Monthly Archives: October 2009

Heard on The Grapevine

Heard on the grapevine that the Frederick Wine House one of my favorite, ok let’s be honest, my favorite wine store in Frederick County will be relocating.  They are going to move to a location in the new  shopping center off Route … Continue reading

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Filed under Stores, Wine

Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Lager

Continuing in my series of Flying Dog Brewery beer tastings.  First of all let me state that lager is generally my least favorite beer style.  Probably because so many lagers are really pale and insipid wastes of caloric intake.  I really … Continue reading

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Filed under Booze

Current Top Chef Odds

You’ve got to love having Top Chef in Vegas.  Where else are you going to have the bookmakers giving weekly odds on the contestants?  They are updated following the week nine restaurant wars episode and Bryan is still in fourth.  No surprise … Continue reading

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Filed under Food, Restaurant- misc., The Good Life

Jefferson Pastry Shoppe- a Hidden Gem

Family traditions are funny.  Mrs. F brings  her family’s Halloween tradition of eating donuts and cider after pumpkin carving.  The kids love it, but I have to admit  the combination of cider and donuts always struck me as a little wierd.  However … Continue reading

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Filed under Food, Restaurant Reviews

Flying Dog Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale

First on my list of Flying Dog beers is the Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale.  It lives up to its name:  it certainly is a classic pale ale.  More on the American Pale Ale side than an English one though.  Has … Continue reading

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Filed under Booze

More Ethics

I had talked about ethics in an earlier post.  So it was interesting to see that in early October the Federal Trade Commission ruled that bloggers who made endorsements had to disclose any payments they received from subjects of their reviews.  Those that did … Continue reading

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Filed under Restaurant Reviews

Volt Reservations

No- It’s not that I have  reservations about Volt  it’s getting them.  My parents just tried to make a Friday night reservation at Volt and there was a six week wait!  Fabulous.  I wish Bryan, Hilda and the whole staff all the … Continue reading

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Filed under Restaurant- misc.

Odds and Ends

Black Ankle Vineyards is having a lot going on over the next month.  Winemaker for a day on October 24th,  a Sunday evening pasta & wine dinner on November 15 and most intruiging to me: “Leafstone vs. The World” on November 8th.  … Continue reading

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Filed under Food, Stores, Wine

Flying Dog Brewery

A few years ago Flying Dog Brewery came to town.  Originally a small brewpub in Aspen, Colorado it morphed into a brewery in Denver.  In 2006 they bought the old Frederick Brewing Company and since January 2008 all of their production … Continue reading

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Filed under Booze, The Good Life

Broadbent’s Revenge

Loyal reader(s?) may remember my review of the book The Billionaire’s Vinegar.  As a follow up to the story I saw that the venerable British wine critic Micheal Broadbent settled his libel and defamation suit against Random House, the publisher of the … Continue reading

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Filed under Reading, Wine

In A Wine Slump

As you know wine is a passion of mine and I really enjoy finding wines that excite me and letting you know about them.   I have been really eager to add some more wine reviews up here, but lately all of the … Continue reading

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Filed under Wine

A Worthy Organization

With the legislative session just around the corner here is an organization worthy of a look by readers of this blog:   Marylanders For Better Beer and Wine Laws.  As most of you know it is illegal to directly ship wine … Continue reading

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Filed under Wine

Top Chef- Go Bryan

  All of us in the Fred household have been following Top Chef religiously.  Actually we have watched the show as a family since season 2.  Since we TIVO it I have been ducking the front page of the Frederick … Continue reading

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Filed under Food, Restaurant- misc.

Black Ankle Vineyards

After all this time I finally got a chance to visit Black Ankle Vineyards.  They have been open for about a year if I recall correctly and on my list of places to visit since I heard of their opening.  So one … Continue reading

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Filed under Booze, The Good Life, Wine