Relieving the Pressure

Over the last several weeks, Dale has been opening himself up to us more and more. We are learning that Dale has had an interesting journey through life. The Tiki Gal and Carol have been giving Dale a hard time about some of his revelations so I wanted to send him this message.

Instead of marching to the same beat as many others, you choose to shuffle along to the rhythm of your inner tuba. Like a tire turning on the road less traveled, your uniqueness stems from your artistic core. The best thing about you is that we never know if you will put the cap on the valve, as expected, or if you will invert it and do something totally unexpected. If we could discover the extender of life, we might find that it is based on playing a unique melody. So don't gauge your actions on those of others, gauge them only on the happiness they bring.

On Friday night, Dale and Carol joined the Tiki Gal and me at the Tiki Hut for cards. It was one of those nights when you all start laughing about something silly and it just carries through the evening. We started out talking about things we collected as kids. The Tiki Gal then mentioned my irrational fear of magazine inserts. (It's not that I'm afraid of them, exactly, it's just that I hate the way they feel... all dry and fuzzy. Sort of like a peach, another of my least favorite things.) Before long, the cards were just getting in the way of the conversation, as Dale deftly pointed out. We persevered, however, and had a few drinks along the way.

The Tiki Gal and Carol enjoy strawberries so we invented a new drink. They both seemed to enjoy it so here it is.

Smoothie Sailin'

Color: Dark red.

Ingredients: 2 oz. Finest Call Strawberry Puree' (available in a supermarket or liquor store near you), 3 oz. orange juice, 1 oz. Myer's Dark Rum, 2 oz. Creme de Banana. Shake well with ice or blend with 1 cup of ice for a frozen treat.

Taste: It tastes like a strawberry, banana smoothie. 

Comments: I used Finest Call Strawberry Puree' but it would work as well with fresh, blended strawberries and 1 oz. simple syrup (see Mostly Margaritas for the simple syrup recipe.)

Dale and I really enjoy most of the double bocks we've tried so we decided to have a Bock Off to determine which was the best of the bunch - or at least the best of the three we had on hand.

Grinbergen Double Ale

Color: Dark amber.

Skunkiness: 0 skunks but it did smell very sweet.

Taste: Malty and sweet with a bite at the end. We couldn't determine what caused the bite.

Comments: This is an extremely fizzy beer that seemed to have too much of something to be really good.

Carol Rating: 1 on her scale of 1 or 5.

Rating: 3.5 pints. 

Spaten Optimator

Comments: We've rated this beer many times here and it is consistently good.

Carol Rating: Initially a 1 but it turned into a 5 as the beer warmed.

Rating: 4.5 pints.

Paulaner Salvator

Comments: We've also rated this beer many times as it is one of our favorites.

Carol Rating: Unfortunately, Carol didn't rate this beer.

Rating: 4.5 pints.

As you can see, we really like Optimator and Salvator. The two are really different but very good in their own way. The Optimator is malty and mild while the Salvator is a little hoppier and zesty. I would walk across a hot beach for either of them.

Dale won Cutthroat and Oh Hell! and the girls won at Pitch. I'm starting to worry about this run of Pitch victories by the girls. We keep making it close but can't seem to get over the hump. If their run extends much longer, the core of my Pitch strategy may need to change.