My Thanksgiving Menu

Hello, friends.

As many of you know, I returned from Portland on Thursday.

I saw lots, I ate lots, and I drank beer.

I drank a LOT of beer.

But most importantly...

I fell in love.

I can't say I'm surprised by this. For a while now, I've had this fascination with Portland. Everyone I talked to assured me that I'd love it and I had this weird internal pull to the city. It was almost like that cheesy 90's Savage Garden song that's every 20-something's guilty pleasure (don't deny it):

It's true.

When I expressed my interest in visiting the City of Roses to my mother, she immediately groaned and said, "Oh, please. Don't go. You'll never come back." I almost didn't.

However, I would be completely robbing myself and you guys by trying to slap together a blog about my Portland adventure right now. I'm saving that whopper for this Thanksgiving break, on an afternoon that'll find me hopefully snuggled in a blanket and on the verge of a food coma.

Which brings me to the topic of this mini-post. My Thanksgiving menu.

I've never been a huge Thanksgiving fan. Those of you who know me personally know that my dedication to Christmas is...well...a little overwhelming, to put it lightly. Thanksgiving has always kind of fallen into the shadow of the ecstasy-inducing, month-(or more)-long celebration that is Christmas. (I'm serious...ask me about how I need a Christmas tree in every room of my house. That's totally another story, though). HOWEVER, I'm coming to love the holiday for the sole purpose that now, I'm finally getting to have control of the kitchen. 

I've recently discovered my love for cooking. I absolutely love to cook, bake, and share food with people. I especially love to cook with beer. 

This Turkey-day, I'm sharing the reins with my mother (trust me, if I had complete control over the menu, there'd be beer in EVERY bite). The menu this year includes:

• Cornish Game Hens
• WHISKEY (pleasant surprise on T-Day) Stuffing with Sausage and Apples
• Mashed Potatoes with Horseradish Cream
• Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Dijon Vinaigrette 
• Sweet Potato Beer Biscuits with Maple Sage Butter (this is the third time in like, 2 months that I'm making these bad boys -- they are my go-to biscuit recipe. So simple and SO flippin' yummy)
• Cranberry Log -- yes, from the can. For a while I pondered this Orange Blossom Ale Cranberry Sauce, but there is just something so sentimental about opening a can of gelatinous red cranberry substance and listening to it "sccccccchhhhlllmUCK" onto the best crystal serving dish in the cupboard. Oh man -- I can't wait. 

And the one I'm looking forward to the most (I have a slight infatuation with baking/desserts):

• Lemon Cream Pie with Raspberry Beer Sauce

I know this dessert kinda sounds like a summery pie, but there is something oh-so-yummy about lemon and raspberry together, and I really want to try a new recipe. If you'll remember, I already made Jackie Dodd's Pumpkin Ale Cheesecake with Beer Caramel Sauce, so I decided to branch out. 

Of course, I'll be washing it all down with some lovely brews. Holidays are a wonderful excuse to bust out the fancy bottles, and I'll be headed to the liquor store tomorrow to pick out some gems. I want to find a yummy yam/sweet potato/pumpkin beer for my biscuits and a big, bright DIPA (double IPA) for my pie, but otherwise I think I'll just do some exploring. I already have some beautiful dessert beers to save for later in the evening, but I'm looking for some nutty, roasty ambers and reds to complement the actual meal. Any suggestions?

I'd love to hear what you all are planning on eating/drinking this Thanksgiving break. I'll be keeping an eye on your Untappd feeds and I'd love it if you did the same for me. 

Most importantly, I hope you all have a safe and blessed holiday with your loved ones. I know I'm feeling especially thankful this year.

Cheers!

Rach

What I've Been Up To

Hello friends! Have you found your perfect beginner's brew yet? Something fruity? Something chocolatey? Something reminiscent of the best meal of the day? If not, don't worry. There's much more out there, and I fully intend to introduce you to more fine beers.

But for now, I thought I'd take a break from the Beer Beginner series to fill you all in on what I've been up to. 

In the past few weeks I've been working lots and playing lots. My job has picked up but I've been sure to balance that out with lots of fun and plenty of beer. It's worth mentioning that I attended Beervana 2013 at Monk's in Sioux Falls on September 24th.

Monk's is my favorite beer bar in Sioux Falls, and rightly so -- they boast plenty of beers on tap and in bottle and the service is excellent. Their happy hour specials ($3 brats!!) and food selection can't be beat, and I always have a wonderful time lounging on the patio or indoors on one of the cozy couches or oversize chairs. During Beervana, Monk's offered a selection of over 50 beers (of which I sampled almost half) as well as food vendors and live music. The weather was absolutely phenomenal and I had a wonderful time. 

Of course, one of my favorite parts of the day was winning 2nd place in the bean bag tournament, accompanied by my beautiful teammate Kara (opposite me in the photo above). We took each took home a $25 gift certificate to Monk's as well as a free t-shirt. Thanks, Monks!

The following weekends were filled with two very fun weddings, and I seized the opportunities to try a few new beers and a few stand-by favorites. I even found a Leinie's Oktoberfest on tap in a super small bar in rural SmallTownVille -- that was a pleasant surprise. After the second wedding I found myself at Monk's on both Saturday and Sunday evening, which goes to show how much the place is growing on me.

If you're curious about what I drank at the weddings (or new beers that I continue to discover), you should follow me on UnTappd, which is basically my favorite app in the whole world. I guess I should mention that it's my only app, really, since my iPhone has yet to be manufactured and sent to my eager hands (33 days!). UnTappd is basically 4 Square for beer. I love it because you can see what your friends are drinking and whether or not they enjoyed the beer. It's also great for beer beginners because you can type in "stout" or "chocolate" or any key word, really, and it will pull up a list of popular beer choices based on how many people have drank them and how high they are rated. 

If that doesn't sound like your thing, give me a follow on the good ol' Twitter machine: @BigPalateBrews. I like to post what I'm drinking, beer facts, shout-outs to my favorite breweries and updates about local beer events. 

Okay, back to my recent activity. For those of you who aren't local or for those of you who live under a rock, this past weekend was my alma mater's beloved homecoming celebration: Hobo Days. I celebrated by reuniting with friends, barhopping, dressing up like a hobo, seeing the parade, and baking up a very special surprise for my friends at Wooden Legs. Using their Pumpkin Porter, I made a Pumpkin Ale Cheesecake with Beer Pecan Caramel Sauce (via a recipe from one of my favorite craft beer bloggers, The Beeroness.

Of course I brought it in to the brewery to share with the owner, a few of my favorite pubkeeps and my friends!

Oh man. It was so good. If you were in Brookings and didn't get a chance to try it -- I'm sorry. You missed out. To see more pictures of the cheesecake party, click here.

P.S. I tweeted about making this cheesecake and Jackie Dodd, aka The Beeroness, re-tweeted me! Happy, happy moment for me, as she is one of my idols and all of her recipes are 100% to. die. for.

Weeeee!

But back to Hobo Days.

I also spent half of my day at Pints and Quarts, absolutely relishing the huge selection of beers on tap and in bottle and of course catching up with the staff (a few of my favorite fellow beer nerds!). If my friends didn't continue pub crawling I might still be sitting there. Just kidding. 

Kinda.

In all, Hobo Days was an excellent celebration and it's quite a shame to be thrust back into the "real world." However, I'm already looking forward to my next beer event, the Spiegelau Glass Tasting hosted by JJ's on October 23rd. For $25 I get to try four beers in four different craft glasses -- and I get to keep the glasses (although I'll have to get creative with storage -- my glassware shelf is getting crowded)! I'm super excited to get my hands on the new IPA glass. Can't wait to see, smell, and taste a good IPA out of one of those bad boys. 

Hooray!! (source)

Which reminds me! After I attend the tasting, I intend to do a blog dedicated to glassware, so stay tuned for that. It's a topic I'm still learning about, so I'm excited to do some research and share with you. Just like with wine, the size and shape of the glass affects the appearance, aroma, and taste of beer!

So there's a quick update of what's been going on in SmallTownVille. Can't wait to post more "beginner's blogs," including blogs about glassware, beer terms, and more fun beers to try.

Until then, cheers!

Rach