07/22/13

Did You Drop My Beer?!?!?!

This weekend we went to the Palm Beach Summer Beer Bash. After the Beer and Burger Bash last month, I was not up for another beer fest. It is WAY to hot for outdoor beer festivals. When Huck told me this event was inside, in the A/C, I was all for it.

The festival was at the South Florida Fairgrounds. Did I mention it was inside. SO NICE!

The event also had a Homebrewing competition. Huck and I both entered beers for the event. He entered a Pale Ale. I had a Pomegranate Wheat. Our friend Karl entered a beer, too. I think his was a stout.

Huck was worried the bottom would break in our 6 packs, so he had a death grip on them. 

We made it inside and walked straight to the Homebrew check in. I checked my beer in first and started walking to a booth to get a beer. Huck and Karl were checking in their beers when I heard a crash. I turned and looked at Huck, he was looking right at me.

I asked if that was our beer. I could tell from his face, it was, and it was mine. I walked up to the counter, seen all my beers busted on the floor and screamed at the guy “Did you drop my beer? How did you drop my beer?”

You could tell he felt horrible. I, of course, apologized for screaming at him. I was just really mad. That beer was really good and first prize was $750, and I wanted to win.

My poor beer:(

I had a few people tell me it smelled really good.  I guess I won best in smell category.

Alex was nice enough to take a pick of the broken bottles. Deena told him not to, but Alex said I would want to blog about it. I looked at both of them and shuck my head. He was right.

RIP Forbidden Wheat…

 

The guy was nice enough to get us VIP passes to make up for the beer. I apologized to him a few times throughout the event. I really felt bad.

As part of the VIP, we received bigger mugs. People keep asking me what I did to get a bigger mug. “I’m just really lucky!” Ha. 

 

Deena and I got our picture in front of the Shiner booth.

The big mug was a bad idea. People didn’t know how much to pour, so we got a few beer pours like this…

Really, this was Huck’s beer. After the first guy poured me half a glass, I started asking for just a taste.

{I was sporting my Hopvine Shirt from Brewer Shirts, too.}

I also got a tattoo from Matt, one of the owners at TBC.  Super great brewery by the way,

It was a fun day. Beer Festivals in the A/C are the way to go.

There is one day left to enter for a chance to win a T-Shirt from Brewer Shirts.

07/19/13

420 Chicken and Sausage

*Couple more days left to enter for a chance to win a T-Shirt from Brewer Shirts. Make sure you enter*

I’ve been keeping myself busy today. Distracted is probably a better word. Tomorrow, we are going to the Palm Beach Summer Beer Fest. They’re having a Homebrew competition, too.

A few weeks ago, I brewed a Pomegranate Wheat. Huck talked me into entering it into the competition tomorrow since it is brewed to style. First place is $750. WOW!

They also have a label contest. As some of you may know, it is believed that it was a Pomegranate that Adam and Eve ate in the Garden of Eden. Not an Apple. That gave me the idea for my label…

Awesome, right?!

I’m not going to tell you how long I spent working on it. I used Microsoft Paint to color the black shirt skin color, so she, or I, would look “naked”. That part took FOREVER! Here is a reminder of what the graphic looked like before…

Hopefully one of us will win something tomorrow.

I took a break from the computer to make lunch. I was going to post the recipe for my Baked Blooming Onion, but this was so good, I had to share it first.

If you didn’t already now, I love Sweetwater. They recently started shipping beer to South Florida, and 99% of the time, you can find a 420 or IPA in our fridge. 420 is their Extra Pale Ale, by the way.

I’m starting to realize, I like my bitter beer more room temp than ice cold. The perfect temp for a Pale Ale is 45-54 degrees and an IPA is 54-57. Which is probably about room temperature in our house right now. “We’re fermenting!” Huck and I joked, the other day, we wouldn’t be surprised if it started snowing downstairs. {Our house really isn’t that cold, but the main vent blows right in the living room and it feels much colder than the rest of the house.}

Anyways, the more I like beer the more I’m learning how I like my beer and why. IPA’s taste better to me, if they sit for a minute after I take them out of the refrigerator. I would NEVER do this with something like a Bud Light. I was researching the perfect temps for different styles of beer and one website I found, had a list of different serving temps for different styles. It said beers that are served “Very Cold” 32-39 degrees, are “beers you don’t actually want to taste”, like American Lagers and Malt Liquor. This is so true. The warmer a Bud Light gets the nasty it taste.

I’ve always wanted to go to Oktoberfest in Germany. We’re actually going next year! I’ve already decided. It’s on the books. Do you hear that?! No excuses!

Even before I cared about beer, I remember reading about how the beer, at Oktoberfest, was served room temp.Eww, gross! Warm beer?

Now, that doesn’t seem so bad! Which would probably be a bad thing. 5 years ago, I wouldn’t drink much, if any, beer. That’s a little different now.

So what did we learn today? Sweetwater 420 is a great beer. I highly recommend it. If you must drink Bud Light, only do it when it’s cold, and my recipe is good.

The Pale Ale was great in this recipe. I would stick to drier {less sweet beers}, though. If you do not want to use beer, you can just add 2 cups of Water or Stock. I’m sure it will taste just fine.

Chicken and Sausage with Pale Ale

Serves 4 Servings

Ingredients

  • 1/2 tablespoon Oil
  • 1 medium Bell Pepper (Chopped)
  • 1 small Red Onion (Chopped)
  • 4 cloves Garlic (Chopped)
  • 3 Sausage Links (Sliced)
  • 1 tablespoon Cajun Seasoning (Salt Free)
  • 1 or 6 packet Chicken Legs (Skinless)
  • 2 tablespoons Flour
  • 1 cup Water
  • 1 cup Beer (Or Water or Stock)
  • 3 large Roma Tomatoes (Chopped)
  • Cooked Rice, Quinoa, or Grain of Choice

Directions

Cook Rice.
Preheat pan to medium. Add Oil to pan. Add Peppers, Onion, and Garlic. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add Sausage. Season the Chicken with Cajun Seasoning and add to pan. Brown Chicken on each side, 1-3 minutes per side.
Once browned, sprinkle with Flour. Add Beer and Water
Add Tomatoes and cook for 25-35 minutes or until Chicken is fully cooked.
Serve warm over Rice, Quinoa, or Grain of Choice.
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07/17/13

WIAW Lazy Edition

Don’t forget to enter for a chance to win a T-Shirt from Brewer Shirts. Contest closes 07/23/2013. {The underlined link will take you to the post to enter}

 

 

Yesterday was a… boring day. I woke up around 6:30AM. Very early for me!

By 8AM, I was burnt out on the computer and couldn’t motivate myself to even touch it.

For breakfast, I had a Baked Egg, Watermelon, Pineapple, and Coffee. I started watching Finding Nemo while I was eating, and was stuck watching the whole thing. I love that movie!

Around 11:30, I was back in the fridge looking for lunch. We had leftover Taco stuff and an Avocado that needed to be used.

Taco Salad with Avocado Dressing sounded like a prefect lunch. {This is an old picture}

I used Greek Yogurt instead of the Sour Cream in my Dressing. I’ve been using Greek Yogurt instead of Sour Cream and Mayo for a few months now. I made Tuna Salad with Greek Yogurt last week and loved it.

After going to the gym, I came home and cooked a frozen pizza. I wasn’t much of a cook yesterday as you can tell.

We did add extra veggies to the pizza. I like frozen pizza for a quick, I don’t feel like cooking, meal, but they never have enough veggies. Huck had the idea to add more Peppers, Onions, Zucchini, Mushrooms, and Ham {Not a veggie but a must for him}

Not as good as homemade, but better than delivery.

I enjoyed a Corona on the balcony after dinner. Last night was really nice. It wasn’t too humid or hot.

I wasn’t feeling good around 9PM and decided to go lay down. I was in bed before 10. That’s unheard of for me! I didn’t sleep good, though. I tossed and turned all night, and woke up feeling groggy.

I’m drinking coffee, now, trying to get motivated. For what, I’m not sure. My work is really slow right now. I closed a few claims, I’ve had on my desk top for a while, last month, but I do not have any new work. There’s only so much stuff I can do to the blog {I’m actually been pretty burnt out on it lately}. I spend some of my day looking for new jobs. I love working for myself and having the freedom that comes with it, but I can’t find another insurance company hiring right now. I started applying for 9-5 Mon-Fri job.

I haven’t worked 9-5 in… over 5 years. It’s been 3-12 hour shift, making my own schedule, or working from home. I’m kind of spoiled.

ANYWAYS… Not what you’re here for. Friday, I’ll post a recipe for Baked Blooming Onion with Beer Batter. It was so good! And super easy!

For now, I need to get ready. Huck has a follow up, doctors, appointment. He spent a few days in the hospital last week for some stomach stuff, if you didn’t know. He’s 100% better now, but he did scare the heck out of me.

07/15/13

Brewer Shirts Giveaway

Working from home has its perks. No dress code would have to be my favorite. Oh and the not getting up early. I spend most days in a T-Shirt and yoga pants. It makes it easier to get motivated to go to the gym.

I have two kinds of t-shirts: Beer themed and CHOA {shirts from my old job in Atlanta}. My beer shirts are starting to out number the CHOA shirts.

A couple months ago, I stumbled across a website called Brewer Shirts. The website is full of creative and funny shirts, and they recently started a line of shirts just for the ladies like this one…

{Source}

The owner of Brewer Shirts sent me two shirts, from their new ladies line, to review. I picked the Pursuit of Hoppiness shirt, and they sent me the V-Neck Hopvine shirt.

Plus lots of stickers. Huck loved that and wasted no time tagging his stuff.

The first shirt I tried on was my favorite of the two.

{Source}

The Hopvine shirt is super soft and comfortable. I also love how it doesn’t look like a tradition “beer shirt”. I can’t wait to wear this one to our beer competition this weekend. It’s light weight which is perfect for Summer in South Florida.

The second shirt was the Pursuit Of Hoppiness shirt. This comes in Ladies and Unisex and available in different colors. I picked black to match all the other shirt in my closet.

{Source}

I’ve wore this around the house with yoga pants, the other day, before changing into shorts and heading to Square Grouper. While we were there, a few people came up and told me they liked my shirt.

{Sorry for the bad picture. It was really humid that night and caused the lens to fog up.}

Both of my shirts were smalls, but the Pursuit of Hoppiness small was on the smaller size. If my “beer belly” gets any bigger, I’d need a medium but both of these fit great.

Their website is full of awesome shirts. A few of my favorites include:

{Source}

{Source}

I’m sure my Mom would love this one…

{Source}

Brewer Shirts has lots of great options to choose from, and they are offering one lucky LF&B reader a chance to win any shirt on the website.

To enter, follow the directions in the app below. I will randomly pick a winner on July 23rd.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You must like Life Food and Beer and Brewer Shirt on Facebook and leave a comment below to enter.

*This post contains affiliate links*

07/10/13

beef and IPA Stroganoff

Sometimes, I can sit down without a plan and write a long blog post about anything. Other times, I can’t come up with anything. Like today!

I’ll start by talking about my recipe. I know this isn’t the most Summery dish, but it’s really good and can easily be made in a Crock Pot.

For my Beef and IPA Stroganoff, I used Lagunitas Maximus IPA. This beer added great flavor to the Beef without being to over powering. If you’re worried the beer maybe to strong, you can use a lighter beer

Lately, every time I get ready to take pictures, it gets cloudy and rains. There’s a Tropical Storm in the Caribbean right now headed our way. It’s suppose to die down over Cuba.

My Bed Space

I found this on Facebook and had to share it. This is our bed! I like to sleep in the middle. Huck claims I take over his space. I respond by saying, little me can’t push you out of the way. He has woke me up many times and told me to move.

I also have a really bad habit of sleeping on Huck’s pillows or pulling them out from underneath his head if they are in my way.

In my defense, I’m asleep and not aware of what’s going on. I would never take his pillow while I’m awake… ;)

Well, that’s all I got. Until next time!

Beef and IPA Stroganoff

Serves 6 Servings

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2lb Stew Beef
  • 1/2 tablespoon Oil
  • Salt and Pepper To Taste
  • 2 cloves Garlic (Chopped)
  • 1/4 Red Onion (Fine Chopped)
  • 1 cup Beef Stock (Low Sodium)
  • 1 cup Beer (IPA or Stout)
  • 12oz Mushrooms (Sliced)
  • 2 cans Cream of Mushroom
  • Greek Yogurt or Light Sour Cream (For Garnish)
  • Parsley (For Garnish)
  • 3/4lb Uncooked Egg Noodles

Directions

Cook Egg Noodles according to package directions.

Preheat a large pot over medium heat.
Coat Oil, Beef, and Salt and Pepper. Add the Beef to the pan and sear/brown on all sides. Add Garlic and Onions and saute for 2-3 minutes.
Add Beef and Beer to pan. Reduce heat to low and cover pot with a lid. Cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until Beef is tender.
Remove lid and add Mushrooms and Cream of Mushroom. Continue cooking until Mushrooms are tender and the sauce is thick.
Serve Beef Sauce over Noodles and garnish with Parsley and Greek Yogurt or Sour Cream.
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07/9/13

A 4 Hour Drive For Honey Boo Boo

Last time, I left you with our 4th of July Shenanigans…

 

Saturday, we were up bright and early to go to Tampa. Why did we drive the 4 hours to Tampa? To pick up beer! Before you think we are raging alcoholics let me explain…

Cigar City releases a beer every year called Hunahpu. It’s a big deal. People wait in line for hours to get it. Well this year, they aged some of the Hunahpu in Brandy Barrels. The only way you can get this Hunahpu is with a voucher. I’ve seen it referred to as “The Golden Ticket” for adults. Huck and Greg were lucky enough to win a voucher. Each voucher is for two beers. {Cigar City has a list of everyone that won a voucher. You have to show your ID and voucher to pick up the beer. Again, it’s a big deal}

The plan was to check out a few breweries while in Tampa before picking up Honey Boo Boo. Gump didn’t understand why anyone would drive across the state to pick up a “What is it called? Honey Boo Boo?” So, now it’s the Honey Boo Boo beer.

We started our day at 7venth Sun. Huck’s friends EG and Laura were in town and came out to meet us, too.

After a few beers, we walked down to Dunedin Brewery

I ordered a Razzyberry Wheat (Raspberry Beer) and a burrito. At this point it was after 5 and we skipped lunch {Bad married people}. I wasn’t a fan of the beer and was really hungry. I was hoping for a light raspberry taste but it wasn’t.

 

I tried to finish it but after eating my large burrito, I started making me feel sick. I stuck to water the rest of our time there. I did try some of Huck’s and Greg’s beers, though. They were good.

Next up, Cigar City.

The boys cashed in their “Golden Ticket” and locked the beer in the car. The fear was someone would drop it or break into the car and take them.

After Cigar City, we hung out at the hotel bar before calling it a night.

Everything is better looking over the water.

Our hotel had a great view too. I wish we had more time to hangout by the pool. It looked very relaxing.

We had lunch at a country buffet and spent sometime rocking on the porch before making our way back to Palm Beach with Honey Boo Boo.

07/7/13

I’m A Beer Blogger… What Do you Expect?

Gump arrived early Thursday morning. We dropped off his stuff and headed to lunch.

We then headed to Blowing Rock.

After the beach, we came back, took a nap, and headed to Downtown West Palm Beach. We met up with Deena and Alex and walked downtown. Gump was our tour guide. We started at the West end of Clematis and had a beer at each place.

We made it to Flagler just in time for the fireworks. 

After the fireworks we went to a few more bars. At one point, Alex decided it was “fiscally irresponsible” not to take Sake Bombs. I happily sat this round out, but was there to take pictures and videos. Deena spent a while trying to line up the chop sticks:)

Friday, the boys did some snorkeling while I read on the beach.

We grilled chicken at the house and called it a night. Our plan was to get up early to head to Tampa.

I’ll be back later with a recap from our Tampa trip. A four hour drive for 2 beers… Yea it was that important!

07/3/13

Blueberry Pound Cake And Snorkeling

Make sure you enter for a chance to win a T-Shirt from Brewer Shirts. Contest ends 07/23/2013.

Tomorrow is the 4th of July! Really, where has the time gone? It feels like it was just Christmas.

We have a busy week coming up. Gump is coming into town tomorrow, and we are going to Tampa Saturday. We’re driving all the way to Tampa to pick up beer, by the way! And in case you were wondering, yes, it is really special beer to drive all the way to Tampa. We even have special tickets. Well Huck and Greg do. It’s a big deal apparently.

Over the weekend, we went to Phil Foster Park in Riviera Beach to snorkel at a man made reef. Huck and I broke down and purchased some snorkel gear Saturday morning. {Next time you come down mommy, I promise I will take you!!}

I know it’s really hard to tell, but the pictures above was a huge school of fish that surrounded me.

I guess you can make a reef out of anything.

{I took this one from Alex}

It was an awesome spot. Just make sure you arrive early. Parking was horrible!

We plan to take Gump on Friday, if we can find a parking spot.

Let Them Eat Cake

I told Huck I wanted to make a 4th of July recipe for the blog {I planned to have it up earlier this week, but that didn’t happen. Last minute as always}

I wanted to do a Pound Cake using a Wheat Beer Huck made a few weeks ago. {It was my idea he just brewed it.}

I found a recipe for Pound Cake on The Pioneer Woman’s blog using Sprite. I figured I could substitute the Sprite for Beer. Her recipe also called for Butter and Lemon Extract, but I just used Vanilla and added Blueberries to the mix.

The cake was really moist and flavorful. The Wheat Beer was perfect for this recipe. Any Fruity Wheat would work great, too.

I also made a Strawberry Beer Glaze to serve with it. Red White and Blue! :)

Last but not least, I would like to wish my baby sister a Happy Birthday. I can’t believe my BABY sister turned 24 today! Happy Birthday Tabby! I love you and Miss you!!

Blueberry Pound Cake with Wheat Beer

Serves 1 Bundt or 2 Loaf Pans
Website The Pioneer Woman-Perfect Pound Cake

Ingredients

  • 3 sticks Butter (Room Temp)
  • 3 cups Sugar
  • 5 large Eggs
  • 2 teaspoons Vanilla
  • 3 cups All Purpose Flour
  • 1 cup Beer
  • 1 cup Fresh Blueberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Using a mixer, cream Butter. Add Sugar to Butter 1 cup at a time. Add the Eggs 1 at a time and Vanilla and fully combined.
Add flour one cup at a time. Once flour is combined add the beer. Scrap sides to fully combine all the ingredients. Add berries and mix in using a spoon {The mix will crush them}
Spray a Bundt pan or Loaf pan with cooking spray. Pour batter into pan and cook for 1 hour or until the center no longer jiggles and a toothpick comes out clean.
Invert pan onto flat surface and wait for it to drop. {One of mine did not drop so I used a spatula. It came out without breaking though.}
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Strawberry Beer Glaze

Ingredients

  • 8 large Strawberries (Frozen or Fresh)
  • 1/8 cup Beer
  • 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar

Directions

Combined all ingredients but the powdered sugar into a small sauce pan. Heat over low until strawberries start to break down.
Add the strawberry mixture to a blender. Carefully pulse until the mixture is smooth. I place a towel over the mixture to prevent the hot liquid from splashing you.
Strain strawberries through a fine mesh strainer to removed seeds.
Combined with sugar and drizzle over Pound Cake.
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