Books, Whiskey and everything in between

So one of the things I've mentioned in a previous post was I was sad to see the old threads and interest sections gone. Mainly because the reason I liked the site so much was being able to talk about like minded things and swap ideas and book/movie/food etc ideas.

So I'm starting this thread!

I found myself in the last couple of years liking things I never thought I would. For instance I was never a big fan of whiskey until I found Lagavulin, the most amazing whiskey there ever was and will be.

I also bought War and Peace a couple of weeks ago to finally read a book off my book bucket list!

 

Here in the US, we call Scotch Whiskey "Scotch." Not sure why, that's just the convention. If you say whiskey to most Americans, they think something different.

I'm not a big scotch drinker, but my wife is. She likes Lagavulin. Actually, she likes a lot of the islays. If it is smokey and peaty, she's there. She also likes Caol Illa, Ardbeg, Ardbeg Corryvrekan, Laphroaig (yeah, I had to look that spelling up) and Tullibardine (even though it's a Highland).

I don't really drink scotch much. Not that I'm against it, but when I drink I usually like to just nurse a pint of Guinness or some Sam Adams. But I don't feel bad buying a little beer, when the wife has those nice scotches!

I'm pretty big into gardening, so most of what I have read lately has been garden related. "How to grow big tomatoes" was informative, but I don't think anyone has it on their bucket list.

Sydney sounds like a very cool city. What kind of stuff do you like to do?

 

But can you pronounce Laphroig?

 

Yeah. My wife goes to this liquor store and the owner is awesome. He knows all the scotches (and whiskeys and bourbons) and makes good recommends. I'd be hopeless on my own. (Picking or pronouncing).

 

Australians call it scotch too, me personally, i call it whiskey. Each to their own!

I like Guinness, i even went to to Guinness factory in Ireland but it's too dense for me. Also the saying of the further away you are from Ireland, the worse the Guinness is...; so sometimes it's not the greatest in Aus!

Sydney is an awesome city, but very expensive. I think we rank in the top five most expensive cities in the world?! But it's my home town so i love it.

What i love to do is travel. Unfortunately it's not always affordable but every couple of years i like to try and go somewhere international or at least a week away somewhere. Last year my partner and i went to Vanuatu, it was amazing.

This year i want to try and be able to bake something. I'm no good at baking. I can cook, not a 5 star chef, but i can cook (or at least follow a general recipe and not burn it). So this year i want to be able to bake a cake from scratch or some brownies.... something along that line!

 

Baking is so much fun!!!! It's messy and delicious and creative all at once, and brownies are really adaptable, and pretty hard to mess up. Sorry, i get a little overexcited about cakes and baking
It's a really addictive hobby though, I have cupboards full of pans and cookie cutters and fondant icing tools.

And the last book I read was a Martha Stewart cake decorating book (it's pretty sad but very interesting)

 

And @Emm bakes beautiful stuff, I've seen it.

 

and it tastes incredible too

 

What did you think of Vanuatu? What's your travel bucket list?

 

Vanuatu was fantastic. The water was amazing and so clear. The people were extremely friendly. Food and alcohol isn't cheap though so we had an all inclusive package that worked out well.

I lived in London for a while but I got a visa, a plane ticket and went over with no money. I only got to see a few countries.

So I'd like to go and see Greece, Rome, Austria and a few other countries.

I also went to Canada a year and a halfish ago but I didn't get to see Vancover. I'd love to go see Vancouver and Alaska!

 

Austria is pretty amazing.

Alaska is on my list, too.

What countries did you see in Europe?

 

I saw England, Ireland, France, Italy and the Czech Republic. So I got to see a bit but not nearly enough!

 

That's a respectable list.

 

Thanks I also like to see more of US but I'd have to have a hard think about where to go

 

Why? What's hanging you up?

 

Well so far I've been to Milwaukee, Chicago, Madison, Boston and NYC.

I think I'd really like Seattle and I wouldn't mind checking out Nashville. But I'd need to figure out other cities/states around Seatttle to make a good trip out of it

 

Chicago, Boston and NYC I get. But why Milwaukee and Madison? And what did you think of Boston and Chicago?

 

You could do Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Portland, Vancouver.

 

I use to know someone who lived in Milwaukee. And Madison was just to do with being an hour outside of Milwaukee.

I liked Milwaukee, it's a cool little city. Although I'm not sure I'm a massive fan of the birth west American food. Too much cheese!

 

Umh? Do you mean Midwestern American food?

So you've never had pizza with potatoes on it?