Kitchen Chat

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Tabitha, Frank, Billy and Scott.

Subject: Round Table

“Cheese? Where is the cheese!”

“American? Or mozzarella?”

“American.”

“I don't know.”

“Okay, where is the mozzarella then?”

“Not a clue.”

“Argh!” Tabitha screams, grabs a butter knife and moves towards Scott.

Frank restrains Tabitha. “Relax Tab, It's just cheese.”

“Just cheese? Just cheese?”

“Calm down! It's behind the sour cream!” Sara shouts, her head stuck in the fridge.

“Fine. Fine!” Tabitha says, grabbing the cheese from Sara.

Just then, Ann walks in and joins us around the table. “Ann! Welcome home! I feel like I haven't seen you in days. Let Scott pour you a drink.”

“What'll you have? Beer? Pickle Juice? Iced Tea? Beer?”

“Do we have any more of that ..”

“Beer it is! Nice cold beer!” Scott pops the top off the bottle and places the bottle in front of Ann.

“You're going to let her drink alone? That's not right. Open that fridge back up Scotty.”

“He does have a point. Pass 'em over bud.”

Scott grabs a couple more beers and passes them out. “Tabitha? Sara? Want one?”

“Not from you.” Tabitha says, taking a beer out of the fridge for herself.

“I guess I can't be the only one not drinking.”

“Thatagirl!”

“Hey, so the playoffs start soon. You guys going to any games?”

Sara downs her beer. “I need another.”

Frank hands her one. “A friend of mine got two tickets, I may go with him to game 2. Not sure yet though.”

“How's Catalina's?” Tabitha asks Ann.

“Oh you know, the usual. I got to bartend a little bit the other day. That was a nice change.”

“Neat. Hey, I need to get some new clothes. You want to come shopping Saturday?”

“Yeah. Sure. I need a couple of things too.”

“Sara?”

“I don't know. Maybe. We'll see. Saturday? I don't know.” Sara mutters quickly.

“Err, what was that?”

“She's got a Mets game Saturday, but she's thinking that if they lose horribly these next two games, she might not want to go anyway. Of course, if she doesn't go to the game I imagine you'll be able to find her with a couple of those bottles somewhere.” Frank translates, indicting the two empty beer bottles next to Sara.

“Well, hockey season starts soon.”

“I've never been to a hockey game. Maybe we should go this year.” Frank says to Billy, who's ignoring Sara's death stare.

“Definitely. As long as it's the Rangers.”

“Humbug! But I guess that's a lot easier than trying to get to Newark or Uniondale for the Devils or Islanders.”

“We could always drive.”

“Lots of traffic though. We'd basically be in rush hour to make a 7pm game. Unless we went on the weekend. I hear the area around Nassau Coliseum is nice.”

Ann bursts out laughing. “You heard that where?”

“You disagree? Hofstra is right there ain't it?”

“Yeah, that just makes it worse.”

“Hofstra huh? Freshman chicks!”

“I think you're getting a little old for Freshman.”

“She's right.” Frank says, pausing. “Sophomore chicks!”

“All right!” Scott and Frank high five, Tabitha just rolls her eyes.

Playoff Race

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Sara, Frank

Subject: Playoffs

“Argh!!” shouts Sara, throwing a newspaper across the room as the Mets lose in extra innings.

“Wow. They lost again huh? Some bullpen. I bet they don't even make the playoffs.”

“You're on. They'll still make the playoffs. The Phillies are worse.” Says Sara, somewhat unconvincingly.

“Let's make it better, I bet the Yankees go farther in the playoffs than the Mets.”

“$100?”

“Sounds good. It's win-win for you; If the Mets choke, you lose $100 but get refunding your playoff tickets.”

“I don't know if my heart can take them not making the playoffs. I might have to take that money and pay for the hospital bill, or at least therapy.”

“Doesn't surprise me that a Mets fan needs therapy, I mean you decided to vote for a loser in the first place.”

Sara throws the newspaper she had just retrieved at Frank. “Cocky aren't we? I think you'll find the Yankees have played their cards a little early, and will have nothing left in the postseason.”

“They've got plenty of cards, don't you worry yourself about it.”

“Oh yeah? Wanna bet?!”

“We just did dear.” Frank says, patting Sara on the head with the newspaper as he walks back to his room.

Brewfest!

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Tabitha, Frank, Billy and Scott.

Subject: Brewfest

Last week was both Frank's and Ann's 24^th birthday. To celebrate they decided we should all go to Brewfest which features a whole lot of local New York breweries. It runs from five until ten, but we had to wait for Sara to get off work first, so we don't leave until five. The line to get in literally wraps around the South Street Seaport, and we don't actually get our 4oz tasting glasses and wristbands until a little after six.

“Wow, that line was a little crazy. I still don't understand why they only had two people checking Ids.”

“Yeah, that could've been done a lot faster. Oh well, let's drink!”

“Let's head over to the cask conditioned beers first, since they're only available for a limited time.”

“Cask conditioned? They are special?”

“Yeah, great stuff Tab. I don't think you'll like them, very dark and bitter usually.”

We push through the crowd and start tasting some of the cask conditioned beers, and predictably, I don't care for most of them. Since all of the tents are right next to each other, we end up on line for Rogue, which is right next to the cask conditioned ones.

“Those were pretty good. I like this; get a beer, wait on line for more beer while you drink the first one.”

“We might want to take it a little slower, we're really knocking them back like this.”

“Ann. Ann. That's the whole point! Cheers!” Scott says, clinking his glass with Ann's.

“Got to get our money's worth right Ann? Besides, what have we been practicing for if not this?”

“I wasn't aware that we were practicing at all, but maybe we should mix in some food. I know I saw some BBQ when we came in.”

“Food works too. We can make our way back that direction after picking out some beers along this row. I guess we can't try every single beer that's here.”

“Why not? Are you not up to the challenge Billy? Tsk tsk.”

“Dude. There are like 300 different types of beer here. Even in 4oz glasses, that's 75 beers. No one can do that.”

“Except Superman!”

“Aye! You're not Superman Scott!”

“Oooh! Mead! That's not beer, but I won't complain!”

“The Long Island Meadery? I've had those before, they're pretty good. I actually have an unopened bottle of Root Beer Mead back at the apartment.”

“Holding out on us Sara? We'll have to crack that open. Root Beer Mead sounds pretty good.”

“Well probably not tonight. We're doing pretty well so far.”

“Not as well as some of the people behind the booths apparently. Look at that guy, I think he's drinking faster than he's pouring.”

“I noticed that too. I guess you can't come to one of these things and not appreciate all the fine beverages around you.”

We do indeed stop and get some food, taking a break and listening to the live music. The seaport is awash with a mass of humanity, most of it tipsy if not outright drunk.

“That was a good idea Tabitha!” Sara says, as we emerge from inside the Seaport to use the bathrooms, instead of waiting on line for portapotties.

“Thanks, not that those bathrooms were amazingly clean or anything.”

“Come on girls! It's Belgium time!”

“Great beer and chocolate, what a great country!”

The Belgium beers are only available for an hour, presumably because they're much more expensive. Everyone else is aware of this too, so the rush of the crowd is strong around the booths, and we eventually taste everything we want to and are standing in front of an empty booth littered with beer bottles.

“Wow, these guys are all tapped out and gone already. Look at all these beer bottles, I guess they didn't bring enough beer.”

“Some of these breweries probably can't afford to give away that much free beer all night.”

“Yeah. This place is really really packed. I'm sure they did what they could afford.”

“As long as people remember what they drank and remember some of the breweries to try them again for real.”

“I've had so many different beers today, they're all blending together!”

“Well, there will be name recognition if you're in a store and looking for something at least.”

“I really liked that blueberry ale we had, where was that from?”

“That was Wachusett I think. I'm about ready to go. What about you guys?”

“I've had so much to drink tonight there's a brewfest in my bladder!”

“As long as there isn't a brewfest on the floor of the apartment when I get up tomorrow, you're fine.”

“Beer! Maybe we should stop for food on the way home.”

“It is only 9:30. I could do food. Or we could go to the beer garden in Astoria.”

“Beer garden! That place rocks!”

“Let's stick to food. Might as well just stop at that McDonalds near the subway. It's not like any of us are really going to taste anything.”

“Happy Birthday to Ann..Ha..Ouch!” Billy says, as Ann hits him.

“No singing. Especially not to me old man!”

“Oh okay. Angus burgers it is. I'll buy you dinner since It's your birthday.”

“Oh wow Billy, that's so nice. You could spoil a girl like that buying her Mickey D's like that.”

Flavor of the Week

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Billy and Scott.

Subject: Flavor of the Week

Billy walks into Starbucks, nods to Scott, and takes a seat in one of the empty chairs. Shortly after Scott walks over with a Starbucks cup and hands it to Billy, who tastes it.

“Gotta be the Pumpkin Spice Latte. That was easy, I knew you'd choose that.”

“Drat! I have to be more unpredictable.”

“Not surprising, I'm sure Starbucks has been drilling you about the new seasonal stuff all week.”

“Hmm. Maybe they have. It's hard to tell, I don't really listen much.”

“I can tell, you have a customer at the register waiting for you.”

“Eh, that's just Max. No hurry, I already know what he wants.”

“A mind reader now? Impressive.”

“It keeps things interesting. I will not bring you a cookie!”

Max: “Actually Scott, It's Monday. I'm thinking peppermint mocha.”

“It's Monday already? My My.”

“I guess you're mind reading skills aren't up to snuff. And you ARE going to bring me a cookie when you come back.”

“It was my pick this week Maximus. I'll let it slide, but next week, it's all me.”

Max: “You got it pal.”

Scott mixes up Max's drink, makes some more small talk and then returns with a cookie for Billy.

“Here is your cookie. Careful, or I'll make you pay next time.”

“You wouldn't!”

“Try me. What are up to anyway? You don't usually stop in on Mondays.”

“Oh. Well Ann and Tabitha are still sick. I figured I should keep out of the germ infested apartment a bit. Caffeine helps combat disease right?”

“Certainly! You've never seen anyone sneeze while drinking coffee have you?”

“Well, actually.. Yeah, I have.”

“Oh. Well then we're screwed.”

Billy the Sage

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Tabitha, Billy

Subject: Our Sage

“So you've been 26 for a couple of weeks now. How does it feel? The arthritis kick in yet?”

“It's much like being 25, only older. The arthritis is painful. It takes me 45 minutes to get up in the morning.”

“Seriously?”

“No! I'm 26, not 56. I get up fine in the morning, my hair's not falling out or going gray, and I can actually remember everything that happens during the day.”

“Now you're just teasing me.”

“Would I do that?”

“Probably.”

“You're right. You young ones have it so easy. Back in my day..” Billy pretends to drift off and stares into space.

“Ann and Frank are turning 24 next week, they're getting up there too!”

“Wow, a good two dozen years. You can measure your age just like you measure eggs.”

“Are you implying I'm an omelet?”

“Hmm, what else can I compare your age to?”

“No fair. Your age is a prime number, hard to compare to anything.”

“That's why we just make fun of him because he's old.”

“The ancient one.”

“Ancient one? That makes me sound like a wise sage. Ooommmmm.”

“Oh wise Billy the Sage. Tell me where to eat dinner tonight.”

“The path lined with pepperoni pizza is the path to happiness.”

“I can live with that advice.” Tabitha says, picking up the phone.

September

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Tabitha, Frank, Billy and Scott.

Subject: The Best Month Between August and October

“Well, it’s September again. What do you guys like best about September? I’m just thrilled that I’ve stuck with the blog for six months now.”

“I like how the weather starts getting cooler, and my birthday’s in September.”

“When they change the subway advertisements for the month of September I get to find out what all the new tv shows are.”

“Apple cider. I love apples! Fall starts rolling around and it gets to be time to have a nice hot spiced apple cider.”

“September is crunch time for baseball, It’s a fun month with so much to watch.”

“I don’t know that it’s what I like best, but since I’ve always been a student I associate September with getting back to school and a normal routine. I never know what to do with myself in the summer, at least with school I have goals and deadlines to work with.”