This week will be easy:  do not leave with what you brought.  For some of us, this is the no-brainer etiquette tip…for others not so much.  After venturing to another 30-something b-day party, I made my way around the party just enough to engage in some good ‘ole Etiquette Tuesday talk.  This one particular guest was charming, funny and offered the serenity needed in this 30 and older house party.  This guest, however, thought it would be a good idea to snag that bottle of Jack Daniel’s that they brought to the party as they headed out the door.  Now we laughed and joked at this concept but seriously…this is bad etiquette.

When you go to a party/soiree/kickback/etc. and you bring a bottle/dish/etc., it should not leave with you.  It is at the very least a kind way of saying “Thank You” to the host for opening their home to you and your guests for the event.  If you feel what you brought is worth more than what you got from the party, then consider a cheaper bottle of wine or liquour for the next swaray but for tonight, leave the bottle at the host/hostess house.  When you snag the bottle on the way out the door, there are a few terms that come to mind:  cheap, tacky and hmm, inconsiderate.  I have a friend or two with this terrible habit and they have been coined the “cheapo’s”, which is not a name you want attached to the tact resume.  It’s ok to be cheap, but do this on your own time and maybe stay home when you feel you need to carry the bottle back home with you…

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In case you haven’t heard, September 2nd is Cabernet Day. Dreamed up by Rick Backas at St. Supery winery, #Cabernet Day is meant to be a celebration of the Cabernet family of grapes across all social media sites (and even in person).

Several of the wineries and wine shops on the event site are hosting live events (sadly, none in Virginia). So, pop open a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon or

Earlier this month I wrote up a mid-harvest report from Bordeaux. That report left off Chateau Brane-Cantenac. I now have their update, and it sounds like a great harvest:
The hot weather of July allowed the vine to catch up the week of lateness that the vine had accumulated since the flowering. On July 22nd we saw the first berries that changed color. The “mi-veraison” was around August 5th

I’m not even going to tease you with exposition…

To start you need to warm up some milk and butter. Use only the best stuff you can get. The butter of course was Kerrygold…my all time favorite! Let this cool down, you want it to be warm, but not hot and not cold.

I was tired when I made this, but there are the little yeasts dying a horrible miserable death. Instead of taking a warm bath in butter and milk, activating their delicious gas…I scalded and murdered each and everyone of them. “Too hot” they were screaming.

This recipe is a sweet bread, so you need some sugar. And why the heck not, use some vanilla sugar if you have it lying around.

Butter, milk, sugar, eggs, flour and dead yeast. That’s my dough there. A little sticky, waiting to rise. 90 minutes later, it’s still sitting there, just a little flatter and more sad looking. I really did kill the yeast. Yeast needs a moist, warm environment to start the rising process. You kill the process with extreme heat and slow the process with cold. So what to do? After that 90 minute rest I proofed new yeast in warm milk, with a pinch of sugar. I waited a few minutes for the mixture to get foamy and start to smell super–the smell of fermentation! With that, I poured the happily proofed yeast into the boring dough and started kneading in the mixer again. And I started adding new flour. I total, I probably had to add an additional cup of flour, give or take. the dough now felt like proper dough and within a few minutes of resting, was rising! Woo hoo…I fixed it!!!!

90 minutes later, the blob was about to pour over the giant bowl I had it in.

I just tapped the top of the dough and it started to deflat, belching all the day down the bowl.

I nudged the dough out of the bowl, onto a floured surface and started to press it out into a large rectangle. Hold up your bread pans to make sure the size it going to fit. This was for two loafs.

Dump a bunch of cinnamon sugar on the dough, going all the way to the edge.

Roll the dough up and drop it into the pans, seam side down. Allow to rest for another 90 minutes to two hours.

Brush the loafs with an egg wash…liberally!

Bake for 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven. My loafs overflowed and started kissing each other. Make sure to invite guests over to your house at this time. The cinnamon aromas wafting about will drive people nuts!

Let the loafs rest for a few minutes to cool, then slice with a large bread knife. If you can, toast it. Or, just eat it warm, with more Kerrygold butter!

Mmmm, butter! Seriously…I started giggling and had tears in my eyes when I had my first bite. So good.

Cinnamon Bread
From The Pioneer Woman Cooks
For 1 loaf

1 cup Milk
6 TB Butter
2½ tsp Active Dry Yeast
2 whole Eggs
1/3 cups Sugar
3½ cups All-purpose Flour
1 tsp Salt
1/3 cups Sugar
2 TB Cinnamon
Egg and Milk, Mixed Together, For Brushing
Softened Butter, For Smearing And Greasing

Melt butter with milk. Heat until very warm, but don’t boil. Allow to cool until still warm to the touch, but not hot. Sprinkle yeast over the top, stir gently, and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Combine flour and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix sugar and eggs with the paddle attachment until combined. Pour in milk/butter/yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add half the flour and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the other half and beat until combined.

Switch to the dough hook attachment and beat/knead dough on medium speed for ten minutes. If dough is overly sticky, add 1/4 cup flour and beat again for 5 minutes.

Heat a metal or glass mixing bowl so it’s warm. Drizzle in a little canola oil, then toss the dough in the oil to coat. Cover bowl in plastic wrap and set it in a warm, hospitable place for at least 2 hours.

Turn dough out onto the work surface. Roll into a neat rectangle no wider than the loaf pan you’re going to use, and about 18 to 24 inches long. Smear with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Mix sugar and cinnamon together, then sprinkle evenly over the butter-smeared dough. Starting at the far end, roll dough toward you, keeping it tight and contained. Pinch seam to seal.

Smear loaf pan with softened butter. Place dough, seam down, in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix a little egg with milk, and smear over the top. Bake for 40 minutes on a middle/lower rack in the oven.

Remove from the pan and allow bread to cool.

Fresh cinnamon bread! Stay tuned for more fun!!!!

In the kitchen again!  And this time, I took pictures (*pretty good if I say so myself).  Being a food blogger is more than just cooking and eating…it’s actually visualizing, knowing the right lighting and the perfect camera to buy and the list goes on and on.  Needless to say when I started Johnna Knows Good Food three years ago, I did not know this would be the equivalent of a full-time, part-time job.  I love every minute of it. 

Below is my attack back to the kitchen while also creating my version of the Julie and Julia bruschetta recipe that will hopefully make the cut on Endless Simmer’s 100 Ways to Use a Tomato (*fingers crossed):

16 oz. heirloom tomatoes (*can be found at your local farmers market when in season)

1- 24″ French baguette bread (*cut into 1″ slices)

Kosher Salt

Fresh Ground Pepper

1 tbsp. chopped garlic

1 garlic clove (*peeled and halved)

1/4 cup fresh basil (*chopped)

Truffle Olive Oil (*Suggested:  Olevano Truffle Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

Rinse tomatoes.

Cut all the tomatoes in half.

Chop up the basil.

Toss the tomatoes with the chopped basil, about 2 tbsp. of the truffle olive oil, salt and pepper (*to taste). Set aside.

In a skillet, add the chopped garlic clove and about 2 tbsp. olive oil.  If you need additional olive oil to coat the pan, feel free to add.

Add the sliced french bread to the pan and brown on both sides.

Once browned, rub each side of the bread with the halved garlic cloves.

Spoon on tomato mixture…

And Enjoy!

*Johnna’s tip:  Unless you and your guests are prepared to eat the bruschetta immediately, I suggest keeping the tomato mixture seperate from the bread because it will become soggy.  Serve the tomato mixture in one bowl and the bread on another serving platter. Be prepared to get a little messy!

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One of my favoriter memorials that is dedicated to all the lives lost in World War II.

One of my favorite views in the city!

This is the view if your turn around from the [...]

It may be the little sister to the Belgian Beer Fest, but the September 10-12 German Beer Festival at Maxs Taphouse in Baltimore, Maryland, is still full of good beer. Maybe it’s the lagers, or maybe it’s the less than astronomical rates of IBUs and ABVs (with exceptions!), but this informal festival seems to bring out less geeky rambunctiousness and more Gemütlichkeit.

From the website and email:
Sept 10-12, 2010
11am to close each day
NO ENTRANCE FEE
Over 50 German beers on draft:

1809 Berliner Weisse
Ahornberger Dark Märzen
Aecht Schlenkerla Urbock
Aecht Schlenkerla Märzen
Aecht Schlenkerla Helles
Bitburger Pils
Erdinger Hefeweizen
Erdinger Dunkel Weiss
Erdinger Oktoberfest
Franziskaner Hefeweizen
Franziskaner Dunkel Weiss
Gunter Brau Amber Märzen
Hartman Amaber Märzen
Hofstetten Aurora
Hofstetten Bio Honigsbock
Hofstetten Granit Bock
Hofstetten Kueblebier
Koning Ludwig Hefeweizen
Langbrau Amber Märzen
Mahrs Weisse
Mahrs Unfiltered Pils
Mahrs Ungespundet Lager
Rothenbach Dark Märzen
Schneider Aventinus
Schneider Aventinus Eisbock
Schneider Edel Weisse
Schneider Hopfen Weisse
Schneider Weisse
Spaten Dunkel
Spaten Lager
Spaten Oktoberfest
Spaten Optimator
Steigel Lager
Uerige Classic
Uerige Dopplesticke
Uerige Sticke
Warsteiner Dunkel
Warsteiner Oktoberfest
Warsteiner Pils
Wurzburger Oktoberfest
Wurzburger Pils

General Manager/Beer Manager Casey Hard says that his list is 80% completed. In addition, at current count, he has 20 bottled German beers, and more than 10 German gravity kegs. He continues to work on securing more draughts. Beers will be served in mugs, Maßkrugs (one-liter steins, pronounced “mahss“), one liter boots, and some 2-liter boots (modeled below by long-time bartender Jamie).

A riff on those ‘gravity’ kegs …

I noticed a Washington, D.C., area beer bar recently mentioning that they would be serving German firkins. Well, not really.

The term ‘firkin‘ explicitly refers to a 10.8 US gallon cask, or, as measured in UK terms, 9 Imperial gallons. The Germans don’t measure in gallons; they use the metric system. A common size is 50 liters, which roughly corresponds to 13.2 US gallons. More to the point, a firkin is a cask, a vessel in which a secondary or tertiary re-fermentation occurs. Though one might encounter kellerbier —lager re-fermented in a keg, or served unfiltered from a tank, such as zwickelbier— a German brewer would bemused to hear her kegs referred to with a British term.

Here’s a picture of a Reisssdorf Kölsch keg, which has a spring-loaded bung through which a bartender can insert a tap.

Since extraneous CO2 is not used to push the beer through the lines, serving it by gravity tap will result in a less gassy mouthfeel —similar to beer from a cask. And, yes, the beer is unpasteurized —as are many kegged beers, by the way— but it is not a cask! It is filtered, kegged beer, that can also be dispensed via a ‘standard’ draught system through a top spear and coupler.

Take none of this as disparagement. Fresh, well-made, full-flavored lagers (and ales, such as Kölsch) can be sublime.

3 Trucks were at the DC State fair today: DC Slices, Curbside Cupcake and the Sweet Flow Mobile (Sweet Green’s frozen yogurt). I didn’t get to Sweet Green’s truck, but I’ve tried their product at the storefront.

I tried a slice ($4) and it needed more cheese (and to be served hotter)–it was alright for having come from a truck, but not great. The sauce was it’s strength. The person with me didn’t like the crust. I’d try it again. They were also out of everything but plain slices.

I tried the lemon cupcake ($3) from Curbside and it was good…with the lemon cupcake and lemon frosting bringing different flavors and textures. Thumbs up.

In other food truck news…The Red Hook Lobster Pound Truck will be at Chinatown Coffee this Thursday evening 9/2 for a happy hour from 630pm-830pm. That is…lobster rolls at 5th and H NW! Chinatown coffee will be offering $3 Lagunitas IPA and Dale’s Pale Ale. I’d love to see more events like this.

BTW, Chinatown Coffee has several varieties of absinthe which they mix with water, sugar, and fire…it was like watching a ritual. What’s a little toxin and psychoactive substance among friends? BTW, I like anise…and I still didn’t like the absinthe I tried at Chinatown Coffee, but the variety I tried was herbal.  Next time Ill try the Swiss one.

-JAY

One of the things that I love about Virginia wineries is that they are not afraid to experiment. Because Virginia is such a young wine growing region winemakers are willing to try new varietals to see what really marries well with the terroir. But, it is not just about experimenting with grapes, its also about experimenting with events. Breaux Vineyards has events built around cajun foods,