A Cultural Experience!!

These past few days have been exciting for us!!  We had the pleasure of taking two of our Belgian brewers to various restaurants/pubs and events.  Stefaan (Brewery The Musketeers) was the first brewer to visit with us.  We had the pleasure of trying his beer chocolates that were cooked with the Troubadour beer.  There was an assortment of white, dark and milk chocolates.  Maybe we will import these amazing chocolates so the rest of the world can try them??  We took Stefaan to The Public House in Boston, MA.  The food especially the Pommes Frites (French Fries) with garlic and spicy mayonnaise was splendid!!  

The second brewer was Jef Versele (Brewery Van Steenberge).  Jef attended the beer tasting that was held at Yankee Spirits in Attleboro, MA on October 12th, 2008.  The event was a great success.  After a long day at the event, Cliff  and Jef returned to Cliff's house for a lasagna dinner made by Cheryl.  We also had the chance to sample the new Gulden Draak Vintage 2008.  This special holiday beer is brewed once a year and has just arrived in the U.S.  This special brew has a 7.5 ABV compared to the 10.5 ABV for Gulden Draak.  The Gulden Draak Vintage 2008 is a dark beer but it is a different beer than Gulden Draak.   The recipe of this beer combines the ingredients of the Augustijn and Gulden Draak beers.  It can be aged like Gulden Draak.     

It was nice to learn about another person's culture.  Also, it was nice to share our culture with both Stefaan and Jef.  Jef would ask us about baseball and various other topics.  Cassandra even helped Jef set-up his new iphone.  

Thank-you Stefaan and Jef for visiting!!

"The saying "Mind your P's and Q's comes from the time when alcoholic beverages were served/sold in Pints and Quarts.  Thus, to mind your P's and Q's meant to be careful how much you drank."  

taken from: 

http://www.comedy-zone.net/triviazone/humans/page3.htm 

Cheers,

Global Beer Network 

La Dame Blanche

The White Lady is a famous French opera based on Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott's works. The tale is one of love, mystery, heroism, and romance but Dame Blanche is also the name for Belgium's classic dessert; the Hot Fudge Sundae. Dame Blanche is on most restaurant menus in Belgium and after a big meal of Mussels and Pommes Frites, this was my favorite dessert to order. A perfect accompaniment to this dessert is Cherish Raspberry a Belgian Lambic.

"Lambic is the spontaneous fermented wheat beer aged with peaches, raspberries or cherries for three years in oak casks."

Since 1784, the Van Steenberge Brewery in a small village north of Gent, Belgium on the Netherlands border has been run by an independent Belgian family. This brewery is famous for their Piraat and Gulden Draak beers by which most of you are familiar. I found Cherish to be delicious. At first impression, I enjoyed the raspberry bouquet and beautiful ruby hue. In just seconds after pouring, the Cherish came to a perfect light pink head. The raspberry flavor is distinct followed by a slight beer aftertaste. A perfect balance of sweet and sour this beer was wonderful to sip along side my dessert. I would enjoy Cherish with dishes I would usually drink a rosé wine, such as spicy appetizers, cheese flights, and poultry. If you are not a beer lover, most people, even wine lovers would enjoy this Lambic.

The 3 ingredient Hot Fudge Sauce used for this recipe is not only easy, it is delicious. It would even be perfect as a Fondue.

Dame Blanche
premium vanilla ice cream
whipped cream
chocolate fudge sauce
cherries

For the Chocolate Fudge Sauce:
In a saucepan over medium-low heat, stir one can sweetened condensed milk and 4 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate until chocolate is melted and sauce is thick and warm. Be careful not to scorch. Remove from heat and add 1 tsp. vanilla extract. This Hot Fudge Sauce recipe is from Cheryl Lusso.

To Assemble:
In a Cherish Glass place two scoops vanilla ice cream. Top with whipped cream and a cherry. Serve the Hot Fudge Sauce on the side. Enjoy with a Cherish Raspberry or Cherish Cherry Lambic.

For a Dark Lady use chocolate ice cream and in time for Halloween, a Green Lady, use pistachio ice cream.


Sell photos on photrade By RobinSue


Impress your guests with a Dame Blanche and Cherish at your next gathering.

Cheers,
Robin Sue at bigredkitchen.com
Big Red Kitchen

Beer-- A good investment??

In the past few weeks, the United States have experienced drastic changes in the economy and people are fearful of where to invest their money.  Therefore, we share with you an email that was sent to us about the amount of money a person would be left with if he/she invested in these companies.  

Enjoy!!

If you had purchased $1,000.00 of Delta Air Lines stock one year ago, you would have $49.00 left.

With Merrill Lynch , you would have had $16.50 left of the original $1,000.00.

With Lehman Brothers , you would probably have nothing, but if you were lucky, less than $5.00 left.

However, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of  BEER one year ago, drank all of the beer, then turned in the bottles and cans for the recycling REFUND, you would have $214.00 cash.

Based on the above, the best current investment advice: drink heavily and recycle. 

It's called the 401-Keg plan.

Picture taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/somesay/2787962630/

Also, in other news:

A recent study found, the average American walks about 900 miles a year. Another study found Americans drink, on the average, 22 gallons of alcohol a year.

That means, on average, Americans get about 41 miles to the gallon.

Makes You Proud To Be An American!

Lesson of the day:  Drink more beer and recycle!!

Quote of the day:

Some people see the glass half-empty. some people see the glass half full. I say it's beer man, just drink it!! ~author unknown~

Cheers,

Global Beer Network