Category Archives: Foodies

So, What could possibly derail Marathon Monday? you’re wondering.

Answer: Only really spectacular stuff.

By the grace of God and the kindness of Summit Brewing Company, Marcus and I were invited to attend a private Sneak Peek party tonight for their newest year-round beer, Saga, which is an IPA.

For non-beer drinkers, IPA = India Pale Ale.

We haven’t been to The Brewery since 2009, so return to celebrate Saga as well as the release of their Summer Ale was pretty spectacular.  If you’re going to try a beer for the first time, doing so at the source is really the best choice if you have the opportunity.

Because The Universe was with us, we literally walked into Scott on our way into the sampling area.  We met at Winterfest in February and until we saw him with his amigo Michael, we had absolutely no idea as to who we would see today (okay, well, maybe we had a few people in mind).

But anyway, it was A Good Surprise.

And once we got to the taps, we sampled-away.

Both beers were delicious.

Obviously.

In all seriousness, Saga is most definitely all-IPA with a bit of a fruity undertone.  The Summer Ale, on the other hand, was a great (rich) session beer and exceptionally smooth.  Sometimes, you hear “session” and the first things that come to mind are Light & Flavorless.  The Summer Ale was neither of those things.

It goes without saying that while we only had three drink tickets (which was MORE than enough), I could have enjoyed them both all evening long.

What else did we enjoy?

Natedogs.

I’m pretty sure that the last time we devoured these, we were at another tap room, so they were a VERY welcome surprise.

Pretty much no night is complete for us these days without a food truck and/or cart.  Natedogs definitely had our bases covered.

Did I mention that Brady was there too with her husband, Ben?

Because there’s that, too.

We were maybe a little more dressed-up than the rest of the group (and my skirt was hell on earth when it came to slithering out from their picnic bench set-up), but I like to think that it added to the group.

We had SO much to workshop and I’d be lying if I said the brewery wasn’t the perfect place to do it.  We’ve been meaning to catch-up over a beer (versus running or baking or feasting) for the longest time, so finally managing to make it happen over something brand new was pretty great.

What is your favorite local beer?

Have you ever been to a Sneak Peek party?

Summit Brewing Company does know who I am (otherwise, how would I have gotten an invite to their fete?) but did not compensate me in any way for this post, nor did they invite me to their Saga Sneak Peek party with an implicit or explicit expectation of coverage. All opinions shared here are my own.  And if you do happen to hail from Minnesota, this is me asking you to drink local, because we’re lucky enough to have a wonderful host of local brewers to choose from.

A few weeks ago, I won a giveaway on Julie’s blog.

Right?  How is that even possible?  I spent the entirety of 2010 not winning ANY giveaways and suddenly in the last month I won two.

I suppose we could write it off as one of those When It Rains It Pours-type things.

The sweet swag?

A jar of honey.

But not just ANY jar of honey.

Y’all should know that this particular jar of honey falls square in the category of Things That Make My Heart Explode like Megan’s Blackberry Grand Marnier Jam.

Which is now the one and only thing I have in common with Ree Drummond and Alton Brown.

But back to the honey.

Julie went big this year and became a beekeeper.  She researched the whole affair, built a hive and…kept it.  For real.  With the suit.  With the smoker.  With the honeycombs.  The whole nine yards.

If you can imagine what beekeepers do, she was doing it.

So it’s pretty special, because it’s the first honey from the hive.

But it’s also pretty special because I know just how hard she worked and how far she has come since she ordered her beekeeper’s suit in March.

When she announced she was going to give some of it away?  My jaw literally dropped.

That stuff is liquid gold.

So, now I’m left with the dilemma of what to do with it.  Most certainly some of it will end up on my oatmeal.  Drizzled on bread with butter.  Blended into butter and served with cornbread.  Licked off of a spoon.  Painted on roasted meat as a glaze.

But I kind of want to action some baking with it as well.  I just have a sense that some sort of bread/cookie/cake could be just an epically fantastic (and quite possibly extremely forgiving) mode of honey consumption.

Plus, it will keep the party going just a little bit longer.

What do you typically use honey in?

Have you ever won a blog giveaway?  Was it a fantastic prize or did you end up receiving really bizarre stuff?