Athena Pappas

Adventures in New York City and around the world
  • About
  • Adventures in New York
  • Cooking
  • Creative Writing
  • Restaurant and Bar Reviews
  • Travel
  • Monthly Archives: June 2014

    • Mountain State Brewing Co.

      Posted at 10:55 am by athenapappas, on June 24, 2014

       

      IMG_1034

      For Memorial Day weekend, our motley crew of city-folk adventured out the mountains of West Virginia for some fresh air and grilling. My one request was that we stop by the Mountain State Brewing Company, a local brewery. Above are Stephen and Gabe in front of the brewery’s pub. Inside, it had a very wooden-rustic look that felt very down-home, but not in a kitschy or fake way. At three in the afternoon, there weren’t many patrons, but the bartender was happy to help us out. They were also serving some really great looking sandwiches.

      IMG_1037

      So, the beer! First of all, the prices were great (although after being in New York long enough, just about any price for beer seems reasonable). The sample flight included their four main beers. From left to right are the darkest to the lightest. First is the Miner’s Daughter, an oatmeal stout. It wasn’t as heavy as other stouts I have tried, but still too dark for my taste. Next is the Seneca India Pale Ale (my second favorite), which had the great hoppy taste without the bitter aftertaste that many IPAs have. Third from the left is the Almost Heaven (are you sensing a West Virginia theme here yet?) Amber. This one was nice, lightly hopped with a caramel aftertaste. My favorite was the final, the Cold Trail Ale, a light but not too wheaty Blonde Ale. Our group took a six pack of the IPA and Blonde to enjoy by the lake later in the weekend.

      IMG_1038

      I found this little guy near the bar. Maybe it was a tiny bit kitschy, but that’s okay with me.

      I had to get a souvenir t-shirt! Even though it wasn’t my favorite beer, I did really love the design for this one. In addition to great beer, Mountain State does have excellent design for their packaging. They also have other brewery locations in the WV/PA area, but if you find yourself in a specialty beer store that carries Mountain State, I would highly recommend giving it a try. WIN_20140624_113408

      Posted in Adventures, Restaurants, Review, Travel | 0 Comments | Tagged beer, Blonde, brewery, country, country roads, IPA, Mountain State, Review, Travel, west virgina
    • Sometimes I threaten my roommates with baked goods…

      Posted at 8:10 pm by athenapappas, on June 4, 2014

      IMG_0512

      One of my absolute favorite things is to make dinner and/or baked goods for my friends. I am notorious for forcing Tupperwares of leftovers on people. Here, I just wanted to make sure everyone got some treats!

      IMG_0501

      This past winter, I held a dinner party. I managed to make a total Frankenstein’s-monster-esque table. Yes, by the end of the evening I managed to squeeze 13 people into a Brooklyn-sized dinning room. Although, to be fair, that end part wasn’t completely structurally stable. No elbows on the table! None of the flatware or plates matched, but luckily that mismatched look is really in now. When I buy new dishes, I usually keep them in the blue-family to at least coordinate.

      IMG_0505IMG_0502Everyone enjoying some appetizers before dinner. To make things more manageable,  I had everyone bring something, either a wine or an appetizer, salad or desert. No one went thirsty in this crowd. I made the main course (a mac and cheese obviously) and vegetable dish. The mac and cheese was from the cookbook Melt. I selected one that could be made ahead of time, then just baked once guest arrived. I also prepped the roasted vegetables ahead of time so that I wouldn’t spend the whole night in the kitchen. Sadly, I did not take a picture of the food, but it turned out marvelous. One of the keys to a great mac and cheese is buying really great ingredients. The recipe called for a pancetta, but I found an excellent thick cut bacon as a substitute. People went wild for it! I am about due to host another cocktail party (which I love doing even if they never quite work out the way I planned) or dinner party, but it is so hard to get motivated in this heat! I need to plan a picnic or do some sort of no-stove dish.

      IMG_0507

      Here are the infamous Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies. I wish I could take credit for the recipe, but that is all Sydney at Crêpes of Wrath. Her blog is one of my favorite food blogs and actually a great resource for awesome bars and restaurants in the North Brooklyn area. The greatest part about these cookies is that there is more “stuff” than cookie, it is basically chip and strawberry held together by an excellent soft dough. They are easy to make and always a crowd pleasure. You should keep them in mind now that it is strawberry season!

      Posted in Cooking, New York | 0 Comments | Tagged Brooklyn, chocolate, COokie, cooking, dinner party, friends, Mac and Cheese, strawberry, wine
    • Adventures in New York: Surplus Candy

      Posted at 11:02 am by athenapappas, on June 3, 2014

      2014-01-10 20.27.10-1This past winter, when NYC was in a state of perma-sludge, I was lucky enough to attend a very secret art show. 43 street artists, lead by Hanksy, turned a condemned building in Alphabet City into a giant and totally illegal art gallery. The girls with the weapons in these alcoves (one of them above) were probably my favorites.

      2014-01-10 20.27.23Here’s the kitchen. It was a three floors of street art in this falling apart building. Apologies for the quality of the pictures, but it was really hard to set up a decent shot as people were walking through. Not that I am complaining, it was really an experience to feel and see with your own eyes instead of through your IPhone screen. My personal relationship with documenting art, monuments, places that attract a lot of people, etc. is that I don’t want to ruin the experience for anyone else by keeping them from walking through just because I HAVE to take the perfect picture. There was a woman who kept yelling at everyone in one room because people were walking into the picture she was trying to take of her friends. I wouldn’t have minded if it was once quick picture, but they kept taking them! Totally rude behavior. End rant.

      2014-01-10 20.31.59

      To learn about the show you had to follow the right Twitter at the right time, which would reveal the location in code. I was lucky that a friend of mine’s boss is really into street art and told us the location of the show.

      2014-01-10 20.34.08It was stunning. Weird, surreal, but exciting to see something that was so once-in-a-lifetime. I wish I had gotten pictures of the bathroom, but it was hard to squeeze into the smaller spaces.

      2014-01-10 20.35.28

      In a museum, it is such a different use of space. Things are hung or installed. Here, the apartment was the canvas. It was such a neat experience as a viewer, I can only imagine how exciting it was for the artists to make.  I would like to emphasize that this is a building that is slated to be demolished, which ads a layer of complexity to the statement.

      2014-01-10 20.37.39-1A crownut! Hanksy is my personal favorite street artist, so I was really excited to see this walking up the stairs.  Celebrities, puns, what’s not to love? That’s 0ne of the most incredible things about NYC, on any given night, something truly weird and amazing is happening in the art world. That includes an illegal three-story street art gallery.

      Posted in Adventures, Free Stuff, New York | 0 Comments | Tagged Alphabet City, art, Hansky, NYC, Winter
    • Recent Posts

      • Adventures in Spain: Madrid Day 3
      • Adventures in Spain: Toledo
      • Adventures in Spain: Madrid Day 2
      • Adventures in Spain: Madrid Day 1
      • Adventures in Spain: Barcelona Day 2
    • Archives

      • March 2020
      • January 2020
      • December 2019
      • November 2019
      • October 2019
      • September 2019
      • August 2019
      • July 2019
      • June 2019
      • May 2019
      • April 2019
      • March 2019
      • February 2019
      • January 2019
      • February 2018
      • January 2018
      • October 2017
      • November 2016
      • September 2016
      • August 2016
      • July 2016
      • June 2016
      • May 2016
      • February 2016
      • January 2016
      • August 2015
      • July 2015
      • September 2014
      • August 2014
      • July 2014
      • June 2014
      • May 2014
      • April 2014
      • February 2013
      • August 2012
      • July 2012
      • May 2012
      • April 2012
      • March 2012
      • February 2012
      • January 2012
    • Follow Athena Pappas on WordPress.com
    • Categories

      • Adventures
      • Beer Book
      • Chapbook
      • Charleston
      • Cooking
      • Durham
      • Free Stuff
      • Greece
      • Iceland
      • Italy
      • New York
      • Nicaragua
      • Offical Unofficial NYC Brewery Tour
      • Poetry
      • Restaurants
      • Review
      • Travel
      • Turkey
      • Uncategorized
      • Vlog
      • Writing
    • Meta

      • Register
      • Log in
      • Entries feed
      • Comments feed
      • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×