Beer Wars

Truth: There was a time a long time ago when I thought I didn’t like beer.

Fact: It wasn’t beer I didn’t like, it was the mass produced light lager that came from a keg that didn’t strike my fancy.

Natty Light, Miller High Life, Bud Light… Bad

Small craft beers that actually have flavor… Good

Catch my drift? 😉

Per Matt’s (Kath’s Husband’s) recommendation Derek and I watched the documentary Beer Wars thanks to NetFlix tonight. The film was a great look into the world of small craft brewers and the ‘big three’ that try to take them down.

Did you know what the Bud, Miller, and Coors make up more than 90% of the beer market? And that the other 10% are made up of the 1800 brewers out there? Or that Sam Adam’s makes up less than 1% of that share? Craziness!

Beer Wars was a film that made you think. If you love beer, then watch this film – it will make you think twice next time you pick up a 6 pack at your local supermarket.

Speaking of beer….

I was encouraged to open a seasonal Blue Moon during the movie.

Only after a little Wikipedia searching I discovered Blue Moon is produced by Molson Coors Brewing Company (formerly Coors Brewing Company) aka one of ‘The Big 3.’ Dang it.

I do try to purchase the smaller brewing companies when i can. I would rather spend more $$ on a great bottle of beer any day of the week. 🙂

Before the movie I got to work prepping my side dish for tomorrow’s company picnic.

Thanks to all of your wonderful suggestions I decided a Butternut Squash + Quinoa dish was the was the way to go.

After a little fridge surveying here’s what I came up with:

• 1 Red Onion (Diced)
• 4 cups Water
• 2 cup Quinoa
• 1 cup Raisins
• 2 T Pumpkin Spice

Spread the onion and butternut squash on a baking sheet and bake at 415 for 20 minutes. While that is baking bring the water and quinoa to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Combine the squash with the quinoa, raisins, and pumpkin spice. Enjoy.

It was simple, quick, and I already had all the ingredients on hand. 😉

Now, I couldn’t served my co-workers an experimental dish without trying it myself, right? 😉 I stole a small serving of my Butternut Squash Quinoa for dinner tonight.

With a bed of kale and left over mashed sweet potato on the bottoms and baked tofu and parmesan cheese on top it was quite a tasty meal.

It tasted just like fall. Again, so easy yet so delicious to create. I hope my co-workers love it too!

I suppose I should be proposing marriage to Mama Pea for dessert tonight? 😉

Annie the Baker’s Cookie Dough Balls are always a crowd favorite at the Foodbuzz Taste Pavilion. The baked balls of cookie dough heaven melt in your mouth and leave you coming back for more and more (and we did 😉 ).

I was actually standing next to Mama Pea at this year’s pavilion when she announced her goal of recreating the famous Cookie Dough Balls. Well, obviously this was a goal she was determined to keep because no even a week later she had a recipe up ready to go.

So, of course, I had to attempt it myself.

Only I didn’t get it quite right. I used regular butter instead of vegan margarine and instead of being a smooth wet dough, it was dry and crumbly. I had to add a little water to make it stick, but the texture was still off when all was said and done.

Don’t worry these still tasted AMAZING (like OMG AMAZING!), but the cookie fell apart as we ate it. Totally my fault. I guess this answers the question that there really is a big difference between real butter and the vegan stuff. 😉

We’re meeting my little brother early in the morning for our space themed 5k.

Time to sleep!

Good Night!!