Beeblog

More photos of Ale are here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/todd.beeby/NewBeebyBabyAlessandra#

http://flickr.com/photos/44124347618@N01/tags/alessandra/

Posted by dan at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments

M returned from Philly this weekend with a 15lb CO2 tank. We hooked it up to the regulator, hose (with ball lock), and "carbonator" cap that I got from Northern Brewer and it worked great. From construction to carbonation took about 10 minutes.

The set up is basically the same as this one. I set the regulator to 40psi, but I'll experiment with other settings.

The steps are this: take a 3/4 full bottle of chilled liquid, attach the ball-lock cap, evacuate the air, connect to the hose, apply pressure, shake like mad, drink.

In this case I carbonated water and pomegranate juice. It's really tasty and quite cost effective ($.01 for the water, $.02 for the CO2, and $2.50 for 1/2 liter of Georgian pomegranate juice that I get across the street). We plan to experiment with other juices and kefir d'acqua that M makes.

Update: I used way too much pomegranate in my first experiment. Subsequently I tried it with just a couple of ounces of juice and it's much better.

Posted by dan at 6:49 PM | Permalink | Comments

There's a lot to love and hate about Park Slope. An illustrative example: there's the Tea Lounge, but there's also Café Regular. Either PS Tea Lounge is a hateful and ratty hole. The baristas are mean in a mean way and the coffee is mean too (I stopped going there the second time they steamed old coffee back to life and served it to me.) At Regular, Martin is mean, but in a good way (once, when asked by a "Slope" dad if the cigarettes in the packs are for sale, I heard him answer menacingly, "nah, I give them away... to children," as he looked down at the boy.)

Gawker had an article (tagged "stroller derby" which is my description of 7th Ave on any given sunny Saturday) about the Times' Sunday Styles article. Good readin'.

Full disclosure: I live in Park Slope. I am a member of the Food Co-op. My wife is pregnant. In fact, she took this picture outside of the park slope YMCA while attending a prenatal yoga class. Check out all those strollers!

Posted by dan at 2:06 PM | Permalink | Comments

I realized tonight, upon the sale of T's Bianchi "Cross Project USA" Cyclocross, that we're down to eight bikes in the basement (E's Eddie Merckx went to Phillly over the weekend). I sold the Bianchi to a very kindly gentleman and his wife (who drove a hard bargain).

Posted by dan at 9:02 PM | Permalink | Comments

I have been searching (albeit not very intently) for "Bierkraft" in Park Slope for about two and a half years. Well, it's where it apparently has been the whole time: at the corner of 5th and Union. It's a nice little shop that's devoted 50-50 to beer and food (cheeses, meats, chocolates, cookies, etc). At the back of the store they have a selection of beers on tap, which they will kindly put into a growler in exchange for a large number of American greenbacks. It took quite a while to get my Kelso Pilsner (which, they neglected to tell me, is from Brooklyn), partly because they pressurize the growler to 18psi before filling it. With this system the beer is transferred from keg to bottle without "being poured" so it doesn't lose any of its carbonation. Sounds hokey, but it tastes good.

Posted by dan at 7:20 PM | Permalink | Comments

T and I did the 5-boro bike tour this year. We put in a fifty-mile day, which is more than I'm used to on any given Sunday. It was a lot of fun, though, and it turned out to be a beautiful day. More pics.

Posted by dan at 10:13 PM | Permalink | Comments

Though some sites poo-poo it, I've been a fan of wax (paraffin) chain lubrication for years.  This image (p 13) illustrates a double boiler like the one I used,  but I opted for a large frying pan and a pie tin in which I placed the chain and one four-ounce stick of wax (1/4 the recommended amount).  One stick will suffice for a standard road/racing chain and a 9" pie tin.  After the boiling water melted the wax I removed the tin pie pan and gave it a few twisting shakes (which lets all of the accumulated chain gunk seep out into the hot wax bath).  When it's cool, the sticky wax takes all the dirt and leaves a like-new chain.  I've never experienced drivetrain/shifting problems using this technique and, after a short time, the chain accepts liquid lubricants normally (e.g. tri-flow).  A couple of tips:  place the tightly curled chain squarely in the middle of the tin with the extracted pin pointing up.  Place the tin on a hard surface and push the paraffin onto the extracted pin (which holds it in place as it melts and keeps the whole contraption flat).  Fold the edges of the pie tin upwards to keep water out.  

Posted by dan at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments

I had a trusty sony-ericsson t610 for about four years, but I gave it up last August for a Moto Razr v3. Initially I was impressed with the Razr's reception and sound quality, but the user interface and battery life are so bad that I evetually had to switch back to the t610. The only thing I have to give up is music playback (which the v3 facilitated nicely with a micro SD slot).

Posted by dan at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments

My friend Chris was in town from Cambodia this weekend so I planned a Pizza Tour of Brooklyn. Of the places on the map, we hit four (plus we made our own home-made pies).

We had two categories for the pizzas we sampled: "paper plate" and "gourmet". The former were slices, the latter where what our friend Deana would call "not pizza" (since it's too thin and froo-froo).

First stop: Pizza Plus at 359 7th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215, (718) 768-5327. The "local" pizzeria. This is where I buy fresh dough as well as an occasional slice or entree. Pizza Plus is one of the friendliest eating establishments in Park Slope and they make a really nice slice. We each had a half slice on a paper plate as a reference point and appetizer before hopping on our bikes. Pizza Plus still charges only $1.75 for one slice, plain cheese pizza.  An 18" pizza goes for $14 or $.05/inch. Crisp crust, excellent sauce, "too much cheese".

Next stop: Franny's Pizza at 295 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217, (718) 230-0221. Franny's is a decided step up from your average pizzeria. The bartender was attentive and the pizza was very good, but pricey. We enjoyed the tomato and buffalo mozzarella pizza (which cost $16 or $.14/inch). The sauce was good and the crust had a nice chewiness, but it did get a little waterlogged and there was a bit of char (which is not unusual at brick-oven pizzerias, read: "Anthony's on 7th Ave"). Overall Franny's serves a solid gourmet pizza.

After Franny's we coasted down 4th Ave (passing many other storefront pizzerias) to Peppe's, a newcomer to the neighborhood, at 597 4th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215, (718) 788-7333. Though we had slices on paper plates, Peppe's pizza is definitely high-end. There was a generous sprinkling of Romano on top, which lent the sauce a creaminess that took some getting used to. Peppe was gregarious and he stopped to chat with us between deliveries. An 18" large pie costs $16 ($.06/inch) making Peppe's the value winner. (Read a serious review).

Our final stop before returning home to try our own hands at pizza-making was Toby's Ale House at 686 6th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215, (718) 788-1186. Toby's just opened up a few weeks ago, but already they're churning out excellent pizzas. Our group had grown to five at this point so we sampled three of their pizzas. Toby's pies are small and priced similarly to Franny's so bring lots and lots of cash. Though all of the pies were too salty, the buffalo mozzarella pizza was the taste winner in the gourmet category and it goes quite well with their Toby's Cheap Ale (which, at $3 a pint, is cheap indeed).

A couple of hours later and many dollars lighter, we trekked back to 7th avenue and made some pies of our own. I put together two 14" pies for under $20, which puts the home-made-pizza-price on par with Peppe's (though mine did use fresh mozz and included spinach). My pizza was decidedly blander than the others and had a sweeter tomato sauce since I use canned crushed tomatoes alone. The addition of spinach and subtraction of salt make this pizza the health-conscious pizza-eater's choice, which met with general approval from the judges. However, with Peppe's in the neighborhood, it's going to become harder and harder to fire up the "Mark Royal" and make it myself.

Update: 7/19/08. M and I went to Di Fara's today. What you've heard is true. The pizza may be the best in the world. The ingredients are top-notch and the place... well, let's just say it's hard to describe.

Posted by dan at 1:31 PM | Permalink | Comments

M and I spent a week with her family in Rome. The weather was brutto, which kept us inside most of the time, but the food and conviviality were, as usual, molto bene. We made two short day trips into Rome (Trestevere and the Pantheon plus some other sights).  We also went out to V's folks place in Grotta Ferratta for Paella.  More photos.

Posted by dan at 8:08 AM | Permalink | Comments