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Archer Farms – Roast Beef on Asiago Tomato Focaccia

XeroCube — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:20:11 +0000

I went to pick up a few sundry items from Target over lunch and remembered I didn’t bring my lunch to the office. I swung by the deli case and picked up one of their sandwiches. Turns out, this was a damn good decision.

The sandwich is on an Asiago/Sundried Tomato Focaccia with the following layers:

Basil Pesto
Provolone
Sundried Tomatoes
Roast Beef
Provolone
Spinach
Tomatoes

I brought it to the office, threw it in the toaster office until it was nice and warm. Delicious!

And yes, that is two layers of provolone…

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Cobblers

XeroCube — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:39:09 +0000

MLONF & Co. were at the house on Saturday evening and we had decided to try a new drink. I pulled out the recipe book and picked one at random. What was selected was the Brandy Cobbler.

Ingredients:
2oz Club Soda
1 tsp fine sugar
2oz Brandy
Crushed Ice

Directions:
1) Add Club Soda and Sugar to Low Ball Glass
2) Mix until sugar is dissolved.
3) Add crushed ice to fill the glass.
4) Top with the Brandy and stir.
5) Enjoy.

This turned out to be a refreshing and tasty cocktail. We made more later in the evening, subbing Bourbon for Brandy, thus making Bourbon Cobblers. These were equally good.

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FTH Passage has hit the press…

XeroCube — Thu, 14 May 2009 21:29:12 +0000

Senate passes Free the Hops bill; higher-alcohol beer could be on the way – Breaking News from the Press-Register – al.com

MONTGOMERY — The state Senate today passed a bill allowing the sale of gourmet beers in Alabama.

The legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Thomas Jackson, D-Thomasville, allows the sale of beer with an alcohol content of 13.9 percent by volume. Previously the limit was five percent by volume.

The bill passed the Senate 22-9 and now goes to the governor. If signed, retailers would be allowed the sale of certain gourmet and imported beers in Alabama. Free the Hops, an organization which lobbied for the bill, says the beverages cost an average of $5 to $6 a bottle.

The bill came up for consideration earlier in the session but was filibustered by state Sen. Hank Erwin, R-Montevallo, who cited his personal opposition to alcohol consumption in blocking the legislation. Erwin was not in the Senate chamber for Thursday’s vote; however, the Senate approved the bill by using a previous vote total. Erwin was on that roll as voting aye.

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The Hops Have Been Freed (ALMOST!)

XeroCube — Thu, 14 May 2009 21:11:01 +0000

Alabama beer lovers rejoice! The Gourmet Beer Bill has passed the Second House today! The hops are so close to being free! You must do your part and contact Governor Riley RIGHT NOW! Encourage him to sign HB373 into law. Call him, email him, hand deliver a letter… but contact him and do it now! Every voice counts…

Here is the repost of the FreeTheHops.org latest blog entry:

From FreeTheHops.org:

Just before 3:00pm today, the Alabama Senate passed HB373. Success.
Vindication. The blood, sweat, and tears of all of our many supporters
paid off.

BUT. We are at a point where we must have the Governor’s signature for our bill to become law.

We
need to do everything we can to encourage the Governor to either sign
our bill. That’s why we’re asking everyone in the state who values
personal freedom and who thinks the Alabama government should stop
telling us which beers are ok to drink and which ones we can’t handle
to contact Governor Riley immediately. By phone, fax, or email,
whatever works best for you.

We’ve even had one of his former staffers give us some tips on how best to go about this:

The volume of letters and phone calls that he receives on a particular
issue is reported to him every morning, and he takes them seriously. …
A couple quick points:

* They have a pretty sophisticated
constituent database, so multiple calls/mail from the same person won’t
accomplish much. They report to him the number of persons, not the
number of communications.
* Any arguments that sounds like
something the gambling folks would say should be avoided (”People go
over state lines to do it anyway…”). You don’t want to equate yourself
with those guys in his mind.
* Arguments about personal liberty and economic development will probably have more sway.
Pointing out the surrounding states that allow it will also be helpful.
The fact that GA, NC, SC, and WV have passed these bills in the past
couple years is persuasive.

Just keep it short and to the point. Let him know you support the bill and why.

Here’s contact information for the Governor’s office:

Switchboard: (334) 242-7100
Fax: (334) 353-0004
Email form: http://www.governor.alabama.gov/contact/contact_form.aspx

Don’t
hesitate! We haven’t come this far only to suffer a veto now. Make sure
Gov. Riley knows the people of Alabama want him to sign HB373 into law.

Thank you to everyone who has gotten us to this point. Time to seal the deal.

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Margarita Cake

XeroCube — Sun, 10 May 2009 18:43:00 +0000

Last week, some folks celebrated Cinco de Mayo on Friday… which would’ve been Ocho de Mayo, but I am not sure anyone was actually keeping track. There was a smorgasbord of food available for everyone and most was quite tasty. There was a peculiar gem on the dessert table though… the Margarita Cake.

I have never had one of these before, much less heard of it. Regardless of my ignorance, this was a phenomenal cake: moist, tasty, and satisfying.

I have been in search of a recipe for this cake and found, what I believe, was the recipe used for the cake I had. I wasn’t expecting to find so many different variants on this idea. But here we go…

Margarita Cake – All Recipes

INGREDIENTS

* 1 (18.25 ounce) package orange cake mix
* 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
* 4 eggs
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 2/3 cup water
* 1/4 cup lemon juice
* 1/4 cup tequila
* 2 tablespoons triple sec liqueur
* 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
* 1 tablespoon tequila
* 2 tablespoons triple sec liqueur
* 2 tablespoons lime juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil, water, lemon juice 1/4 cup tequila and 2 tablespoons triple sec. Beat for 2 minutes.
3. Pour batter into prepared pan (Bundt pan). Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes; remove to rack and pour glaze over cake while still warm.
4. To make the glaze: In a small bowl, combine confectioners’ sugar with 1 tablespoon tequila, 2 tablespoons triple sec and 2 tablespoons lime juice. Mix until smooth.

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Sweet Coconut Thai Chai

XeroCube — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:42:30 +0000

I was wandering through Target during lunch yesterday, as it’s as good a place to escape the office as any other during lunch, and decided to peruse the teas. I like to enjoy a good cup of hot tea in the afternoons at work – as I have been trying to ween myself off the mass amounts of coffee I used to drink. And since I gravitate towards uncommon flavors, I tend to try a variety of teas.

Well, I found Celestial Seasonings Sweet Coconut Thai Chai.

This black tea has a great flavor, combining ginger, cardamom, cloves, and star anise with a creamy coconut taste. I must say, I am a huge fan and suggest those adventurous tea drinkers to give this a shot.

Celestial Seasonings Decaf Sweet Coconut Thai Chai

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Guinness Bread with Molasses

XeroCube — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:27:55 +0000

My friends and family know that I like to bake. I know, it’s a tad unusual, but I am good at it and generally end up with good, tasty results. I’m also known to like unusual combinations when it comes to food and drink. This was most recently put to the test when I created my homebrewed Cinnamon Irish Stout, but that’s a different topic.
I subscribe to several food blogs and like to try out various recipes that come across my desk. Well, just now, I received a recipe for Guinness Bread with Molasses. I have to admit, I am intrigued because I love beer bread, but it’s usually a pain to make. This recipe appears to be extremely simple and versatile, so i can’t wait to try it.

Anyway, pop on over to Simply Recipes and check it out!

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Bacon for Dessert

XeroCube — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:26:40 +0000

Time.com has an article spelling out some interesting desserts featuring, the best of all food groups, Bacon!

Recipes:

From the looks of it, most of these recipes are not for the faint of heart, when it comes to cooking. But I am sure that they would generate some fairly tasty, if not odd, flavor combinations.

I have to admit, the Bacon Chocolate Bar intrigues me, meaning that I must attempt to make it. Again, I like unusual food pairings, so this is right up my alley.

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Royal Milk Tea

XeroCube — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:46:53 +0000

I had the pleasure of trying a new drink today. My co-worker, Greg, gave me a packet of Royal Milk Tea. He was raving about the stuff and wanted me to try it. Apparently, he had given it a try when he was in Okinawa and got hooked on it. So I gladly obliged and went to make my cup of tea.

What I discovered was a lightly flavored tea, flowery, and easy on the tongue. I’d highly recommend giving this tea a try, that is if you can get yoru hands on it. Apparently, it is difficult to find in the States.

Running a Google searching turns up several hits. Explore!

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Only Cake in Contest Wins Second Place

xerocube — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 13:22:48 +0000

Well, I guess I’ve heard of stranger things happening in contests, but it stands to reason that in a field of one, you can only have first place. However, that is using logic, and we should all know by now that never does anyone any good.

Read on…

Grandmother had the only cake in the contest – and still came second | the Daily Mail

‘My friend came over to me at the fete and said I had come second,’ she said.

‘I asked her how many more entries there had been but she just started laughing and said I was the only one.’

She was let down, in the judges’ eyes, by the indentations in the top of her sponge from the oven rack.

‘I definitely wasn’t annoyed about it,’ she said. ‘I thought my cake would do quite well but I didn’t expect to get first place.

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