Whiskey Tasting: Dark Corner Distillery's Lewis Redmond Carolina Hand Mash Bourbon

Dark Corner Distillery in Greenville, SC is new to the whiskey world.  An Artisanal micro distillery focused on hand-spirited small batches of whiskey and other libations, Dark Corner started in 2010.  That recent start hasn't stopped them from some rapid expansion, however.  They have quite a wide range of offerings, but as of November 16th they can say something no one else in South Carolina can say: they now make bourbon.

Dark Corner had a big party to comemorate their first bottling, and I got ahold of two bottles from their first batch.  First, you need to understand that whiskey mellows the longer it is in the barrel.  Distilled the 3rd quarter of 2010 and barrelled on halloween night 2011, Lewis Redmond Carolina Hand Mash Bourbon was aged for 14 months on charred new american oak 5 gallon barrels.  This means it is going to be a bit more raw than some longer running brands, but that doesn't mean it isn't a great bourbon.  For new-make bourbon this is as smooth as it comes.  They replace a lot of the rye normally used in bourbon with red wheat, giving it a sweeter top note, quickly resolving to carmel and vanilla.  Its young age leaves a nice sour apple finish that is crisp and refreshing. 

They currently barrel 30 gallons of bourbon per month, and are now using 15 gallon barrels. This years barreling won't be tapped until late next year at the earliest.  I'm hoping to some day see how well this bourbon holds up to 6-12 years in a barrel, if their first batch is any indication it will quickly become a classic.   It will likely be a while before many of my readers get a chance to taste this whiskey, but if you run across it you owe it to yourself to give it a try.

 

 

Holiday Gift Guide - Unique Gift ideas

This holiday there are a lot of different ideas for gifts. One of the most unique I think are subscription services.  Gone are the days of fruit-of-the-month club, today's subscriptions are a whole new game.  From deliveries of personal grooming products, to movie subscriptions for theater tickets, there is something for everyone on your holiday gift list.

The Birchbox

Each month, you'll receive a selection of samples that they’ve tried (and retried) themselves. The women’s subscription includes everything from skincare to makeup, as well as fun non-beauty extras. The men’s subscription delivers top-tier grooming products in addition to lifestyle accessories ranging from hip socks to tech accessories. Check out the ever growing list of products in their Women’s Shop and Men’s Shop. For $20/month it is a great way to get variety of new products into the hands of those people you know who you can never buy for.

MoviePass

MoviePass is just getting started, but it is an intriguing concept.  For $35/month you receive the ability to see a new movie everyday.  Simply go to the theater and select a movie and showtime using the MoviePass App. Check-in at the theater to load your MoviePass membership card (You must be within 100 yards of the theater to successfully check in). Then use your MoviePass membership card to purchase your ticket at the theater kiosk and enjoy the show!  You are limited only in that you can not see the same movie twice, and IMAX and 3D movies are not included.  For the movie lover on your list this is a homerun.  You can find more information and sign up here.

BarkBox

For the dog owner in your life there is Barkbox.  Each month, your dog will receive his own box of treats and goodies to play with, making for much less boredom (and therefore, less furniture destruction) around the house. $25/month, and can be found here.

The great thing about all of these services is that you can send digital gift notices, so it is a great last-minute gift idea as well.  Of the three BarkBox is the only one I haven't used yet, but they are all great ideas for your holiday giving.

 

Dinner Time - King's Hawaiian Baked Ham & Swiss Sandwiches

I was looking for dinner ideas and ran across some posts on Pinterest about doing these sandwiches and though I'd give them a try.  The flavor profile is amazing!  My daughter swears there was pinapple, but alas there was none.  The cheese melted thoroughly and the butter soaked rolls crisped up extremely well.  A little messy in the hand, but well worth having to hold a napkin close at hand.  Give this one a try folks, this is Fat Boy Heaven right here!

King's Hawaiian Baked Ham & Swiss Sandwiches

 

YIELD
 12 Sandwiches
ACTIVE TIME
 15 minutes
TOTAL TIME
 40 minutes

INGREDIENTS

    • 1 12 pack of King’s Hawaiian Original Rolls
    • 3/4 lb. deli ham, shaved
    • 1/2 lb. Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
    • 1 1/2 sticks butter
    • 3 tablespoons Stone Ground deli mustard
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
    • 3 teaspoons of poppy seeds
    • 1 onion, chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Heat oven to 350. Melt butter and mix in mustard, Worcestershire sauce, onion and poppy seed. Simmer for several minutes.
    2. Cut the entire pack of rolls in half, horizontally (keeping all top and bottom halves in tact).
    3. In a greased 9×13 pan, place bottom half of rolls and spread 1/3 of the onion mixture over the bottom of the rolls followed by the ham and cheese.Spread 1/3 of onion mixture over the bottoms of the rollsLayer ham and cheese evenly over bottoms
    4. Replace the tops of the rolls and spread the remaining onion mixture over top.
    5. Cover and bake for 15-20 minutes and, once finished, separate for serving.Ready to cut apart and serve!

Dinner Time - Baked Garlic and Brown Sugar Chicken with Southern Honey Corn Pudding

I was looking to do something different with Chicken the other night and found quite a few recipes for baked chicken, but I wanted something lighter than the breaded recipes I was finding everywhere.  The wife had put me on notice that with Thanksgiving coming, she wanted lighter meals, but that just doesn't happen in Fat Boy Heaven!  I threw this dinner together as a compromise.  The chicken came out light and delicious with great flovors from the brown sugar and garlic combining perfectly with some of the juciest chicken I've ever made.  The southern corn pudding is something you have to try to appreciate.  Think creamed corn, but taken to a new level.  Corn is mixed into a basic custard flavored with Jack Daniel Tennessee Honey Liquor to make a delicate and flavorful but not overly sweet side dish that your family will love.

Baked Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken

“A quick, easy chicken recipe for days when you don’t want to spend time in the kitchen. Even finicky people will eat it. Goes great with traditional potatoes or rice.”

YIELD
 4 Servings
ACTIVE TIME
 10
TOTAL TIME
 40

INGREDIENTS

    • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
    • 4 garlic cloves, minced
    • 4 tablespoons brown sugar
    • 3 teaspoons olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Preheat oven to 500°F and lightly grease a casserole dish.
    2. In small sauté pan, sauté garlic with the oil until tender.
    3. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar.
    4. Place chicken breasts in a prepared baking dish and cover with the garlic and brown sugar mixture.
    5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
    6. Bake uncovered for 15-30 minutes.

Southern Honey Corn Pudding

This Tennessee version of a corn pudding recipe I created has Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey added to the ingredients. The results are peerless. Everytime I serve it, the dish is emptied and people want to know about that wonderful flavor. The alcohol cooks out in the 400 degree oven

INGREDIENTS

    • 5 large eggs
    • 1/3 cup butter, melted
    • 1 tablespoon sugar
    • 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
    • 3 tablespoons Tennessee Honey (Jack Daniel’s Whiskey)
    • 1 tablespoon orange juice
    • 1/2 cup half/half
    • 4 tablespoons cornstarch
    • 2 (15.25-ounce) cans whole kernel white corn
    • 2 (14.75-ounce) cans cream-style white corn
    • 1 small green cayenne pepper, chopped fine (remove seeds if you want less heat which I do for guests)
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
    •  Dash onion powder
    • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
    • 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

    1. In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs; add half/half and beat. Stir in the remaining ingredients, adding the corn last. Blend well. Pour mixture into a buttered 2 quart casserole dish. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for one hour or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Serve warm.

FatBoy Creations: Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

 

Growing up one of my favorite meals was stuffed cabbage, but we rarely had it because it took so long to prepare. Rolling the cabbage stuffed with meat and rice was time consuming, and very hard to do without making a mess.

I decided to try and make it easier by deconstructing this great dish into a casserole instead of all of the time in assembling it the traditional way.

FatBoyHeaven Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

Ingredients:

  • 2 tsp olive oil, divided
  • 1 lb. 95% lean ground beef
  • 1 large onion, chopped fine
  • 1 tbsp finely minced garlic
  • 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
  • 1 tsp sweet Hungarian Paprika
  • salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste 
  • 1 1/2 heads green cabbage, coarsely chopped
  • 1 can (14.5 oz.) petite dice tomatoes with juice
  • 1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 cups cooked brown rice

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a large glass casserole dish with non-stick spray. (My dish was 13" x 10")
  2. Heat a large frying pan on medium heat; add ground beef and cook until it's browned and cooked through, breaking it apart as it cooks. Remove ground beef and set aside.
  3. In the same pan, add 1 tsp olive oil, chopped onion and cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent and starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic, dried thyme, and paprika and cook about 2 minutes more. Then add the diced tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, and ground beef. Add water to the pan. Simmeruntil it's hot and slightly thickened, about 15-20 minutes.
  4. While it simmers, cut cabbage in half, cut out the core, and remove any wilted outer leaves; chop the cabbage coarsely into 1 inch pieces.
  5. Heat remaining olive oil in a large frying pan or dutch oven; add the cabbage and cook over medium-high heat until the cabbage is wilted and about half cooked, turning it over several times so it all wilts and cooks. Season with salt and fresh-ground black pepper.
  6. When the meat and tomato sauce mixture has cooked and thickened a bit, stir in the 2 cups of cooked rice and gently combine.
  7. Spray casserole dish with non-stick spray and the layer half the cabbage, half the meat mixture, remaining cabbage, and remaining meat mixture. Cover tightly with foil and bake 40 minutes, or until the mixture is just starting to bubble on the edges.

Review: Grove Bamboo Case for iPhone 5

One of the great things about iPhone and iPad accessories is the ecosystem that has evolved since the advent of the iPod for all things Apple.  The range of design ideas and materials is endless, but one of my favorites is made by a company here in Portland, Oregon called Grove.  Their case for the iPhone 5 uses a new method not previously used in their products to increase strength.  They have laminated a plant-fiber compound inside the renewable bamboo outer shell that adds strength while remaining environmentaly friendly.  In an age of disposable plastic and silicon cases and covers, this 100% post-consumer material shows that you can add personality and flair to your electronics without causing more stress on our landfills.  In addition to loads of designs that are available from artists world wide on these cases, Grove also offers the unique ability to customize the case by laser etching your own designs as well.  They sent me the plain case above, but I have another case for my iPad 3 with my family's coat-of-arms etched into the leather cover that shows the great craftmanship these folks are capable of.  While their cases are continualy on back-order, they are well worth the wait.  Everyone who has seen this case is blown away, and I have had dozens of people ask where it came from in the week since it arrived.  Grove can be found online at www.grovemade.com.

FatBoy Creations: Fatboy 3-Meat Stew

I decided that the weather and turned cold enough to start working on a signature soup this week, and ended up creating an awesome stew.  I wanted something rich and meaty yet fairly healthy, and this is what I came up with.

A big pot of goodness right hereFeaturing ground buffalo, ground beef, and kielbasa sausage this was an instant hit at my house.  To save time I went the easy way and used mostly canned vegetables, but you can use fresh if you want to take the extra time.  The stew came out as smooth and flavorful as I ever could have hoped, and this afternoon it passed the important "day after" test.

Here's the recipe, I hope you enjoy!

Fatboy 3-Meat Stew

Ingredients:

1lb Ground Buffalo

1lb Ground Beef

2lbs Kielbasa Sausage - sliced into coins

2 cans (10oz) Diced tomatoes with green chiles

2 cans (15oz) pinto beans - drained and rinsed

2 cans (15oz) stewed tomatoes

1 bag (16oz) Frozen Corn

1 bag (16oz) Frozen mixed vegetables

1 large white onion - finely diced

4 large baker potatoes - peeled and cubed

Seasoning Salt

Pepper (to taste)

1 tsp Cumin

2 tsp Chili Powder

Directions:

1. Place ground meat, onions, and sausage in 3" deep skillet.  Season with seasoning salt.  Cook until ground meat is no longer pink.  Drain fat and place mixture in stock pot.

2. Add remaining ingredients to your stock pot and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and cover.  Cook for at least 1 hour, tasting for proper seasoning and stirring every 15 minutes. Wait until potatoes are starting to break down before serving.

Happiness can come in a bowl

 

Food cart Review: Retrolicious

The Retrolicious Cart

I love good food, and love comfort food even more.  So when the guys told me that there was a new cart in the parking lot of my my old employer at Triangle Pointe in Tigard, I decided to visit them for lunch and see it for myself.

Featuring "Scratch Made Classics", Retrolicious is comfort food done right.  Their signature sandwhich seems to be a creation they call "The Jethro".  Roasted pork, bacon, BBQ sauce, coleslaw, and cheese on a toasted roll is an amazing sandwich.  Served with potato chips for $7, it is also a great value for the time put into the preperation that goes into this thing.  The pork is slow roasted, the bacon crispy, and the slaw a perfect contrast.  If there weren't so many other great items on the menu I would eat this happily every week.  Fortunately for all of us, there are plenty of other great items on the menu.

"The Jethro" is worth tracking this cart downFrom meatloaf sandwichs and dinners to fried chicken with mashed potatoes, pimento mac and cheese to homemade soups the hits keep on coming from this wonderful cart.  I'm just hoping to catch the chicken and waffles next time....I hear it's the best in town.

the Meatloaf Dinner

Fried Chicken Dinner

My lunch: The Jethro with a side of Pimento Mac and Cheese

Retrolicious can be found around town throughout the week.  Check out this piece of FatBoy Heaven....you won't be sorry.

Holiday Recipes to try (or try and avoid)

OK, here's an idea that looks good, but I'm not sure how it will come out.  I may just have to give this one a try this holiday season.  Who knew that Spam came in Turkey flavor??  Stay tuned for reactions!

SPAM:

SPAMSGIVING™ Day Delight

"There are times when you just have to look around and be thankful for what you have. And if you look around and see SPAM® Oven Roasted Turkey in your cupboard, you’ll really be thankful—and so will your family when they try this tasty twist on tradition. "

Review: First round of iPad mini cases/covers has arrived

OK, so far I have received several cases/covers for the iPad mini, and a couple show why third-party case manufacturers need to be careful not to rush products to market too early.

Apple SmartCover for iPad miniThe first to arrive actuall got to me before the mini did.  Apple's SmartCover for iPad mini is much like the SmartCover for the original iPad.  Attached by magnets along the left hand side of the iPad, it lays across the face of the iPad protecting the screen.  Lined with micro-fiber cloth, it also can be removed and folded to be used as a screen cleaner.  It protects the glass but leaves the sides and back uncovered, and provides no real protection in case of a fall.  It is better than nothing, and holds in place fairly well over the screen to protect the glass while it is in a bag or pocket, but provides little protection.

Ionic 2-Tone leather caseThe next case to come in was the Ionic 2-Tone Designer Leather Case Cover.  This case looks great, and is well constructed.  The stiching is well done, and special attention to design was used to provide a magnetic flap to secure the iPad instead of the typical velcro or friction flaps used in most other cases.  The problem is that Ionic rushed this case out without having design specs from Apple for screen size and more importantly, the size of the bezel around the screen.  Apple changed the way it did bezels with the mini, and rather than being equal widths on all four sides, the long sides of the bezel are narrower.  This brings us to the problem with Ionic's case.  More than 1/4 inch of screen is obstructed on each of the long sides.  As you can see, the case covers a significant portion of the screen along both edgesThis was done because prior to the announcement of the iPad mini, no one could have expected that for the first time the bezel would be narrowed along those edges.  Ionic's designers couldn't take that into account, and so they are shipping a case that is not at all funtional for this device.

The last case to arrive is the iTronz Black High Quality PU Leather Smart iPad Mini case folio.  My favorite of the three I've recieved so far, but again it was obviously rushed into production.  Unlike the ionic above it was designed after the announcement, as evidenced by the proper placement of the side cut around the screen.  The design is pretty common, it fits the device well and provides fair ammounts of protection.  The issue comes from the placement of magnets in the front flap.  They are intended to activate a magnetic switch in the ipad to enable the unlocking of the device.  The magnets are not aligned properly for the switch, so you still have to manually turn the ipad on.  Not a big deal, but not as convinient as it was intended to be.

The bottom line is this folks.  By christmas there will be a lot of cases from well known manufacturers that work exactly the way you expect them to.  While the proces may be cheaper on these no-name imports, sometimes you get what you paid for.

Review: Apple iPad mini

When Apple finally announced the iPad mini two weeks ago, the only question most people in the tech industry had was where they would set the price. The device had been rumored for years, and was expected long ago. We received our answer, and many thought it was far too high. At $329 it is $130 more than the Amazon Kindle Fire HD, and more than $70 more than Google's Nexus 7.

What the analysts failed to anticipate was the impact that Apple has on the public. Just as they did with MP3 players when the iPod was released, Apple has not just released another device in a crowded market, they have released THE iconic device in a market that many didn't know really existed.

Many people in my family would never have heard of the Kindle Fire without my telling them (and showing them mine). I'm sure many of you could say the same. However when Apple announces a product people hear about it, and more importantly for Apple, they run down to buy it. They stay up past midnight for preorders to make sure they have it before the people they work with. Apple announced that they sold more than 3 million new iPads over the first weekend, more than twice what the analysts expected. Here's how they did it.

Apple knows tablets. With more than 80% of the market in the US they know tablets better than anyone. Apple didn't need to change anything but size. They didn't need to design a new interface or operating system the way the other companies I've mentioned needed to. They didn't need to wait for developer support, because they used the same specifications developers were already writing for from the iPad 2. If you have used an iPad or iPhone before, you already know how to use an iPad mini. Since there are more than 200 million iOS devices already sold, that is a huge group of potential users to draw from, and a group with more brand loyalty than any other in the consumer electronics market.

As Phil Schiller said during the announcement, this is "every inch an iPad". From the familiar grid of icons to the 4:3 aspect ratio in a world of widescreen tablets, the iPad stands out, and in the minds of many above the rest of the market.

It has replaced both my Kindle Paperwhite and my iPad 3 in my daily life, and I expect I'm not alone.

Review: Microsoft Surface with Windows RT - Drew's Take

The home screen of Windows RT on the new Surface from MicrosoftMicrosoft for the first time has released their own computer, and it could be a game changer.  Fed up with hardware partners failing to capture their vision of tablet computing they have this week released Surface, a bold new take on the world of mobile computing.  Featuring a power efficient Tegra 3 processor from NVIDIA and finally removing backward compatibility from windows they have been able to strip their vaunted operating system down to its bare essentials.  A complete re-imagining of Windows has been needed for a long time, and I think Microsoft has hit on a winning formula here.  What remains to be seen is how quickly software developers start writing programs that will run natively in Microsoft’s new “MODERN UI”.  Without developer support this grand experiment is destined to fail.

 

Hardware

With a new hardware and software platform, it is impossible to really compare specs for hardware.  The surface has some interesting design cues, and Microsoft’s design team has made some risky design choices that I think they have really pulled off here. 

The touch keyboard doesn’t seem like it would work.  3MM thick, no moving parts…it would seem to most to be a token gesture towards a physical keyboard.  However, after a few days using it I am writing this review using it and am more than happy with its responsiveness.  Unlike many of the netbook keyboards we have seen over the last few years, the touch keyboard cover that is available with Surface has a surprisingly roomy keyboard, with nice separation between keys and a decent feel.  It takes some getting used to, but once you do it is like a whole new world.

One thing that became clear when watching the official release keynote for Surface was how much thought went into the smallest features of this hardware.  From the sound made when the kickstand is deployed or stowed to the angle of the cameras being set to account for the slope of the Surface when using the kickstand, no aspect of this hardware design was not thought of and planned for a specific reason.

Surface with Windows RT features 2GB of RAM, a 1.5GHz Tegra 3 processor, and either 32GB or 64GBs of flash storage.  There is no benchmark software available in the Windows Store yet, and no other devices to compare it to anyway, so in depth numbers cannot be a part of this review.  What I can say is that while some software takes a bit to respond, it does not seem to be a resource issue.  With more than ten applications running programs had the same response issues as they did when running alone.  Surface is a very responsive system, and on I could see replacing an Ultra Book or Net Book in just about anyone’s workflow.

Software

Windows RT is a new and vastly different operating system than Windows 7, and that is easy to see when the Surface first comes on.  The live tiles are not just the first thing you see, they replace the start menu so crucial to previous versions of Windows.  Make no mistake though, this is Windows, right down to the command prompt.  The biggest difference is “legacy” software.  It can run under Windows 8 Pro, but not on Windows RT.  This makes getting software written for and offered through the newly minted Windows Store critical in the short term.  Without software, this platform is doomed to falter.

First Look: Microsoft Surface

OK, I've had 24 hours with the Surface at this point and I think Microsoft is on to something.  For years I have lamented how bloated Windows had become, due in large part to their unwillingness to abandon support for legacy software.  Building in support for software that goes back up to 20 years in some cases is bound to cause and operating system to bloat beyond all reason, and this makes for a sluggish resource hog.

With RT Microsoft has finally had an excuse to do what Apple did with the old Power-PC based software and start over.  This has allowed Microsoft to release a light, nimble, and responsive OS for the modern, mobile culture and I never expected to be able to say any of that about the guys from Redmond.

The surface is proof that Microsoft has been paying attention, and their hardware partners have not.  Light, portable, fully featured and well designed.  Who would have thought Microsoft was this good at designing hardware?  After decades of leaving hardware to others Surface is proof that Microsoft should have made this move a long time ago.

Stay tuned, we'll have reviews from the whole family ready to go by Monday.

Unboxing: Microsoft Surface RT

Just opened the box

Simplified, well designed packaging. Is this really from Microsoft?

Outside slip cover holds packaging for the Surface and the Touch Cover together

Simple, no frills packaging

Quick and simple setup...

On first launch there were fifteen apps that needed updating in the Modern UI

Even in their modern, stripped down new OS, a DOS prompt can be found...

Surface updated and ready to use....stay tuned for my first look

Windows 8 Launch Event - NYC

On Thursday, Oct. 25th Microsoft held a press event in New York City to formally launch their latest operating system, Windows 8.  A huge move forward from Windows 7, Windows 8 was built from the ground up to take advantage of touch screens and cloud services such as Microsoft's own SkyDrive service.  The big news, however is that for the first time Windows will run on an ARM processor much like those that power smart phones and tablets, while at the same time abandoning  all previous Windows software.  While the Pro version of windows 8 will allow older or "legacy" software to run as it did in older versions, the big push for Windows 8 is RT (Run-Time) which will only run new software available from the Windows App Store.

As with any new Windows release, this is a huge event.  The great news for consumers is that Windows 8 Pro will run on all Windows 7 personal computers, although in most cases without being able to take advantage of the new touch interface that makes it so great.  Upgrades start at $39.99 in the U.S. and are on sale as I write this post.  The big news however is all of the new computers built for the native touch interface, including all kinds of devices from large all-in-one desktop machines to portable tablets and literally every form factor in between.  All of the major PC manufacturers from Dell to Lenovo had new systems to announce, making this a big day for the whole industry.

The biggest news of the day was the release of the first Microsoft branded computer ever, Surface, a Windows RT tablet built from the ground up to bridge the gap between ultra-portables and tablets such as the iPad in the consumer space.  I'll have one today, and will post several items over the next few days while I put it through it's paces.

You can see the press events for both Windows 8 and the special event for the Surface tablet here.

 

Apple Special Event - "A little something to share"

For the first time in a while, Apple surprised us by pushing out a press release that they would be streaming today's event and adding a special events channel to AppleTV's.

iPhone 5 has sold faster than any other smartphone in history, selling more than (insert number her) in just a month, bringing the total number of iOS devices in use to more than 200 Million.  There are more than 700k apps in the app store, 275k made for iPad specifically.  More than 35 Billion application downloads since the launch of iOS, equalling more than $6.5 Billion paid to developers since it's launch.

First announcement for the day is a new version of iBooks, which is now going to be better integrated with iCloud, and includes a new auto-scroll feature to help you read without interaction (great when reading on the machines at the gym).

We have new Mac announcements!  First, the 13" MacBook Pro now has a Retina display.  20% Thinner, and weighing in a pound lighter at 3.75lbs.  Shipping Today with a 2.53GHz Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB HDD for $1699.  

Next, Mac Mini is upgraded to the Ivy Bridge chipset with both i5 and i7 processors, expanding maximum RAM to 16GB and starting at $599 and shipping Today.

 

Finally, iMac is completely redesigned.  Just 5mm thick at the edges, this thing is insanely thin.  They have laminated the display to the glass, eliminating a 2mm air gap from prefious models.  They have removed the optical drive.  Available in 21.5" and 27" models, the new displays provide 75% less reflection, and are shipping color calibrated individually from the production line, a hug deal for folks in print and video industries.  Up to 32GB of RAM now available in the iMac, with the same processor upgrades to IVY Bridge chipsets as the other Macs announced today.

Huge change is the new "Fusion Drive" announced for the Mini and the iMac.  Drives include 128GB of RAM and any ammount of physical storage.  The entire OS and all pre-configured apps run in FLASH.  The software will re-configure storage, moving your more common apps and files to the faster flash storage.

21.5-inch: 2.7GHz

  • 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5
  • Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz
  • 8GB (two 4GB) memory
  • 1TB hard drive1
  • NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M with 512MB

  • Available in November
  • Free Shipping
  • $1,299.00

27-inch: 2.9GHz

  • 2.9GHz quad-core Intel Core i5
  • Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
  • 8GB (two 4GB) memory
  • 1TB hard drive1
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M with 512MB

  • Available in December
  • Free Shipping
  • $1,799.00

 

 New iPad! 100 Millionth iPad sold a few weeks ago.  4th Gen iPad is announced today.  Featuring the A6X processor from the iPhone 5.  Lightning Connector, with new adapters for VGA, HDMI, SD Card and USB.  Same prices as the previous models, starting at $499.  Also we now see the iPad Mini!  23% thinner than the iPad, weighing in at .68lbs.  Black and White with the same look as the iPhone 5 on the back.  7.9" Display, 1024x768 resolution.  All software for the iPad will be compatible since resolution is the same.  iPad mini will use the A5 processor from the iPad 2 and iPhone 4.  16GB starts at $329 with pre-orders on Friday the 26th and wi-fi versions shipping Nov. 2nd.  LTE version of the Mini will follow 2 weeks later on Nov. 16th

Review: iPod Nano (2012)

No product in Apple's recent history has had half as many form factor changes as the iPod Nano, now in it's 8th incarnation.  The latest version blends the previous two into something resembling what I would imagine the smallest possible iPhone incarnation.  With three rows of two icons there isn't much room on this display, but there is plenty of space for a music player, clock, and Nike+ integration.

Sound quality is the best I've heard on an iPod, but whether a sign of a new DSP chip or just the result of the new ear pods, I can't say. What I can say is that I'm impressed. I sampled music from Gary Clark, jr and various country and classical albums with great results.

If you are in the market for a new iPod, you can't go wrong with this one!

Budget tip: Cooking with beer

Many recipes, especially mine, call for beer. Often it is best to use heavy imported ales or micro-brews for this purpose due to stronger flavors that don't get washed down while cooking, but they can be expensive. Here's a solution that works well for me.

In the back of most supermarkets is a close out shelf of discontinued or about to expire merchandise. While usually it contains products most people don't buy, quite often I've found beer or wine that is either not going to be carried any more or has been on the shelf a little too long at great discounts. While it may not be optimum for drinking anymore, it still is useful for cooking! For instance, nothing is better as a liquid for a nice beef stew on a chilly fall evening than a robust brown ale, and I was able to get two bottles for the price of one at Safeway yesterday. I have seen some decent wines that would be great for cooking at similar prices on the back shelf of both Safeway and Albertson's. Save yourself some cash and pick them up when you see them. They are a great way to stretch your budget.

Remember, you don't have to like a beer or wine for drinking in order for it to be a great base for an amazing meal.