Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Chopped, Guy's Grocery Games, Ole Red & Elysian Pumpkin Beer

I do have some tales to tell on this random Wednesday. As I hadn't done much this summer until my mom passed away, being stir crazy meant I should do some things. Before I get to that, though... before 2020 my mom did not watch too much of the Food Network. For whatever reasons, that changed. It was almost always on when she was in hospice so I saw plenty of Guy Fieri, whether it be “Triple D” or Guy's Grocery Games. I hate to rip on a guy who has done many charitable things and helped others but “Triple G” comes off as rather fakeand it is irritating how the show seems to do a lot to make the contestants look bad. Personally I prefer the similar Chopped as it comes across as less phony and it is interesting to see how four wholly different ingredients are used differently by all the chefs.

Two evenings I did go into the Orlando area as I hadn't really done that since way back in March. The Total Wine & More liquor store in Altamonte Springs was a wise place to visit; aside from a few days in 2020 I haven't had much alcohol all year. As I polished off the oldest beer I still had, that needed to be replenished. The main thing I bought was a 12 pack which had four different pumpkin beers from Seattle's Elysian's Brewery. They are Night Owl, The Great Pumpkin, Dark O' The Moon, and Punkuccino.. yes, that one includes some coffee. Sometime later in the month I'll taste all of those.

This past Saturday I returned to the area that has already had several names despite not being around for that many years... now it is ICON Park. That is where the giant 400 foot Ferris wheel is. Some things have closed since my last visit yet one thing new was the Ole Red restaurant. That is a restaurant owned by Blake Shelton. Modern country music I don't listen to (especially the pop-country genre in general sounds rather atrocious) but I was interested in the food. Thankfully the restaurant was nice and I enjoyed their food... it is a place I'll visit only once in a blue moon as it isn't the cheapest restaurant around. At least I had a good experience there and there were no complaints with the waitress or anyone else working at the time. Not that I should get too upset at anyone working at a place like a restaurant, the supermarket, or other stores during this pandemic as this whole mess is not easy for anyone. Anyhow, I was relieved that there were no putrid modern country songs played during my time there.

I will return next week, where things quite different from the norm will be discussed.

No comments:

Post a Comment