1. I bounded out the door, leapt into the Sube, blasted over the pass, and bolted into CdA and the Fred Meyer parking lot. The high point of my shopping spree was buying new flatware! It's a fun purchase I like to make every ten years or so.
2. Byrdman and I practically needed pontoons in the deluge that hit CdA as each of us drove to Growler Guys to order beer and sit, sip, and yak.
Growler Guy has a wide variety of beers on tap and my attention went immediately to Firestone Walker's 26th Anniversary Ale. I don't drink them often, but when I do, I love anniversary ales, no matter who brews them. This high octane beer was superb, combining sweetness and depth by blending Parabola Russian Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels, Velvet Merkin Milk Stout aged in bourbon barrels, Bravo Imperial Brown Ale aged in bourbon barrels, Heavy Things Barley Wine aged in brandy barrels, Helldorado Blonde Barley Wine aged in brandy barrels, and Wheat Wine Strong Golden Barley Wine aged in bourbon barrels.
As you can imagine with all this imperial ale, barley wine, and barrel aging, this ale weighed in at 11% ABV.
Drinking this complex eight ounces of warming slightly boozy ale delighted me. I don't really have words for the depth of character this beer achieves by combining the maltiness of imperial stouts, an imperial brown ale, and those great barley wines.
I would say it made my day, but it wasn't the only eight ounces of beer I enjoyed at Growler Guys.
My day was also made by drinking eight ounces of a most satisfying Imperial IPA from Mother Earth Brewing of Nampa, Idaho. In collaboration with Bale Breaker Brewing, Mother Earth produced the next in their 4 Seasons series, called Summer '23. This beer was quite a contrast from the Anniversary Ale. Summer '23 is loaded with complex hoppy flavors, combining a pleasant bitterness with citrus and peach.
Byrdman and I got a lot of good yakkin' in about topics ranging from NIC and high school sports in the 1970s to the genius of Novak Djokovic to the stifling impact of this past summer's heat and its impact on our outdoor activities.
It was an awesome session.
3. Back home, I pulled our other HelloFresh bag out of the icebox and wailed away on making Parmesan Herb-Crusted Salmon, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Asparagus, and Mustard Sauce.
I began by peeling four or five cloves of garlic, smashing them, and putting them in a packet of aluminum foil with oil and roasting them in the oven for about ten minutes and setting them aside.
In the meantime, I chopped up a handful of potatoes and boiled them for about 15-20 minutes. While these potatoes cooked, I got out a bowl and combined chopped parsley, a packet of panko, parmesan cheese, and olive oil and set it aside.
By now the salmon filets were at room temperature and I put them on a plate and oiled and seasoned them with salt and pepper.
I put the skin side down and slathered the top of each filet with a layer of Dijon mustard. On top of the mustard, I put a layer of the panko/herb/Parmesan/parsley mixture.
I had trimmed a handful of asparagus spears and I drizzled them with olive oil and salt and peppered them.
Now the fish and the spears went in the oven to roast for about 10-12 minutes.
While they roasted, I drained the potatoes, threw in the roasted garlic, added a cream sauce base from a packet along with butter and some potato water and mashed the potatoes.
The salmon and asparagus continued to roast when I combined white vinegar, cream sauce base, Dijon mustard, and a teaspoon of sugar in a pot, cooked it until it thickened, and then added a dollop of butter.
By now, the salmon and asparagus were roasted. On a plate for Debbie and one for me, I scooped out equal parts of mashed potatoes, divided the asparagus spears between us, and put a salmon filet on each plate and topped the fish with the mustard cream sauce.
None of this was difficult cooking, but completing several steps within a short period of time was a really fun challenge.
I succeeded!
It worked!
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