Festival Time Starts Up Strong!

September 6, 2011

Ah, today was wondrously cool and breezy (blustery, even). Sure, we’ll be seeing warmer temps at the end of the week, but the promise of autumn is here.

And with the end of summer/start of autumn comes festival season. Two weekends ago was a great start to things. Friday saw Downtown Troy have their “Final Friday” with stores staying open late and lots of local musicians playing outside of shops/restaurants. Some of the local artists were out as well. No street vending of food, but the folks and I sated ourselves with pear hard cider from Leaf & Vine, sangria from the furniture store (that combo made me drunk – I am such a light weight!), and Chinese food from Tokyo Peking.

Saturday, I had agreed to be the DD for my folks and their friends for the FareFest in Versailles (pronounced as spelled). This was the 3rd year of this festival, but the first time for us. The folks and their friends split the cost of my food-only ticket, while they all got their special wine glasses and all the wine, beer, and cider they could drink. Several local restaurants and caterers were there with food as well. The food was excellent and I hear tell the wine & beer was good as well. I got everyone home safe und sound.

The folks and I also attended the downtown concert on the square that night, which was excellent. The brass (and percussion) section of the Air Force Band performed quite a few numbers. I even turned to dad once and said “this group would be great doing a Spike Jones piece” and two songs later, they did a Spike Jones piece! They did Pal-Yat-Chee, which was brilliant. One of the best shows this summer.

Then this last weekend (Labor Day weekend) was a nice end of summer weekend, with all sorts of weather available. Friday was stonking hot, so I stayed inside with my lovely air conditioning. Saturday was nearly as warm, so I went swimming with mom. Our last time in the pool for this year. *sniff* Sunday was a cookout at mom & dad’s cottage at Lake Loramie with my dad’s family. We had an excellent game of Shanghai Rum (I didn’t win, alas) and dad grilled us a fine assortment of tube steaks. Although it had rained (stormed) earlier on Sunday, it left us alone, for the most part, at the cookout.

Labor day was our day at the Piqua Heritage Festival, one of my favorite festivals. I had already felt bad for the folks who camp there the whole 3-day weekend due to the really strong storms early Sunday and the horrid heat of Saturday. Monday was a whole different kettle of fish. It barely reached 60F that day. I was optimistic that it would hit high 60s, but it didn’t, so I was a bit chilly in my t-shirt. Still, the crafts were neat to see and the food was tasty. I had corn on the cob, strawberry lemon shake-up (needed more sugar), fried catfish & fried tater tots. And to top it all off, battered & deep-fried peach. Now THAT was tasty! To take home, I bought kettle corn, saltwater taffy, cinnamon roasted pecans, and a CD of local music (Celtic Bluegrass, I believe.)

Later that afternoon, when I was relaxing with the cats, working on a website, and finally thawed out, mom called to say that we were invited to a cookout with her family – right now. So I finished the website update and headed out (this time with a jacket) for dinner with the Andersons. It was lovely to see folks again, and the food was tasty. My cousin, Gregg, grilled sliders and dogs, both nicely done.

So now, summer is over but for the equinox. But thankfully, festival season has only just begun!

Rum Runner

August 4, 2011

You know the old saying, "Pix or it didn’t happen!" So here I present you with photos of my Trunkful of Booze.

Trunkful of Booze

Countertop of Booze

[Second photo L->R: case of hard cider, Upland Rad Red, Upland Wheat, Oliver wine, case of Fat Tire, Oliver wine, Trader Joe’s wines.]

The trunkful of Booze – a family tradition?

July 31, 2011

Been over a week since I last posted, and with judiang posting almost daily on her WordPress blog of late, she’s making me look bad. So, now that LJ has calmed down a little, I can finish talking about my Organic Chemistry Vacation. (Might as well post about it since this past week wasn’t near as interesting.)

After my boozy Wednesday, Thursday was fairly uneventful. I had supper from that famous French Restaurant, Kroger. I had le fried chicken, le baba ganoush a la whole clove garlic bread, le pistachios, and le brownie. (The joy of buying supper from a grocery – you can combine all sorts of things in one meal!)

Friday was our last class. Kate got us conversant enough in benzene ring chemistry, and then we filled out our evaluations. I had nothing but praise for her – she was a fabulous teacher. And then it was off to Opie Taylor’s for lunch and then Oliver Wineries for a tour.

Kate was kind enough to drive me to the restaurant and winery since I wanted to return to campus before leaving. The restaurant was a bar with decent enough bar food. I had half a Reuben and onion rings. Oh, and a cup (very small one) of chicken noodle soup with really thick (and tasty) noodles.

Oliver Winery is the first winery that appeared in Indiana. The grounds are beautiful with lots of flowers. And when we got into the sales area, I saw the cutest little bottles and went right over to them. To discover that they weren’t wine bottles at all, but hard CIDER!

Two of the class had left by the time we gathered at the winery, so when we got on one of the tours, the poor tour guide had 9 chemists in amongst the non-chemists. I think we got him too flustered with our questions. He definitely forgot to show us the video on bottling that they usually show their tours. But he was nice enough to take a group photo of us.

After the tour, those of us who were left bellied up to the bar and tasted what Oliver had to offer. So of course, I tried the ciders. I tried the three flavored ciders (peach, raspberry, and strawberry) and then a Gewurztraminer. I liked the ciders pretty well but couldn’t remember if the Gewurz was something mom would like or not. So I got her a Riesling and dad a Shiraz and me a case of Cider.

Kate brought me back to where my car was parked on campus, and I put the first bit of booze into my trunk. But I had plans for more. See, I was channeling my great grandfather Lowry that day. He was a brew master, and would sometimes get called away to a brewery in Indiana (for example) to help them out with a problem. And when he would get ready to return home, the grateful brewers would load his trunk up with beer and fill the empty spaces with single bottles of liquor.

So I headed next to Kroger (where I had gotten supper the night before) because I wanted to buy some Upland beer for dad to try. And when I asked him what he’d like in addition to the wheat beer, I mentioned that they had a nifty Fat Tire display at the store. “They have Fat Tire? Well, get some of that!” was his response. So I picked up a 6-pack of Upland Wheat, a 6-pack of Upland Amber, and a 12-pack of Fat Tire. Those went into my trunk as well.

But I wasn’t done yet! My goal was to head to Trader Joe’s on my way home. It was only slightly off the beaten path on my way home (in Indianapolis), so I had a list of things to buy for me, for mom, and for dad. And dad’s requests were all wine. So after a supper of Pad Thai at a Thai place that happened to be in the strip mall where the Trader Joe’s was, I picked up a dozen bottles of wine and plenty of nuts (for mom and for me) and added those to the trunk.

My trunk wasn’t as full as great grandpa Lowry’s was, but it still had more booze in it than it’s ever had before. I had dad take photos when I dropped the booze off the next day. I’ll have to get the pix from him so I can show y’all.

Little Miss Sunshine

November 25, 2006

Today was our first time outside since we arrived on Wednesday. Heh. (OK, so Amy & dad went out yesterday…) We got ready early in order to join Lynn & Doug at Keys Restaurant by 9:30. We walked into the joint at 9:29am. We rock. 🙂

I overindulged at breakfast having 2 eggs (over easy), hashbrowns, and toast AND 2 slices of French toast. More than one person can eat, which is why I let other people share my food. There was quite a bit of sharing going on – we’re the sharing family. And it was nice to have one more meal with Lynn & Doug before they returned home.

Once we’d said our farewells to Rachel’s folks (back at the apartment), we sat around & discussed our day’s plans. It was agreed that we’d go see Little Miss Sunshine at the Riverview theater at 7:10pm. And before that, go to the wine bar across the street from the theater. So what to do until then? Why, go shopping of course!

We started out at the Half Price Bookstore. I found Spy Muppet’s License to Croak on CD-ROM for $6, so I bought it. Rachel & mom also bought some stuff while we were there. Then we headed off to Pier One so the girls could use a gift certificate on cushions for one of their chairs. They found just what they were looking for, so they bought ’em. Then a trip to the new Trader Joe’s near them. I bought some Truffles for us and for Aunt Becky & the others who have been checking in on my kitties. Plus some cashews – unsalted & low salt. We also got some sushi, salsa, guacamole & tortilla chips for a light meal. Back home, we partook of these goodies. Yum!

We learned some interesting things while having our snack. First, sushi & nachoes are a good snack. 🙂 Second, putting wasabi & soy sauce on turkey still tastes of turkey. However, guacamole on turkey is an improvement upon the turkey. And third, cleaning up from sushi & nachoes is very fast (I did the dishes – heh!)

When it was 5pm, we moved on to the Riverview Wine Bar. They have several “flites” (samplers) that they offer for $9. Dad got the K’Syrah Shiraz flite, mom got a Riesling flite, and Rachel tried out the Chardonnay flite. Each flite has 4 wines with 2 oz samples of each. Amy tried a Victory HopDevil beer. I had water. We also got the cheese sampler – a goat cheese, a bleu cheese of some sort, an Italian cheese that resembled Swiss in appearance but not taste, and a zola (IIRC). I liked ’em all but the bleu cheese. Oh, and I made the mistake of seeing the specials board – they had creme brulee. Eep! So of course I had to get that. It was very yummy!

The Riverview theater is a second run theater with $3 evening movies (and $2 matinees). They also have reasonably priced popcorn (mom ordered us 2 GIANT Cokes and a large popcorn and it was $9). The movie playing was Little Miss Sunshine, which was riotously funny. Amy considered it good exercise, all that laughing. I agree. I’m loathe to say much about the plot because I went in knowing next to nothing and enjoyed it all the more because of that. If you want to laugh a lot and you don’t mind foul language from time to time, I heartily recommend this movie.

Tomorrow, we’ll probably have more grand adventures. But I shall leave you all with the lovely photo of mom in her make-up from yesterday’s session. Oh yeah, and I’m in it too. Mom is the lovely woman on the left. I’m the silly woman on the right. Heh. Enjoy!

Mom & Me. Yup, that’s make up on my face! Hee!

(PS, I can’t imagine getting any sleep tonight – I had some of the caffeine-laden Coca Cola with the movie. Whoops!)

Italy: Day 6 (Wine Hunting)

August 15, 2005

Jul. 25, 2005

Today was winery day. The original plan was to go early in the morning, see a vineyard/winery, then have a long lunch, then see another and come back. After the Fierenze trip, however, folks were willing to visit only one. I suggested leaving at noon and getting to a winery by 3pm. Gary was against the idea – wanted to go early and then drink wine all afternoon and evening. They awoke late the next morning, however, so were part of the afternoon group.

judiang‘s swollen feet and ankles said that she had to take a day off, so she stayed at the vill while we all headed into town for lunch. There was a cafe open, so we ordered sandwiches (I got focaccia w/ ham & cheese), sides (I got pistaccios), and drinks (Sprite for me). Good and cheap – €4.50 total.

We drove on to wine country and made our way to Castello di Broglio – the birthplace of Chianti. We had to park near the bottom of a steep hill, then walk up to the castle. It was a long arduous climb, but if I can climb 320 steps, I can do anything!

The castle was medieval and looked like a fairy tale castle. I took lots of pictures. The wine store was back down the hill. I walked and others drove. I tasted every wine and bought two. Granello, a sweet white that I actually liked. Also, I got a chianti for mom & dad. I later got a granello to have at the villa. My wines were €17 and the chianti was €13. We left the enoteca having bought many bottles of wine and headed back with a goal of stopping at an olive oilery/winery that we’d spotted on the way to di Broglio.

We followed the signs and came to a winery and parked. The lady who owned the place said they were closed, but she’d let us come in anyway. She let us taste her wine and (unlike the castle) see her HUGE wine barrels. She had two lovely doggies, too, who were very friendly.

This vineyard/winery was much more like the way I pictured wineries. Beautiful house on a hill, lots of vines and olive trees, doggies, a swimming pool, and a gorgous view. She even rents out part of her property and some of the residents were enjoying the pool.

We headed back towards the villa and went to Castellonuovo (or Newcastle as I dubbed it). The vintner had said all of the restaurants in that town were good. The first one we saw had good prices and some recommendations. It wasn’t open until 7pm, however, so we had half an hour to kill. So what do people do when they have half an hour to kill in Newcastle, Italy? Buy toilet paper, of course!

We, of course, went to the local fromagerie and checked out the cheeses and found the toilet paper. So I bought a roll and also two more of those candy toy things – all for under €5.

When the restaurant opened, I sat with the O’Neals and ordered Tuscan stew and lamb with rosemary. The food was fab and the price reasonable (€15 including charges and tip).

We returned to the villa late, where we encountered a hungry Judi. Earlier, I had been concerned about her getting food (cuz Tammy was vague about supper before we left) and it turns out she hadn’t gone out to the town for food. Dave volunteered to take us out so he could get gelato, so Dave, Mary, Judi and I rode into town and parked near our favorite microwave joint. Those two got gelato while Judi and I headed for the first restaurant we came to – Al Viale.

Two folks (later discovered to be mother and son) were eating when we arrived. The young man served us and the mother cooked Judi’s steaks. I say steaks because we had a language problem. Judi wanted steaks between al sangue (rare) and medio (medium). So he got her two steaks, one of each!

Still, the meal was only €20 and included free biscotti. Judi had leftovers. We then walked back to the Big Apple for gelato and I had the superb combo of vagnilia and cocco (vanilla and coconut). Paid €4.40 for BOTH of our gelatos.

Back at the ranch, folks were swimming, but since we were going to the seaside the next day, I decided to just watch and chat. We got to sleep late and got up early. So what would the seaside be like? Just wait and see…

Speaking of seeing, I’ve got a few photos of our fine time with wine.