October 29th, 2009 by sarah
Aw, the poor (richest team in baseball) Yankees. I think I’ve got a crush on Cliff Lee. 10 strikeouts, including fanning A-Rod 3 times! And the nonchalant grab of that popup that made me think he was playing a neighborhood pickup game. But the best play had to have been his behind the grab “holy crap, the ball is in my glove” snag. Utley said “C.C See you later” to two balls, making the long trip over the fence. And though it wasn’t a shut out (Rollins is probably still kicking himself for that throwing error), the Phils commanded the game and have a 1-0 lead in the series. Repeat!
October 28th, 2009 by sarah
GO PHILLIES! I know, I’m a Padres fan and [sarcasm]they did so well this year, like all the others… [/sarcasm]. But the Phillies are my local team now so that woosh you just heard? That’s me jumping on the Phillies bandwagon. I’m not going to start spelling anything that begins with “F” with a “PH” and I’m unlikely to sport any Phillies gear but I will look for some red in my closet. They follow my criteria for bandwagoning: NL team (stupid DH- make a pitcher take a swipe at the ball sometimes!), some locational affiliation, and (barely) designated the underdog. Plus, they have a Flyin’ Hawaiian (coincidentally a Padres draft pick in 2002) and who doesn’t get a chuckle from saying that? Also, I can’t root for a team with bloated payroll pockets and egos to match. So as the 2009 WS begins tonight, and two key former pitchers from the (2007 AL Divisional losers) Cleveland Indians take the mound for each team, I’ll remember a t-shirt a roommate used to live in this time of the year: “Yankees Suck, Jeter Swallows” and root for Philly!
October 16th, 2009 by sarah
So it’s obvious I like good beer, but I like tasty grub at least as much. The past few months, I’ve thrown together some interesting dishes from a grilled watermelon, goat cheese, and fresh basil salad (which you all at the beer tasting seemed to enjoy!) to brie topped with roasted pecan and walnut pieces, halved figs, and broiled, then drizzled with honey. I’m sort of a disorderly cook. I use recipes for basic ideas but nibble my dish while cooking and add a little of this or a lot of that.
I had dinner at Los Sombreros Café on my last trip to Scottsdale. Read the rest of this entry »
October 10th, 2009 by sarah
While the brewers were overcoming terrorist threats to “places of amusement, immorality, and sin” (surely they can’t mean a beer fest…) and a dusty of snow in Colorado to compete at the Olympics of Beer, I was warming up a barstool at Pizza Port Carlsbad, tossing a few medal winners down my gullet. Not only was PP C’bad voted Best Large Brewpub, they also earned 7 medals at the Great American Beer Fest. By “beer” happenstance, I stopped by when six of the seven winners were on draft, including the Revelations Belgian Gold (take it easy- a surprising 8.5%!), Good Grief Brown, Reed’s Wee Heavy, Beech Street Bitter, 547 Haight (Imperial Red brewed for Toronado SF’s 20th Anniversary), and Cow Stout. Score! You can’t visit SoCal without going to at least one of the Pizza Port locations. PP Solana Beach won gold for Imperial Red Ale with Shark Attack and the San Clemente one was the GABF Oatmeal Stout gold medal winner for Ernest’s Silky Smooth. Plus, $5.99 gets you pizza, a nice (and fresh!) salad, and a pint of one of their beers. And every location is near the beach and packed with surfers, most of whom order the Carlsbad Chronic, which had originally been brewed using hemp seeds, but these guys didn’t need their requisite medicinal marijuana prescriptions to drink this beer.
I also swung by Lost Abbey once and visited Stone Brewing three times as I had to go through their draft list trying everything I hadn’t tasted before including the Craftsmans .5IPA (good) and Triple White Sage, which tasted a little too much like sucking on a Xmas tree for me. I finally got to visit Toronado where a glance at Cable Car ($70!) dissuaded me from purchasing the rare gem, but I did try the Alaskan Barley Wine (malty) and the Alpine Bad Boy (West Coast Double IPA). And among others, Duck, Duck, Geuze and the new Stone/Maui/Ken Schmidt collaboration Macademia CoCoNut Porter found their way safely to my house thanks to lots of bubble wrap and careful packing. Can’t wait to go back!
October 6th, 2009 by sarah
It doesn’t get any better than this. 162 games per team in the regular baseball season, yet the AL Central division not only came down to one game, but one inning to decide. And I don’t even mean the 9th! Just goes to show you how closely matched the Twins and Tigers were. This game was a nail biter for any fan, even if you have no loyalty to either team. Scroll to the bottom if you don’t want my play by play but I was practicing my sportscasting skills during the game. Though I don’t have any absurd ESPN facts like the last time a baseball player with the initials OC hit a home run on a ball that was meant for an intentional walk or something like that. Read the rest of this entry »
