Girl Meets Food

Photo: Flickr MikaAltskan

Come out on Sunday, September 12, from 12 to 7 p.m. for the 32nd annual Adams Morgan Day Festival!

This great community event showcases the best of Adams Morgan, with two large music stages and other cultural, art and dance events.

Enjoy music from Central and South America, Latin rock, salsa, jazz, soul, funk and American rock.

Adams Morgan Day Festival was first held in 1978 to celebrate the dynamism and innovation that arises from the melting pot of cultures and their interaction together.

This popular D.C. festival always draws more than 25,000 attendees.  Come join the festivities!

New this year, the Adams Morgan Day Festival features:

A Health Pavilion sponsored by Kaiser Permanente.

A new Pet Zone for treats and wading.

Famous Columbia and Florida live music stages which bookend 18th Street NW.

Dance lessons at the dynamic Dance Plaza with a range of folkloric, drummers, salsa, and national dances.An expanded Green Pavilion offering eco-friendly products, services, samples, and info.

Arts on Belmont artists/artisans originals: glassware and metalwork, paintings, ceramics, jewelry, sculptures, photography and more.

Kids Area on Marie Reed school grounds with fun and educational family activities.

Jazz in the Park offers a welcome respite from the crowds in Kalorama Park.

Vendors galore, offering cuisines for all palettes, and international specialty items, arts and crafts, jewelry, clothes, and unique gifts.

Note: Usually I don’t write about beer, but the story behind this one I find most intriguing…

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Almost two-hundred years after the London Beer Flood, another beer-related accident resulted not in disaster but great discovery.  After a flood swept through the basement of the Coors Brewing Company in Golden, Colorado, Brewmaster Keith Villa went down to assess the damage.

Like Indiana Jones hacking his way through the Peruvian jungle, Keith sorted through the wreckage, braving possible booby traps and Nazis, looking for anything salvageable.

To his amazement, he found an old recipe in a logbook, still clearly written and perfectly preserved. A golden light shone all around him and a chorus of angels rejoiced!

Or perhaps it was the sound of the Coors Light Silver Bullet train.

Dated 1914, the recipe was simply named Golden Lager.  The recipe called for rice instead of barley, as there was a shortage of grains during the First World War.  Next, Belgian malt and five different hops.  This Golden Lager was to be light, unpasteurized and cold-filtered.

Keith knew he had to recreate it.  The creator of Blue Moon spent a year developing this special pre-Prohibition style lager that was as American as drinking before noon.

Batch 19 was born.

It represents the last batch of beer before beer was banned in 1919.  It delivers a bold, hoppy flavor that is surprisingly well balanced.

“In 1919, barrels were broken and great beer was lost,” said Batch 19 Brand Manager, Jennifer Anton. “When beer came back fourteen years later, it wasn’t the same.  Consumers want to experience what beer tasted like before Prohibition. In that rebellious spirit, we were inspired by the authentic recipe to brew it right and bring it back. Batch 19 derives its bold taste by using a rare combination of hops, including Hersbrucker and Strisslespalt.”

Batch 19 is available on tap only in select speakeasy-style saloon bars in Chicago, San Francisco, San Jose, and Milwaukee.  In D.C., you can find Batch 19 at the 18th Amendment, Iron Horse, The Saloon, We the Pizza, and Stetsons—one of oldest bars in D.C., and the only one fined during Prohibition for serving alcohol!

Dear Reader,

I ate a bull penis today.  I absolutely regret my decision.

I’ve eaten some crazy-ass $#@& lately.

There have been many wonderful things too, like scotch eggs, kimchi quesadillas, and toffee bacon donuts.  I wonder if you’ve experienced the same joy.

Oh, if only you could write back to me and tell me—is there something that sticks out in your mind that you want to share?

Have you eaten something incredible, strange, bizarre, unique, memorable and just plain out-of-this-world?

I wish you’d answer me, Reader.  Write me back and tell me everything.  You do have email in Heaven, don’t you?

Also, Mikey talked to me today at lunch.  He’s so cute!  Thank you for not letting me have bovine genitalia stuck in my braces.

P.S.  Again, I’m sorry about the bull.