She's back

There must be more pictures of this Oktoberfest Girl on the net than any other. Oktoberfest Dude thinks she's worth the attention. P.S. Thanks Dr. Beer Love on the advice. At least one beer or one dirndl required for all photos on Oktoberfest Girls.

lunch today

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the most happy bagel sandwich in all the land.

Crest Cafe

After a week furlough from brunch (possibly the longest week in my existence), we resumed our vigilant weekly quest for the best way to start a Sunday. This week brought us to the Crest Cafe on Robinson Street in Hillcrest. The small but determined crowd outside again reaffirmed our decision. As if there was a need for further confirmation, there was a menu hanging in the window that tantalized us with its promises of tastebud delight. We waited for about 10 minutes until we were informed that there was no wait at the bar. Obviously we jumped at this offer, and pored over the menu in exciting indecision until my final selection was the Artichoke and Ham Strata for $8.95. Freshly baked casserole of artichokes, ham, gorgonzola, monterey jack, sourdough bread and unique blend of herbs, served with fresh fruit. GAHHH. Artichoke, meat, cheese, and sourdough. Delightful. Ashton settled for the Machaca, and at $8.50 it consisted of chopped onions and tomatoes with scrambled eggs and your choice of freshly baked turkey, shredded pork, shredded top sirloin or chorizo, served with salsa fresca, beans and tortillas. (He went balls out and got the chorizo).


In my enthusiasm upon its arrival, I gobbled a few bites before I remembered my duty as a blogger to snap a photo. It reminded me of a strange egg-y lasagna, with meat and cheese and artichokes but with bread instead of noodles. It was wonderful, and unlike many restaurant artichoke experiences these seemed to be above average. I find many times the artichokes are soggy and canned, and while I don't doubt the can-ed-ness of them, they were prepared magnificently. And the fruit! What a pile was offered to me. Pineapple, strawberries, melons, grapes, and oranges spilled over half of my plate, and added just the right light counterbalance to my coma-inducing main selection.
Ashton's machaca fulfilled in flavor what it lacked in presentation. Basically it looked like someone had puked on his plate and then served it with a side of corn tortillas and an unidentifiable cheese on his beans. Once you took a bite, however, it was a smorgasbord of yummy that would have been ideal with a little more spice. The corn tortillas weren't great, but my personal preference with corn tortillas is that they be cooked past the norm to a piping hot crispy stage, or else they are just too chewy and hard to tear with your teeth. Flour tortillas are always a safe bet in that aspect, but sometimes corn just provides that flavor that one craves. Regardless, the tortillas in this case were, in my opinion, unnecessary but provided.
Another point I'd like to mention was that I've found OJ in restaurants is a hit or miss in terms of quality. Some restaurants skimp and get the cheap-o carton stuff, but I commend the Crest Cafe for their insistence on quality. I was treated to a BRIGHT orange glass of yummy that was clearly picked out by someone with an eye for detail. Kudos.
I'd rate this a "definite go back" situation. From what I saw of the rest of the menu, they have a lot more to offer in terms of sandwiches and entrees. Sounds like my kind of place. I'll end this post the way we left brunch.

I hope they appreciated our enthusiasm, but considering they were working brunch instead of eating it, probably not.

Beers to you

Man it's been too long since I've posted. Work is really starting to get in the way of my amateur beer blogging goals. Nothing too exciting lately in my world of beer except that I brewed a freaking ridiculous west coast pale ale recently. Usually I don't brag about my beer, but this pale ale is all one could hope for. Lot's of citrusy hop flavor, a nice malt body, and only about 5% ABV. The funny thing is that I kind of threw it together haphazardly when I was brewing a Belgian dubbel (still fermenting).

So here's to beer and here's to you!

HolzBrew

Apologies

I'm sorry to build everyone's hopes and dreams up so high with promises of a brunch post on Sunday. Unfortunately, I had to (sob) pass on brunch this week due to a volunteering obligation at the San Diego Museum of Art. As I do not have any more Sunday volunteering shifts coming up, there is no reason why the normal brunch experience will not go on as usual this week.

I think to prove that skipping brunch in order to volunteer was a terrible idea the gods of brunch punished me by making me dehydrated at the Museum. Now I am recovering from the nausea, weakness, sore throat, and loss of appetite associated with the affliction. Thanks a lot, gods of brunch. It won't happen again!

Adjustment

Time for an adjustment.

I have always tried to include these key elements in all the pictures featured on Oktoberfest Girls: pretty girls, beer, Munich and/or Oktoberfest. This week is the first time I feature a photo without the key element of beer. Let me know what you think. Are there some pictures worthy of sharing despite the absence of beer?

Meet Basil

This is Ashton and I's first pet in California, albeit a stationary one. Meet Basil, the basil plant. Don't be fooled by his name, it's actually pronounced "bahhh-zil", like the friendly English butler, or the sound a sheep makes followed by the first half of zilch.

So far he has proven to be quite delicious and we have added him to a number of our experiments with food. He's actually part of the tomato/toast bite you see above. I think he will have a female friend soon by the name of Rosemary. I know it's a bold step for them to move into the same windowbox together so soon, but when you're in love, you're in love, right? I think it will be a blessed union.

New beginning!

First post of the new blog!

This is going to be dedicated to FODO FOOD FOOD! Just what the world needs, another food blog. BUT, this one is first and foremost dedicated to the most magnificent, scrumptious, important meal of the week- BRUNCH! Stay tuned on Sunday for the first brunch of the blog history!

If you can't wait until then for a tantalizing preview, go to my other blog art-i-choke. Hit the tag "brunch" and enjoy the fruits of my labor for the last few months. Until Sunday!

Ja, wir haben es geschafft!

Everyone was too nervous to talk. It was the big moment, the one we'd all been waiting for, and everyone in the room was petrified with fear of the worst. It sounds negative, but after the last two elections, we weren't about to be too careful.

Downstairs, a gospel band was playing and singing, and everything was decked out in political colors. Red, white and blue, with Obama logos everywhere. Upstairs the atmosphere was a bit more informal, with the chatter of people sitting at beer hall tables and sipping cold drinks from the bar in the next room. CNN blared in the background, but the nervous banter made it impossible to understand the various predictions about the election outcome.

It didn't matter because we knew we would all have a few hours of nervousness to wait it out until we would know more. The day had been agonizing enough, having started it six hours earlier than the eastern voting population, and now we were drowning our jitters in Augustiner Helles and Schnitzel.
The first predictions came in slowly, first showing only 1% of Indiana's returns. By the time Pennsylvania had been called, we were all biting our nails and staying awake only on a mix of beer and adrenalin. The final pronouncement came at 5am, McCain's and Obama's speeches ended after 6:30am. Needless to say, where most Americans were out in the streets shouting or tucking into bed happily ready to wake up to a new world the next day, relieved that another vote counting debacle hadn't delayed the results until the wee hours, we Munich watchers were thinking "gee, it's hard being a politically committed expat." Those of us, like me, who hadn't taken the day off of work fought our way through the day in a euphoria-lightened sleep-induced haze. Some of us may or may not have napped on the floor during lunch break. But it was worth it. Oh boy, was it worth it.

Still recovering

Oktoberfest Dude is still recovering from the big fest, but here's a picture to keep you interested. Prost!

Keep their heads ringing

Last Friday, Meg and I hit up Norm's and I picked up something very new that I had not heard of and I thought I'd share. It's brewed by RJ Rockers. I know, it sounds like a fake brewery, doesn't it? The same way PJ Skadoo's sounds like a fake restaurant that might appear on a Saturday morning episode of Saved by the Bell. But I assure you that it is a real brewery in Spartansburg, SC. A couple of weeks ago Norm's was sampling two RJ Rocker brews, the Patriot Pale Ale and the Bell Ringer. Both brews were great. Here goes some tasting notes:

Patriot Pale

Pours a golden yellow color with average white head. The smell is very grassy. The taste was mostly citrusy with a little grassiness. Mouthfeel was medium bodied with an average amount of carbonation.

All in all this one was very drinkable. I was reading some of the reviews on BA and some people were comparing it to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, I personally thought it was a little different (maybe the grassiness) and worth picking up. This is what a pale ale should be, flavorful, but still easy to drink. I would have bought a sixer, but lately I have been home brewing pale ales like they are going out of style, so I decided to pass until I finish up my home brew pales. A great choice for tailgate season.


Bell Ringer

Right from the start I knew I was going to like this beer. With a name like Bell Ringer you know you are in for some "in your face hoppiness." I note that BA has this listed as a Double IPA. However, the RJ Rockers website does not classify this as a Double IPA. I like to think of it more as an American Strong Ale, mainly because the color is darker than your usual DIPA and the hops are not as aggressive as your usual DIPA. Whatever!

It pours a deep caramel color with little head. It smells of hops. There is a hint of malt, but the hops are dominate. Citrusy hops more than piney hops. The taste is complex, there is a fruity tartness to it that reminds me of purple sweet tarts (unique, eh?). There are plenty of citrusy hops, but not over done.

Don't drink more than a couple or the 8.5% ABV will sneak up on you and ... ring your bell. I picked up a sixer and I am loving it.


-HolzBrew

Mas

Wednesday night Meg and I went for drinks with a friend in Arlington, on our way back we stopped at Westover Market. I had heard that this place a had a great beer selection, but wasn't convinced based upon the exterior. So we decided to investigate ourselves. The above photo was taken from their website. They have as termed on their website the "Great Wall of Beer" which is pretty true to form. Meg and I were very impressed with their selection of beers, they had all of our favorites (Victory, Stone, Avery, Troegs, etc.) and lots of stuff we weren't familiar with. the only criticism I had of the place is that its unorganized. You've literally got beer piling up all over the place, but that's not such a bad problem to have. We got to talking with the owner and he informed us that every first Friday of the month and every second Saturday, they have beer and wine tastings with live music. It all sounded very cool and in the spirit of promoting quality beer. Check out their website for more information: http://www.westovermarket.com/index.html

So as of last post we had picked up a bottle of Hopsinjoor and Merry Monks. We also picked up a bottle of "Ale to the Chief" from Westover on Wednesday. Finally, we hit up Norm's lat night for the usual routine. Here is a quick once over on some of these beers:

Gouden Hopsinjoor: I can't get enough of these Belgian IPAs. Lots of fruit, pepper, and spice on the tongue. Starts off with a citrusy lemon zest and morphs into a piney hop explosion. The malt backbone is barely noticeable leaving only a little sweetness and body. Overall: B+

Weyerbacher Merry Monks: First, this bottle was impossible to open, Meg and I literally had to use wine cork remover to get this thing open. I believe this is considered a tripel, but it pours an orange color which is somewhat unusual for a tripel (rules be damned!). It had a nice balance of flavors with lightly toasted malts up front and a heavy dose of syrupy fruit flavors (largely apricots). It finished with a subtle hop bite on the back side. The alcohol remains well hidden. This is as it should be an exploration of malt and fruit flavors with just a touch of hops. Overall: B+

Avery Ale to the Chief: Now I usually don't like to post much in the way of negativity, but I just couldn't get behind this one. I think the most upsetting thing is that Meg and I are big Avery fans and perhaps we had high expectations (this beer scores well on beeradvocate). For a double IPA the hops were unremarkable. The alcohol taste is very present. Sharp and harsh bitterness in the finish. Meg and I didn't even finish the 22oz. bottle. Overall: D



-HolzBrew