Day 6: The Final Day in Washington DC

By Greg B. Well, the final day in Washington DC for the neuroscience conference was upon us.  Packing up from the hotel and dreading the fact that we would need to drag our luggage around the conference or stash it somewhere was an annoying factor, not to mention the day of posters, followed by the commute back home as an anticipated future burden.  Fortunately, however, Old Dominion came to the rescue. Read more

Day 5 in Washington DC: Monuments, Dim Sum, Irish Pubs & more!

By Greg B. By Tuesday, most of us are pretty overloaded from the conference.  It takes a lot of energy just to maintain a good, productive scientific conversation normally, let alone in dim, randomly fluctuating lighting surrounded by the dull roar of 31,000 people talking, walking, moving, etc, and doing this for hours at a time, over many days.  So, these facts, coupled with the fact that none of us had anything really important to see on Tuesday, we decided to take a day off and scope out DC a bit. Read more

Day 4: Chinatown, RFD, Busboys & Poets, Saint-ex and Brickskeller

By Greg B. For lunch today, we ate at the Szechuan House (748 6th st NW Washington DC).  Minimal food to order from at first, though if you want there is a menu you can order from.  We opted to eat the lunch species, which were rather cheap (plate o’ food and a drink, $6).  Not bad Chinese, not amazing either, but a good quick meal.  Later on though, after yet another long day of science lectures, posters, meetings and chatting about grant money, post-doctoral research and various elements of methodology of research, I needed a beer.  So, I took a stroll with Gabi down to R.F.D., a bar I had seen while in China town that had a ton of beer taps in the window on display. Read more

Day 3: Oyamel Redux and Marrakesh Palace Dinner

By Greg B. Day three was mostly full of science, once again something I wont go into detail about here. The morning and afternoons were spent in the poster sessions, learning about various thalamocortical projections and looking at some decision making, fMRI human studies. However, there was time for some good food, and we took every opportunity we could find. Read more

Washington DC Excursion, Day 2

By Greg B.  Day 2 of the Washington DC excursion started like any normal science convention day.  We were in transit for several hours this morning, traffic going into Baltimore on I-95, plus some traffic in DC (though minor, especially with the G-20 summit, plus SFN (Society for Neuroscience) meeting starting.  After checking into our hotel (Beacon hotel corporate quarters) and seeing our nice suite, complete with kitchen, we went to the conference. Read more

Washington DC Excursion: Day 1

By Greg B.  So, for the following few days, I will be in Washington DC for a science conference.  As such, I will be taking this opportunity to go out, eat, drink and tour the city like I have never seen it before!  I’ll try and post a quick summary of my activities, give you a little of the flavor of Washington, and hopefully find some interesting restaurants and activities. Read more

Lamb Stew with Chimay Red Recipe

By Greg B.  So with the colder weather upon us, many people are once again turning to baking foods and slow cooked meals using the oven.  While this does serve a dual purpose of warming the house a bit, and making some delicious food, I’ve recently really gotten into using my crock pot.  It is some of the most simple cooking and a great, simple concept: very slow, evenly distributed heat over a long period of time in a covered container.  This renders all food extremely tender, moist, fully cooked and very flavorful. Read more

Mother’s Milk IPA

By Greg B.  With a friend of mine’s PhD graduation this fall, I decided to brew a special beer in honor of the occasion. Her personality is a little bitter at times, but definitely overflowing with energy and sometimes she can be very sweet.  Thinking about the style of beer that best suited her, I could only naturally come to the conclusion that an IPA was in order, one that was a bit heavy on the malty side.  And so, I set out to craft a beer. (note:  I decided to give her the original, and only, recipe for this beer.  So this recipe is for the next, upgraded IPA I’d make, with some changes) Read more

A Rainy fall night at Max’s on Broadway

By Greg B. In the post collegiate years, I’ve drank in a good many bars.  But there is one bar that is the one my friends and I always fall back on, Max’s on broadway.  For years this bar has offered an enormous variety of beers to drink, has a staff that will get you your beers, tab, food, check, menu, etc very expediently, and an atmosphere this is a real mixing pot of social classes and age groups, something that happens rather uniquely in Fells pt.  Read more

Jim’s Infamous Frito-Bean Salad Recipe

So, for years now, Jim, a fellow neuroscience grad student, has come to parties with his salad (Including the July 4th pig roast this past summer).  When we have parties, essentially at this point, we have come to expect that he will be there.  Not necessarily with beer or wine, or anything but the frito-bean salad.  I also know what you’re thinking right now.  ”Fritos?  I haven’t had them since 6th grade.  And a bean salad with fritos?  This cant be good!”.  Well, I’m here to tell you that this assumption is completely incorrect.  The salad is great and is always a the hit of the party. Read more

Among Mexico’s Best Food: Pork Mole

By Greg B. Yes, that’s right, it’s pronounced ‘moe-lay’ and it’s fantastic. Traditional Mexican mole includes one of the New World’s classic ingredients: chocolate. Here I have a very simple recipe that makes a really splendid dinner, either for one or for a larger party of family that I’m sure everyone will really enjoy. That is, in some ways, the essence of Mexican cuisine: simple ingredients and dishes, combined in creative ways to feed large groups of family and friends. What more could one ask for? Read more

Best Tamales in Town: Michelle’s Cafe

By Greg B.  I am fortunate enough to have developed my tastes to the point where I can appreciate excellent Mexican food.  Now, there are many different kinds of Mexican dishes, and there is not time or space in this one post to cover them all, but I should devote this one to the Tamal.  I am also fortunate enough to live close to Michelle’s Cafe and within easy access to great food. Read more

Election Night Beers, featuring Rasputin!

By Greg B. With election night upon us, I decided to look around what I had for beer and managed to pull together a rather hodge-podge showing of beers.  But to celebrate the voting, I chilled my bottle of Rasputin, figuring this was a good enough occasion to pop the top.  What a beer this is!  I really recommend you all try it if you can find a bottle, but I’ll go into that later. Read more

Spanish Beer

By Greg B. Well, I don’t claim to be an expert on Spanish beer, seeing as how I’ve never been to Spain, despite really wanting to go and check it out.  However, having sampled two beers from Portugal, Sagres (which for the longest time I kept saying “Sangres”, and wondering why the Portuguese drank a beer with the name ‘blood’.  This was the cause of some serious confusion among my Portuguese friend) I figured I should check out what the rest of the Iberian peninsula has to offer, in terms of beer styled libations.  Not that Sagres beers are bad, they are  alright I guess, but I wanted to try something from Portugal’s bigger  and quite possibly harder partying brother, Spain. Read more

Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Pie

By Greg B.  With fall temperatures and harvests in full swing across the northern hemisphere of this planet, many people are creating those delicious desserts known as ‘pies’.  Among these pies, there are always debates regarding which are the best (I really like mixed berry pies, personally), but one debate reigns supreme.  Do Pumpkin and sweet potato pie taste alike?  Here I will make two pies in short order and compare them. Read more

Fogo de Chao: Full Frontal Meat ATTACK!

By Greg B. One of Mankind’s most primal instincts is to eat, and there are few better sources of energy and nutrition than meat. Meat comes in many sizes, shapes and flavors and being able to capture the individuality of the different forms that Meat takes is a skill that requires a good cook and a good butcher. As a consumer of Meat, I am always searching for better ways to cook and clean it, eating at different restaurants, preparing Meat in many different ways. But I have to say, Fogo de Chao takes Meat to a whole new level. The experience here was almost like experiencing the philosophical idea of ‘Meat”, or one of Plato’s forms of “Meat” in both quantity, quality and flavor. (Image: USCA Choice standing rib roast (2 bone). Photograph made by Michael C. Berch (User:MCB) on 2006-11-25. ) Read more

Bottling the Cordials, Starting the Limoncello

By Greg B.  Well, 4 weeks ago I wrote about what to do with extra blackberries and raspberries and how to take steps towards making a cordial.  I also realize that I said to wait 8 weeks before bottling but I just couldn’t help myself: I bottled them.  And I tasted them.  I can tell you they taste just as good as you might imagine, the fruits really come through the alcohol.  However, since I was going to be bottling these and I don’t have any beer brewing at the moment (peanut butter porter in the secondary doesn’t count, I mean really fermenting) I decided another flavored liqueur would be in order.  Limoncello. Read more

Oktoberfest & Other Assorted Beers for Tasting

By Greg B. Last week my labmates and I sat down for a little beer tasting of Oktoberfest styled beers. Since tasting some very good Dogfish head IPAs, notably the 60 minute, they have been very eager to try new beers and explore what this other side of the alcohol spectrum has to offer. After a few weeks of letting them sample various hoppy beers I decided that, being oktober, they should try some oktoberfest styled beers, which are very different in nature than the hoppy IPA styled ales. Essentially, both beers can start in similar styles, with pale and amber malts, but the oktoberfest style really emphasises the malt aspect and not the hoppy profiles. Read more

Clipper City Beer Dinner at Captial Grille

By Greg B. Most weekends start with people getting home after the work week and usually ordering in:  Chinese, Pizza, the occasional sub (hoagie, grinder, hero, whatever you want to call it depending on your state of origin).  Last weekend for me started off with a bang that wont be soon topped.  Hugh Sisson, the owner & founder of Clipper City Brewery hosted a pairing with foods produced by Captial Grille’s awesome executive chef, Daniel Henry.  Here, I’ll take you through a little bit about Capital Grille and then through the great beer dinner. Read more

Food, Wine, Culture TV- Episode 17: Pumpkin Beer with Greg B!

Food, Wine, Culture TV: In this 17th episode, Greg Bissonette brings by 10 beers and takes over as host as Michael and Greg attempt to determine which Pumpkin beers are worth the money! (Pumpkin image courtesy of wikipedia commons)

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