Stouts Win Out at The 13th Annual Garden State Craft Brewers Festival

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to attend The 13th Annual Garden State Craft Brewers Festival (thanks, dad) on the deck of the USS New Jersey. It was a real blast, and I enjoyed a great number of wonderful beers. That evening, I rated each of the brews that I imbibed -- then I completely forgot about it (most likely due to the fact that I was unequivocally sloshed).

Well, I just rediscovered my list, and I'm posting it here for you. You'll notice that I rated the IPAs very favorably (for they are my brew of choice), but the real winners of the day were the two stouts. The Harvest Moon Vanilla Stout and the Triumph Coffee & Cream Stout were knee-buckling good and each were enjoyed multiple times by both myself and my uncle. The remaining beers fared anywhere from enjoyable to absolutely awful. So, check out the list below and see what you think.

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• Basil T's Brewery & Italian Grill (Red Bank) -- Rye PA ★
• Cricket Hill Brewing Company (Fairfield) -- Jersey Summer Breakfast Ale ★★★1/2 -- Hopnotic IPA ★★★
• Flying Fish Brewing Company (Cherry Hill) -- Hopfish IPA ★★★★ -- ESB Amber Ale ★★★1/2
• Gaslight Brewery & Restaurant (South Orange) -- Hopfest ★★★★
• Harvest Moon Brewery & Cafe (New Brunswick) -- Vanilla Stout ★★★★★
• High Point Wheat Beer Company (Butler) -- Hefe-Weizen Ramstein Imperial Pilsner ★★
• Iron Hill Brewery (Maple Shade) -- Ironbound Ale ★★★1/2
• Pizzeria Uno Chicago Grill & Brewery (Metuchen) -- Ike's IPA ★★★
• River Horse Brewing Company (Lambertville)
• The Ship Inn (Milford)
• Triumph Brewing Company (Princeton) -- Coffee & Cream Stout ★★★★★★
• Tun Tavern Brewery & Restaurant (Atlantic City) -- Pale Ale ★★★★ -- Hybiscus Hefeweiss ★★

"Leaving May Behind": A New Mix for My Wife...

Just created a new mix cd for my wife entitled, "Leaving May Behind". Tracklist is as follows:

1. Revenge - Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse (w/ Flaming Lips)
2. Ramona - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
3. Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime - The Field
4. Cheerleader - Grizzly Bear
5. Just War - Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse (w/ Gruff Rhys)
6. Sleep All Summer - The National (w/ St. Vincent)
   
7. Black Car - Black Tambourine
   
8. You Can Have What You Want - Papercuts
9. Concrete Walls - Fever Ray
10. Twin of Myself - Black Moth Super Rainbow
11. Everytime I'm With You - Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse (w/ Jason Lytle)
12. No Intention - Dirty Projectors
13. No More Runnin' - Animal Collective
14. Actor Out of Work - St. Vincent
15. The Light Before We Land - The Delgados
    

Sites to Download / Listen to Concerts for Free

Here's a list of sites that I often use to either listen to (or download) live performances from some of my favorite bands.

Daytrotter Sessions - (Web-Based) Amazing in-studio recordings from a virtual who's-who of the indie world. Songs can be streamed or download.

The Backstage Sessions at It's Hard to Find a Friend - (Web-Based) Archived in-studio recordings from a small selection of indie music artists. Nothing new here since 2008, but the material is ace. Performances can be downloaded (as .mp3s) or watched in HD!


Wolfgang's Vault - (Web-Based & iPod Application) HUGE archive of concerts from the last 50 years! Only streaming here, but the shear amount of recordings makes this a must-visit. Site also features concert memorabilia and retro concert t-shirts. I bought a great "Jefferson Airplane Love You" shirt from W.V. over the summer.



Archive.org - (Web-Based) Another massive collection of live shows. MASSIVE! (They have 174 Ween shows alone -- WTF?) Recordings can be downloaded on a song-by-song basis, or as an entire show in a .zip file. Very cool.


KEXP Live Performances Podcast - (Podcast) Short shows (< onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3wt9mEgkdQ0/SawgQDeKnuI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/x2xcM0GQCBs/s1600-h/npr.jpg">
NPR Live Concerts from All Songs Considered - (Podcast) One of my favorite podcasts. Full-length shows from amazing artists. If you own an iPod, you need to subscribe to this one NOW!

Michael Bee's Easy Oven-Baked Pita Chips (Recipe)

Here’s a really simple recipe for a healthy snack that goes great with salsa, guacamole, or hummus. It's received a 5 out of 5 rating on GroupRecipes. I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients:

5 or 6 pitas (sliced pizza-like into 6 wedges)
3 Tbs. Olilve Oil
1 Clove of Garlic (minced)
Sea Salt
1/4 cup Fresh Rosemary

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine minced garlic and olive oil in small bowl.
Brush olive oil mixture onto both sides of each pita wedge.
Arrange pita wedges in a single layer on a baking sheet.
Season with sea salt.
Bake for 10 minutes or until edges begin to brown.
Briefly allow to cool and serve
**Optional Steps**
* When making the olive oil mixture, you can add a little fresh rosemary. It adds a nice taste.
* Also, as soon as you remove the pita chips from the oven, you may wish to sprinkle a little fresh romano cheese on top. It will melt right into the still-hot oil. Yummers!

Sound Advice: Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes EP (Really Rare!)

Holy crap! I just found a link for the very first Fleet Foxes EP, which was self-released locally (in Seattle) and sold at shows. It's extremely hard-to-find digitally and nearly impossible to get on CD. So, if you like Fleet Foxes, swing on by to Thank You Too to grab your very own copy.

Michael Bee's Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups -- shredded cooked chicken
2 cups -- shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 (4 ounce) -- can chopped green chiles
1 (8 ounce) -- jar enchilada sauce
1/3 cup -- minced fresh cilantro
6 -- soft corn tortillas
salt
pepper
fresh lime wedges

Directions

1. Combine chicken, 1 cup of cheese, 1/3 jar of enchilada sauce, and green chiles in a bowl until well-mixed. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, making sure the oven rack is set to the middle position.

3. Take the mixture from the refrigerator and gently add the cilantro. Set aside.

4. Place corn tortillas on a microwave-safe plate. Cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on HIGH for 30 - 40 seconds.

5. Spread approximately 1/6 of the mixture into the center of each tortilla. Tightly roll the tortilla around the mixture, then lay seam down on a 9 x 13 baking dish coated with canola oil spray until all six enchiladas are completed.

6. Spray the tops of each enchilada with canola oil spray or light olive oil. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the entire baking dish. Spread the remaining cheese over the center of each enchilada. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes.

7. Remove the foil and move the rack to the top position. Continue baking for 5 minutes, or until the cheese is browned.

8. Serve with lime wedges.

(Makes 6 enchiladas)