YET ANOTHER THANKSGIVING TALE

Amidst the visiting, eating, rough-housing with small children, drawing of names for Christmas presents, and other assorted happenings, was the Jones Soda Dessert Pack tasting. My preferences, from favorite to least favorite, of the five we tasted are:

(1) Blueberry Pie Soda—It smelled like artificially flavored blueberry candy and tasted like blueberry cotton candy. It was as though Jones Soda had combined their Blueberry and Cotton Candy sodas. It was right on the verge of being too sweet, but managed to walk the line without stepping over. Yum!

(2) Banana Cream Pie Soda—It smelled like banana cream pie and tasted of the same. I am not a big fan of banana cream pie, but this put a new spin on the flavor, while remaining most faithful to its namesake.

(3) Key Lime Pie Soda—I love key lime pie. I love key lime yogurt, key lime sherbet, key lime-flavored chocolate. I think you get the picture. This was faithful to the flavor of key lime desserts. I just feel that the Blueberry Pie and Banana Cream Pie sodas were better.

(4) Cherry Pie Soda—It smelled like a cherry Jolly Rancher. It tasted like artificially flavored cherry candy. It wasn't bad, but it didn't stand out, either.

(5) Apple Pie Soda—The weirdest one of the bunch. It smelled exactly like a green apple Jolly Rancher. The flavor, however, was faintly of apples and moreso of a cinnamon-sprinkled pie crust. I would probably pass on this one.

All in all, the Jones Soda tasting was a lot of fun. Thank you to the brother and the sister-in-law for bringing a small amount of quirkiness to the holiday gathering.

ANOTHER THANKSGIVING TALE

Thanksgiving dinner at the mother-in-law's house was wonderful. Three families were represented—mine, my wife's, and my sister-in-law's. Everyone brought a different dish so there was plenty of good food.

I decided to try Duvel Belgian Golden Ale from Brouwerij Moortgat. I wish I had not. Everything I had read prior to its consumption praises it. I don't believe it to be a bad beer; it was okay. It was not to my liking, though.

The appearance was its greatest asset. It is a beautiful ale. The color was a hazy, translucent, straw yellow that glowed with light. The head was enormous, lasted for quite awhile, and left behind intricate lacing.

The aroma was heavily weighted toward banana with hints of light spiciness, citrus, and alcohol. The taste was somewhat off for me. It was rather dry, almost too dry, and reminded me of a dry white wine. I felt that the aroma was much stronger than the flavor, and was not too pleased with the way that Duvel sat in my mouth.

Perhaps the advertising machine that has made Duvel ubiquitous in beer magazines and other media has overhyped this ale. Perhaps I am a ruffian. Either way, I was disappointed.

A THANKSGIVING TALE

The drive to Bremerton for Thanksgiving dinner was horrible. Holiday traffic was actually light. Conditions, though, were awful. The first half of the trip to the mother-in-law's house was in torrential rain, with a bunch of impatient drivers. The second half of the trip to the mother-in-law's house was in mixed rain and snow, which was sometimes quite heavy, also with a bunch of impatient drivers. Needless to say, I had both hands on the steering wheel all of the way over, and thought my hands were going to require surgery for removal from said wheel. I was tempted to take my favorite nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, naproxen, due to the stress having settled into my lower back, but ultimatley refrained. The return drive home was less stressful, although we had the privilege of sitting in heavy traffic at the Tacoma Narrow's bridge. Thank God for getting us back and forth in one piece!

on THE TAPHANDLE

Last Friday, the family needed to get out of the house for a while. I suggested Trackside Pizza, which we had eaten at once before. It is a great local restaurant that opened within the past six months.

Like The Powerhouse, it is located right next to the Burlington Northern railroad tracks, hence the name. While eating you can watch, hear, and feel the trains pass. The owners have kept the interior brick of the building exposed and have decorated with a few old soda and railroad signs. The decor is minimal but in keeping with the atmosphere of the space.

The child got to make her own pizza, which will probably be more fun for her and for us when she is older. Our server asked us what topping she wanted and then brought out a circle of dough and the toppings. The wife and I helped the child add the red sauce, mozzarella cheese, black forest ham, and—a surprise addition from our server—pineapple. The child followed the server to the front of the restaurant, to their open kitchen, handed the pizza off to the cooks, and said, "Pie up!" That elicited a bunch of hoots and encouragement from the kitchen staff. The child was beaming. The child was also curious about where her pizza went, so I had to explain that it was being baked and she could have it back soon.

The child's pizza went in with the California Zephyr the wife and I ordered. Ours was a medium crust pizza glazed in olive oil and topped with barbecue sauce, mozzarella cheese, barbecue marinated chicken, red onion, and fresh cilantro. Although I favor red sauce on my pizza, this was a nice diversion, and something both the wife and I could enjoy.

I also ordered a Side Track IPA. This IPA played nice with the California Zephyr. Side Track is on tap at Trackside, but I know little else about it. I believe, after talking to some of the servers, that it may be brewed by Pacific Rim Brewing Company of White Center. I have contacted Pacific Rim to see if this is true. I have also inquired whether or not this is an IPA brewed specifically for Trackside or if this is a renamed version of their Rat City IPA.

Side Track IPA was very good. It had a nice clear, orange-copper color; frothy head; and excellent lacing. Its aroma had a hint of floral surrounded by the citrus of lemon and grapefruit. The flavor was bitter, which one would hope with an IPA, but not too bitter. The finish was long, but smoothed out nicely after the initial flavor. The citrus and hoppiness just kept going and going and going...

All in all, a great family night out with good beer and good pizza.

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On our previous visit, I had Trackside's The B&O. This pizza comes loaded with black forest ham, pepperoni, mushrooms, Italian sausage, black olives, and mozzarella cheese, all on red sauce. I had mine minus the mushrooms. Highly recommended.

The wife previously had The Athenian. It is a pizza with olive oil and roasted garlic base, mozzarella cheese, sun dried tomato, red onion, green pepper, kalamata olive, and feta cheese. She recommends it.

on THE TAPHANDLE

Thomas Hardy's Ale by O'Hanlon's Brewery of Whimple, Devon, England

One word: heaven.

This bottle was from their 2004 bottling. It has its own identification number, No. P 54232. I drank it in a snifter, as recommended for barley wines. In fact, the wife, child, and I wandered around town today and picked up the snifter in one of the local antique shops. It was nice to wander again, after all of the rainy weather, and especially nice just to enjoy my day off with the family.

First, the appearance of this ale...
Beautiful. A slightly murky brown, translucent ruby around the edges. No head on the pour. Soft, slow carbonation. It sits well in the glass.

Second, the aroma...
Molasses and caramel at the forefront. A slight hint of alcohol, which one would expect with an alcohol by volume of 11.7 percent! Raisin and cherry. A very light smokiness well-hidden in the background.

Third, the flavor and palate...
A sweet beginning that continues for a long while and then adds just a touch of bitter in the finish. The flavor moves across the tongue from front to back then into the back of the mouth before moving into the upper throat. The full body has a slightly oily feel to it which coats the tongue while melting into and around it. Once Thomas Hardy's hits the stomach a rich warmth builds and radiates out. This is not a beer to gulp down but to quietly sip.

Fourth, the food pairing...
I had this with homemade chili. The flavors of the chili—chili powder, cumin, black pepper, tomato, hot pepper sauce—worked nicely as a contrast to the dark fruitiness and maltiness of the ale. I would imagine that this would be a wonderful barley wine to accompany dessert as well, perhaps a light, spiced or fruited, cake.

This was a wonderful surprise and an ale that I plan on having again.

PICK OF THE WEEK

The Top Foods in Federal Way would not seem a likely place to have a good selection of beer. And, it does not. Instead, it has a great selection of beer.

I visited the store a couple of weeks ago and discovered an aisle that is carefully tended by Charles. All I can say is that Charles rocks! He obviously cares very much about the beer that his section stocks. He asked me if I needed any help. I told him that I was just checking out their selection of ales because I had heard good things about them. He seemed somewhat shocked that I would drive to Federal Way to visit his beer aisle.

The next thing you know, Charles is explaining some of his beer philosophy to me. He likes to rotate his stock, and doesn't return to items too often. He has some exclusive deals with a few Pacific Northwest brewers. Some of them bottle in special sizes for the Federal Way Top Foods or give Charles "first shot" at new brews. He bottle ages some of his barley wines and other ales in the back before they even make their way to the sales floor. I was very impressed.

I don't always feel like driving to Federal Way, however, so I visited the Puyallup Top Foods. Although it is not quite as extensive in breadth or depth as the Federal Way store, the Puyallup Top Foods has a very good selection of craft beers and microbrews, as well as imported beers, especially some good Belgian ales.

The Puyallup location will primarily keep me busy in my search for great craft beer with a few trips throughout the year to Federal Way to see what Charles is up to. A joyful discovery on a whim of wandering!

INTERMISSION

To you, the devoted reader:

Whether you are a regular visitor, an intermittent visitor, or a first-time visitor, I apologize to you for my absence over the past week. Some personal crises—which will be neither discussed here and now, nor in the future, for they are mine, and not for public consumption—have kept me away from the Work Table for some time.

I have, however, had time to drink a couple of great beers, as well as read some great articles and books, which will be presented to you in the near future. Please be patient as I get my life in order!

Troy.

THE JOYS OF LIFE

The child loves hot dogs, especially those filled with processed cheese. I also happen to enjoy them as a guilty pleasure. The child also loves what she calls funny faces.

The picture on the left, taken by me, is of my masterpiece lunch presentation for her—a funny face consisting of a whole wheat slice of bread head; mustard and ketchup face; and hotdog eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and hair. The picture on the right, taken by the child, is the funny face she created later, consisting of a hotdog rhombus.

STORM DREAMS 3: ALL WASHED UP

Clockwise from upper left: (1) an area of the park across the street from my house that is under about four feet of water, none of which should be pictured from this vantage point; (2) trees now in the Puyallup River as it creeps through the park; (3) the roiling of the river looking down from the nearby bridge; (4) trees that normally are about five feet above the river now in it.

Once the river crested and the waters began to recede, we could finally get some rest. The wife and I did not get a lot of sleep on Monday evening or early Tuesday morning as the river rose. When I arrived at work, there was water damage and/or flooding everywhere. Water was dripping into our administrative space, our parking lot was partially flooded, gutters were clogged and overflowing, and our chapel's basement was flooded. I spent most of Tuesday cleaning gutters, vacuuming water out of drains and stairwells, working with the carpet cleaning crew that arrived to clean and dry out our chapel carpet, and other assorted water related tasks.

I am still trying to catch up on sleep from the anxiety, worry, work, and weariness associated with water and more water.

STORM DREAMS 2: TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT

The trail just ends. In the waters of the Puyallup River. A river that should not be seen in this picture.

This is a picture of the trail that normally runs parallel to the Puyallup River rather than being submerged within it. A few hundred feet down the path are flooded apartments. The spot where I took this picture is about one hundred feet from my front porch.