Life's too short to drink bad beer.

Molly Mallone’s Lobster Bisque

I have to begin this post by telling you that I am a native of New England – the New Hampshire seacoast area to be exact. And one of my biggest pet peeves is when someone outside of New England tries to serve one of our traditional dishes with their own flourish and say it [...]

On the Subject of Root Beer

At Total Wine & more I found a six of Saranac Root Beer and had to listen to the 10-year-old in my head who would not stop saying “oooo! Root beer! Can we? Huh, huh, can we?” Both the 10-year-old and the 40-year-old were happy about it! Saranac’s root beer is sweet and smooth. It [...]

The Session #35: New Beers Resolutions

The Beer Chicks at Beer for Chicks are hosting the latest Session, a chance for beer bloggers to froth about a given topic. For New Year’s the theme is New Beers Resolutions. So we want to know what was your best and worst of beer for 2009? What beer mistakes did you make? What beer [...]

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Blessed Yule, Glorious Festivus, and a Prosperous New Year!

Very soon here at My Hoppy Place, we’ll be kicking back with a nice glass of glögg (mulled red wine) and opening our presents under the tree. Well, not under the tree because it gets crowded under there. Next to the tree. Yeah. Next to it. There may be beer related gifts under there, there [...]

Salmon, cure thyself (or how to impress everyone with your own homemade gravlax)

My Swedish uncle gave me a book of Things Swedish which includes a recipe for gravlax and mustard sauce. It’s the easiest thing in the world. Seriously, I make tea that’s more complicated. It’s fabulous on bagels, crisp bread, rye, crackers, or on its own. Take a nice piece of salmon filet: more than a [...]

Saving ginger

I buy fresh ginger at the supermarket. It comes in nice big pieces. Unless you cook a lot of asian or indian food, you don’t use more than an inch or two at a time. Once it’s cut, it tends to dry out. After I peel and chop my tablespoon or two, here’s what I [...]

The CSA Box: Fennel you say?

Nataraj asked what the heck to do with a big bunch of fennel. Personally, I love fennel. I love the crunch. I love the flavor (somewhere between celery and licorice). I didn’t know I loved fennel until my sister shoved a piece in my mouth. A veggie intervention, if you will. If you’re not a [...]

Did we mention fresh veggies?

My friends and I share a subscription to a local farm. This is through the USDA’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Jug Bay Market Garden is a small farm with an organic focus. We’ve been members for 4 years now! My how time flies! It’s always a challenge to come up with something interesting for [...]

Easiest ever hollandaise

3 egg yolks 1-2 tbl lemon juice 1/2 stick very cold butter cut in cubes Place yolks in cold sauce pan. Whisk in lemon juice. Place over med-low heat and whisk until it’s the consistency of thin mayonnaise. Add butter one or two cubes at a time, whisking gently until combined. Stop when it looks [...]

Beer as theater!

A Chicago theatre troupe has a show called BEER! http://www.neofuturists.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=89&Itemid=191 Judging from their website, the reviews are good. And it’s probably a good thing they don’t actually serve beer during the show: There’s only one bathroom!