Entries Tagged as 'beer'

Beer Dip

January 23rd, 2012 · No Comments

Beer. Dip. Beer Dip. It’s as awesome as it sounds. Brian and Jill always make this for their Cubs opening day party and I finally looked up the recipe one day. I ended up making it as a savory dip at the cookie party last year. I’d say it’s best served with pretzels because of the saltiness and also they’re touch enough to stand up to a thick dip. Also, this dip could not be easier to make. I recommend you do it. NOW. This would be a great dip for your Superbowl party!

Beer Dip
From: All Recipes

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened (Note: I used one low fat and one regular)
1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/3 cup beer

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and dressing mix. Stir in Cheddar cheese, and then beer. The mixture will appear mushy. Cover bowl, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, overnight if possible. (Note: I abandoned it in the fridge for a couple days!)

[Read more →]

Tags:·······

Beer Lime

January 14th, 2012 · No Comments

Beer Lime. So, I guess this is “a thing” now. I saw it a couple of months ago while shopping at Strack & Van Til. Limes, packaged in a sleeve, available right next to the beer that you usually drink with a lime, i.e. Corona. According to the Beer Lime website, they first set out to package the limes conveniently and then found out that the packaging made them last longer. Believe it if you want, but it is pretty convenient. I wonder how much more expensive it is for that fancy packaging.

[Read more →]

Tags:·······

Christmas Eve

December 27th, 2011 · 1 Comment

This year we went to my brother’s house for Christmas Eve. Originally Amanda was supposed to work until 4 p.m., so we were going to go early to help get dinner ready for when she got home. Unfortunately/fortunately, she hurt her knee and had to take a few days off of work.

I randomly found this blog post about some simple ornaments and thought they would be fun to make. My mom had all of the supplies so she brought them over. Steph wasn’t really into it, but we had fun making ornaments with Jess. Oh, but Steph did like to wear them as earrings.

My brother made homemade eggnog for the first time. I’m not a huge eggnog fan, but I really liked the eggnog he made. It was much lighter than the stuff you buy in the store. We also had some spiced cider and many different kinds of beer. There was one that was spruce flavored and it was not good. Even so, Milo wanted a taste of it!

Even though Amanda was going to be home because of her injury, we still got dinner ready. Dallas and I slow cooked some pork and brought that down. My mom made coleslaw and beans. And we had a ton of sweets that everyone made as well as cheese and crackers that we snacked on all day.

This year my parents gave us each a set of china. They each had one set so my brother and I each took one. My set is smaller with a black and white pattern. My brother’s set had many more pieces, which was good because they also had inherited a china cabinet to display a larger set in, where our storage space is much more limited. Also, when I looked online, it looked like you could get replacement pieces for the set my brother has, so that is good if they plan to use it more. Anyway, the china came out for Christmas dinner and this is the first time it was ever used in 40 years! I was so nervous that I was going to drop a plate or something, but everything went fine.

After dinner we opened gifts. Stephanie and Jessica opened gifts from me and Dallas and my parents first. We got Steph a few small things and a couple gift certificates to shop for clothes at H&M and Forever 21. Stephanie’s big gift was an iPod Touch. She was so shocked!

Jessica got lots of clothes and a games that she dug into right away. Jessica got a lot of Hello Kitty things. She told us that she loved Hello Kitty, so I hope she really loves it, because she’s all decked out now!

There were three gifts that were from Jessica to me, my parents and Amanda. These were all handmade things that Jessica did. Jess made a ton of Christmas snowflakes and drawings for my parents. For me, she made this long wooden stick that was painted like a snowman and wearing a fabric scarf. For Amanda she made a reindeer out of a hanger and pantyhose. So cute! I have a lot of things that Stephanie made when she was younger, but not a lot of things that Jessica has made, so it was fun to get a keepsake.

We each also had a gift from Amanda. Inside were spcial-edition Sports Illustrated Packers books. Dallas didn’t like this gift, but everyone else did!

Next we did our adult gift exchange. We draw names and have a $40 limit, so it doesn’t get too crazy. This year I had Amanda’s name. She has started getting into drinking tea, so I got her a tea infuser mug, some Argo tea and Tazo tea, biscuits and a book. Amanda got Dallas some Christmas Story pint glasses and a bunch of microbrews and a subscription to Wired Magazine. Dallas got my dad two Packers shirts. My dad gave me several books, an oven thermometer, and some Hawaiian treats. Richard gave my mom a Christmas tree made of Lindor Truffles and a gift card. Finally, my mom gave my brother a Packers t-shirt, a video game and a gift card.

Finally, this year was Richard and Amanda’s 10th wedding anniversary. My mom gave them a personalized Christmas tree ornament to remember the year. And she gave Dallas and I an ornament for our first Christmas after getting married. Here’s what it looks like:

I like how the guy is doing a shaka and the girl has a camera! Also, here’s a photo of the snowman ornament Jessica made:

[Read more →]

Tags:·····················

Beer! Beer! Beer!

December 1st, 2011 · No Comments

One day Billy took us to one of his favorite brew pubs, Russian River Brewing, located in Santa Rosa. Billy selected a beer that he knew he liked and suggested one for Dallas, but I went for broke and got the sampler. Little did I know that there’d be 15 beers to sample! And all for only $15. Seemed like a bargain! Especially since I liked a lot of the beers. It wasn’t like I was stuck drinking 15 gross beers. Dallas texted his friend Brian during lunch because he’d just visited the brewery a few weeks ago. Brian’s favorite beer was one of our favorites: Blind Pig IPA. Oh, and the food at Russian River Brewing was great too. Dallas and Billy had wings, I had a salad, and we all had pizza. Good stuff.

After that we went home. Just kidding. I wouldn’t call this post “Beer! Beer! Beer!” if we only had hit up one brewery!

After Russian River Brewing, we drove down to the Lagunitas brewery & taproom. We can get Lagunitas beer in Chicago, but not all of the ones that they have at the brewery. Again, I went for the sampler (only $5!) and tried 4 beers that we can’t get in Chicago. The Lagunitas SUCKS really did suck. Think sweaty armpits. That’s what it tasted like. And The Return of Ruben and the Brett’s was super boozy. But I liked the other two.

Finally, the third “beer.” Billy had a growler of Czar Jack Imperial Stout that he cracked open to try while we were visiting. This beer is made by the Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery and is aged in Jack Daniels barrels, only we didn’t tell that to Dallas because he doesn’t like beers that are aged like that. Guess what? He liked it! Me too. It was one of my favorite beers of our visit.

[Read more →]

Tags:··············

Haymarket Brewing

October 18th, 2011 · 3 Comments

Before the CHIRP event, Jess and I decided to get dinner and a drink in the neighborhood. We’d never been to Haymarket Pub and Brewing so we went to check it out. Haymarket brews their own beer and makes their own food. We decided to split two things: Grilled Salad and Mussels.

The grilled salad had chopped greens, red and yellow bell peppers, red onion, grilled asparagus, croutons and grilled shrimp (or chicken, if you prefer). On the side we got the spicy-peanut vinaigrette. I thought the salad was ok. Mostly raw vegetables, with not a ton of the grilled asparagus or shrimp.

The mussels were sauteed in Haymarket’s Belgian ale and mussel broth with onion, garlic, chili, celery, bay leaf and lemon. I liked the mussels better than the salad. My only complaint with them is that they didn’t give us a spoon to scoop them out or to get any of the broth out, so we just picked them out with our fingers.

For beer, Jess started out with the 7GA I.P.A (ABV: 6.8): This “wet hop” IPA is brewed with locally grown chinook and centennial hops from Oak Park! Grown by Gary, director of Seven Generations Ahead. Super fruity and aromatic, wet hopping, or using hops fresh off the vine that have not been dried, adds a unique aroma to the brew. I got the MoJo Belgian Style Abbey Dubbel (ABV: 7.5): This strong dark Belgian ale is fermented with Authentic Trappist yeast, dark candy syrup, raisins and molasses! Hints of chocolate, ripe fruit, plum and candy jump out of the glass! Jess and I both really liked these beers. Mine was dark, but not heavy. It reminded me of Eugene, a beer I have enjoyed many times at Revolution Brewing.

As for the feel of the place, it’s a lot different than I was expecting. Jess and I love and go to Revolution Brewing a lot, so it’s hard not to compare it to Haymarket. Haymarket is bigger. It has a front bar and dining area, then you walk past the brewing area and into a back dining area and a back bar. It’s a lot brighter in Haymarket. Revolution Brewing seems to have more design elements and more of an eye for detail. The bar is gorgeous, the lights are unique and innovative, the bar and seating are custom to the space.

Haymarket has a lot of TVs. A lot. And with those TVs come a lot of dudes. I counted 10 women in our back dining room and 40 men. If you’re a girl looking for a sporty guy, come here. Also, I’m not one of those people who hates every bar with a lot of TVs. I think they have their time and place. I like to watch sports and I like to have a place to do it. I just wasn’t expecting it at Haymarket. That said, this would be a great place to come to watch the game and drink actual good beer and not Crappy Beer Light.

The other thing about Revolution is that the food is fantastic. I can only think of one thing I’ve ever ordered there that I didn’t really enjoy and that is over the course of many, many visits. The food we tried at Haymarket was just ok. Mussels were better than the salad. Maybe just don’t order salads there. Who knows. I don’t think the restaurant should offer salads (or anything) if they’re not going to do them great.

For “dessert” we each tried the Clare’s Right Hook Bourbon Barrel Aged Barleywine (ABV: 12.5): This huge, hoppy and alcoholic brew was aged for 3 months in 8 year old Woodford Reserve Bourbon Barrels. Caramel, vanilla, coconut and lots of bourbon character. Lucky for us, we both ordered the smallest available. I think it was 8 ounces? I remember the beer was available in 3 sizes, something like 8 oz, 12 oz and 21 oz? Not sure, but I thought this was cool so you could get a sampling or a taste if you wanted. As for the Clare’s Right Hook? This was very tasty, but very boozy. I don’t think I could have finished more than the smallest size.

Jess and I used to work together at FeedBurner in the West Loop years ago. Back then you could go to some high-end restaurants like Blackbird and Avec (who can afford that on startup wages!?) or you could go to some really low-end places like White Hen and the Ogilvie Food Court. There wasn’t too much in the middle. Since that time, it seems like the West Loop has really exploded and there’s all kinds of stuff opening over there constantly. Since the FeedBurner ratio was at least 4:1 men to women, I’m sure we’d have been right at home here at Haymarket. Also, the guys we worked with weren’t the most sporty ever, but they did love their soccer and some football and baseball. I’m sure we would have put in a lot of time at Haymarket had it been there back in the day.

[Read more →]

Tags:······