The Hungry in Cleveland 12 Days of Christmas

Merry (almost) Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!  Yesterday morning, I received a delicious surprise from a Secret Santa (and if you are reading this, even though I have no clue who you are, thank you!)

Yes, there were a dozen LaBella cupcakes there before two hungry scientists enjoyed cupcakes for breakfast.  I later realized that "12 LaBella Cupcakes" sounds like it belongs in a parody of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" which lead me to come up with this fun little variation.  Enjoy!  

The Hungry in Cleveland 12 Days of Christmas

12 LaBella Cupcakes

11 Types of cheese (The Melt Challenge)

10 toppings on a Happy Dog

9 Parma pierogies

8 Malley's Milk Chocolate Bars

7 fabulous food trucks 

6 Lilly Truffles

5 scoops of Honey Hut!!

4 Farmers Markets

3 Michael Symon restaurants

2 Dinner in the Dark tickets

And a keg of Christmas Ale!!

Oh, and my favorite version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is John Denver and The Muppets

**Side note!  The Chubby Cook has been adding more fun cooking classes to the January schedule!  Remember, use the code ALF2012 to donate 40% of the cost of the class to my Liver Life Challenge fundraising effort!  Or make a donation right on my fundraising page!  My deadline has been extended to January 31, 2012!!**   

Until next time...follow your heart, fulfill your (holiday) hunger!

Tuesday's Tidbits

Welcome to the second helping of Tuesday's Tidbits.  Hope you are staying warm and safe on this snowy/chilly/icy day in Cleveland.  Even though the weather outside may be frightful, there are plenty of delicious events coming up around Northeastern Ohio.

For starters, Cleveland's favorite food truck Dim and Den Sum will be offering in home and private cooking classes.  Visit their website for more information.

Tomorrow evening, Bistro on Lincoln Park will be holding a Winter Wine Tasting event.  $40 gives you a five course prix fixe dinner each carefully paired with a glass of wine.  Reservations recommended.

Staying in Tremont, Parallax will be starting sushi and wine classes on February 21.  Learn how to roll sushi and the best wine parings.  Contact Parallax to reserve a spot.

As if Dante could not get any better, look for the opening of Ginko, a sushi restaurant beneath Dante to be opening soon.

Last thought on sushi, Chef Matthew Mytro, who prepared the tantalizing food served at last Wednesday's "Aphrodisiacs" will be holding his next "Naked Sushi" on March 24 at Suite Six.

Speaking of the Emerging Chefs, their next event will be held on February 23.  "Sacrilicious" will feature the food of Chef Jeff Fisher of Touch Supper Club in a very unique venue.

For all of you craft beer lovers out there,Great Lakes Brewing Company tapped a brewpub exclusive Big Black Smoke porter this week.  Looking ahead, The IX Center Beerfest will be held May 13-14.  Check out the event's website or this great post from Cleveland Food and Brews Reviews.

February also brings a new Sandwich of the Month to Melt.  This month's "The Dude Abides Melt" was inspired by the movie "The Big Lebowski".  If you are more of a Molly Ringwald and Emilio Estivez fan, Melt will be offering "The Brat Pack Breakfast Club Melt" this weekend only to compliment their screening of the movie at Cedar Lee.

With all that being said, hopefully everyone is making their Valentine's Day plans for that special someone in your life.  Cleveland has so many great, romantic places and they will fill up quickly around February 14.  Some of those places will be featured on HIC next week.  Don't forget to stop at Malley's or Lilly Handmade Chocolates to get some sweets for your sweet.

Until next time...follow your heart, fulfill your hunger.

Happy (early) Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving dinner...the turkey, the stuffing, the cranberry sauce.  Mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (or candied yams), green beans.  Finally, the pumpkin pie.  In two weeks, I will be preparing this feast for my family while watching the Macy's parade in the background.  Then, when the last timer goes off, the table is set, and "Grace" is said, I will indulge in my favorite holiday meal.  Every year I look forward to the preparation and then the enjoyment.  I dream of turkey with cranberry sauce in the middle of April.  Thanks to Melt Bar and Grilled, I was able to get my taste buds even more excited with their November Sandwich of the Month, "The New Bomb Turkey".

I think I may have found my new favorite Melt sandwich, which is a shame because I may not be able to enjoy it after November 30.  The sandwich consists of roasted turkey, stuffing, butternut squash, muenster cheese, and a side of cranberry dipping sauce.  In other words, heaven between bread.  All that was missing was the sweet potatoes, but I really did not miss them much.  The stuffing was just like homemade and perfectly cooked.  The squash and the cheese complimented each other perfectly.  With each bite, i drizzled on the cranberry sauce adding that sweet-tartness to my dinner.  And of course, the star of the sandwich, the turkey.  There was NOTHING dry or bland about this bird.  With every bite, I was getting more and more excited for November 25.  To substitute for the pumpkin pie, I tried the pumpkin pie martini.  Overall, it could have used a bit more pumpkin and slightly less Bailey's.  Otherwise, it was still enjoyable.  Personally, when you get this sandwich, I would recommend pairing it with the Southern Tier Imperial Pumking Ale which is still on tap.  I also recommend saving room for dessert (the pumpkin cheesecake) which we unfortunately did not.  I usually limit my visits to Melt to once a month, however, the New Bomb Turkey may lead me to go back once more in November, this time leaving room for pumpkin cheesecake.  Another successful and delicious trip to Melt.  Matt Fish, you never disappoint me.

With that being said, I would like to take time to thank all veterans on this Veteran's Day.  Because of your sacrifices, we Americans have freedoms unmatched anywhere else in the world.

I also would like to inform you, Hungry in Cleveland is now on Twitter.  Follow me @HungryInCLE to see where I am eating and what I am cooking.

Until next time...follow your heart, fulfill your hunger.    

Cheers to Pumpkin Beers!

In honor of Cleveland Beer Week, the autumn season, and my love of pumpkin, I present to you the beginning half of my reviews of pumpkin ale.  There are still some out there I have yet to try, but seeing as it is Cleveland Beer Week, I figured to blog about the ones I have enjoyed so far.  On a side note, for events related to Cleveland Beer Week, check out http://www.clevelandbeerweek.org.  If you have found these pumpkin ales at other locations please comment.  I can only speak for where I have been and have seen them.  I do not want to give false information.  So now in no particular order, part one of the Hungry in Cleveland pumpkin beer review.

*Dogfish Head Punkin' Ale (enjoyed at the Winking Lizard Tavern, Lakewood.  Available on tap at Winking Lizard and Melt Bar and Grilled  Also sold in 4-packs at Giant Eagle, and various other locations):  This was my first pumpkin ale of the season, and a perfect start.  This was Winking Lizard's September Glass of the Month so I also ended up with a souvenir.  The glass was rimmed with brown sugar and cinnamon which added to the strong, yet not overpowering pumpkin flavor.  Very easy to drink and on the sweeter side of pumpkin ales.  Highly recommended, especially if you are new to pumpkin ales.  Alcohol by volume (ABV): 7.0%

*Southern Tier Pumking Imperial (sold by the bottle at Little Italy Wines, Giant Eagle in Legacy Village, Lilly Handmade Chocolates in Tremont.  Also on tap at Melt Bar and Grilled):  So far, this one has been my favorite.  I enjoyed this as the perfect kickoff beer to the Browns/Bengals tailgate I was at on October 3.  This beer is like pumpkin pie in a glass.  It is a heavier beer and quite strong (9.0% ABV).  In my opinion, it has the perfect balance of pumpkin and spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, etc).  If you are looking for a perfect kickoff to a tailgate, football party, or Halloween celebration, I recommend Southern Tier Pumpking.

*Shipyard Brewing Company Pumpkinhead (enjoyed at Lincoln Park Pub.  Also available at Melt Bar and Grilled):  Probably the lightest I have enjoyed to date, but still a notable pumpkin flavor.  Paired well with my tacos on Taco Tuesdays at Lincoln Park Pub (Tacos $2.50 each).  Would recommend if you order a heavier sandwich at Melt and want a good pumpkin ale to drink.   Very satisfying on taste and drinkability (sorry Bud Light for stealing your word).  ABV: 5.1%

*Brooklyn Post Road Pumpkin Ale (enjoyed at Melt Bar and Grilled.  Limited availability at Winking Lizard beginning October 25): In this review, I must say pumpkin ales at Melt hold a very special place in my heart after a very memorable third date in September 2009.  Very fitting that a pumpkin ale was enjoyed at Melt in October 2010 with the same person.  I guess what I am saying is the true way to a girl's heart is pumpkin ale and a huge sandwich.  Also, just nothing that she loves pumpkin and incorporating it into an early date...but I will digress from memory lane and talk beer now.  Drinks very similar to Dogfish Head and Shipyard.  Again, a good pronounced pumpkin flavor and did not fill me up prior to enjoying my sandwich (The Smoky Russian).  ABV: 5%.    

*Buffalo Bill's America's Original Pumpkin Ale (enjoyed at Lincoln Park Pub, and available at most Giant Eagles in a 6 pack):  A classic fall 6 pack.  I would not go as far to say this is pumpkin pie in a glass, but there is a good balance of spice and pumpkin.  No Halloween party is complete without it.  ABV: 5.2%

*Harvest Moon by Blue Moon (available most places where beer is sold):  Considering I enjoy most Blue Moon beers, this is not one of my favorite pumpkin ales.  It is good, however I prefer a stronger pumpkin flavor.  I enjoy it and have no problem buying it, unless there are other options such as those mentioned above.  As far as Blue Moon goes, I will stick with the original with an orange.  ABV: 5.7%

*Smuttynose Brewing Company Pumpkin Ale (Enjoyed at Reddstone):  Wait...I thought I ordered pumpkin ale.  The only thing that indicated this was a pumpkin ale, was the label.  Very hoppy and no pumpkin or spice.  Unless I just had a bad bottle, I do NOT recommend this one.  ABV: 5.6%

By mid-Noveber, I hope to have Part 2 finished.  I am eagerly awaiting Great Lakes Pumpkin Ale (only available on tap at the Brewpub on Market Street off W. 25th).  I also discovered a few others on the menu at Melt that I must try.  Overall, for a variety of pumpkin ales, I would recommend Melt.  They have three different pumpkin ales on tap and at least 5 bottled varieties.  On October 23rd, in celebration of Cleveland Beer Week and Halloween, Wonder Bar on East 4th will be holding a Pumpkin Party.

Until next time...follow your heart, fulfill your hunger.