12/8/13

Crock Pot Tomato Soup with Pizza Beer

Is it cold where you live? If so, I hate to say this, but I’m a little envious. It’s still in the 80’s here. It’s just really hard to get in the holiday spirit when you’re shopping for your Christmas tree in a sundress and flip flops, right? We’re going to Georgia in 2 weeks, though. I’m sure it will be super cold, and I’ll be running home to the warm temps.

There are not many things I miss about cold weather. Layers, heavy jackets, waiting for your car to warm up, freezing after getting out of the shower, frosted windshields, etc. I do miss reading by the fireplace, enjoying a hot bowl of soup on a cold day, drinking hot chocolate while looking at lights, and the possibility of a snow day. The fact that it’s still hot as hell outside doesn’t keep me from enjoying a bowl of warm soup, though. I made this recipe a few weeks ago. It was actually a little chilly that day. By chilly, I’m talking mid 70’s. I’m a sissy when it comes to the cold!

Mamma Mia! Pizza Beer was the star of this yummy Crockpot Tomato Soup. You may remember my recipe for Beer Bread a few weeks ago using this same beer. It really tastes just like Pizza. You can go to their website to see if this beer is available in your area. I’m sure if we get it in South Florida, everyone else should find it fairly easy.

This recipe makes enough soup for an army! I used some of the leftovers for stuffed shells {recipe to come soon} and had a quart leftover in the freezer.

I recommend serving this soup with my Beer Bread hot out of the oven.

In Other News

I’ve been a little MIA lately. This weeks been a little crazy.

Wednesday, we went to TBC for their Movember contest.

I had the pleasure of looking at this every day last month… Thanks TBC! Luckily, it was gone shortly after we arrived home. I love Huck’s beard… not a fan of the handlebar look!

Karl and Holly joined us at TBC for the event. Like Karl’s new haircut? Huck didn’t win this year, but did come in 2nd, and passed the crown on to the winner.

Thursday, I had the Barley Doll’s meet-up.

We started at Das Biergarten in Abacoa. Das has a good craft beer menu and the turn out was really good. We had a few newbies but most everyone was repeats. As people started leaving, some of the ladies decided to headed to Jumby Bay for wine. The Barley Dolls do not discriminate against alcohol. We do drink responsibly, though!

Friday was my company Christmas party.

We met at the owner of my companies house for drinks and our secret Santa exchange before heading to Morton’s Steakhouse in West Palm.

Doesn’t Huck look fancy with his sweater vest and red wine?

And Saturday, I worked on Christmas Crafts and watched Football.

For the ornament frame, I bought an 8×10 frame and ornaments from the Dollar Store and hot glued them together. Now, I just need a picture of us.

My other project was a tree skirt for our Christmas tree. Last year, I found directions for a DIY ruffle Tree Skirt on Pinterest {Are you following me on Pinterest?? You should!}. I had a box of leftover fabric from our wedding reception and thought this would be a perfect way to reuse the fabric and have a tree skirt with more meaning. It took me about 4 hours total from cutting the fabric into 2” pieces to hot gluing everything together. The other lady used an old tree skirt, but I just used my old skirt as a template and made one with plain white muslin fabric. I didn’t want to waste my original skirt if my project didn’t work out. I wish it was just a little bigger. I may go in and add one more layer to the end… Maybe. Hot gluing burlap SUCKS!

It doesn’t really match the tree, but it’s special and I like it! I still have a bunch of fabric left and plan to make matching stockings for us and the yahoos. That may tie everything together a little more.

Crock Pot Tomato Soup with Pizza Beer

Serves 6+
Prep time 15 minutes
This is a thick tomato, pasta sauce, soup. Crusty bread or Beer Bread is a must with with soup.

Ingredients

  • 4 cloves Garlic (Minced)
  • 1/2 Red Onion (Small Diced)
  • 2 large Carrots (Grated)
  • 28oz cans Tomatoes (Crusted)
  • 4 cups Chicken Stock
  • 1 cup Pizza Beer (or a light lager)
  • 1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dried Oregano
  • 1 large Bay Leaf
  • 1 Parmesan Rind (Optional but I recommend it!)
  • teaspoon Salt and Pepper to Taste
  • Extras (Parmesan, Parsley, Crusty Bread)

Directions

Add all ingredient into a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Serve with extra Parmesan and crusty bread for dipping.
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12/1/13

Thanksgiving Vacation

Huck’s Birthday

My four day weekend started Wednesday at 2PM. I practically ran out of the office screaming “I’m free!!”.

Wednesday was Huck’s birthday, and I was happy to be off early to celebrate. We started the birthday celebration at TBC, of course!

Our celebration continued to downtown Abacoa for Food Trucks and drinks at Das Biergarten with some friends. We were home fairly early. 

Turkey Day

For Thanksgiving, we went to our friends Nate and Sue’s house for dinner. Nate smoked a turkey while Sue whipped up so amazing sides.

 

I brought Butter Corn Casserole, Beer Bread Rolls, and Cranberry Cheesecake. The Cranberry Cheesecake turned out really good. I followed SkinnyTaste’s recipe for Strawberry Cheesecake, but substituted strawberries for leftover cranberry sauce. 

EG and Laura’s visit- Friday and Saturday

Friday, EG and Laura drove over from Tampa to spend the night. We went to Square Grouper and Dive Bar for dinner. Saturday, we took them to Berry Fresh for breakfast and Loggerhead Marine Life Center to check out the sea turtles.

Did you know Juno Beach has one of the most active nesting beaches in the world? I didn’t either.

The turtle below was going for his weekly weigh-in.

Each turtle has a little information posted about his condition, treatment, size, and age. The turtle below was found floating on his left side, and he was very anemic and hypoglycemic. He had a large, old, scare on his back from a boat propeller. He’s doing better since he arrived at the center.

He also went to the Juno Beach Pier.

The wind and waves were crazy.

While walking on the pier, some “kids” caught a 5 foot shark.

And people wonder why I don’t go swimming in the ocean…

It made me very sad to see the way the people treated the shark. They were taking pictures holding it and flipping it off. While holding it, they keep dropping it, and the shark was trying his best to get away. I secretly wanted the shark to whip around and bite everyone of them. Nothing serious. Just an F U from the poor defenseless shark.

EG and Laura left around 2PM, and Huck and I left for his homebrew competition at Roxy’s in West Palm.

Huck entered two beers into the competition and came in 2nd and 3rd. He was beat by a Blueberry Porter. He wasn’t very happy about “being the first and second loser”. I’m super proud of him for placing, twice!

There were large TV’s setup outside Roxy’s playing the UF vs FSU. We were watching the end of the UGA vs Tech and Bama vs Auburn game at a local restaurant/bar. The place went crazy when Auburn scored at the very end of the game. It was AMAZING!!! Oh and UGA won too. It was a great day!

11/24/13

Sweet Potato Casserole and Friendsgiving

Growing up, Sweet Potato Casserole wasn’t a part of our Thanksgiving Day spread. Well, maybe it was, but it never made it on my plate. Two years ago, I decided to make a Sweet Potato Casserole for Friendsgiving, and it’s become a staple ever since.

Last year, Sue brought a casserole to Friendsgiving with just a sugar and pecan topping. It was so much better without the marshmallows, and I decided to make it like that again this year.

I added a special ingredient to my recipe this year, of course.

When I picked up Lazy Magnolia’s Sweet Potato Beer, I wasn’t sure about buying it. Sweet Potatoes in a Cream Stout? Weird! I bought it though, and it was surprising really good. I’m a huge fan of Sweet Stouts and Sweet Potatoes, and the two are great together. Huck said this was the best beer Lazy Magnolia has, and we fought over the leftover beer.

Friendsgiving

I made my Sweet Potato Casserole for Friendsgiving at our good friends Ty and Morgan’s house last night. These two did a great job preparing an awesome meal.

Everyone did a great good with the food.

We had Ham, Turkey, Stuffing, Broccoli Salad, Green Bean Casserole, Scallop Potatoes, 2 Sweet Potato Casseroles, Mashed Potatoes, Spinach Casserole, Mac and Cheese, Corn Casserole, Gravy, Rolls, Cranberry Sauce, and Deviled Eggs. I’m full just thinking about all of it!

I tried a scoop of everything, and I couldn’t tell you what was my favorite or least favorite. Everything was equally good.

Isabelle was the first one at the table!

Another couple, at the party, moved to South Florida a year ago from Georgia. They actually lived in the same area we did. During dinner we shared stories about horrible Atlanta traffic, and the snow storm that shut down the whole city. Eww, I don’t miss cold or traffic!

After dinner, we watched football, played Jenga, and complained about being full.

You know you’re in South Florida when people are wishing they brought sweaters when it’s in the low 70’s.

We left around midnight with lots of leftovers and bellies still full of food.

Being so far from my family sucks, but it’s nice to have friends here to spend the holidays with. On the way home, we talked about how lucky we are to have such great friends. It’s crazy to think when we first moved here, we didn’t know anyone.

Thank you Ty and Morgan for a great night.

Sweet Potato Casserole with Cream Stout

Ingredients

  • POTATOES
  • 4 large Sweet Potatoes
  • 3/4 cups Sugar
  • 1/4 cup Sweet Stout
  • 3 tablespoons Butter (Melted)
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 2 large Eggs
  • TOPPING
  • 1/3 cup AP Flour
  • 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
  • 2 tablespoons Butter (Melted)
  • 3/4 cups Pecans (Chopped)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
POTATOES:

Pierce Potatoes with fork and Microwave for 10 minutes or until tender. Once Potatoes are tender, cut in half and scoop all inside of Sweet Potatoes.
Combined Sugar, Beer, Butter, Salt, Vanilla, and Eggs. Add Potatoes and mix until smooth. Spray a pie dish with cooking spray and add Sweet Potato mixture.
TOPPING:

Combined Flour, Brown Sugar, Melted Butter, and Pecans in a separate bowl.
Sprinkle potatoes with Pecan mixture. Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and serve.
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11/13/13

Vanilla Porter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes

The Holy Trinity.

In culinary school, we talked about the Holy Trinity a bunch. Sounds like an odd topic for culinary school, but we were not talking about religion. The Holy Trinity is pretty much the base for every good Cajun recipe. The combination of Onions, Peppers, and Celery. It’s used for everything.

Many cuisines have their form of the Holy Trinity. The French call it Mirepoix: a mixture of 50% Onions, 25% Carrots, and 25% Celery. Leave it to the French cuisine to make everything complicated.

Well, I’m starting my own “Holy Trinity”. Cupcakes, Cookies, and Beer! Oh yea! I’m calling it the Ultimate Holy Trinity!

Nothing bad can come from this combination. Well, maybe an increase waist line, but everything in moderation, right? You only live once? Whatever helps you sleep at night?

A few weeks ago, I wanted Cookies, but I also wanted Cupcakes. What’s a girl to do? Porter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes, that’s what she did!

I cheated by using store bought, mini, cookies, but oh well. They were amazing, and I had no idea how to make a cookie small enough to fit on a mini cupcake. I’ll add it to my list of things to do.

Do you know how many mini cupcakes a box of cake mix makes? 75! I know because that’s how many cupcakes I had sitting around my house. I brought a bunch to work. I took some to the Barley Dolls meet-up. I gave them to neighbors. I even ate 5 while waiting for water to boil. Not my finest moment!

Mini cupcakes are deceiving. “Oh they’re small. I’ll only have one. But wait, that was only one bite. Now, I want another one…. I’ll have one more.” This continues until your laying on the couch, in a chocolate coma, hating yourself for eating a whole cake… “But they were mini, dammit!”

My advice, proceed with caution. Don’t make this recipe when you’re home alone, depressed, lonely, or in any mood that would encourage the consummation of large amounts of sweets. I do not want anyone mad at me because they ate a whole cake.

The girls in my Barley Dolls group loved these. Girls loving something made of chocolate? Who would have thought?

Huck also requested these for his birthday in 2 weeks. He wants full size cupcakes, so a full size cookie fits on top. Hey, it’s his birthday. Who am I to complain?

I used Breckenridge Brewery’s Vanilla Porter for this recipe. The beer has a very strong Vanilla favor. Maybe too much vanilla, for my liking, but perfect for desserts. I recently used this beer for Vanilla Porter Chocolate Dipped Waffle Cones, and I have a few more ideas. I’m going Vanilla Porter crazy! I cheated with this recipe and used a box cake mix. I used the Vanilla Porter instead of Water in my recipe. If you’re worried the beer flavor will be to strong, you can use a mixture of half beer and half water.

What is your Holy Trinity?

Vanilla Porter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 box Chocolate Cake Mix
  • Stout or Porter
  • 1/2 cup Mini Chocolate Chips
  • 1 jar Cream Cheese Icing
  • 1/8 cup Stout or Porter Beer
  • Mini Cookies (I used Mini Chips Ahoy)
  • 1/8 cup Chocolate Chips (Chopped)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Follow directions on back of cake mix box for combining ingredients. Substitute the Water for Beer. (All Boxed Cake mixes are different. The box mix I used, called for Eggs, Oil, and Water. The Vanilla Beer I used did not have a strong beer flavor. If you're worried the beer will be to strong, try using 1/2 water 1/2 beer.)
Add Chocolate Chips and fully combined.
Fill cupcake liners with batter 3/4 of the way full.
Bake for 10 minutes (for mini cupcakes) or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted to the center.
Allow cupcakes to completely cool.
Combined Beer and Icing. Add to pipping bag and cover each cupcake as desired.
Sprinkle each cupcake with chocolate and add mini cookie. Crush extra cookies and sprinkle over the top if desired.
ENJOY!
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11/4/13

One Year Anniversary

Sunday was our one year anniversary. I can’t believe its been one whole year since our wedding. I can’t believe we’ve been together for almost 6 years either! 6 years!? It’s crazy.

Our weekend started bright and early Saturday with a bike ride at Jonathan Dickinson State Park. I only managed to do one full lap. Riding my bike reminds me how out of shape I am. I get very frustrated with myself and then I start doing worse. I just need to keep working at it, and maybe one day, I can complete 3 laps without dying!

After riding our bikes, we hurried home and and got ready for the Florida Brewers Guild Beer Festival. We were asked to help serve beer for Bx Beer Depot.

This was the first year for the Beer Festival, and the turn out was small. For the people that attended the event, it was perfect. You didn’t have to wait in long lines for beer. I enjoyed it because we were able to interact with people longer, and I was able to promote The Barley Dolls more!

It also allowed us to sample more beer. Funky Buddha’s No Crusts was AMAZING! It tasted just like peanut butter and jelly!

This festival was only Florida Brewers. About 30 brewers attended the event. I was really surprised with how many brewers we have in Florida. We’re moving up in the craft beer world.

After the Brewers Guild, we went to the Improv. The comedians had me in tears multiple times!

It was definitely an action packed day.

One Year Wedding Anniversary

Sunday, we were up bright and early. I was getting ready when Huck handed me a box wrapped in magazine pages. I thought our mountain bikes were our anniversary gift to each other. I did NOTHING for him. I felt so bad.

When I opened it, I felt a million times worse.

Huck bought me a new lens for my camera. I didn’t even make him a card, and after I seen my new camera lens, a card seemed to fail in comparison. I usually make Huck something for special days, and I feel like I really dropped the ball this time.

After we finished getting ready, we had breakfast at Berry Fresh. We split a giant Cinnamon Roll and the MexiCali Hash. Their serving are HUGE!

Yes! This is a half order!!

After breakfast, and did some shopping. Huck’s mom and niece came into town Sunday. They’re staying with us all week.

We walked around the toy section for a long time trying to find Mack some toys. We don’t get to spoil her very often. We bought a small doll house, Playdough, Bubbles, Coloring Books and Crayons, beach stuff and a kite. That should be enough to keep a 3 year old entertain for the week, right?

They arrived around 3PM, and we headed to the beach.

Mackenzie and Huck had a great time!

She wasn’t happy when it was time to go.

After they went to bed Sunday night, Huck and I enjoyed a beer from our wedding. Huck and his buddies brewed a Pumpkin Porter a few weeks before the wedding and we handed them out as wedding favors. Most people eat one year old cake, we enjoyed year old beer… Much better!

We tried the beer against this years Pumpkin Porter. We drank our beers out of the glasses Gump gave us as a wedding gift. It’s the Mr. and Mrs. Hucklebuck Brewing goats his buddy drew for him.

We enjoyed our beers on the balcony while looking at our wedding album. We reminisced about our wedding day and the crazy year we’ve had.

It was an interesting first year of marriage. We’ve traveled more this year than any year we’ve been together. We worked together without killing each other, and we realized that not working together sucks. We’re reminded how much we mean to each other. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this man is my world.

I’ll leave you with my Facebook status from Sunday:

Happy 1 year anniversary to the man that makes me laugh, loves me almost as much as I love him , and spoils me way more than I deserve. He’s my partner in crime, my best friend for life, and the one that makes my life complete. You are my whole world, and meeting you was the best thing that’s ever happen to me! Packaged deal for life!

11/1/13

Can you Save Me Money On My Car Insurance?

Zombie Pub Crawl

Huck and I attended the Second Annual Zombie Pub Crawl on Friday night. If you remember last year we had an hours’ notice to figure out what to wear and get Downtown. It was also the week before our wedding, and I was not about to put anything crazy on my face. Huck, on the other hand, rubbed red food coloring all over his. Not the smartest move. As you may know, red food coloring stains, and takes about 4 days to wash off.

This year we had more time to get ready. Thanks to Pinterest and YouTube, I learned how to do some awesome wounds. I practiced earlier in the week, so when I got off work Friday, I’d know what to do and what I needed.

This method was super easy. I coated my skin with Elmer’s glue, added layers of torn toilet paper, and covered with more glue. I let it dry for 15-20 minutes and applied liquid foundation and powder to cover the white and blend with my skin color. I was actually going to buy a lighter/paler shade of makeup, but was very upset to learn, that’s what I was already had.

I peeled a few pieces of the TP up for texture, added some black and brown eye shadow and added fake blood GEL! The gel worked better than any other fake blood I purchased.

For the claw marks on my left arm, I rolled up pieces of TP and glued them to my arm. Then, I followed the same steps.

The whole process was super easy and cheap!

And I think the end product turned out pretty darn good. From a distance and in pictures, they look real. My Grandmother commented, on a Facebook picture saying, my bike was dangerous, and I should pick a new hobby. She’s so funny!

Tony’s costume, again, was awesome!

This girl was in full character all night! She was creepy!!

We ended the night on the roof top at Roxy. Little Carlos had a blast :)

Halloween

Huck and I picked out our costumes for Halloween weeks ago. I found a picture of a couple dressed as Flo and Mayhem and thought it was the perfect for us. We’re both insurance adjusters and work for competing companies. I actually wore part of my costume to work on Halloween.

Halloween night, we dressed up in our full costumes and helped hand out candy at our friend’s house. We bought Huck’s suit at Goodwill for less than $10. I think he looked great and we looked really good together.

I couldn’t believe how many little kids came up and said “Hi Flo!”, “You’re Flo from the commercial”, and “Can you save me money on my car insurance?” KIDS were asking me this!

Someone told me it’s because I have the same skin tone as Flo and I was wearing the bright red lip stick. Maybe I can get a job as a Flo prodigy…

I thought Huck looked great as Mayhem!

Karl and Holly were nice enough to have us over, cooked us a great meal, and let us help hand out candy at their house.  

Does anyone else dress up for Halloween. We’ve dressed up every year since we met. This was the first year we didn’t dress the yahoo’s up. Ginny makes the cutest Fat Pumpkin. He doesn’t enjoy it that much, though.

10/23/13

Tangerine Mimosas

I love Brunch. You get a mix of breakfast, lunch, and it’s the only acceptable time to order a drink at 11AM.

I actually got the idea for beer Mimosas from Das Biergarten. They made their mimosas with orange juice, but I thought I’d change it up with tangerines. These tangerines were so juicy and sweet, I couldn’t pass them up.

Cigar City is a local beer but any Belgian, Wheat, or White Ale would work great.

Mimosas would be a great addition to Sunday Brunch. I also recommend trying one of my other Breakfast recipes:

Pumpkin Beer Cinnamon Rolls

Bluebeery Muffins

These are not beer recipes but still worth posting.

Baked Eggs in a Ham Basket

Baked French Toast Sticks

 

In Other News

I’m blogging at work:

I’m currently on my lunch break. I’ve had my real job for almost 3 months now. It’s time to find a balance. I love blogging, and I’m determined to keep doing it! And do it good.

We went to Oktoberfest:

We went to Oktoberfest in West Palm this weekend. It made us both even more excited for our trip next year!


I’m not sure what my favorite part was, the food or Greg’s dancing skills?!

Halloween:

We have a busy Halloween weekend planned. Zombie Pub Crawl and MoonFest! All on the same weekend. Last night, I practiced my zombie makeup. It’s easy to look dead when you’re as pale as me. I also watched a few YouTube videos on making fake wounds using glue, toilet paper, and makeup. We’re headed to the Goodwill when I get off work for our zombie crawl clothes.

Do you dress up for Halloween?

We’ve dressed up for Halloween every year we’ve been together. I don’t care how old I get; I still enjoy dressing up.

Tangerine Mimosa

Ingredients

  • 1 Part Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice (Chilled)
  • 1 Part Beer of Choice (White Ale, Wheat, or Belgian)
  • Orange, Lime, or Lemon Slices (For Garnish)

Directions

Combined equal parts Tangerine and Beer {12oz of beer with 12 oz of juice}
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10/15/13

One Year Without Killing Each Other

Huck and I spent the weekend chasing the sun. We woke up bright and early Saturday morning to watch the sunrise in Jupiter. We’ve been here almost 2 years, and we’ve never watched the sunrise. Crazy right?

 

It was beautiful! Something we should do more often.

Once we left the beach, we stopped at Berry Fresh for breakfast.

Their Hash is my favorite. Huck ordered the Day After Thanksgiving. It was enough food for both of us.

After breakfast, we headed west. Our destination… The Everglades.

We arrived in Everglade City a little before noon. We picked Everglades Island Airboat Tours for our airboat ride. They were the only company, I could find, that offered hour long rides.

Our tour started with a little educational session about the American Alligator.

I was surprised how soft the alligator’s skin was!

After pictures, it was time to board the boat.

 

We rode through the mangroves.

It didn’t take long before we found our first Gator.

And he wasn’t scared of us at all! He came right up to our boat.

We also seen some “Ringtail Panthers”.

These guys reminded me of London!

 

They just walked right onto the front of the boat.

Once our tour was over, we made our way to Marco Island. We stated at the Hilton on Marco Island. We arrived around 3PM and watched football while we waited for our room.

Once Georgia lost, we were ready to head to the beach.

We watched a couple get married on the beach. Some guy in a speedo stood right by the beach while someone rubbed sunscreen on him, too. I’m sure that will make for a great conversation piece!

This was Huck’s sad, UGA lost, face!

After watching the sunset, we had dinner and went to Marco Island Brewery. It was the first microbrewery I’ve ever been to that served Bud Light and Miller Light. Weird! I tried the IPA and Huck ordered the Red Ale.

Note to self, do not plan anniversary trip during football season…

The next morning, we woke up early, had breakfast at the hotel, on the beach, and hung out at the hotel until check out.

Really, does it better than this! Drinking coffee while sitting on the balcony! I was in heaven. 

Then the sun started beating down on balcony, so we moved inside!

I really didn’t want to leave! I think Huck had to drag me way from the balcony!

It was a great trip. I can’t remember ever watching the sunrise and set in one day. Now, I’m off to find a condo on the beach ;)

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