Groceries

Because a penny saved is a penny earned.

We don’t visit the local Whole Foods very often, and we hadn’t inspected their loose selection of local eggs very closely. So we were in for a shock when we wandered over last night and realized that those giant greeny-blue ovals weren’t out-of-season melons, but honest-to-goodness emu eggs. What’s more, they’re local. More photos of outlandish eggs, fresh from the farm, below… Does your Whole Foods have a local egg bar?

This colorful Trader Joe’s vinegar first caught our eye a few months ago, but we kept passing it by in favor of practical pantry staples. Every so often, we’d pick it up and almost put it in our basket, only to place it back on the shelf with a sigh.Then we were hungry for a citrusy, vinegary salad to go with the breezy warm weather this past weekend, and we decided enough was enough!This vinegar hits the balance of sweet and tart exactly right.

We spotted these small jars of Spanish saffron at Trader Joe’s the other week, and we’re curious how this saffron holds up in the kitchen. Has anyone tried it?Normally something of a luxury item, these jars were only $5.99 for one gram (about a third of an ounce). This price seems a little too good to be true, frankly, and made us wonder about the quality.For those who may not know, saffron is the stigmas from a particular kind of crocus flower.

And since we’re writing about grits, we thought we’d give you a good mail-order source for an exceptional, stone-ground variety. Anson Mills in Columbia, SC, grows organic, heirloom corn and sells their products to chefs all over the country… We’ve never ordered from Anson Mills, but we’ve read good things.

Although we do our best to eat local, some things are just grown too far from home. One of these foods is cocoa, most of which comes from the Ivory Coast region of West Africa, as well as Central America. Sadly, the reality of the cocoa industry is not as sweet as the final product we enjoy here at home. The good news is, even though this is occurring thousands of miles away, Americans wield a tremendous amount of buying power.

We’re not sure if this is a new product or if it’s been there all along, but we were excited to discover arborio rice on a recent shopping foray to Trader Joe’s!Arborio rice is a key ingredient – arguably the key ingredient! – in Italian risotto, and we often have trouble finding it outside of gourmet food stores. When we do find it, it’s often of dubious quality and fairly expensive.

When we talked about our love of wild rice a few months ago, several of you mentioned buying it at Trader Joe’s. We looked for it the next time we were in the store, and sure enough, there it was!Finally, here is a relatively inexpensive and readily available source for one of our favorite grains. One 16-ounce bag goes for $4.99 – a good deal for this grain, we think!The rice grains are dark, slightly glossy, and uniform in length – all good signs of quality wild rice.

For the past few weeks, bags of liquid starter for this Amish friendship bread have been spreading among our friends faster than a 1980’s chain letter. “How are you?” has been replaced by “What day are you on?” and “Have you made yours yet?” We’d be a little frightened except that everyone is so gosh darn excited…For the unfamiliar, Amish friendship bread is your basic sweetened quick-bread.

Trader Joe’s certainly caused quite a hubbub when they decided to stop carrying King Arthur Flour and switch over to a store brand. We saw the new Trader Joe’s all-purpose flour on the shelves for the first time this past weekend and picked up a bag. Time to put it to the test!Reading the packaging information, we have to say that this flour looks promising. The flour is unbleached, which we prefer. Nothing too scary on the ingredient list.

Manhattan finally has a Whole Foods Market wine store on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Eager to explore, I popped along to see what exciting wines I could find!This is Whole Foods’ fourth attempt at selling wine in New York City. The store at Columbus Circle was deemed illegal under New York State Liquor Authority (NYSLA) law, and licenses for both the Bowery and Union Square Whole Foods’ stores were denied.

My husband and I, along with a crew of siblings, aunts, uncles, and even some work colleagues with nowhere else to go for the holiday, are about to descend upon my aunt’s lovely home for Thanksgiving dinner. This is a time when a hostess gift is certainly called for. We want to take some small and luxurious token of appreciation, maybe even something homemade. Here are a few ideas, and we’d love to hear more from you!

Q: I am on a quest to find large whole wheat pasta shells (the kind that are ideal for stuffing with ricotta and spinach goodness). I live in a relatively small town and unfortunately have had zero luck finding them online as well. The smaller shells are readily available, but I have had no luck with the large shells.Any help would be greatly appreciated!Sent by SarahEditor: We haven’t had much luck finding whole wheat jumbo shells either.

When it comes to quick appetizers for a crowd, we’re big fans of the classic cheese, deli meat, and cracker combo. With a choice or two of each, everyone is happy! We normally go for fairly basic crackersWow. These crackers pack a powerful punch. The black pepper flavor is super intense – like tongue-numbing and sneeze-inducing intense! This is paired with some garlic and onion seasoning and a hefty dose of salt.

When Vogue food writer Jeffrey Steingarten conducted his landmark ketchup taste test in 1992, he categorized the condiments as Heinz, Worse Than Heinz, Better Than Heinz, and Not Really Ketchup. Nearly twenty years later, with home canning making a comeback and housemade condiments popping up on restaurant tables, The Washington Post‘s Jane Black wonders, Could homemade ketchup beat Heinz?Normally we would say, yes, of course! Homemade is always preferable to industrially processed.

When we first saw these whole grain and gluten-free brown rice noodles from Annie Chun’s, we were mighty curious. It’s taken us a while to get over our assumptions and learn to love whole wheat pasta, after all. How would noodles made with brown rice stack up?Quite well, it turns out! They cooked up just the same as regular noodles and showed that familiar slippery, chewy texture.

Last spring I was lucky enough to indulge in the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had. At Café Angelina in Paris, the rich hot chocolate is served in its own pitcher alongside a small pot of fresh and perfect whipped cream. Have you been there? Why is it so good?After sitting down to what would be one of the most superb gastronomic experiences of my life, I ordered the most expensive hot chocolate of my life. It was worth every Euro and then some!

I am a die hard make-it-from-scratch cook for dinner parties. I’ll take the extra step to make even the most basic foods myself — hand-rolled tortillas, homemade caramel, pie crusts, and everything in between. Although these details make a difference to me, I’ve learned that cutting a few corners never breaks a party. Tip number one: Trader Joe’s red pepper spread.

We love this stuff. So handy for quick appetizer bites or a tray of fresh breakfast pastries for a special brunch. We’ve tried several brands over the years and keep coming back to good ol’ Trader Joe’s. It’s just so good!Trader Joe’s puff pastry is made with just five ingredients: flour, butter, salt, sugar, and water. The flavor is so rich and buttery, you almost don’t need a filling.

I don’t need much convincing to try a new cheese. When someone suggests something I’ve never heard of I generally add it to my “to try” list. But more often than not, I’m plagued by the same kind of forgetfulness that accompanies trips to the video store, when you can’t seem to remember the dozens of must-see titles that you swore you wouldn’t forget.

When my husband and I set foot inside our local Whole Foods this weekend it was crazy busy as you might expect before a holiday. We decided to divide and conquer our list and we each took half. When he returned he had arms full of the items I sent him off for and then… he also had a tree. A rosemary tree!Technically speaking, rosemary was on his list of things to get and our local store had these rosemary trees up for grabs at just $9.99 (instead of $3-$4/box).

best-pancakes-everTo cut right to right to the chase, I have to say that I am quite impressed! Not bad, not bad at all! A real righteous stack of plump, fluffy, tasty pancakes with nice color and nice texture (crispy on the outside, moist and cakey on the inside.) I would give these a solid two thumbs up.I made several batches and learned a few things along the way.

Along with the release of her book Easy Tasty Italian in the United States, Laura Santtini has also released a few items from her Easy Tasty Magic product line. We were most intrigued by her Taste No. 5 Umami Paste, a concentrated blend of tomato paste, garlic, porcini mushrooms, and, well, every umami-rich ingredient out there!I started off just trying a little of the paste straight up.

Look out, Better Than Bouillon! There’s about to be a new product on our shelves.Penzeys calls these “soup bases”, but they’re really more of a concentrated stock or bouillon. A few scoops dissolved in a pot of water is instant soup awesomeness. And with Penzeys reputationPenzeys has seven different bases in their line-up: beef, chicken, turkey, ham, seafood, pork, and vegetable. These all come in 8-ounce jars and do not require refrigeration.

The latest issue of Saveur is devoted entirely to sandwiches, but they haven’t forgotten about those who can’t normally eat bread. A gluten-intolerant member of their staff tried 30 different gluten-free sandwich breads, tossing aside many sub-par slices before settling on the six best loaves on the shelves.

Cake mix sparks a lot of debate, it seems! On the one hand, it’s fast, convenient, and reliable. But on the other hand, homemade isn’t really that much fussier and it tastes a whole lot better. Or does it?For purposes of comparison, we’ll use Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Classic Yellow Cake Mix and our own recipe for yellow cake: Easy DIY Yellow Cake. All costs were taken from Peapod Online Grocery.

We rely on dried pasta from the store for the majority of our pasta dishes, saving the homemade version for special occasions and dinner parties. But fresh pasta is so good! Could it be easier to whip up on a weeknight than we think?Putting dried pasta from the grocery store up against fresh pasta made at home really isn’t a fair comparison, so we thought we’d make this one a three-way contest.

Ketchup is the required condiment for cookouts large and small, near and far. A hot dog just wouldn’t be the same without it! Have you ever tried making your own?For purposes of comparison, we’ll use classic Heinz Tomato Ketchup and a recipe for ketchup from Saveur Magazine:• Homemade Ketchup from SaveurAll costs were taken from Peapod Online Grocery. In the homemade cost, we don’t account for the cost of salt or other typical pantry staples.

With strawberries crowding farmers market tables and plenty more summer fruit on the way, we’ve got pie on the brain. But homemade pie crust seems to be a culinary Mount Everest for so many of us. And those pretty and perfect store-bought crusts are so very pretty and perfect. Do you make or buy your pie crusts?For purposes of comparison, we’ll use Oronoque Orchard 9-Inch Pie Crusts and our own recipe for pie crust from scratch (get the recipe HERE).

Kimchi is just about the hottest thing, both literally and figuratively, to hit American cuisine since Sriracha. Or maybe sauerkraut. You can buy jars of it in Korean markets for all your spicy fermented cabbage needs, but we’ve heard that Korean grandmothers would shake their heads in shame to see us doing so. Maybe they have a point.For purposes of comparison, we’ll use Granny Choe’s Kimchi Co.

Beans are absolutely and without a doubt one of the cornerstones of our cooking. Light summery pastas, hearty soups, potluck salads: you name it and we’ll put beans in it. With so many bean dishes coming through our kitchens, do we make our own or rely on canned?We thought we’d do a three-way comparison on this one. Let’s take a look at Goya canned black beans, Goya dried black beans, and Rancho Gordo midnight black beans.

Every time we blog about a product from Trader Joe’s, at least one or two readers whine and moan about the fact that there isn’t a Trader Joe’s nearby. We feel your pain (I lived far from Trader Joe’s for many years as well), so we were really intrigued to see this new site pop up: Trader Joe’s Delivery Service. It’ll deliver a selection of TJ’s groceries and other products straight to your door.

You can make it in a slow-cooker and even in the oven. You can make it in a special yogurt-making machine. Or you can just buy it at the store. How do you get your yogurt fix?For purposes of comparison, we’ll use Stonyfield Smooth and Creamy Plain Low Fat Organic Yogurt. And for the homemade recipe, we’ll use The Kitchn’s own method. Note that the homemade version makes double the amount of the store-bought tub.

A jar of Hellman’s, or similar squat blue-topped jar, is requisite for all summer picnic tables. Mayonnaise gets slathered on hamburger buns, stirred into potato salad, or made into a quick dip right there on the spot. Do you ever think about setting the jar aside and making mayo yourself?For purposes of comparison, we’ll use a 30 oz jar of Hellman’s Real Mayonnaise. And for the homemade recipe, we’ll use The Kitchn’s own method.

Let’s talk pickles. They seem to be all the DIY rage these days, and there’s no denying the awesomeness of a homemade batch of pickled radishes infused with garden-fresh tarragon and black peppercorns. But I’m more curious about the kind of thin-cut, classic, bread-and-butter pickles that I like on my burgers. How do those kinds of pickles stack up?For this match-up, let’s compare Vlasic Bread and Butter Pickle Chips and our recipe for Refrigerator Pickles.

Granola: beloved companion to yogurt, snack time superstar, and airplane carry-on staple. We do love you so. Do you make your own? Or do you have a favorite brand that you buy?For today’s match-up, let’s take a look at Bear Naked’s Fruit & Nut Granola alongside our recipe for Peanut Butter and Honey Granola. All costs were taken from Peapod Online Grocery unless otherwise noted.

I’m seldom without a package or two of Trader Joe’s Middle Eastern Flatbread in my freezer. These chewy, tasty little breads resemble a thick tortilla, come in white or whole wheat and have dozens of uses. Read on for a few ideas and my favorite way to toast them up that makes them even tastier!I usually store my flatbreads in the freezer to keep them fresh; it’s easy to just pry off an individual bread as needed.

Hooray for the return of soup season! There are still some warm days ahead before we really get into fall, for sure, but I’m already hankering for big pots of simmering soup on my stove. When it comes to the stock to make those soups, where do you stand? Make or buy?For today’s match-up, let’s take a look at Swanson’s Natural Goodness Chicken Broth as compared to homemade. Unless otherwise noted, all costs were taken from Peapod Online Grocery.

While insanely delicious, puff pastry is also quite possibly one of the most finicky and labor-intensive things that you can make in the kitchen. Especially when picking up a package of frozen puff pastry sheets at the store is so very easy. Is it really worth it to make it yourself?Let’s take a look at Pepperidge Farm’s Frozen Puff Pastry Sheets as compared to the recipe for making puff pastry at home from Fine Cooking magazine.

Every time I walk down the pasta aisle at the grocery store, I am amazed at the sheer number of tomato sauces. Jar after jar of classic marinara, three-cheese blends, sauces spiked with Italian herbs, those without salt, and even ones with a splash of wine. With this kind of variety, is it even worth making our own?Let’s take a look at the most basic, no-frills tomato sauce. For the store-bought, we’ll use Newman’s Own Marinara Sauce.

Frozen Pie Crusts from Trader Joe’s• $3.99 for two pie crusts• Trader Joe’s I’m a big fan of Trader Joe’s frozen pie crusts. I’ve reviewed them before, but let me recap the reasons here: There’s no sugar in the dough, so it’s great for savory dishes like quiche as well as sweet ones like pie. They come in flat rounds of dough, instead of molded to an aluminum pie dish — less waste, and easier to fit to my own dish.

The other day I was shopping at my local Trader Joe’s when I just happened (ha!) to wander by the sample kiosk where they were handing out tiny tastes of their stuffing and cauliflower gratin, with a dab of some bright red stuff. I was a little distracted, so I didn’t pay attention to the chalkboard that listed what I was tasting, and wandered away, snacking off of my sample plate. Distractedly, I scooped some of the red sauce into my mouth and shazam!

Last night I started my holiday baking, and it went much as it has in years past. I picked out my recipes, preheated the oven, pulled out all the ingredients, and just as I started measuring I realized that I was 1/4 cup shy of cocoa powder. So, everything was put on hold while I ran out to the grocery store. While the ingredient shortage always varies, I find myself in the same predicament every year. Before you dive into holiday baking, make sure you have everything you need.

I love technology, but I also love simplicity. As a compulsive list-maker, I’ve found the best of both in OurGroceries, a streamlined and sync-able list-making app. Just a few quick taps and I can move on to more delicious tasks — like cooking up all those groceries I just bought.OurGroceries has a clean and straightforward interface. You make a list simply by typing in the name of your item. This item is automatically saved in the app for future list-making.

Q: I bought a few cans of Coco Lopez Cream of Coconut to make cakes for a party. Turned out the guest of honor didn’t care for coconut so I changed my plans. But now I’m left with a ton of this stuff.I love it but I’m having a hard time coming up with ways to use it. All I can think of is the cake I originally planned and Pina Coladas. Has anyone used it in anything else.

Sweet malty beers usually aren’t my thing, and nut brown ales are nothing if not sweet. But there was something about the slant of the late-afternoon sun this weekend that made me want to sit back on the sofa with a stack of magazines and sip something smooth, roasty, and yes, sweet. Enter this Hazelnut Brown Nectar from Rogue Ales.Beer Details: Hazelnut Brown Nectar from Rogue Ales, Newport, OR (Brown ale with hazelnut extract, 6.

Pita pockets really are the original convenience food. Think about it: pitas are their own edible travel containers and you can eat them with one hand. Not to mention the fact that pita rounds can go on to become anything from crispy chips to an instant pizza. Brilliant! What do you make with pitas?Pita is a Middle Eastern flatbread made primarily with wheat flour, water, and yeast. Small rounds of dough are rolled flat and then quickly baked either in a hot oven or on a griddle.

We’re not really much for cookies or cakes in my house. But a handful of M&Ms after we’ve put away dinner and are settling down for the evening? That particular treat has become nearly a ritual.M&Ms may just be the perfect candy. They’re crunchy and yet also melt in your mouth (and occasionally in your hand). You can toss back a small handful in one go, as my husband does, or make them last by eating them one at a time, as I love to do.

One of my favorite ways to close a meal is with a little glass of dessert wine. It’s sweet, sophisticated, and doesn’t fill you up. And while I like sweet sherry or port, my favorite dessert wine of all is an unusual one with a connection to something you would never expect: Gin and tonic. And yet this is utterly the best thing to pair with chocolate — it’s a sublime combo. Have you ever tried Barolo Chinato?

If you’re looking for a non-alcoholic pre-dinner beverage, stop by an Italian import market (or go online). Many Italian aperitivo or aperitif drinks are “analcolici”; free of booze, these soft drinks are made from ingredients like bitter citrus and herbs that stimulate the appetite.

When I asked the owner of my local wine shop whether he would recommend any non-alcoholic wines on the market, he responded with one name only: Navarro. Navarro Vineyards’ alcohol-free beverages are actually grape juices, rather than de-alcoholized wine, but unlike the grape juices you find in most grocery stores, these are hand-crafted from varietal grapes in Mendocino County.

Q: Tortilla chips are one of my guilty pleasures. Any suggestions for all those broken chips at the bottom of the bag? I use them to add crunch on salads and soups, but I am looking for more creative uses. I buy the organic, blue corn, unsalted varieties. Thanks!Sent by MelindaEditor: A girl after my own heart, I see! For using up those crushed chips, take a look at some of our past posts on the topic:• What Can I Do with Stale Tortilla Chips?

Not every meal is a fresh new recipe or an exciting twist on an old classic. Many, many meals are grab-what-you-can endeavors or thrown together affairs using up leftovers from the refrigerator. In these instances, it’s nice to have a well-rounded pantry to supplement and build a meal from not a whole lot. Here are 10 of our own low-budget pantry staples.A friend of mine was participating in the Live Below the Line challenge last week.

Have you ever tried making homemade Oreo cookies and couldn’t quite get that exact Oreo cookie color? Or hankered for a slice of devil’s food cake that was as deep and dark and chocolatey as you always think it should be? The answer, fellow bakers, is black cocoa powder.This is an ultra-Dutch processed cocoa powder. All the acidity has been neutralized, rendering the cocoa powder completely mellow, non-bitter, and very black.

While it’s great to buy specialty products from the maker in person, sometimes that’s just not possible. (We don’t all live near a farmers market.) So to appreciate the full scale and variety of today’s artisanal offerings, you have to go online. These seven marketplaces have you covered. 1. Mouth: Most of the products on this site are made by small, independent producers in New York, but you’ll also find a few unique non-New York indie food items.

There’s a well-known bakery in NYC famous for its cupcakes. And they just happen to be vegan. Oh, and gluten-free as well. How do they do it? BabyCakes bakery relies on agave nectar, canola and coconut oil, as well as other natural ingredients. One taste of their cupcakes and you’d never know they were anything other than delicious. But did you know the following five store-bought cookies are naturally vegan as well?

The more I hear about peanut flour, the more intrigued I become. I first came across this product while researching African peanut soups, and then a friend mentioned that she uses peanut flour in her baking all the time. And apparently it’s low in fat, high in protein, and gluten-free? Hello! What is this magical ingredient and where can I find some?Peanut flour is made by grinding the roasted nuts into a thick paste, and then pressing out most or all of the oil.

We’re not talking “lighter” in the sense of Bud Light, but lighter in the sense of making heavy bottles of craft beer easier to stow in a backpack and carry with you on a long camping trip. Pat’s Backcountry Beverages is making it happen, people.Pat’s is innovating on two fronts. First, they have a signature carbonating system, which looks a lot like a standard water bottle but with added gadgetry to carbonate the liquid inside.

Brown rice syrup is a relatively new addition to my pantry, but it’s a welcome one. I first discovered it in pursuit of my ideal granola bar recipe, but have since found that it’s quite a versatile baking ingredient. It can take the place of corn syrup in many recipes, and its unique nutty-sweet flavor adds depth and character to everything from brownies to a bowl of oatmeal.

Let’s talk tuna! A tuna fish sandwich with crunchy pickle relish on whole wheat bread is still one of our favorite quick lunches. But tuna also has some problems, and we worry about everything from how the tuna was caught to BPA in the cans. What kind of canned tuna do you buy?Buying canned tuna really comes down to reading the label. There’s a lot of information wrapped around those skinny cans, but it’s not always clear what it means:• Albacore vs. Skipjack vs.

Look out, canola! Make room, olive oil! There’s a new favorite cooking oil in my kitchen. I’m a little late to the party with my discovery of grapeseed oil, but I’m glad I made it here in the end.Grapeseed oil has a very neutral flavor that tastes “light” to me when tried on its own and that disappears into the dish during cooking. For an all-purpose cooking oil, this is exactly what I want. Here are the three ways I’ve been using it the most:1.

Make room on the shelf, vanilla! We’re kicking our holiday baking into high gear, and that means almond extract is about to get its time in the spotlight. We love the warm, nutty flavor that a drop of this extract adds to our muffins and cookies. When almond aromas fill the house, we know we’ve got something good going on.I love the way almond extract add just a touch of marzipan-like flavor to baked goods.

Are you looking for an inexpensive way to box up treats this holiday season? Leave it to Martha Stewart to provide the perfect solution. All you’ll need is a craft punch (or some scissors) and a little wax paper.Even though this idea was intended for Valentine’s Day, it can be customized for any holiday. Simply press small pieces of construction or colored paper between sheets of waxed paper, apply a small amount of heat, and voila!

Are you sharing gifts of homemade preserves this year? For an extra festive (and useful!) touch, you might bundle jars of jam, jelly, and marmalade with a pretty dish towel, a spoon, or an edible accompaniment, like bread or cheese.

All week long we’ve been sharing edible gift ideas, from savory granola to herb-infused honey, from homemade condiments to homemade tea blendsWhen it comes to butter, people often don’t know what they’re missing until they’ve had cultured, or European-style, butter: after that butter goes from being a waxy refrigerator staple to something craveable.

Giving homemade cookies as gifts this year? Try one of these five pretty packaging ideas to really make it special.Related: Gifts of Jam: Pretty Packaging Ideas(Images: 1. Steve Giralt for Real Simple; 2. Fraeulein Klein; Sense and Simplicity; 4. The Purl Bee; 5.

This past weekend, my boyfriend and I went out on an evening walk to pick up a few things at the corner grocery store. On our walk back home, we decided to pop into this festive German bar we’d seen so many times. At that moment a good German beer sounded like it could possibly turn the whole day around. As we shared a warm pretzel and a towering mug of beer, it began to snow. (This doesn’t happen all that often in Seattle.

This is how obsessions begin. I had one handful of crunchy, salty giant “quicos” corn nutsThe kernels are completely dried through, like dried beans or other grains. To make them into a crunchy snack, all you have to do is sauté the kernels with a bit of oil in a covered pan. They puff and become airy, but unlike popcorn, they don’t totally pop. You sprinkle the warm kernels generously with salt and seasonings, and let the snacking commence!

This past holiday I gave a good friend a package of Umbrian lentils as a part of our gift exchange. When she opened her package, she burst out laughing and soon I discovered why: she had included the exact same package of lentils in her box to me. Lentils for Christmas? you may ask — isn’t that a form of punishment, like coal in your stocking? Not with this particular kind of lentil, which is a cut or two above what you find in the bulk bin at your local heath food store.

Q: I was checking out your piece on making homemade yogurt, but the only yogurt I can get here to use as a starter either has sugar or is artifically sweetened. Does that still work for making yogurt? Sent by TeresaEditor: I think that as long as there are active bacterias listed in the ingredients, any yogurt will work as a starter for making your own yogurt.

While poking around in the refrigerated section of my local Trader Joe’s, I recently discovered a pouch of one of my favorite foods: kimchi!I love using kimchi in weeknight meals; it’s so flavorful, it quickly transforms humble ingredients like eggs and rice into tasty dinners.

Drinking this beer is like settling in to a very old and very careworn arm chair. It’s cozy and comforting, it fits in all the right places, and it’s exactly what you want when you want it. Solidly good. Settle in, tip your hat back, and pour a glass.Beer Details: Moose Drool Brown Ale from Big Sky Brewing Co., Missoula, MT (Brown ale, 5.1% ABV, 26 IBU)Appearance: Check out that head of foam! This is sticky, lush foam that left fairly heavy lacing down my glass.