I Was Not Kidnapped By AA -- I've Been Busy

I've been drinking and cooking and playing hostess to a dear friend of mine who's an author (Sheila Lowe) and who came to Dallas for a book signing of her latest mystery novel, "Last Writes." What with one thing and another, by the time I opened up my computer at the end of the day, I was too knackered to write anything. However, I did enjoy myself, hope Sheila did too, and I experienced -- for the first time in a long time -- BEER.

I'm not much of a beer drinker, except when I'm in England, as I love the stouts and dark beer served in abundance in the equally abundant pubs. That's a drink you can really wrap your mouth around -- none of this light stuff that has about as much taste as tap water with a squeeze of lemon.

Anyway, the book signing was at Legacy Books, an independent bookstore that regretfully is about to close up, and after the signing a group of us went to Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant for a bite of supper and a drink. The Kobe sliders sounded perfect and I decided, since this was a brewery after all, to depart from my usual vineyard preference into the realm of micro-brewed beer. The waitress helpfully steered me to the beer sampler, which gave me a chance to try all of their offerings. From left to right (almost did "write" -- still under Sheila's literary influence!), I tried Golden Export, Hefeweizen, Czech Lager, Marzen and Schwarzbier. The last, being dark, was my favorite. It's advertised as having a "dry, roasted finish," and did indeed have a fresh-ground coffee aroma. The flavor hinted of chocolate (always a good thing).

Surprisingly, the Golden Export was my other favorite. I didn't think I would like that one, as it was the lightest of the five, but it had a fresh flavor almost reminiscent of champagne, and was very refreshing.

The rest of them were just . . . beer. And to quote Forrest Gump: "That's all I have to say about that." I'm still a wine drinker. But it's fun to try something different!

I didn't do much cooking while Sheila was here -- we were running from interview to book signing to the JFK Museum, all over town, but I did cook a nice dinner for friends last night and I hope to post about that tomorrow after I catch up on sleep. There was a really good bottle of wine that night too!