Thanksgiving Statistics

Sorry this is all I could come up with, I'm stuffed from the turkey and stuffing.

About 45 million Turkeys are consumed each Thanksgiving. That's 15% of all turkeys produced in a year and about 675 million pounds of turkey.

Minnesota produces the vast majority of turkeys in the U.S.

Thanksgiving has more cooking fires than any other day of the year. In 2005, cooking fires were involved in roughly 1,300 reported home structure fires on Thanksgiving – nearly three times the daily average.

About 15 houses will be burnt to the ground as a result of a deep fried turkey fire.

Wild turkeys can run 18 mph.

The largest turkey raised was 86 lbs. (that's terrifying!)

Happy Turkey Day from Food Plus Beer! Now go make yourself a Thanksgiving leftover sandwich and make us proud!

Food For Thought #2

Article: Hungry Jack's chipped over monster burger (The Sydney Morning Harold)


Hungry Jack's double Angry Angus Burger has been under attack in the last few days. According to the article:

Hungry Jack's double Angry Angus, packed with deep fried onion rings, two slices of cheese, two beef patties and several rashers of bacon, contains 26 grams of saturated fat and 5.6 grams of salt - 10 grams more saturated fat and 1.6 grams more salt than the daily intake recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Now that sounds like a meal! I'd have already bought one and been telling you how awesome it was (how could it not be?) but the closest Hungry Jack's is in Australia. The article then states that:

Eating the Angry Angus would cause a diner's blood pressure to rise immediately and eating it regularly would cause chronic high blood pressure, leading to heart attack, kidney failure and stroke, the chairman of the Sydney World Action on Salt and Health, Bruce Neal, said yesterday.

Health officials in Australia aren't very happy about this. In fact, many are demanding the burger carry a warning label. We all know the surgeons general warning on alcohol doesn't stop anyone. And alcohol has age restrictions, legal limits, and other regulations associated with it, why would this have any effect on a burger which has no restrictions whatsoever? What do you think?

Oh yea, a top health official also said:

''The burger has a great title because it makes me doubly angry. It is highly disappointing that a manufacturer in modern-day Australia would consider serving this to people. 'To think that you could have only one of these burgers every two days and nothing else is a ridiculous idea.''

Ridiculous indeed. Sign me up!

-Kyle

Ryan’s Birthday in New York: A Food and Beer Spectacle

In Connecticut, you can’t rent a car until you reach age 25. That’s all that’s left for me. My last real milestone. I have reached 22; the first of the many non-exciting ages I will reach here on out for the rest of my life, before I am eaten by a shark off of Australia’s Gold Coast at the age of 76. I had a vision.

But hey – just because the milestone isn’t exciting doesn’t mean we can’t have fun, does it? That was a rhetorical question.

With the denial of my inevitable mortality in mind, I ventured into New York City with Kyle and 3 friends of Food Plus Beer for a full day of misbehavior.

BROOKLYN BREWERY

After dropping off our things with our generous hosts, we hopped a subway to Brooklyn Brewery, home to some of the best beers I’ve ever had. When you walk into this place it actually smells like they're brewing beer. The beers here were 6 for 20$ (you buy tokens for beer). We had our first at about 2:10 p.m. For me, it was the Blast!: an Imperial IPA with a 8.5% ABV. So tasty. The flavors just pop, but it’s not overpowering. It doesn’t feel like you’re drinking such a strong beer. I followed with their 6.1% Winter Ale, a dark and sweet little number that reminded me a bit of Newcastle.

Brooklyn Brewery has cat.

We then took the “tour,” which in reality was just a short spiel by one of the brewery workers. Brooklyn only brews during the week, and they only give tours during the weekend. So there wasn’t much to see, but our tour guide had spilled something on his crotch, so there’s always that. There was also a great story about the time the brewery had its forklift stolen, only they didn’t have the money to afford a new one at the time, so the two brewmasters drove around all night in order to find the forklift and steal it back. Did I mention I love this company? It was also interesting to learn that they use pure unfiltered NYC tap water for all of their brewing while most craft breweries go to great lengths to get theirs filtered.

We downed another Blast! for the road, but since the place was BYOF (bring your own food - or order some to be delivered there) we skipped joyfully out of the brewery. Those beers don’t mess around, so we were already doing a bit of wobbling at this point.

MUGS ALE HOUSE

After stopping at a hipster used-clothing store and contemplating purchasing a circa-1994 leather Chicago Bulls jacket, we made our way to a bar called Mugs Ale House for much needed appetizers and of course, more beer (not to mention shots of the always-dangerous Rumplemintz). We had decent wings that could have used some more sauce, and nachos that my beer-riddled brain remembers as quite tasty. They had 36 beers on tap. I chose beer called Sweet Hoe, which I picked solely because of its funny name, Remember, I’m 22 years old.

SHAKE SHACK

After this, we went back to our hosts’ place (after getting off the wrong exit on the L train, of course) to continue to drink and prepare for dinner. Dinner was a delicious little burger-and-fries place called the Shake Shack, where they give you a fun little buzzer that vibrates when your food is ready. The meal was delicious and inexpensive, and the beef was top notch. This short blurb doesn't do it justice, if you see one, immediately go order yourself a burger.

EAST END BAR AND GRILL

Our next stop was the East End Bar and Grill, a Texas Tech fan bar that we went to in order to watch the Tech game with our host. Rather than taking a cab there, the group opted to take a drunken stroll through Central Park, which was blurry and beautiful. The game was a back and forth affair, but the smelly Oklahoma State Cowboys came through in the end. Magner’s and Smithwick’s were consumed here.

P.D. O'HURLEYS, GRAY'S PAPAYA

At this point, Kyle and his lady friend left for Stamford, leaving just 3 soldiers to carry out the remainder of the mission. We chose to usher in my birthday around midnight at an Irish pub called P.D. O’Hurley’s. As soon as we walked in the door, the Irish bartender was in a shouting match with a customer and violence was being threatened. We were clearly in the right place. We grabbed a couple Harp’s… and then we all realized that enough was enough. There would be no overdoing it on this night. We stopped by Gray’s Papaya for some sauerkraut chili dogs, and hit the sack.

3 bars, one brewery, and junk food galore. It was a good birthday.

-Ryan

November Food and Beer Events (Greater Connecticut)

There's lots of stuff going on in November! If you're looking for something to do and can't think of anything check out the list of Food and Beer events below. I'd say the best events are New Haven Restaurant week with it's $29 prix-fixe dinners, The Great International Beer Festival in Rhode Island, and the 19th Tri-Annual 'Cask Head' Cask Ale Festival.

My personal favorite idea from the list below is the 3rd Annual Big Game & Big Beer Dinner in Northampton, Massachussetts featuring only beers over 8% ABV and MEAT! The meat includes Bison, Gator, Elk, Wild Boar, Anteloupe, and Venison.

No one has use this yet but I'd figure I'll try. Theres that Restaurant.com link thing to the left. Check it out if you're going out to eat somewhere - you could save big.

Take 70% off Restaurant.com $25 Gift Cert. orders + Receive FREE $10 Gift from The Fruit Company. Use code DINE and Pay $3 thru 11/9/09.

CONNECTICUT

11/7 - 5th Annual Beer/Wine Show
Danielson, Connecticut - Beer Tasting

11/8 - 11/13 - New Haven Restaurant Week
New Haven, Connecticut - Restaurant Week

11/8 - New Haven Cocktail Competition
New Haven, Connectict - Cocktail Competition

11/11 - Night of Arrogance!
New Haven, Connecticut - Beer Tasting

11/12 - Sierra Nevada Beer Camp #12 Edge of Darkness Tapping
Willimantic, Connecticut - Beer Tasting

11/16 - Dogfish Head Beer Dinner at The Gingerman
Norwalk, Connecticut - Beer Dinner

11/18 - Wednesday Night Tasting featuring Clipper City Brewing Co.
New Haven, Connecticut - Beer Tasting

11/20 - 5th Ever Not So Snooty Beer, Wine, & Cheese Adventure
Windsor Locks, Connecticut - Beer Tasting

11/21 - Brewery Tour to Thomas Hooker Brewing Co.
Stamford, Connecticut - Beer Tour / Pub Crawl


MASSACHUSSETTS

11/7 - Beer Summit Harvest Fest 09
Boston, Massachusetts - Beer Festival

11/7 - New England Real Ale Exhibition North (NERAX North)
Haverhill, Massachusetts - Beer Festival

11/9 - Mayflower Brewing Company -- Brew Dinner
Boston, Massachusetts - Beer Dinner / Pairing

11/10 - Harvest Beer Dinner
Cambridge, Massachusetts - Beer Dinner / Pairing

11/10 - Magic Hat Brewing Company Beer Dinner
Cambridge, Massachusetts - Beer Dinner / Pairing

11/11 - Lagunitas Beer Dinner
Greenfield, Massachusetts - Beer Dinner / Pairing

11/11 - Long Trail Brewmaster Meet & Greet
Weymouth, Massachusetts - Beer Tasting

11/14 - Autumn Brewers Dinner at Cambridge Brewing Co.
Cambridge, Massachusetts - Beer Dinner / Pairing

11/14 - Crossroads BEERFEST
Palmer, Massachusetts - Beer Festival

11/15 - Harpoon Helps pre-Thanksgiving Beer-B-Q
Boston, Massachusetts - Charity Beer Event

11/16 - Brewer's Choice Beer DinnerBoston, Massachusetts - Beer Dinner / Pairing

11/17 - Ancient Ales Dinner with Dogfish at Technique - A Cordon Bleu Rest
Cambridge, Massachusetts - Beer Dinner / Pairing

11/22 - 3rd Annual Big Game & Big Beer Dinner
Northampton, Massachusetts - Beer Dinner / Pairing


NEW YORK

11/7 - 11/08 - 19th Tri-Annual 'Cask Head' Cask Ale Festival at The Brazen Head
Brooklyn, New York - Beer Festival

11/7 - Chelsea Brewing Company Tour
New York, New York - Beer Tour / Pub Crawl

11/7 - Greenpoint Beer Festival at Red Star
Brooklyn, New York - Beer Festival

11/7 - Pennsylvania Beer Night at Tri-boro Beverage
Astoria (Queens), New York - Beer Tasting

11/8 - Brooklyn Homebrewers Tour
New York City, New York - Homebrew Event

11/10 - Dundee IPA Re-Launch at Tap & Mallet
New York, New York - Professional Event

11/11 - English Beer Night!
New York, New York - Beer Festival

11/11 - Samuel Adams Utopias Release at Tap & Mallet
Rochester, New York - Beer Tasting

11/12 - Fancy Dutch Beer Week
New York, New York - Beer Festival

11/12 - Ithaca Beer Tastling at Wegmans - DeWitt
DeWitt, New York - Beer Tasting

11/12 - Ithaca Brewing Night at The Peekskill Brewery
Peekskill, New York - Beer Tasting

11/13 - Dogfish Head Beer Dinner
Ellenville, New York - Beer Dinner / Pairing

11/13 - Meet the Brewer- Dave from Climax Brewery
New York, New York - Beer Tasting

11/13 - The Divese, Superb & Unique Beers of Belgium
New York, New York - Beer Tasting

11/14 - 6th Annual Beer & Wine Festival at Holiday Valley
Ellicottville, New York - Beer Festival

11/14 - International Great Beer Expo at Nassau Coliseum
Uniondale, New York - Beer Festival

11/14 - Ommegang Brewery Series Night
Mahopac, New York - Beer Tasting

11/18 - Victory Release of Yakima Twilight
Williamsville, New York - Beer Tasting

11/19 - Sixpoint Craft Ales Tasting Event!Staten Island, New York - Beer Tasting

11/23 - Craft Beer & Artisanal Cheese
New York, New York - Beer Tasting

11/25 - Thanksgiving Eve Bash- Abita Brewing Co. at The Peekskill Brewery
Peekskill, New York - Beer Tasting


RHODE ISLAND

11/10 - Harpoon Brewery Paired Fondue Feast
Providence, Rhode Island - Beer Dinner / Pairing

11/13 - Left Hand Tasting with Simoes Imports (The Beer Guys)
Exeter, Rhode Island - Beer Tasting

11/14 - Great International Beer Festival
Providence, Rhode Island - Beer Festival