I know I'm not the only one!

Is it marked on your calendars? This Thursday, the Beaujolais Nouveau will be out on the shelves! It's not a work day for me, but I think I might have to make a stop by the shop and snag a bottle. Quips about glorified grape juice aside, I do look forward to each year's Beaujolais. Not because I think it's the tastiest thing out there, because I don't. I just think it's fun and novel. So once a year, I will pay for overpriced, glorified grape juice, and I will enjoy it.

Tonight's shrimp curry didn't go quite as planned. I actually had planned on making beer chili, but those plans were postponed until tomorrow. I was craving curry all day at work, so I started in on one when I got home. It wasn't until I had the onion, garlic, and curry powder all getting cozy on the stove that I realized I barely had 3 Tbsp of greek yogurt in the fridge, and no other dairy products other than milk. So I had virtually no sauce. Tasty, but nothing I was proud of, so that's another recipe I'll have to tweak before posting. Sir Gingerbeard said he'll peel all the shrimp next time, so that's an offer I can't pass up. It will be up here soon!

And speaking of Sir Gingerbeard, I was a (small) part of his brewing party this past week. He has a brewery and they just started their new Christmas beer Wednesday night. I offered up my womanly advice on the mixture of ginger/nutmeg/allspice/cinnamon/cloves that is steeping in their soon-to-be-Triple Bock.

Photo from thebarleyblog.com

He's doing his part to introduce me to some tasty brews, and he certainly has been succeeding. Tuesday night with dinner, I enjoyed a Pipeline Porter from Kona Brewing Company. I have always enjoyed darker beers much more than... well, your typical Bud piss-water variety. That is even more true now that I've expanded my beer knowledge a bit. Porters and Stouts generally top my list. Wednesday night, I sampled Sir Gingerbeard's Nine Iron IPA. Minty, hoppy, and delicious. However, my favorite of theirs by far was their Halloween beer. I don't recall the name at the moment, but it was yam instead of the usual pumpkin flavor coming through. Spectacular! They have a Graham Cracker Stout that's pretty fantastic. I believe the other one I tried was their Slut City Stout. Hints of orange and vanilla. It's delicious! For someone that's been so anti-brew for the last 4+ years, I surprised myself by how much I've really enjoyed.

I tried a new Sauv Blanc tonight that I'll get a review up for in the next few days. Nothing noteworthy, unfortunately.

Here's to hoping for some beer chili tomorrow! Thank you for being so patient with me. :)

My apologies!

Sorry I've been MIA lately! I have been doing a lot of cooking for the new man in my life, but keep forgetting to take photos.

I have a new cookie recipe, an amazing crock pot chicken recipe, and a few sides that I will now have to re-create and get up here.

I am also participating in a fantastic cookie swap! There is still another week to sign up, so head on over and get on the list if you're interested! Sign-ups close on the 15th.
 


Hopefully I'll be on top of this a little more in the coming days.

Also, thanks to my new man, I've been branching out a little from my usual wine (I tried eight this weekend - that's how much I fail at updating) and sampling beers! We went out to Four Peaks last Wednesday for some lunch and tasty brews. Their Oatmeal Stout is simply to die for. A delicious dark beer with hints of coffee and chocolate. They have a Pumpkin Porter seasonal beer right now that is also fantastic.

I'm being treated to dinner tonight and tomorrow, but I hope to have something new up at the end of this week! Thank you for being so patient with me. :)