On the social front;
We were invited to one of the neighbors house for a party and I brought Grolsch swing-tops because I needed the bottles to bottle the beer I had made the day after Christmas. I had planned to drink the Grolsch during the 2 week period during which the beer fermented, but I got sick right after Christmas and was in no shape to drink. Recovery took quite awhile. I plan to give that neighbor a bottle of my brew since he helped empty the bottles. We were dirty stay-outs that night, out till 2:30AM!, no wonder I kept nodding off.
The better half graduated from her MPA program in the first half of January, the Graduation reception and ceremony was very nicely done and we managed to fit in a late night meal at our local Thai restaurant. The next night we had a celebratory dinner at Carols Cafe with the immediate family.
We had neighbors over for Paella which was enjoyed by all and there was leftovers so I was able to bring some to work for lunch.
 |
| Not the actual Paella, but you wouldn't know unless I told you which I just did. |
We went to the New York Times Travel Show held at the Javits Center, attended some seminars, the best being about accruing miles using credit cards given by The Points Guy. After the seminars we checked out the exhibitors, but a lot of the Travel Specialists were out of brochures and some were starting to pack up. I think Saturday is the better of the 2 days. I attended last year on the Saturday and came home with easily triple the amount of swag as I got this year.
Afterwards we had dinner at the chip shop A Salt and Battery in the Village.
The better half had ex-colleagues over for Pulled Pork, it came out great. One of the colleagues brought along 2 trays of food so we had pulled pork and noodles and spring rolls for breakfast, lunch and dinner that week.
A different neighbor invited us to a Robbie Burns dinner, haggis and all. I brought some Scottish Ales. I was also convinced by the store owner? to buy a sample pack for myself. The sample pack by Innis and Gunn of Edinburgh Scotland had Original, Winter Beer and Rum Cask styles and included a glass. They all tasted strong and malty and all were aged in oak barrels. The Rum cask brew was tasty, but I could not see drinking more than one in a night.
My beer, made from a Chocolate Maple Porter kit from Brooklyn Brew Shop was ready for drinking this month as well. It was carbonated, malty, had chocolate and maple notes and a dry finish. It was very good. It was a bit hoppy so I would put less hops in if I make this style again. Was thinking of making the Chestnut brown ale next since I like Samuel Smiths Nut Brown Ale. The kit was a Christmas present from the eldest, I had always wanted to make beer, but most kits were for making 5 gallons. I would get sick of the beer style before I finished it all. This kit was 1 gallon and just the right size.
On the phobia front I had a bad month, I had to endure 4 needles; a blood test, 2 tooth fillings replaced and a vaccination. The dentist uses a jell to numb the gum prior to the injection so that isn't too bad and the other 2 episodes were not too traumatic, I didn't have to wait long so my anxiety didn't have time to grow exponentially.
We also had quite a wind storm this past week(01/31). I heard things blowing around in the yard next to me and I took a look from the back of my garage and saw this. The neighbors garage door which has been unable to close for years, must have been blown to pieces by the wind.
No comments:
Post a Comment