GRUB: Hot Suppa! Portland’s Best Brunch

// July 7th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // GRUB

Portland, Maine is one of those cities you’d never imagine having a food scene. Yes, a scene. Yet, Portland was named the Foodiest Small Town for 2009 by Bon Appetit Magazine. That’s right. Foodiest. I swear, I did not make that up. With Portland being the foodiest town in the U.S., it stands to reason we’d have the best in all the meals, not just dinner. I know, you think “Maine,”  and both “Lobstah” and “Chowdah” spring to mind, both of which are great traditional foods. But come to Portland, and you’ll find much more to quell your raging appetite. And that includes the most important, versatile, and ubiquitous meal of the day: Brunch.

Corned Beef Hash that kicks ass

Road Trip Food: Eating Healthy in the Car

// June 28th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // GRUB, HOW TO, ROADSIDE

Erin Dow is chef/owner of Eatswell Farm, a Maine-based catering firm. She is also the Expert Chef for the Guiding Stars Licensing Company and the Consulting Executive Chef for Professional Catering Services, a company that provides backstage production catering to the music industry.

I do two kinds of travel: business travel and mommy travel. For business, my travel generally involves driving large trucks packed with thousands of pounds of catering kitchen equipment long distances, unpacking said trucks, setting up said kitchen equipment, catering an event, tearing the kitchen down, repacking the truck, and driving back home…generally within 24 hours. Mommy travel involves a family of five and a dog, a station wagon, and a long distance. The stress level is about the same.

Given the fact that traveling is a lot of work, diet is often the first priority to go out the window. We eat nasty bits to assuage our nerves, we share them to keep the kids quiet, and we opt for pre-packaged items to facilitate our misguided choices. But with about fifteen minutes of planning, you can reduce the impact your travel diet choices have on your health and still enjoy a treat.

• Skip the Big Gulp and whip up a smoothie and pack it in a thermos before hitting the road. It’ll satisfy your sweet tooth, your hunger, your thirst, and your wallet.
• Pack lots of water. Thirst is often mistaken for hunger. Proper hydration keeps us from misinterpreting the body’s cues.
• Bang out a batch of baked tortilla chips for the trip. This recipe from Gourmet is popular with my catering clients.
• Make homemade snack bars. Trail mix and granola are handy but often messy with kids. Many are dump and run, like this winner, full of nuts and seeds and covered in chocolate.

Finally, remember that even the healthy-looking options at the gas station—like energy bars—are often loaded with calories and are better suited as a meal replacement. Regardless, it’s preferable to have your calories come from homemade whole food choices rather than commercially manufactured items, and with a little forethought, it’s almost as easy.

Friday Snapshot: White Manna, Hackensack, New Jersey

// June 18th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // GRUB, SNAPSHOT

One of the best parts of a road trip is food. And the eating of that food. And food related facilities. White Manna Hamburgers on River Road in Hackensack, New Jersey has all three. And they are so worth it. Hop inside this tiny building and sidle up to the counter to order the best sliders you will ever wrap your mouth parts around. Order up 4 or 5, with cheese and onions, and watch as the cook behind the counter skillfully grills your order to perfection along with the 6 people ahead of you and 7 behind you. Fresh ground beef, paper thin onions, local cheese, and locally baked potato bread rolls come together into a greasy but oh-so-satisfying sandwich of the gods. Eat them there or get them to go and watch the staff wrap these little slices of Heaven in wax paper and drop them lovingly into a brown paper bag that you’ll be able to see through in less than 2 minutes. Whatever you do, get there early because there will be a line, and be ready with your order. There’s no hemming and hawing at this burger joint. Forget Five Guys or In-N-Out. This is more than eating; this is a true American experience.

PartTime Vagabond featured on Travel Blog Sites!

// April 8th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // GRUB, News

Last week, Part Time Vagabond was featured on the new blog “Travel Blog Sites,” which is run by the same people who run TravelPod. I’m really honored to be counted in such esteemed company! Woo! We got a nifty badge in the sidebar of PTV now too. Looks good!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

// March 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // GRUB

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! I hope everyone will take some time to enjoy the holiday and remember it’s true meaning – in between pints of Guinness of course! While the holiday is a great day to celebrate with friends at your local pub, drinking up pints of craft beer and gulping down an Irish Breakfast or corned beef & cabbage, it’s also a day to celebrate Irish heritage and culture.

Wikipedia has a nice article on the holiday, and here’s a little tidbit on the National Leprechaun Museum.

Sláinte!

Winter Beer Roundup

// February 1st, 2010 // 1 Comment » // GRUB

Once again, I invited my friend Josh Christie, of the Brews and Books blog to write a Guest Post on Part Time Vagabond. Josh is a bookseller and beer afficionado, and blogs about two things he loves; you guessed it: brews and books. This week, Josh talks about his favorite Winter Beers.

It should come as no surprise that I am a winter person. I ski an ungodly number of days each year, I work for a snow sports industry nonprofit, and I initially went to college to study in a ski industry program. Hell, I’m probably one of the only people that gets seasonal affective disorder in the summer. My allegiance to the coldest part of the year is certainly not hindered by the phenomenal beer that’s only available when the weather goes cold and gray.

Winter beers are the dark, complex mirror image of summer brews. During the summer, most breweries put out beers that are easy to drink in hot weather – Kölsches, hefeweizens and smooth pale ales. During the winter months, brewers tend to let their dark sides run wild. Alcohol is usually dialed up to warm drinkers in the cold weather, and this is reflected in a heavy malt bill for most winter beers. Some breweries celebrate the winter by throwing in fruits, spices and other bizarre adjuncts.

Following Chris’ great introduction to the world of beer, I wanted to outline some of my favorite winter beers. Some truly capture the spirit of wintertime for me, while some are simply beers that are only available in the early part of the year. Whatever the reason is for these brews coming out during this part of the year, they are all definitely worth tracking down and trying.

Shipyard Prelude

Starting off with something local, Shipyard Brewing’s Prelude is a full-bodied English-style ale. Prelude has a full, nutty and slightly sweet flavor, and is just hoppy enough to have some balancing bitterness. The buttery Ringwood yeast flavor is a perfect complement to the beer.

Alaskan Winter Ale

Alaskan Brewing Company uses an ingredient in their winter brew that I’d like to see more breweries try – spruce! What better way to make a drinker think of the holidays than make the beer taste like a Christmas tree, right? The addition of Sitka spruce tips to Alaskan Winter Ale elevates an already tasty English Olde Ale to something truly special.

Foothills Sexual Chocolate

Not lots to say other than this is one of the best beers I’ve ever tried, regardless of the time of year. The imperial stout, a mix of crystal, chocolate, black and roasted barley malts, is aged for weeks on chunks of cocoa before being bottled and kegged. The end result is a complex beer, with dark fruit, coffee and molasses flavors on top of a solid chocolate backbone.

Tröegs Nugget Nectar

And now for something completely different! While Prelude, Sexual Chocolate and Alaskan Winter are fairly traditional styles for winter beers, Tröegs bucks c0nvention with a big, juicy Imperial Amber. One of my favorite beers for years, Nugget Nectar is incredibly hoppy, incredibly malty and 100% balanced. The beer is satisfing to all the senses, with a deep amber pour, an intoxicating citrus and pine hop nose, and an unbeatable taste.

Oscar Blues Ten Fidy

Since I’m writing this post for Part Time Vagabond, it is only fitting to include an easily portable, environmentally friendly canned beer. Ten Fidy is not your father’s beer from a can. A dark, oily, viscous, mean little beer, Ten Fidy packs lots of alcohol and a serious bitter bite into a 12 oz can. This imperial stout has won more than a few awards from beer lovers around the world, and one sip will show you why.

Ramstein Winter Wheat

Since I started drinking beer, Schneider Aventinus has been a staple in my fridge. Ramstein Winter Wheat from High Point Brewing is an American beer brewed in the same style, and a great brew in it’s own right. The recipe gives the beer a totally different flavor than any others on this list, with black current, clove, and apple coming to the fore. The alcohol is hidden really well, so I’d definitely recommend slowly sipping this 9.5% ABV beast on a cold winter night.

Dogfish Head Chicory Stout

If you want strange ingredients, Dogfish Head is never a brewery to disappoint. In the Chicory Stout, you’ve got chicory, organic Mexican coffee, St. John’s Wort, and licorice root on top of more traditional hops and malts. The end result is an awesome and unique beer, an obsidian stout that pours with a bone white head, a creamy start and a dry finish.

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So, these are just a few (believe me, I could go on and on) of my favorite winter beers, a smattering of styles and flavors from around the country. What are yours?

The Beer Post

// January 14th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // GRUB

Happy New Year! It’s been longer getting back to PTV than I’d anticipated, what with a few new developments on the personal side. So, let’s not waste anymore time and jump right back into things!

You’ll notice that the tagline of PartTime Vagabond includes the word “beer,” and it’s high time we spent some time on the topic.

Beer is a fantastic little beverage with so many iterations as to appeal to almost anyone. When I first started drinking beer, I disliked the taste and tried to avoid most. I stuck with the lightest, cheapest beers I could. As my palate grew, however, I started going darker and darker in my beer selections, trying new brands and types, and finding that I really enjoyed them. Then I discovered the universe of craft brews, and my tiny little beer-world changed forever.

Photo courtesy Shipyard Brewing

There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of beers out there, and one for nearly every occasion. From the “get drunk on a Saturday night with friends” beers to the “sip this thoughtfully with other beer snobs” brews, beer is as versatile and satisfying as any great wine. In fact, many people are finding that pairing beers with foods is more enjoyable than doing so with wine, and are now switching sides. I enjoy both wine and beer, so I won’t go into which is better or worse.

What I will get into is a bit of a primer on the various types of beers. In fact, the good people at The Oatmeal put together a little history of beer that works nicely. I’m no pro, and I’m still learning about the history and types of beers, but I feel that I’m getting a good handle on the drink. Here are a few things you should know:

• There are two main categories of beer: Ales and Lagers.
  • Ales are made when the yeast in the beer ferments at a higher temperature, staying at the surface of the liquid. This produces substances called “esters” which result in a more “fruity” tasting beer that tends to have a fuller, more robust body. Some common types of ales are stouts, porters, IPAs (India Pale Ales), Belgians, and Pales. Some of my favorite brand beers are Shipyard Brewing Prelude Special Ale and Lakefront Brewery Cream City Pale Ale.
    • Fun Fact #1: Guinness is a famous stout.
    • Fun Fact #2: IPAs, or India Pale Ales, are incredibly bitter beers historically stemming from British sailors needing to store their beer for a very long time on their trips to India (or for it being shipped to them while stationed in India). Because hops are a natural preservative, brewers used large amounts of them in the brewing process. Add in some extra alcohol and dry-hopping to preserve the beer, and BAM! you have an IPA. I can’t stand IPAs, but I think they have the most interesting historical story.
  • Lagers are made when the yeast ferments at a lower temperature, allowing it to remain at the bottom of the fermenting container. It’s stored at cold temps for at least 3 weeks. In that time, the yeast settles at the bottom and flocculates. Flavors in lagers tend to be less complex and have a lighter body than ales, although some lagers can be quite dark and complex. The types of lagers you’ll see are Pilsners, Bocks, and Dunkels. One of my favorite American lagers, and actually my favorite beer, is the Samuel Adams Boston Lager. It’s a darker, medium bodied beer with a relatively complex flavor.
    • Fun Fact #1: Budweiser is a lager.
    • Fun Fact #2: Steam Beer is the only lager that is produced at higher temperatures.

So that’s the PartTime Vagabond Beer Primer for today. Future posts will have more info on beer and beer related accessories, including a short history on craft brewing, home brewing, food pairing, and interviews with local breweries and beer connoisseurs. Now, go out to your local liquor store and get yourself a good Friday brew.

BEER: Hey Brooklyn interviews Brooklyn Brew Shop

// December 17th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // GRUB

Beer is good. Friends are great. Beer and friends are amazing! That’s why when I heard my good friend Amber’s latest Hey Brooklyn episode, I was so completely excited I nearly….well, let’s not get into what I nearly did. Suffice it to say, the people at the gym were giving me funny looks.

Anyway, Hey Brooklyn Episode 34 features the good folks from the Brooklyn Brew Shop, a one stop home brew shop for New Yorkers living in cramped cubes real estate agents like to call “cozy studios.” The kits they sell take up about a foot square of space in your kitchen (for the 1 gallon kit), and use real ingredients – yeast too! – to brew up a batch of what look like some fantastic beers. What’s great about Stephen Valand and Erica Shea, the proprietors of Brooklyn Brew Shop, is that they not only cater to the cramped lifestyles of NYCers, but also encourage customers to dream up their own beer creations – and then bring them a bottle too!

Take a listen to Hey Brooklyn Episode 34 to hear more from Stephen and Erica of Brooklyn Brew Shop.

Guest post on BrewsandBooks.com

// October 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // GRUB

As we truck along here on Part Time Vagabond, you’ll notice a few themes will begin to emerge. Eventually, you’ll learn that I love to read, and I love to drink good beer. So it’s only fitting that I made friends with Josh Christie of BrewsAndBooks.com. And of course, Josh (who has guest posted here on PTV) let me write up a little something about my favorite books and beers. Take a loook at what I had to say, and give Josh some blog love.

Finding Local Brews

// September 10th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // GRUB

This week, I invited Josh Christie, of the Brews and Books blog to be the first Guest blogger on Part Time Vagabond. Josh is a bookseller and beer afficionado, and blogs about two things he loves; you guessed it: brews and books. This week, Josh talks about finding great beers wherever you are in your travels.

When you’re traveling, it’s not just the new sights and sounds you’re taking in; it’s also incredibly unique tastes. Checking out locally brewed beer is a great way to celebrate the uniqueness of the place you’re visiting, not to mention a way to meet people and make some happy memories. If you’re traveling on a budget, visiting breweries, beer bars and “packies” are the way to get great beer and still save some cash. In case you’re a local or visiting Portland, I’ve included a couple of examples from the great state of Maine with each option. Prosit!

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