Got Crabs?

The other night, we made some Alaskan King Crab legs. Mmm... they were really good. We ordered them from FreshDirect, and they didn't disappoint us. This was the first order out of the past 4 that they didn't screw something up, so kudos to them for finally getting everything right!
Along with the crabs, we opened a bottle of Groth Savignon Blanc Napa Valley 2005. This is by far one of my favorite bottles of white. We first tried it about a year and a half ago in New Orleans eating dinner at August. Since then, I've had a few bottles (always the 2004 variety) leading up to the most recent time. The wine has a nice crisp melon-y taste to it, with some citrus and a bit of creaminess. Overall, we think it's great.

Salute!

The other evening a couple of our friends came over to our place to meet the new addition to our family. While here, we opened up a bottle of Veuve Clicquot NV Brut Yellow Label. Always a winner, it went well with the little celebration we had. It's a classically dry Champagne with tiny bubbles and a nice yellow color. We've gotten a few bottles of this as gifts over the past couple of years and need to break them out every once in a while to make sure they don't go bad. Always a great go-to-bottle of Champagne, at least in my opinion.

Gnocchi

Tonight, my wife and I made these gnocchi (little Italian potato dumpling pasta) for dinner. They were pretty awesome. They're also a lot cheaper than buying them fresh in the supermarket. To make the pasta, all you need to do is add some water, roll it out and cut the little pieces. It was much easier than we imagined. A great dinner. The Ecco La Pasta website is here.

NP: Bleed The Freak, Alice In Chains

BABY!

Whoo-hoo! 8lbs, 1oz.

There's Always Next Year

Sine the Yankees lost the ALDS, there have been a million stories in the paper about changes to come in Yankeeland. What changes? Who knows... here are my thoughts on the idea.
Manager: Everyone seems to be calling for Joe Torre's head. The Yankees haven't won a title since 2000! Is it the manager's fault? Honestly, I don't think so. I think this is what happens with the team the Yankees have assembled. Do I think it's time for Joe to go? Maybe... I would be very happy if they kept him on as manager, but would a new voice help shake things up? You bet.
Coaching Staff: Personally, I don't see any problems here, but if Joe goes, who knows what'll happen to these guys.
Pitching (starting): Ugh... don't excercise Mussina's option. Dump Randy Johnson. Maybe keep Corey Lidle or Jaret Wright depending on who else is out there. Wang is great. Maybe lift Philip Hughes to Triple A next year with eyes of a mid-season call-up. What they need to do is find young pitching. Maybe a trade of a certain 3rd baseman will help in that area. Also, Barry Zito is still out there.
Pitching (relief): Overall, the final bullpen wasn't that bad this year. Mariano is still great. Proctor did a great job and was a little overworked. Myers also did pretty well and if Villone can grab is early season form, I don't think we're in too bad of a situation there. However, I wouldn't be suprised if there were a lot of changes again.
Catcher: Personally, I think Posada is still one of the best offensive catchers out there. Yeah, his numbers have declined in recent years, but his defense is actually improving. Who's going to be an upgrade? Not many out there.
1B: It's time to give up on Giambi/Phillips - and don't even talk about Sheffield. They need a real first baseman who can play the field and hit.
2B: Cano is great. No needs there. He's one of the few guys on the team who has a smile on his face every game he plays.
3B: I think it's time for A-Rod to go. I know many will think I'm jumping on the band-wagon, but it's time. He's never going to be loved here, and that affects his game. It's time we took him while he's still worth a lot and ship him off somewhere we can get pitching in return. Of course, he's got a no-trade clause, so... we'll probably be seeing E-Rod play 3rd base again next year.
SS: Jeter has the job. No needs there either.
Outfielders: An outfield of Damon, Abreu, Cabrera seems about right to me. Keep Bernie as your backup outfielder (who did a fine job in that role this year). Sheffield needs to go. Where's he gonna play? First-base? Also, you're wondering what about Matsui? Cabrera is a better fielder and the Yanks need his youthful optimism in the lineup every day. Make Hideki the DH and occassional outfielder.
DH: Matsui.

Well.. those are my thoughts going into the post-season. We'll see how they change by the time Spring Training is around. Now it's time to switch gears towards hockey. Let's Go Rangers!

Done

Ugh. The Yankees 2006 season came to a way-to-quick close today when they lost to the Detroit Tigers, 3 games to 1 in the ALDS. It was a crappy series for me, but I bet the people in Detroit (and probably most of the country) loved it.
This sucks.

One And None

The Rangers officially started their 2006-07 Season last night with a victory over the Washington Capitals. Jaromir Jagr was named the team's 24th Captain, and celebrated by scoring the first goal of the season for the Rangers - on the first shift of the season. Brendan Shanahan also scored a couple of goals, with Henrik Lundqvist doing a fine job in goal. Hopefully this is just signs of things to come.

Chianti Anyone?

Yesterday I went to Astor Wines in NYC because they were having 15% off of all Loire Valley wines. I figured I would go down and get some Sancerre, which is one of my favorite white wine varieties. I did get a couple of bottles from the Loire Valley, but I also grabbed a half bottle (375 mL) of this Chianti: Felsina Berardegna Chianti Classico 2004 DOCG. I was planning on making some steak for dinner last night and thought it would be a nice beverage to have with that. Also, the baby's still not here and my wife can't have a drink with me.
The wine needed some time to breath, but after giving it a chance, it was a pretty nice Chianti. Still a little on the harsh side, but not too bad. No too fruit forward with a little chewyness to it. Overall it was a nice little bottle, but honestly, not one I'd get again. There are too many other wines out there to waste on one I wasn't really happy with.

Heroes

Far be it from me to not talk about something that I like, and lately I've been pretty excited about this new television show, Heroes, on NBC. If you haven't seen it, it's about a group of people who find out that they have super-powers and what appears to be the inevitable destruction of NYC. So far, in the 2 episodes that have been broadcasted, we've begun to meet the characters and see as they discover their powers and begin to learn how to use them.
I don't know if NBC is doing this for their other shows, but if you go to this link, you can watch this week's episode online. Nice in case you forgot to watch or Tivo it.

NP: Live In Skin, Foo Fighters

Spain Fails (It's A First)

I've read a few reviews of this wine, so I figured I would give it a try. I didn't go in the wineshop specifically for this, but I saw it there and figured I'd pick it up. Naia Rueda Verdejo, Spain 2005 is not really my type of wine. I tried it with food and without and couldn't convince myself that I was enjoying this wine. It's a white wine from Spain which many people refer to as a Spanish Pinot Grigio. Personally, I don't think it's anything like a Pinot Grigio. It's very sweet and fruit forward, but too much so. I've also seen that it is good as an apertife, but it didn't work for me like that either. Just not my type of wine. Perhaps it was my bottle - I'd be willing to try it again, but only if someone offered me a glass. I'm not buying another bottle. There are too many other wines out there I like to spend my money on. I even felt there was a hint of rubbing alcohol to the aftertaste.
And I love Spanish wines... too bad this one didn't make the cut.

NP: D'yer Mak'er, Led Zeppelin