Tiny Thoughts

Oh my gosh, why didn’t anyone TELL ME about Nutella? I mean, I had heard of it before, but it seemed to be in conversation along with Marmite so I disregarded it as “disgusting.”  But tonight Mike & I were at Ingles picking up refills for my famous snack drawer and I spotted the Nutella. The bottle said “hazelnuts, skim milk and cocoa.” I threw it in the cart.

It. Is. Amazing. Amazing I tell you. You know, it actually very specifically reminds me of Godiva Open Oyster. A long long time ago, I lived in a fairy house with unlimited Godiva Chocolates. I got quite spoiled and really really loved those Hazelnut Oysters. (I also adore their Roasted Almond Truffle.)

Anyway, I was reviewing the Nutella. It’s kept at room temperature, so it’s always perfectly creamy. It’s so delicious. Sweet, but not overpowering because the strong nuttiness grounds it. Yum, yum, yum. I haven’t actually tried it *on* anything yet. The bottle and website seem to suggest I should spread it on wheat toast and drink a glass of OJ with it. Um, chocolate & orange juice just don’t sound good at all. That goes on the list somewhere after tooth paste & orange juice. And spreading chocolate on toast, really? I’m thinking more like drizzeling it over lactose free Breyers Vanilla icecream. (It’s way way better than the soy and ricemilk and coconut milk “icecreams” that I tried.) Or perhaps I’ll dip strawberries in it. Or spread it over sugar cookies….

Tell me, how do you like your Nutella?

Jess, my wife, was born and raised in Maine, but moved to North Carolina several years ago and is now a sweet tea connoisseur. No, she is a sweet tea addict, and knows where the best sweet tea is served in town. This is the southern style sweet tea where the sugar is dissolved in the tea while it’s still hot — not the iced tea with sugar packets on the side.

So, do you know where you get the best sweet tea in Asheville, NC? Do you get it at the fancy southern style restaurants downtown? Do they have the best sweet tea in town at Tupelo Honey, Early Girl, or Mayfel’s. At the very country Moose Cafe (best biscuits in town) near the farmer’s market? Nope. McDonalds. And that has been confirmed by other local sweet tea lovers.

I’m going into all of this to let you know that 1) Jess loves sweet tea, 2) Jess would love to find an alcoholic beverage she actually likes, and 3) Jess hates Seagram’s Sweet Tea Vodka. After hearing about the sweet tea vodkas that have been gaining popularity, we bought a bottle. Jess tried it once, gagged, and it sat in our fridge for months.

A few weeks ago, out of beer and too lazy to go to Ingles, I saw the Seagram’s Sweet Tea Vodka in the fridge and thought I’d give it a try. Here’s my review:

Drinking it straight:

Sweet and gross, like sweet tea and gasoline had a baby. Not recommended.

Drinking it with equal parts water:

This is one of the recommended ways to drink it. Tastes like sweet tea with a punch. I imagine this isn’t too bad if you like sweet tea (I don’t).

Finally, a way to drink it:

Mix ice, Seagram’s Sweet Tea Vodka, Simply Lemonade, and a dash of Coke. If you close your eyes and pretend you didn’t know what was in it, it is kind of like a Long Island Iced Tea. So, I call it the Cheater Long Island Iced Tea, in Jess’s honor, because she calls anything that isn’t the way she expects it, the “cheater” way.

FAQ:

Q: Would you recommend the Cheater Long Island Iced Tea to a friend?
A: Only as a method to get rid of Seagram’s Sweet Tea Vodka.

Q: But the Cheater Long Island Iced Tea has real tea in it — plus, isn’t this otherwise pretty different from a traditional Long Island Iced Tea?
A: Yeah.

Q: But, isn’t sweet tea vodka popular? Don’t the kids like it?
A: Yeah, but they are all cheaters.

Q: Would you buy Seagram’s Sweet Tea Vodka again?
A: Probably not. Or any other type of sweet tea vodka. An added bonus is now there is some new space for something else to sit in our fridge for months on end.

This is my personal story about potted meat. I know everyone has one. My story is about Armour Potted Meat Made with Chicken and Beef. This isn’t exactly a review of the product, since I’m not willing to eat it.  A side note: Sue is my sister-in-law who doesn’t like eating things with chunks in them. An example is salsa. She will blend the salsa, then eat it, chunk free. Well, I guess potted meat doesn’t really have chunks in it, so surprise, Sue, you can eat it. If you want me to send you a can, just let me know. It’s only a couple of years old.

In any case, I live about 3 miles from where I work, and occasionally, will walk to work. One morning, on my way to work, I was walking by the car wash and saw that a man had his bead set directly on me. Oh no, this probably isn’t good. He approached me and wanted me to have his can of potted meat. I told him, that’s ok, I wasn’t hungry, but he wasn’t taking no for an answer. He told me, “A man tries to give you bread and you don’t let him?”

So I took the can of potted meat and carried it all the way to the office, because I didn’t have anything to put it in and didn’t see a trash can along the way, plus I would have felt guilty after what he said to me.

The can sits on my desk for a few months and people ask me about it. I tell them the story.   Tommy, one of my coworkers, writes “beat me” on the bottom of the can, and, strangely, dates it.

It is still on my desk to this day. If anyone wants it, let me know. If a man tries to give you bread, you should take it.

Imagine a magical happy place where you can get beer on tap for just $2. Without even asking, someone brings you freshly made tortilla chips and delicious bean dip. There is a salsa bar, clean bathrooms, plenty of parking and nearly everything on the menu is under $10.  The service is fast and the portions are large. And if beer isn’t your thing, the mojitos don’t skimp on the rum.

Oh Papas & Beer, you are made of awesome. I love your grilled steak torta, piled high with guacamole. And the cheese dip? Could I get vat of that please? so so good…

The one drawback is that as more people discover the goodness, the lines to get in are longer. And since they have you pay at the register before you leave, the line to get out can be pretty long too. It’s so totally worth it though.

This is Tegan.
We got her in 2004 from the Asheville Humane Society. A man tried to pick her up and she immediatly hissed at him. The tech said she “does that.” She’s a mean kitty. But gosh she’s pretty! I love the orange patches on her face, her one brown spot on her side and her little tailess bum. I asked to hold her. The tech warned me, but I picked her up anyway and she started purring for me! We brought her home.

And yes, she’s a sweetie for me a lot of the time. But it’s clear she has been through a lot. She’s accident prone. She’s not very graceful. She’s afraid of thunder and loud noises and fast movements and new people. She only likes being touched on her head. If you slide your hand down her body, you can watch as she goes from cuddly to angry. Touch her below the waist and she’ll bite you.

Unfortunately, she’s got the butt problems that are common among Manx kitties. And as you can guess, she is a Terror at the vet. Before we even take her out of her carrier, she is already growling and hissing and ready to bite. They literally have to knock her out just to examine her. And she gets all mad about the whole ordeal and refuses to eat after. It’s so traumatic for her (and us) that we often struggle with the decision to take her to the doctor or just wait it out.

Recently we saw the Best Friends Mobile Veterinary Clinic van parked in  front of a neighbor’s house.  Mike called and made an appointment for Tegan’s butt and for Henry (the nice kitty) to get shots. What a seriously awesome service! A vet that comes to your door!  Their van is really amazing, the inside is a fully functional veterinary office. They have it setup with an examination table, surgery light, x-ray machine, anethesia/gas machine and vitals monitor, dental station, cages, microscope, centrifuge, etc. Dr. Pickett & Stewart were so nice and so patient with us. I always feel rushed at the regular vet. Dr.Pickett really took the time to answer all of our questions and explain everything clearly. They provide uninterrupted appointments, so they do not answer the phone during your visit, but if you call, the get back to you pretty quickly. They still had to put Tegan out so they could safely examine her, but at least we got to wait in our own living room instead of an uncomfortable vet’s office!

Pricewise, there was a $40 charge for travel for the examination, but all the other charges were on par with regular office visits. And the $40 was so worth it! Highly recommended, especially if your pet is a bad patient.

Garden War is a tower defense game for iTouch & iPhone. There is a lite version that you can try for free. The full game is only 99 cents. I’ve spent an embarrassing number of hours playing it so the buck was well worth it.

The goal is to protect your flowers from waves of hungry bugs. The bugs move along a set path and you place towers around the map to shoot them down. There are 5 tower types: weak shoot everything tower, slow down tower, ground-only tower, air-only tower and strong electricity kills everything tower. Earn experience points for each kill and use those to buy upgrades such as a percentage more attack power for your towers or more money per kill.

Pros: Graphics are cute. Towers are easy to tell apart. You can pause to build towers. The experience system gives the game plenty of  replay value since you can try it again and again with very different strategies. Classic mode has 12 maps that can be played on 3 difficulty levels.

And this part is totally preference, but I simply enjoy path-based games more than the build-your-own-maze ones (like Fieldrunners). The maze games require much more planning. To me, it’s more fun to focus on tower types and finding the best possible placement than to figure out how to route the monsters over the hills and through the woods.

Cons: The electricity tower noise is irritating.

And Challenge mode is Very Difficult. I suppose that’s a Pro in some ways because most tower defense games are too easy once you get the hang of it. I do like a challenge. But I’ve played Map 2 over and over and over again and just can’t get through the 80 waves to open map 3. I’ve tried a bunch of different strategies and I’m beginning to wonder if it’s even POSSIBLE to beat map 2? Or am I just doing it wrong? I guess the most frustrating thing about this game is that Google reveals NO guides/tips/walk-throughs.  And the official site for the game doesn’t have member forums. So, I’m stuck. And frustrated. And I keep playing it again and again… I think I must be spending my experience points wrong… I need guidance. Anyone?

Conclusion: Buy it! Garden War easily makes my Top 5 iTouch TD games. (Stay tuned for reviews on the other 4!)

Asheville, NC is home to many great local beers, and more breweries have been popping up lately, including Wedge Brewing,  the Craggy Brewing Company and the Lexington Avenue Brewery. We just can’t get enough, and with so many, how do you choose? I will give you my list to get you started if you’re visiting, but if you’re a local, you have plenty of time and no excuse not to try them all. To warn you though, some locals will not agree with my opinions, but hey, these are my favorites. Some disagreement will start right away because, for example, I am not a fan of Highland Brewing, and personally rank them toward the bottom of the local beer offerings. They are likely the biggest player around Asheville, the biggest local bottler with the most distribution, and I know they are popular — but they just don’t do it for me. Sorry guys. And sadly, I want to like them a lot more than I do. Wah.

Ok, enough of that, but before I continue with my top Asheville beer list, let me give a short memorial service.

Rest in peace Goldenrod Pilsner. I miss you. You were an awesome summer beer. You didn’t have much to say, but what you said was beautiful. French Broad Brewery, please bring it back! Meanwhile, Lexington Avenue Brewery makes a pilsner, which is a pretty good substitute. And let me ask, why don’t more craft breweries make pilsners? Am I the only one asking this? I like the regular assortment of styles that most craft breweries make as much as the next guy — IPAs, Pale Ales, Porters, Stouts, Seasonals, Wheats, Lagers, Dubbels, Tripels, etc., but come on.

Mike’s Top Asheville Beer List

1. French Broad’s Goldenrod Pilsner
2. Pisgah Pale Ale
3. Green Man’s Cask Conditioned Ale
4. Wedge’s Golem
5. Asheville Brewing Shiva IPA
6. Pisgah Nitro Stout
7. Catawba’s seasonal King Don’s Pumpkin Ale

I guess I lean toward the ales side of things here. You can let me know your favorites if you want, and maybe I will drink some more of them and reconsider my list.

Also coming soon… Mike’s favorite Asheville Beer Drinking Spots.

Asheville is a pretty vegetarian/vegan friendly town, so I’m continually surprised at the lack of delicious salad bars. Sure, I can go to Earth Fare or Greenlife but those are both pay-by-the-pound and somehow I end up with $12 dollar salads. So when we’re really craving salad, we make the journey up 26 to Fletcher and go to Ruby Tuesday.

For 7.99, I can get 2 mini burgers (beef, turkey or pimento cheese), endless french fries and a square white plate to pile high with fresh vegetables. (And the truth is, the salad is so delicious that I just eat that and bring the mini-burgers home to heat-up for lunch the next day.)

So, what makes the salad bar superior? Everything is perfectly fresh and crunchy. There is no rust on the lettuce. No dried out carrots or partially rehydrated beans. There are no sketchy tomatoes on the Ruby Tuesday bar. Bright colors, perfect texture and lots of variety! In addition to the usual greens, spinach, cukes, carrots & tomatoes, the bar also features edamame, beets, grapes, ham, cheese, eggs, zucchini strips, chick peas, real bacon, sunflower seeds, pickled green beans, potato salad and a couple varieties of pasta salad. (Last night it was pesto linguine and a mayo base spiral pasta salad.)  Yum!

Their $5 strawberry mojito was pretty good too.

A few days ago, I was in the grocery store and super hungry. Everyone knows it’s not a good idea to shop while hungry, so as we passed the smoothie case in the produce department, I picked up the Naked Juice protein zone double berry smoothie.

93% juice including apples, strawberries, blueberries and banana. 16 grams of hunger-killing protein. But oh gosh, it was vile, vile stuff. How can a Smoothie be so GRITTY? It was actually so gross that after complaining about it (and grabbing a Simply Lemonade to wash the flavor out of my mouth), I then had to convince my friend to try it. It was so gross that I needed a witness.

Come on, Naked Juice, you can do better than that!

I’ll admit it. I’m an annoying Read-the-Book person. I will watch a movie and point out every single way that it’s “wrong.”  I seem to have a critique or big idea about a lot of things lately. I get all fired up about something and start belting out my ideas to my husband and he, in turn, takes a deep breath and says “Yeah honey, you should write them a letter.”

So here we are. Instead of a stack of letters, we’re writing a blog. I plan to review restaurants ,  movies and tv shows, video games, iTouch applications, microwavable snacks, our veterinarian, craft supplies, books, massage therapists, teas, and public bathrooms.

Mike says he’ll review “Stuff.”