I’m a freestyler. In general, I like to make my own rules, wander off the trail… But there is one place that this lust for spontaneity consistently gets me into trouble- the kitchen. It is because of this that I greatly prefer cooking to baking. At least with cooking, recipes have a bit more wiggle room for experimental efforts with [...]

The time had finally come, the month of February. I had been waiting patiently, knowing that after about two months of non-stop work, there was indeed a light at the end of the tunnel. That light was Strong Beer Month. 21st Amendment Brewery and Magnolia Pub and Brewery team up every year to offer up a whole smörgåsbord of strong [...]

Call me Ishmael. Just don’t call me a fan of Rising Tide Brewing‘s new ale. Ishmael may have been the omnipotent observer of Melville’s classic Moby Dick, but he sure as hell didn’t see this one coming. It’s not that the beer was bad. Ishmael is a perfectly normal and acceptable Amercian copper ale, with all the hallmarks of the [...]

If you thought your job was hard, try being a National Park Ranger. Andrea Lankford’s Ranger Confidential: Living, Working, and Dying in the National Parks throws a little wrench in your plans for that dream job. But…wait! Being a National Park Ranger isn’t all hiking and telling people about natural and national history all day long? Surely, you’re joking. I [...]