(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

Spokane is having Guy Fieri fever. This might mean Ritz and Wheat Thins will see a rise in sales here...

That last picture? A speaker broadcasting recordings of Guy's endorsements of Ritz crackers.

I would editorialize, but suffices to say: This made me die a little on the inside.

OK, so season five might be at least six months away, but what better time to go through the previous seasons with our Mad Men drinking game? Our admiration to those managing to stand up after one episode of this...

• A swig of cheap red wine (preferably from a gallon size bottle) every time Betty makes a bad parenting decision. (Approximately eight times per episode.)
• One shot of bourbon every time Roger Sterling (John Slattery) deadpans a line. (A good three to fifteen times per episode, depending on the season.)
• One shot of Campari every time Don says or does something sexist/racist/otherwise politically incorrect. (Frankly, you'll be floored after half an episode.)
• A glass on Tanqueray every time Roger puts shoe polish on his face. This only happens one time (so far), thus a glass seems appropriate.
• A sip of Heineken every time a drink is mixed in the office. (Pretty much once every scene.)
• A mouthful of Old Fashioned (prepare beforehand) every time a cigarette is lit. (Every character, all the time.)
• A sip of sherry every time Pete Campbell does something that will eventually backfire. (A frequent occurrence during the first few seasons; less so later in the show.)
• A shot of Scotch every time Don's past interferes with his work. (Frequency depends on the episode.) Two shots if they lose an account over it.

Good times will be had by all during this game. At least for the first five minutes of an episode.

Boston Beer Company -- better known simply as Sam Adams -- is the Rodney Dangerfield of the beer world. No, it's not dead, nor is it unfunny (founder Jim Koch seems like an amusing guy), but it gets little to no respect. This because it was one of the first small craft breweries to hit it big. So big, in fact, they just changed the definition of "craft brewery" to allow Sam Adams to still qualify as one. It's not "cool" to celebrate something like that.

In the real world, however, Sam Adams is consistently above average. Sometimes they even do some excellent stuff.

Their Winter Lager is definitely a good one at least, one of the better winter beers this season. It's a bock which pours a dark brown color with a nice tan one finger head. The nose reveals plenty of malt, as well as spices and caramel. It smells like winter.

The flavors don't surprise. This is a nicely balanced lager, with malts and spices lacing the tongue in harmony not seen since Berlin, 1989. The spices linger in the back of the mouth pleasantly. All in all, this is very drinkable, and at 5.5% ABV, it's a good session beer.

Hating something because it's relatively popular is odd. Judge by quality. Sam Adams Winter Lager definitely has enough of that.

Remember the McDonald's story? Well, here's the second part of it:

Christmas Eve, just outside Denver International. The options are, well, there aren't any options. So imagine our surprise when we happened to stumble upon what just happened to be the legendary neighborhood eatery, nay, dining destination known as Applebee's!

And it was, of course, delicious. Some might think hot wings should be hot, but no, the delicate geniuses at Applebee's had gone all avant garde on our asses by removing any and all flavors. Tyler Florence, you little rascal, was this your doing?!

The spinach dip? Heaven! Mixing spinach and Velveeta to one uber-dish, it was fit for the gods. Don't tell the Communists about this recipe; wars have been started over less. And to think the airline actually paid for this meal for us! 

Is Applebee's America's answer to El Bulli? I'm going to have to say yes. Divine. Majestic. Legendary.

Let's just pray they one day will open an Applebee's II, right here in Spokane instead of the more likely Manhattan or San Francisco. I know, wishful thinking.