Well made the trip yesterday to Fort Worth to stay with my friend for the rest of the time here. Having a good time thus far, smoking a little herb, drinking a little bourbon and firing up the grill today. Still working the mini sessions as I just don't feel like putting in alot of time right now.

If any of the DFW crew would like to get together for a drink or two or three in the next couple of weeks just let me know as I should have time.

Mixing in a little green time with the booze

Nice work Piers-

On a pretty good winning streak although many of the days have been very short. Now 29 days in a row on the plus side for a little over 2000.00 in profits. Not bad for the time I have put in during that span (ca. 38 hours) since June 1.

Heading to a campground tonight with the kids. Should be a nice time with the requisite marshmallow, hotdogs and good bourbon.

Had a real nice time on the camping trip. It was the first time the kids had ever camped out or toasted marshmallows. They had a very nice time.

Cooked up a couple of rib eyes, drank a significant amount of Mr. Beam, fired up the ghetto pipe and spent a nice few hours looking at the stars and talking with one of my closest friends until far into the morning. Very nice to get away.

Put in an hour today and up 120 or so. Probably done for the day.

Can I suggest the bourbon of bourbon's?

Woodford Reserve. It is the most delightful and complex of the straight whiskeys. The 12 year old single barrel is "affordable" and it doesn't start getting really pricey until the 18 year olds which as a rule I like less no matter the bottle. It has a heavy alcohol burn for about three minutes until some of it evaporates and then a flavor that is somewhat floral and nutty, at least to me, inside the yummy bourbon flavor. I love kicking back a snifter of it, so that the alcohol evaporates slower and it traps the smell. Woodford Reserve I would never consider mixing it soda, it would be a crime against bourbon, although I might make a mint julip with it, and serving it over ice might not be so bad.

Jim Beam is ok, it tastes fine over ice and great mixed with a soda, and while there are better bottles the white label is fairly cheap. In the "Jim Beam" class I would rather drink Wild Turkey 101, as I'm probably going to be mixing it with a soda instead of doing shots or drinking a snifter. I wouldn't make a mint julip with either of them.

Elijah Craig, is another small batch bourbon that stands out, they use a charred oak barrel, and you can taste the toasted goodness. I prefer the 12 year old to the 18 year old, as it is smoother and less abrasive of an alcohol taste. It makes an interesting mint julip because of the stout taste and I like it over ice to dampen the really bold flavor.

I don't know if you can get them where you are at, but I would suggest taking a taste if you get the chance.

Thanks rdale,

I will give your Woodfard suggestion a try as I am out. Usually drink Crown or Maker's Mark but I always have an open mind when trying new beers and liquors. Down in Houston now visiting my best friend, roasting a drunk chicken and just relaxing so a good bourbon would only add another nice element to the mix.

Yo piers!

Howre you doing ya old souse, you? Glad to hear your havin a relaxing time- nothin quite like drinkin some good bourbon and eatin some good food, eh? Beats the hell out of the bar exam, eh? But you just wait, in about a week im going to vegas, and i plan to either die there or come back rich. Its gonna be sweet.

Anyways, have to agree with rdale about woodford reserve. It is at the absolute top of my bourbon list, but there are a couple of other ones that I have to recommend to you, since it absolutely KILLS ME (ya hear that piers? KILLS ME I TELL YOU!) to hear of a man of culture, taste and discrimination drinking Makers, which is pretty much bottom shelf bourbon in my opinion (at least its the lowest ill drink)-- (Okay, lemme qualify that. Its the lowest ill BUY and start drinking. However, if i am already drunk and my buzz iis wearing off, and theres nothing around but a bottle of draino, then--well, lets just say ill be the drunkest guy in the emergency room...muhahah!

Uhm..ya, so anyways what the fuck was i saying? Draino...culture...anal penetration...BOURBON, Right! So in addition to woodford, which is very good stuff, there are:

Basil Hayden- a very smooth bourbon that is only 80 proof, but very tasty also. Im not as articulate as rdale about the intricacies of flavor, but suffice to say it fuckin rules.

Old whiskey River. Another smooth sweet bourbon, i think its over 90 proof though--doesnt taste like it. This ones so great tasting your wife could probly drink it.

And my personal favorite, KNOB CREEK.

Now before you go shlobbing the knob (AAAAAHAHAHA! SHLOBBING THE KNOB!! GET IT????) you should know that knob isnt exactly for the faint of heart, like the first two. Its 101 proof, and its definitely not what id call smooth. Its very strong, but really flavorful, dark, and has alot of character. You can almost taste the sweat of the guys who distilled it in the mountains of ole kentucky. Its a true souses bourbon, and its my personal fave.

Also, a small mention goes to JEFFERSONS reserve, which is possibly the all time best bourbon ive had, but the problem is its so impossible to get that its kindof pointless even to bother.

One last honorable mention, goes to Evan Williams single barrell, because its a good, solid bourbon, and its actually about the same price as makers/jack, yet its much better. (all those other ones are significantly more)

Us big professional gamblers gotta drink the best to maintain our pimpin lifestyle, right? Right!

Tally ho!

Well I got a bottle of Woodford and Knob Hill and alternated between both of them while playing a little bonus killing poker to ease the suckout pains. Managed to win about 100 in the process over about an hour so they are already paid for

Enjoying them both. In my opinion they are both on par with my favorite liquor (Crown) at about the same price (25 for Knob Hill, 30 for Woodford; 750 ml); Houston prices).

Was going to take on TW in his challenge match but he wasn't logged on, perhaps tomorrow. My ex girlfriend has been ragging my ass because I haven't stepped up to the plate but she still won't play me heads up

Yo dude,

I'm actually gonna be playing a live tourney tomorrow, and doing a shitload of drinking afterwards...so maybe sunday? Speaking of Crown, I may just buy a bottle tomorrow depending on how I do at the tourny. Definitely not my normal drink of choice, but that's only because I'm a cheapskate. Since it's also my dad's favorite, it was in fact my first foray into the wonderful world of liquor. Hell, if I get drunk enough I may sit out of my little homegame long enough to hand your rockish ass to you in a challenge match Hopefully you won't be like Mecos, who folded preflop about 15 or 20 times over the course of the match, saying "Shit, I forgot!" every single fucking time.

-TW

Yeah, I'm "fast sipper" myself, no shame drinking it like you like it. There are ton of really good scotches too, if you are a whiskey drinking kind of guy... I have a couple of friends that almost always have a good bottle of scotch on hand, but I can't remember labels in particular that I have enjoyed the most, there is much better than Johnny Walker out there.

You should try cooking with some of it.... I like making a sugar bourbon mixture to pour over steak or fish while it is still on the grill. Elijah Craig I like better in cooking than drinking, although it sure is a yummy drink. There is a Kentucky delicacy for the holidays called bourbon balls, http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1613,150 ... 03,00.html Bourbon balls are great with Makers, the kind you buy in the store suck.

It is like derby pie, there is a basic idea of what a derby pie is, and then everyone's own recipe, I like my friend Jason's best it has hints of mint and booze mixed in with the chocolate and pecans.

Thanks rdale,

That looks like a very nice recipe. Hard to go wrong with bourbon, pecans and chocolate.

Well why we're talking food might as well add this recipe that I just tried a few days ago and it was pretty damn tasty. Served it with some roasted potatoes that I season with onion salt, salt and pepper and place in a little olive oil and wrap in foil. This needs to cook about 1.5 hours at around 375-400 F so can start this 30 minutes or so ahead of time and should be ready when the chops are finished. A loaf of garlic bread would also go pretty good with it.

4 pork chops ca. 1.5 in. thick
1 cup apple juice or a dry white wine (I used apple juice)
1/2 teaspoon corn starch
1/2 teaspoon water
3 tblsp olice oil
3 cloves of garlic (i generally just use the prepared garlic)
3 tblsp fresh thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 medium purple onion quartered

Bring apple juice to boiling for 4-5 minutes and then add cornstarch and water. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and then remove from heat and add the remaining oil, spices and seasonings to it.
Broil chops and onions (ca. 425-450 F) for about 9-10 minutes and then brush well with the sauce and return them to the oven to cook an addition 10-12 minutes. Add some more sauce about halfway through this time. The remaining sauce can be used to cover the onion and chops more after cooking.