Konichiwa Bitches! Tokyo - Part 1

Because I am a smart girlfriend, I knew I had to lure Micah into my Vietnam adventure with some type of proposal that he couldn't refuse. Most flights from San Antonio to Vietnam have a layover at Narita Airport in Japan - BAM! There was my answer... we will include a side-trip to Tokyo before meeting my mom and sister in Vietnam. Micah said "yes" to the idea and off we went booking our tickets and waiting anxiously to stuff our faces with sushi!

Day 1: We got to Narita airport at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 28. After getting out some Yen from the ATM, we purchased our Narita Express tickets (+SUICA package) and hopped on the train to go to our hotel in Shinjuku. We had a slight delay to our hotel because we exited at the Shibuya station instead of the Shinjuku station. I had a 20-minute semi-conversation with the ticket operators explaining our mistake and how I shouldn't have to pay to get back onto the same train! Ai-ya! They finally figured it out and let us back on.

I found a good deal on a hotel right-smack-dab in the Shinjuku district: Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku

We knew going in that the rooms were going to be tiny AND they were! I'm thankful we had a mini-fridge in that place! Although the rooms are small, the hotel was perfect for us and in a great location.

Not only was the room small, so were the robes that they let you use:

Japan is BIG on vending machines and the hotel wasn't lacking in them either!

By the time we checked-in, etc. it was already 6 p.m. but we still wanted to walk around the area and take it the Tokyo air! We walked around the Shinjuku area looking for something to eat when we just decided on a place that looked fast and easy. We wasted a good 10 minutes trying to figure out how the "pay to order" automated machine worked - but we finally did and we got some fried noodles and a noodle soup dish. Not too shabby!

After getting some food into our gullet, we took a stroll through the Kabuki-Cho area (red light district), with open beer cans in hand!

One thing we weren't expecting were all the men partying at midnight with their business suits still on! I guess the Japanese know how to work hard and play hard!

Day 2: While a little jet-lagged, we did manage to wake up at the non-obscene time of 8 a.m. to kick-off our first full day in Tokyo! We got breakfast at a nearby coffee shop then headed to Akihabara (electronics district).

Akihabara
We actually didn't buy anything but we did check out several department stores. One dept. store had 7+ floors ranging from porn to model guns!



Asakusa
I wanted to visit the shrine, much to Micah's dismay! The walkway leading up to the shrine was packed with visitors and vendors trying to hawk their wares!







After getting in some praying, we wanted a snack, and sho nuff there were plenty of food stalls right next to the shrine. We got some grilled tentacles and some takoyaki (fried octopus balls). The tentacles were great and the balls were ooey gooey rich!


While we were walking around the Asakusa area, we also stopped by a grocery store and of course, Micah had to take tons of pics of the beer on the shelves!

For dinner, we wanted to try the kaiten sushi (conveyor belt)! There were a few around the hotel, we ended up at a place called Himawarizushi. Funny enough, our waitress was actually Vietnamese! Go figure! She helped us get our sushi on and I'm thankful she was there! The kaiten sushi is great for non-Japanese speakers; you can see everything going by and the menu is easy to read. "Real" sushi isn't about the rolls, but more about the nigri and sashimi. We had some great fatty tuna and other delicious fish! The miso soup was also devine! The whole meal was around 2000Yen (about $22USD). We found eating sushi was the only thing cheaper in Japan than the US!

Of course, our night wouldn't be complete unless we got some beer into our jet-lagged system. I did some research beforehand and found that Popeye's Beer Bar in Ryogoku has the biggest beer selection in Tokyo. We tried their Sampler of different microbrews from Japan and only a handful were good! Pretty disappointed actually! They did have a lot of US beers on their list though. It was also super-expensive!

After a full day in Tokyo, we needed a good night's rest!

I blame it on South Park!

Say what you want, but Micah and I LOVE Chipotle. To Hell with all the haters! I know, we live in San Antonio, but Chipotle is the shiznit! I like taquerias as much as the next San Antonian, but there is just something about Chipotle's burrito bowl that makes me squeal (like their Carnitas! mmmm).

Before I give you my Chipotle Clone, I thought this e-mail exchange between myself and the people at Chipotle HQ was quite amusing.

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The comment I left on Chipotle's website:
-SouthPark's Chipotlaway episode has left me with a hankering for Chipolte - all the time!

Their response: Thanks for writing to us. I'm happy to hear you have a hankering for our food. I have to wonder why that particular product would cause the cravings, but, like Cartman said, that product changed his life.

Seriously, I hope you are not in real need of that product, but I'm glad to hear you took the spoof in good humor. It really was funny and we're glad it left you craving our food. We hope we'll see you again soon!

Sincerely,

Shannon

Chipotle Mexican Grill

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Great, right????? :-)

Now, onward to the recipe!!!!!!!!!!!

Calily’s Chipotle Clone

**This recipe has a lot of different elements, but most of the things can be cooked at the same time so it should take less than 30 minutes to put together.**

Rice:

-2 C. long grain rice (rinsed)

-4 C. water

-small amount of vegetable oil for the pan

-1 clove garlic (just crushed, not chopped)

-1 tbsp. lime juice

-1 tsp. kosher salt

-1/4 c. chopped cilantro

1. Heat a large, deep pan on medium heat. Add enough oil to just coat the bottom of the pan. Once the oil is hot, add the rice and the clove of garlic.

2. Cook the rice for 2 minutes, then add the water, salt, and lime juice.

3. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn the heat to Low. Let the rice cook on Low for 20 minutes.

4. When the water has all been absorbed, the rice should be done. Add the cilantro and fluff the rice with a fork.

**While the rice is cooking, you can cook the black beans and the chicken/veggies**

Black Beans:

-16oz. can of black beans

-1/2 onion, chopped

-2 cloves garlic, chopped

-1/4 tsp. cumin

-salt/pepper to taste

1. Heat a small pan with olive oil on Medium Heat. Add garlic and onions. Saute until soft.

2. Add the can of black beans, no need to drain it.

3. Add cumin, salt and pepper.

4. Cook on Low for 15 minutes.

Chicken & Veggies (none of these measurements are precise, more like a smattering of each):

-2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

-1 bell pepper, sliced

-1 white onion, sliced (or yellow if you don’t have white)

- place the chicken and veggies in separate containers

Seasoning:

-1/4 tsp garlic powder

-1/4 tsp onion powder

-1/4 tsp chipotle powder

-1/4 tsp cumin powder

-1/4 tsp ancho chile powder

-1/4 tsp salt

-1/4 tsp pepper

-olive oil to coat

1. Mix all the seasoning together and dump ½ on top of the chicken and the other ½ on the veggies. Drizzle with olive oil and let it marinate for 30 minutes. If you don’t have time, no worries, the chicken/veggies will be just fine without the marinade time.

2. Heat a cast iron grill plate on Medium Heat. When it’s ready, cook the chicken on each side for 6 minutes. This will result in the perfect chicken!

3. Take off the heat and let cool on a plate before cutting into slices.

4. Add the veggies to the skillet and cook until tender (about 5 minutes). This might take a few batches depending on how big your skillet is.

Time to assemble!!

With all the components ready for burrito bowl, it is now time to assemble this amazing plate of food!

Garnishing Ingredients:

-sour cream

-cheese (I use a Mexican blend, but whatever you like!)

-pico de gallo (generic recipe from Food Network)

Place the rice on the plate, then the beans, then the meat/veggie mix. Top with whatever garnishing ingredients you like.

Save yourself a few bucks and make it at home! This would be plenty for 4 servings!

Welcome to the Real World, Linda!

After some detours here and there, my baby sister, Linda has officially graduated with a Dental Hygiene degree!! YAY! I am so proud of her and believe she will clean the heck out of your teeth!! :-)


Who knew the kid with a crooked tooth would grow up to be a Dental Hygienist (with great looking teeth, btw)? I need to find an old pic of her to post - and embarrass!


After the fairly short ceremony at Lamar University's Montagne Center, friends and family gathered at my Great-uncle's house to stuff our faces with homemade goodies!

My great-aunt made bo kho (beef stew), goi (shrimp salad), and some che (dessert). My mom made xoi and eggrolls!
I made a cake in San Antonio and dragged it all the way to Beaumont! It got damaged during the shipping process but I did happen to get a pic of it prior to my 4.5hour trek home. I just want to mention that I only messed up her name with the cake lid -- the rest of the cake was damaged by someone else. :-)

We spent the night eating, drinking, and general merriment. It was a perfect night for the perfect sister!!


Above: digging into the food, Siblings!, mom and her kids!, great-aunt/uncle and dad

So proud of you Linda! Congratulations and I'm sure your future will be full of plaque and tarter (job security)!

Love,

Your sis!

Birthday Celebration - Southern Star Style

Since I'm now officially "old", I figured the best way to celebrate this sad eventuality was to check-off another brewery on my "bucket list". It just so happened Southern Star Brewery in Conroe, TX announced they were brewing an 18 bbl (approximately 558 gallons) batch of elusive "brown" wort and giving it away to homebrewers on May 1st! Since my birthday was just 12 hours post-delivery of this sweet barley malt, how could I resist?

The plan was, shall we say, simple - Leave San Antonio by 7:30am to arrive in the boonies, I mean Conroe, by 11:30am. The mysterious "brown" wort was said to arrive by 12:30pm, but there are inherent "obligations" that must be taken care of when visiting a brewery, such as:

1. Thou shalt sample any and all beer made available by the brewery...unless thine stomach is gluten intolerant....or thou not likest anything except "fruit" beer.
   
   
2. Thou shalt purchase a souvenir pint glass...and thoroughly protect it so your significant other doesn't "accidentally" break it...and blame you for not better protecting the glass.
   
   
3. Thou shalt walk around the brewery unattended and attempt to touch as many shiny stainless parts as possible...similar to a dog visiting a new dogpark.
   
   
4. Thou shalt hold thine bladder as long as possible...since the restroom is typically a well frequented port-a-poddy sitting in the hot sun....fermenting at high krausen.
   
   

After our obligations were met, we lined up to receive the cooled, aerated wort around 12:15pm. I couldn't help but notice 95% of the 100+ homebrewer turnout were carrying glass carboys. For those not familiar with a glass carboy, it's a large glass cylinder with a narrow mouth opening. Full of wort, they weigh around 50 lbs and, being glass, are quite slippery when wet. Needless to say, I expected to see at least one spectacular carboy explosion...But, fortunately, there were none since the head brewer loaned out his keg dolly to transport the carboys.

Around 12:30pm my early b-day present arrived - a skip and a hop to the front of the wort waiting line. You see, the brewery had to search for a funnel to fit in the small-ish mouth of the glass carboys. I, on the other hand, avoid glass like the Plague and brought two 3 gallon kegs to fill. Why two 3 gallon kegs instead of a single 5 gallon keg? Because I needed to keep the 3 gallon kegs cold in my rolling kegerator until we arrived back in San Antonio 36 hours later. Come on, silly, keep up with the story.

Happy b-day!

The rest is history...Well, at least what I recall from that day. And, not from over-indulging either; it's actually a simple case of early onset alzheimer's disease...Now, what was I saying again? Ah, yes, God is good...

18bbls

883# Rahr Pale Ale
110# Simpsons Brown
110# Simpsons Cara 30-37
75# Wyermann Munich II
12# Briess Cherrywood Smoked Malt

1 hr mash (152F), 1 hr Boil

Hops Schedule:

60 3.5# Palisade
20 1.45 # Palisade
10 .5# Nugget
0 3# Sterling

Grill it! *Bobby Flay not included*

While other girls get diamonds and flowers for their birthday- it takes a little more to woo someone like myself! I need something super shiny and something that gets super HOT!

Something like this:


Check out the early birthday gift Micah got for me! I know, it's usually the other way around - men usually want the manly grill! What can I say, "I got's balls!"

The new beauty is a Char-Broil Gas Grill. Micah said he couldn't pass it up because the deal was so phenomenal! $200 (includes tax/shipping)! It was a deal at shop.ingdirect.com.

This baby has 4 burners with a side burner as well! I'm stoked that I won't have to start a charcoal grill anymore!

Behold, our old grill:
This thing lasted for about 5 years! Byebye! We actually put this on our curb since it's Brush Pick-up Week and sure enough, in less than a few hours, someone already snatched it up! Ahh... San Antonio!

The new grill actually came like this:
So Micah and I spent the next hour putting it together (1st pic). Putting together stuff like this with an engineer is a bonding experience! :-)

So now that I have an awesome gas grill, what should I make for the inaugural event??

American Craft Beer Week: Freetail style

Freetail's brewer, Jason, just released the following beer schedule for American Craft Beer Week (May 17-22).

If you haven't had a chance to hit up this great brewpub, please make your way there and support your local breweries!

Here's what they have currently on tap: 3Tail, Maakoos, Phantom of the Hopera (dry-hopped w/ Amarillo), as well as the usual suspects. That Jason is a wordsmith!

For ACBW, Freetail is releasing their Bat Outta Helles.

Other stuff Jason is working on---
Just Brewed: Buck Wit U.--an amber wit bier brewed w/--you guessed it--buckwheat!
Brewing Tomorrow: A Beer Called Tim--Schwarzbier.
Brewing soon: Verano Sin Fin--summer saison; Hopothesis C--Theoretical Ale, all Crap hops; Broken Promise--potentially the Bexar Brewers' in-club competition brew...details to follow.

For more information on what Freetail has in store for ACBW, check out Freetail's site.