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Sip Trips #217: Christmas Craziness

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December was the jam-packed month I’ve come to expect, especially since having kids. Christmas events, Vancouver Canucks games and many meals kept us out and about. Let’s see what the Sip Family got up to, as we bid adieu to 2022:

Early in the month, Mrs. Sip and I had a Canucks game to attend, so prior to the contest, we had dinner at The Keg in Yaletown, where I took full advantaged of their happy hour, ordering the Keg Burger & Fries, along with a pair of Gin Basil Lemonade cocktails. The feast was very good, but we still had time to kill before puck drop, so we walked over to Elisa, where we split a trio of drinks, including the Charring the Cosmos (Gin, Grilled Pineapple Agave Syrup, Lime, Soda, Lem-Marrakech Bitters), Earl Grey Martini (Gin, Amaretto, Earl Grey, Lavender Syrup, Egg White) and Roxanne (Scotch, Malbec, Lemon, Red Dragon Chai Syrup). We hope to return to Elisa another time for the full meal experience.

A few days later, we took Girl Sip out for a movie night, eating at the Old Spaghetti Factory beforehand. I selected the Chicken Parmagiana with Caesar Salad, which was good. It had been a while since I’d eaten at Old Spaghetti Factory and it was fun to try it again with Girl Sip, who is a passionate pasta fanatic.

Pasta

Later that week, Mrs. Sip and I needed to pick up a package at our mailbox in the U.S., so while across the line, we had a quick bite to eat at Gateway Taphouse & Grill in Blaine, Washington. To drink, I went with the Anderson Valley Boont Amber Ale, while Mrs. Sip drank a pint of Beach Cat Meowy Christmas Winter Ale. For food, I took advantage of their $10 Burger Night, which included a burger and seasoned fries, which were a wedge/curly fry hybrid that I really liked.

In the middle of the month, Mrs. Sip and I received our winter VCBW Beer Boxes. I have to give a shout out to the breweries that continue to provide unique beers to this project, particularly Old Yale and Russell, which provided two beers this time. The Wild Eye Dark N Stormy cocktail-inspired beer was neat too.

Prior to another Canucks game, this time with the Sipplings in tow, we ate at Boston Pizza. I had the Boston-Sized Burger, which was very filling, paired with a couple pints of Rickard’s Red. The place was packed on this night and this caused service to be a little chaotic, which was the only downfall of a fun evening out.

Baby Sitting

Perhaps the dating highlight of the month was when Mrs. Sip and I were able to visit the Tinseltown Bar, being run out of the Vancouver Alpen Club. Tickets were $19 each and included a welcome drink (Mulled Wine, Hot Cider or Hot Chocolate with liquor of your choice). I went with a Hot Chocolate with Spiced Rum, which I enjoyed. As we played a few games and listened to various Christmas tunes, we also ordered four of the seven cocktails offered by the pop-up bar. This included the Jingle All the Way (Gin, Lime Juice, Cranberry Juice, Simple Syrup, Egg Whites), White Christmas (White Rum, Lime Juice, Mint, Simple Syrup, Club Soda, Candy Cane garnish), Holly Jolly (Vodka, Elderflower, Orange Juice, Ginger Beer, Mint garnish) and Sugar Plum Fairy (Chambord, Gin, Soda, Lemon Juice, Simple Syrup, Sugar Rim, Mint garnish). Each drink was $10-$12 and all we tried were tasty.

For Christmas, I received a couple beers, a BC Liquor Store gift card and edible cocktail glitters from Mrs. Sip. The Sip-in-Laws provided me a bottle of Hennessy Cognac and Ma and Pa Sip gave me the Monin Holiday Cheer Collection syrup collection (Macadamia Nut, Peppermint, Dark Chocolate, Gingerbread, Toasted Marshmallow), as far as liquor-related presents went.

For Christmas dinner, I presented another cocktail menu for the family. It was my last chance to serve the 38th Birthday recipes I had been working on for most of the year, after Mrs. Sip and Cousin Sip’s joint birthday in January was vetoed due to a Covid lockdown. The menu was comprised of the Hold On Loosely (Southern Comfort, Cola, Orange Soda); stRontiUM (Bacardi Dragonfruit Rum, Sprite Winter Cranberry Soda, Maraschino Cherry Syrup); The Parallel (Grapefruit Soju, Peach Schnapps, Lemon Juice); Place Your Bets (Tito’s Vodka, Watermelon-Lime Club Soda, Raspberries and Blackberries); and Top of the Table (Tanqueray Rangpur Gin, Tonic Water, Raspberry-Lemonade). Each drink was connected to the number 38, as Hold On Loosely is a song by the rock group 38 Special, stRontiUM has an atomic number of 38, the 38th parallel separates North and South Korea, Place Your Bets is a reference to the 38 slots on a roulette wheel, and Top of the Table is connected to the 38 matches played by each team in a Premier League season.

Cocktail Menu

Following our last Canucks game of 2022, Mrs. Sip and I had a late night meal at Devil’s Elbow Ale and Smokehouse. As we shared their Pulled Pork Plate (our two sides were the Mac N’ Cheese Cornbread and Tater Tots), I had servings of the Main Street Naked Fox IPA and Moon Under Water Puft Daddy Marshmallow White Stout, while Mrs. Sip tried the Faculty 241 Minzeweizen and Container Dark Arts Belgian Quadrupel. It was a very nice end to a busy Christmas week.

But we were ready to wrap the month just yet. After taking the Sipplings to Science World (or as Boy Sip calls it: Science Circle), we had a late lunch/early dinner at R&B Ale & Pizza House. Mrs. Sip and I both took advantage of their Pizza and Beer deal for $20. She had the Mushroom Bianca pizza with Auld Nick Winter Ale, while I went with a delicious BBQ Brisket and Pineapple pizza with Hipster Haze Hazy IPA. The Sipplings were quite content with their Pretzel, followed by a sundae at Earnest Ice Cream.

Ice Cream

For New Year’s Eve, I picked up a 1.14-litre bottle of Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum and immediately put it to good use. Adding it all up, my New Year’s consumption included seven mixed drinks, five vodka sodas, two beers, a couple shots, and a partridge in a pear tree! Our group stayed up way too late and this was following a 40th birthday celebration the night before. Suffice to say, Mrs. Sip and I are still tired and trying to get back on a good sleep pattern.

2023 is already shaping up to be a busy year. I wish everyone out there reading this a Happy New Year and hope you’ll continue to follow along with the shenanigans of the Sip Family!

Sip Trips #126: San Diego Sipping (Part 2)

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Part two of our month in San Diego County began with an outing to Belle Marie Winery, where Mrs. Sip enjoyed a tasting. As Mrs. Sip sampled a few wines, I changed a Baby Sip poopy diaper. Alas, this is life now! The other reason I didn’t join Mrs. Sip was because I’m still not a fan of the way tastings are done in the San Diego area. Whereas I’m accustomed to typically paying $5 for a tasting at home, which is waived if you buy a bottle, here the price was $10 and bottle purchases don’t lead to a free tasting. To be fair, this is one of the more decent tasting prices we’ve encountered in that region. Don’t even get me started on the Temecula Valley Wine Country.

Following the winery, we visited Plan 9 Alehouse, taking advantage of their progressive keg pricing ($3 pint at 3pm, $4 at 4pm, $5 at 5pm). I selected The Lost Abbey Farmhouse Lager, which went well with our appies of Garlic Fries and Chips & Guac. En route back to our resort, I restocked our beer reserve with Kona Brewing’s Liquid Aloha Variety Pack. This case included the brewery’s Island IPA, Magic Sands Mango Saison and Wailua Wheat.

guacamole good fat

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, we decided to spend the occasion doing a bit of a brewery crawl. The journey started at Mother Earth Tap House, where we built two flights of six 6oz beers, allowing us to try much of the tasting room’s extensive lineup. Our favourites were the Xtra Nuts and Cali Creamin’, which seemed to be very popular around the region.

Next up was the Belching Beaver 980 Pub, which we had been advised had fantastic Philly Cheesesteaks. That advice couldn’t have been more accurate. As we scarfed down the delicious sandwiches, I tried the Phantom Bride IPA, while stealing sips of Mrs. Sip’s PB&J Blonde, which was fantastic. We also tried samples of the Peanut Butter Stout, Horchata Imperial Stout, and Mexican Chocolate with Dark Cherries cask option. With good fortune on our side, as we finished our pints, they began stocking the “to go” fridge with a limited release beer, so I implored Mrs. Sip to go investigate. The Belching Beaver/Deftones Good Morning Beautiful Brown Ale (with Coconut, Coffee and Maple Syrup) was the prize and so we snagged a bottle for the road.

Our crawl wrapped with a quick stop at Iron Fist Brewing, where we split another flight, including their Renegade Blonde, Spice of Life, Seven-Seven, and Ken Schmidt’s Pillow Mint. The Pillow Mint was the highlight of the visit, reminding us of a liquefied After Eight chocolate.

After Eight Chocolate

The next day, we got together with friends of ours who live in the area, meeting at their local favourite: Booze Brothers Brewing. While Mrs. Sip ordered a flight made up of their Peachy Monkey, Blackberry Cruiser, Easy Rider Brown, and Honey Bloom, I enjoyed a pint of their Green Eyed Amber, which I had read online was a very popular choice. The place was very neat, with lots of comfy seating and food trucks on hand for munchies.

Following the brewery, we had dinner at Tekila Cocina Mexicana, where Mrs. Sip and I split their Queso Fundido and Carnitas Quesadilla. To quench my thirst, I ordered a Jalapeno Cilantro Margarita, which had a decent level of heat and interesting flavour blend with the addition of Cilantro. Mrs. Sip tried their “Build Your Own Magarita” option, selecting Hibiscus Liqueur and 1800 Reposado Tequila.

No visit to San Diego is complete without seeing the San Diego Zoo. Best of all, folks can drink craft beers throughout the park, with different options on tap at locations spread around the attraction. I started with the Stone Tangerangutan Express IPA and later added the Mike Hess African Leopard IPA. Other animal-themed brews included the Ballast Point Koala Kolsch (which Mrs. Sip tried) and Karl Strauss African Penguin Pale Ale.

lions-at-zoo.jpg

After our day at the Zoo ended, we went for dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Here, I paired the Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing IPA with an order of Spaghetti Vesuvius. The IPA worked well to cool the heat from the spicy sauce of my main dish.

Part three of our travels includes journeys to Temecula and Carlsbad, for beer, wine and other shenanigans!

Sip Trips #114: All the Hits

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Well, another busy week is in the books (I’m starting to sound like a broken record), with Mrs. Sip and I finding time to have as much fun as possible, while getting things as ready as possible for the arrival of our daughter, sometime in the next few weeks. Here’s what we got up to:

The week began with the Sip Alliance’s long-awaited return to Port Moody’s Brewer’s Row. Before arriving there, though, we had to first travel to Coquitlam’s Mariner Brewing, which had only opened days before and is the first of its kind in the city. With four beers on tap, I tried their Northeast IPA, which I found to be pretty tasty. The brewery promises much more to come in the future and their space and constellation theming are really good starts.

Brewery Water

Next up was Brewer’s Row, with stops at Yellow Dog, Twin Sails and Parkside breweries, where I had pints of their High Five Hazy IPA, Street Legal IPA and Motel Five-Hop Pale Ale, respectively. Sadly, we didn’t manage to get to Moody Ales before closing time, so we owe them a visit in the future. I love this area of four breweries packed within a five-minute walk of each other and the new Evergreen SkyTrain line makes heading out that way so much easier. We will be back again soon.

On Friday, we finally got around to hitting one of our favourite annual summer traditions: the Twilight Drive-In Theatre in Aldergrove. While no drinking was involved, it was a great start to the Labour Day long weekend, as the lineup included Cars 3, followed by Despicable Me 3. We only stayed for those first two movies, but in celebration of the drive-in’s 12th anniversary, they were playing four movies on both Friday and Saturday night. While we love our trips out there for movies outdoors and you can’t beat the price of $12.50 per person for the entire evening, this was the first line-up this summer that actually appealed to us. Perhaps bad movies in general are to blame.

The next day, we started with some relaxing pool time at Ma and Pa Sip’s place before returning to Vancouver to move some furniture. Following the move, we treated Ma and Pa Sip to dinner at The Parlour in Yaletown, which had come highly recommended to me. We were not disappointed, as the place has a good happy hour to go along with great service. Our pizzas (The Dirty and Roasted varieties) were very good and were enough for a group of four to be happily fed.

Fitness Whole Pizza

After dinner, Mrs. Sip and I attended the Rio Theatre for their presentation of Dysfunctional Disney Cabaret. The goal here, according to our host, was to completely f*ck up our childhood memories with Disney-themed burlesque acts. It was quite the entertaining show and I have to commend the Rio for having a jug of water available to patrons on this hot, hot day. One server even steered me away from buying bottled water, in favour of the cooler, which I did not know about.

Sunday began with another round of furniture buying and baby laundry loads, but the reward came with hitting Jimmy’s Taphouse for happy hour. This has always been one of my favourite happy hours in the city with a number of half priced menu items and cheap drink options. We enjoyed their poutine with chipotle drizzle and an order of hot wings, which really hit the spot. The spicy combo was washed down with the Phillips Solaris White Peach Ale and a shot of Jameson Irish Whiskey.

Why was I getting my shot game on? Because we had received complimentary ticket to the Lionel Richie-Mariah Carey All the Hits concert, as part of Mrs. Sip’s recent anniversary gift to me of Vancouver Canucks half-season tickets. This was the first time either of us had ever sat in the exclusive 500-level Club seats, which provided a bar and bathrooms to about 50 people. As for the show, Mariah Carey didn’t do Fantasy or Honey, which if I know them, must have been hits. That’s okay, though, as Lionel Richie was extremely entertaining. His Dancing on the Ceiling with all the lights and video effects was the highlight of the night.

Lionel Richie Hello

We wrapped the long weekend by celebrating Pa Sip’s birthday at The Keg. Sitting atop the restaurant’s rooftop patio was very relaxing and the service was top notch. I ordered their Keg Burger, which pales in comparison to their former Prime Rib Burger, which I mourn the loss of to this day. As for beverages, I imbibed with a Keg Size Watermelon Mojito and Keg Caesar, perfect accompaniments to my still decent entree. A slice of Billy Miner Pie to finish the meal was the perfect bow on an incredible weekend!

But the family celebrations weren’t done there. On Tuesday, after Pa Sip helped me move some more furniture, we had another dinner in his honour at the Old Spaghetti Factory in New West. I tried their Pot-Pourri Spaghetti with meat, mushroom and clam sauce options. Best of all, the meals come with bread, salad or soup and ice cream for dessert, so we left quite stuffed. My beverage of choice was the Cobblestone Lager, developed for the restaurant by Granville Island Brewing.

The coming week doesn’t have much on the schedule, so I may grasp the opportunity for some rest and relaxation. Following that, the Sip Advisor has a bachelor party, Vancouver Canucks pre-season opener, Sis-In-Law Sip’s birthday and much more on the docket… not to mention who knows when the baby will decide to arrive!