Andrew Mark Veety

Revisiting The BLT Cocktail

Last year Kelli Best-Oliver and I joined forces to create the BLT Cocktail in honor of the fifth annual Tour de Moose. Kelli took on making tomato water and lettuce ice cubes while I took a shot at making bacon infused vodka.

Simply, the goal was to turn this delicious looking sandwich...

...into a breakfast drink that would fortify a thirsty biker for the twenty mile bike ride and bar crawl that followed. 

2009 Tour de Moose

As summer turns to fall here in St. Louis, my attention starts to focus on my favorite event, the Tour de Moose. 2009 marks the 5th year we've run this bike race / bar crawl though the city, and we are looking forward to a record turn out again this year after reaching close to 80 riders last year.

This years race is scheduled to start at 11:00 AM on October 17. If you are into bikes, beer and St. Louis, think about registering.

This years ride will visit Lemmons, The Tin Can Tavern, The Three Monkeys, The Square One Brewery, The Schlafly Tap Room, Laclede Street Bar, Milo's Tavern and The Hide Away.

I've been posting updates and photos to the Tour site on a regular basis as we roll into October and I'll be live blogging during the race as well. Loyal readers who have not vanished in my absence might remember the White Castle cross over from last year's training and tour rides.

Welcome fall - long live the Tour de Moose.

Giving Into the Crave.

A highlight of the fall in St. Louis is our yearly bike race, The Tour de Moose. We've stepped things up this year with a planning board and training rides to accommodate a ridership that has grown from 20 to 60 in three years, with 100 expected this year. 

Our first ride of the season was this morning and what started as a quick bike ride with a few adult beverages planned afterward quickly evolved into a culinary and gastrointestinal adventure as well. 

Our Sunday morning ride started around 9:30 AM and about an hour later we happened past a White Castle that my friend Moose (of the Tour de) wanted to put on this years tour as a pit stop. The idea is to offer a break between legs where riders can roll past and grab a slider like marathon runners reaching for bottles of water. As we were already testing our bikes and the race route, we figured it would be a good idea to test our stomachs as well with a mid-morning slider break. 

From left to right we have a fish slider, a traditional White Castle, and resting like a king on its orange throne the new A1 White Castle. My impromptu goal was to compare the A1 slider against the original, and truth be told the only difference is a dollop of A1 Steak Sauce and a lack of pickles. For me, the pickle is what makes a White Castle and they are missed on the A1 where the bite of sour would play nicely against the steak sauce and onions. 

Both burgers benefited from the early morning visit. While the sign out front states that they are always open, it seemed that the bun was fresher than you would find at midnight visit to White Castle. The freshness of the bread did a good job soaking up the grease and onion juice that usually meld a slider to its box and eventually the bag. 

In full disclosure, I added the fish slider because I had skipped breakfast and really, who orders the fish at White Castle? In my opinion it is the best item on the menu, but it too could benefit from the liberal application of a pickle or two, alone or riding in some tarter sauce.

Opinion: Recommended with reservations, usually the morning after.