Thirsty for Thirty Part 2: The Menu

To save you from an endless list, I have created a Bloodworth Beer Birthday  spreadsheet for the food, beer and soda.  Please know I did not come up with all of the beer descriptions from scratch!  I combined descriptions from many resources so if you happen to be reading this and notice a familiar description, I am thanking you for that and not taking credit for it!

You'll see that non-alcoholic beverages that are within the spreadsheet instead of the bottom, I have highlighted them in brown.  At the bottom where the remainder of the sodas are placed, I just included food pairing suggestions, I didn't actually make that food.  

I'm not going to give you ALL of the recipes because it'll take up too much space, overwhelm you or bore you to death.  Here are some of the major crowd pleasers:

Pork Tacos with Cabbage and Sriracha:

Follow the link above for the main recipe.  I added a full cup of apple juice to the recipe.  I also made my own tortillas by following this recipe.  In addition, I assembled the tacos as follow: tortilla, meat, a thin line of sriracha, a little bit of cabbage and 1-2 slices of avocado.

Buffalo Chicken Poppers with Avacado Bleu Cheese Dip:

I modified this recipe slightly by rolling the poppers like little tiny crescent rolls because I couldn't make them look like the tents she made.  I boiled my chicken breasts whole with chicken broth, the whole package of ranch dip and the hot wings sauce then I shredded it and added the cream cheese before it cooled. That way when it was time for preparation there were fewer steps.  If you wanted to stop before you put this mixture in the crescent rolls, it'd make a kick-booty dip with some ritz crackers!  I scooped the mixture after it had been refrigerated with a mellon baller.  

Instead of using bleu cheese dressing in the dip, I used blue cheese crumbles and about 2 tablespoons of olive oil based mayo.  It worked well but you can't expect to store it for more than a day.

Meatball Burgers with Pickles and Havarti

I pretty much followed this recipe above from Alton Brown for baked meatballs except I made the meatballs slightly smaller.  I used grass fed beef which made them extra delish.  To assemble the burgers, I used Sister Schuberts dinner rolls for buns and they fit perfectly.  I used a block of havarti sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices that fit over the meatballs and made sure they melted.  I used basic deli mustard then put a mini dill pickle on top with a toothpick that also served to hold the burger together. 

Chocolate Chip Cookie with Vanilla Sandwiches

I used the Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe in the link above but did not use nuts (nuts in chocolate chip cookies?gross!) and then substituted half of the butter for butter flavored Crisco to keep the cookies from getting too hard when they froze. Once the cookies were baked and cooled, I paired them up by similar size.  If I would've thought ahead, I woud've used something that created a more uniform shape.  I then put them in a baggie and put them in the fridge.  

I cut butcher paper into uniform squares.  Sadly, I don't remember what size I (and Russell) cut them.  Butcher paper is awesome because it's nonstick on one side and paper on the other so it's great for freezing things and keeping them from getting freezer burn.  

I used Breyer's vanilla bean ice cream because in my opinion there's nothing better! I let it thaw a little while on the counter first so it was easier to manipulate.  I just used an ice cream scoop and a little spatula to form the sandwiches, wrapped them in the butcher paper with the non-stick side toward the sandwich, taped the paper and put a sticker on top.  Make sure to put the sandwiches straight into the freezer after making each one because if you don't they'll be a mess!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip with Mint Chip Sandwiches

I THINK this is the recipe I used for these cookies...I actually can't remember!  Just like above, I halved the butter with butter flavored Crisco and omitted the nuts. 

I used Great Value Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream (it tastes just like Breyer's) because the artificially colored green mint ice cream from most other brands sicks me out.

Read the above recipe section to figure out how to put the sandwiches together.

Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

I don't have a recipe for this one so here's how I think I make it:

2 pork tenderloins (because 2 come in a pack)

big pack of bacon

deli mustard

salt

pepper

garlic powder

worchestire sauce

thaw the tenderloins

lay the bacon so it makes a sheet where the strips are vertical toward you

place the tenderloin on top

salt, pepper and garlic lightly on top of the tenderloin

rub mustard across the top

flip the tenderloin and do repeat the seasoning steps

criss cross the bacon around the tenderloin

lightly cover in worchestire sauce 

wrap in plastic wrap or place in a baggie 

repeat with the second tenderloin

bake in a heavy iron pot covered in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes or grill on a 350-400 grill for about 8 minutes on each side (don't quote me on that).

Chocolate and Toasted Coconut Bark

Follow the link above to get to the recipe.  This was named "crack" at the party.  It's pretty amazing and VERY easy.  I added a little kick by sprinkling red pepper flakes and cinnamon over the chocolate while it was still warm before I added the top layer of coconut.  

So there it is!  Hope you love these recipes as much as we did!

We Love Beer!!

Ok, let me explain. The title of the blog is not for "Yay let's get really drunk"-beer. It's for "Who knew how many exciting flavors and brands there are?"-beer. Russell and I have recently embarked on somewhat of a beer expedition. We've been curious about wine (and we are still of course) but we've discovered a newfound love of beer. One of the major perks is that while a "fine" bottle of wine will cost you upwards of $50, a really cool beer costs around $11 per 6 pack and a luxury beer will cost around $20 for a wine-sized bottle.

I have the privilege of being married to a somewhat...hmm how do I say this...obsessive collector of a man. He loves collecting information and tends to get hooked on specific topics or objects for extended periods of time which eventually fade and are followed by others. When we met, he was collecting knowledge about exercise and healthy living, hence his foray into P90X. He then shifted onto luxury discount websites such as Gilt Group, Beyond the Rack (which we don't recommend), and Rue La La. Next came the honeymoon search which led to collecting knowledge about the best resorts in the world. This led to a slight obsession with Fiji. I'm sure there have been several other phases in between and prior but for the moment we have landed on beer. Now let me pause by saying I love Russell's obsessive nature and it's one of the reasons I married him. Along the way, I usually become quite interested as well and gain a wealth of information (and goodies) from Russell's research on the various topics that he chooses. That said, he could probably benefit from having his credit card being confiscated every once and a while to prevent the excess materialism.

So here we are with beer. We currently have quite the collection in our refrigerator, and the bigger bottles have taken over our wine cabinet. We've tried IPAs, Lagers, Porters, Stouts...dark beers, light beers, amber beers...one fish, two fish, red fish blue fish...

We've discovered that North Carolina is a wonderful place to have a beer "phase". There are tons of local and regional breweries here and many of the local shops carry lots of specialty beer. Just last night we visited a spectacular hole-in-the-wall called Sams. It looks like a very typical sketch-tastic liquor store on the outside, but on the inside is a beer palace. We stumbled upon this place after searching for the best beer we've ever tasted, which we discovered at Blue Mountain Beach, FL. We had just decided that we'd never find it again when we were given a lead by the wonderful employees at one of our favorite Durham establishments, Parker and Otis.

The beer we were looking for is made by Stone Brewing Company and it's called Vertical Epic. This is a beer in a series that is only released once per year. The most recent is 10.10.10. Next year will be 11.11.11. You get the idea :) Each year it is a new formula and only a limited number are made. Sounds exciting, right? It is! It has a very unique flavor and is brewed with wine grapes and chamomile among other things. I don't know all of the technical beer flavor terms but I would say it's a complex yet refreshing flavor. I think I'd eat it with light pasta dishes and pesto or white based pizzas (how's that for sounding smart?). I bet you're guessing if we found it at Sam's...WE DID!!! We were so excited that we bought every one on the shelf, and I'm not kidding. The label suggests aging the beer until sometime after 12/12. We're going to try our best to save a few to see how the flavor develops!

Of course we (i.e. Russell) couldn't leave with just one kind of beer so we visited the sale rack and found Bateman's Triple XB XXXB Classic Premium Pale Ale. It was a gold medal winner at the International Beer Awards and wa

s on sale for about $4/bottle. We just had a tasting and we loved this one too. Russell thinks it's a better beer for summertime and I think I could agree on that. A fruity flavor, light on the carbonation, and without the metallic taste that might come from stronger pale ales. The bottle says it goes best with cheese and red meat.

Look for more beer suggestions from the Bloodworths in coming weeks :)