.

90-minute-ipa