Month: October 2011

Epic Brewing Brainless on Peaches

/ foodsweatandbeers / 1 Comment

I don’t know much about what comes from Utah. A quick Google search reminded me of that time that the 2002 Winter Olympics was hosted there, and it looks like they’re well known for mining. Sundance Film Festival and they 14.9% of folks are Scandinavian in ancestry. All of that pales in comparison to what else Utah brings to the table. Or, in this case, the bar.

Ladies and Gentlemen, enter Epic Brewing Company.  More specifically, their Brainless on Peaches.

Looks like a nice, juicy peach. In a glass.

The newest offering at Rockfish by Southpoint is a special rare beer tap.  A totally awesome idea, in my humblest of opinions. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one that thought so because beer geeks gathered in order to taste this rare treat.  This keg was the only one in the state of North Carolina and, considering how much I love limited edition things and Rockfish, I couldn’t resist.

Bottoms up!

Now, about the beer.

From the brewer:

Brainless on Peaches is part of the Exponential Series of very limited release beers from Epic. “Epic’s special line of ales and lagers for the accomplished consumer or the ever-curious. This is where the Epic journey never ends…”

We took our double gold medal winning Brainless Belgian, added organic peach puree and aged it in French Chardonnay casks form Sawtooth Winery. Drink from a Pinot glass, serve on the warm side of cold, it develops nicely as it warms displaying more fruit and wine.

It was delicious. Be warned, it is 10.5% ABV, but it drinks much smoother than that. The smell and taste is not as aggressively PEACH as Peaotch that I tried a few weeks ago, but the taste of wine is definitely there. If I didn’t know that it was aged in those fancy Chardonnay casks, I think I still would’ve guessed that there was some wine in this process. The taste started out as somewhat sweet, then hit a little harder with some sharpness after a few sips. It mellowed out as it warmed, and, after one glass, definitely had an effect. It had a fair amount of carbonation which I always appreciate. While I didn’t love it as much as the Dogfish Head Festina Peche or the Peaotch, it was a decent peach beer and totally worth a try.

 

Why You Should Grocery Shop at Lunchtime

/ foodsweatandbeers / 8 Comments

Hey there y’all, and thank goodness it’s Friday!

I’m blurrily celebrating No-Pants Friday, so excited that I clearly couldn’t even hold still!

Too fast, too furious for the camera!

And I have to say, I just enjoyed the most divine salad at lunchtime.

Festive Friday Fare!

Yesterday, I tossed 2 frozen chicken breasts, half a can of black beans and half a can of fire-roasted tomatoes and some salsa into the crockpot. By dinnertime last night, it was a wonderful shreddable chicken with a Mexican flavor. Though I wrapped it in a tortilla last night, today I bulked it up with some spinach, tomato, half an avocado, and cheese. Out of this world.

Now, you might be asking yourself, “How does Jordan afford all these avocados? She must be a zillionaire!” because avocados are notoriously pricey and that’s a bummer. But I’ll tell you how I get em.

Shop for groceries at lunchtime!

A beautiful bounty!

The aisles are almost empty and the food is ripe for the picking. Also, this is a PRIME time to pick up those battered and bruised veggies and fruits that are “priced for quick sale”. The losers of the produce aisle, these treats always finagle their way into my heart and, shortly after, into my grocery cart. And, honestly, if you’re planning on putting together food with the veggies in the not-too-distant future, what’s the problem?

Sure, maybe they’re not as beautiful as the beautiful bananas, the attractive avocados, and the perfect plums. But they’re delicious as all get out, and just made my day.

For $2.50, I picked up 4 avocados and 8 tomatoes. I’ll chalk that one up to a major WIN!

Plans for tonight include a very special (and RARE in NC!) beer!  Epic Brewing’s Brainless on Peaches will be tapped at Rockfish tonight, and I can’t wait to try a glass.  Yummy, yummy.

What’s

Jimmy Johns Customer Appreciation Day!

/ foodsweatandbeers / 5 Comments

So, this’ll be short and sweet.

Once a year, Jimmy Johns hosts their Customer Appreciation Day. On this day, subs 1-6 are only $1 a piece!  If you know me at all, you know of my fondness for free or cheap foods. Heck, look at my birthday week!

Discounted slices of Klausie's Pizza? I melt (just like cheese).

So when I heard of this chance, I of course tweeted and emailed all my coworkers. Last year, they were cranking out a sub every 20 seconds.  This year, they may’ve been going even faster.  When we rolled up (4 deep), this was what we saw.

Hugs for Subs!

This type of crowd left some balking at the sheer size of the line. Not I, though. I had faith that the folks at Jimmy Johns wouldn’t disappoint. And, within no time at all, we were inside.

MAN, the gears were turning inside!

JJ Crew

I’m pretty sure the entire working force of Jimmy Johns was there! There were folks answering phones and, outside, people were taking orders to prepare for the checkout. It was a well-oiled machine.

$2.34 later, I was home with my goodies.

Delicious

I went for the classic.

#4 Turkey Tom, no mayo, plus onions and oregano, side of Thinny Chips (WHOAH this is newish!! Reduced fat Jimmy Johns Chips!!)

I added some low-fat mayo at home, and paired it with my drink du jour, pink lemonade Crystal Light.

Fantastic.

If you are in the Triangle area (read Cary, Raleigh, Durham, or Chapel Hill) before 3 pm today, GET YO’SELF A SUB!!

Are you aware of any killer food deals I should know about? 

Happy hours? Cheap eats? One-day deals?! SHARE!

Rehearsal Dinner at Open Door Gastropub

/ foodsweatandbeers / 11 Comments

Good evening, we made it to Wednesday!  Hope everyone celebrated in the right way (namely, No Pants Wednesday). Even though I have volleyball tonight, I’ve taken a break at home to enjoy some No Pants time…  and some blogging time.

Though I teased you all with some tidbits of my cousin’s wedding this weekend, there was more to it than silly mustaches and food on a stick.  In fact, there was a whole weekend of fun.  And it all started with the rehearsal (and rehearsal dinner!)  We were running a little late due to traffic from that crazy Occupy Wall Street stuff, so we went underground. Namely, to the subway!

Get her to the church on time!!

Luckily, we just made it, and the church was stunning.  Having been featured in Godfather II, Moonstruck, Men in Black, and Confessions of a Shopaholic, the Church of St. Anthony of Padua was picturesque, to say the least.

My camera just doesn't do it justice.

After watching the rehearsal go down (since I was giving a reading!!) we hopped a cab back to the hotel, which was luckily a stone’s throw from the location of the rehearsal dinner!  The location of the dinner was Open Door Gastropub  and, after reading some Yelp reviews and checking out their menu, I was specifically stoked for the extensive  drink menu. I decided, with so many options, it was definitely going to be a beer night.

Bottom's Up!

I started the night off with a Goose Island IPA which was tasty but not incredibly hoppy. A good way to start the night.  Also a good way to start the night?

Mini Beef Wellingtons... I'll be wolfing you down all night.

The appetizers were quality bar food, and also included pigs in a blanket. Pretty much a party in my mouth.

The best part of the night was definitely when my oldest brothers finally arrived!!

The Golden Age!

Despite our massive amount of love for my youngest brother and sister (the one I just had the Sister Date with!), the three of us always joke that we’re the “Golden Age”, as it took 3 years for all of us to be born, and 4 years later came the babies.  Well we were reunited in full force!

After all the tasty beers and appetizers, I was not all that interested in the food, but it was a pretty impressive spread.

Hot bar!

I was really looking forward to the infamous Mac and Cheese here… alas, no luck.  But let’s be honest, the real focus fell to the massive selection of beers.  Over the course of the night, I enjoyed:

  • Goose Head IPA
  • Southern Tier 5 Boroughs BPA (Something I’d NEVER seen before!)
  • Chimay Trappiste
  • Ommegang  Hennepin Farmhouse Saison
  • Brooklyn Brewery’s Brooklyner Schneider Hopfen-Weiss
  • La Chouffe
And mayyyybeeee a few more that I forgot to document on untappd.  Clearly, it’s a top notch spot for (affordable) craft beer in NYC, if you’re looking. Oh well, the drinks come, the focus switches from beer listing to family fun!

My lovely lady cousins! (the bride's the one in red...)

Getting our drinks after a looong wait!

Mini cupcakes from Crumbs. Oh my goodness...

Don't worry, I had no interest in this vodka.

My cousin, on the other hand.

All in all, it was a beery, bar-y fun time had by all.  But I still don’t understand the name, Open Door.  Darn doors were closed all over the place.

Or lead to nowhere.

Maybe they were being ironic?

I heard that’s big in NYC.

What’s your dream rehearsal dinner spot?

I’d love something with lots of tasty beers, comfort food, and good music!!

 

The Lighter Side of Zumba

/ foodsweatandbeers / 15 Comments

Hey there y’all!! Long time, no blog.

This weekend was jam-packed, and I even blogged a pinch about it in this week’s Six Pack Sunday: My Cousin’s Wedding. That being said, considering it was the longest time I’ve spent home in a looooong time. Monday, since I had off, I took advantage of the bonus day and staved off my flight until Tuesday morning. The cost? One exhausted Jordan.

Payoff? Phenomenal Sister Date!

See the resemblance? (I'm the taller one, ps.)

On the agenda?

Pancakes (banana chocolate chip… with sprinkles), Baking (Namely, Courtney’s Crackled Sugar Cookies), Zumba, Lunch at Moe’s, and FroYo. All before 4pm (game time for her volleyball game!)  It was daunting, especially after drinking all the beers during the weekend, but, with little Kiley by my side, I was ready for anything.

She's also a whiz with a whisk.

Up first? The cookies.

Toss those bad boys into the oven, now what?

Since they take about 12 minutes to cook, but we were already dressed for zumba, clearly we only had one option.

Girl's got ups.

Not much of a yogi-bear

Beautiful tree pose

This is the most flexible I've ever looked. Don't believe everything you see.

16 takes of each pose later, they were ready!!

Just in time for zumba!

All iced and ready for the team!

Fast forward to a trip to the YMCA. The 1pm Zumba class on a Monday is not something my schedule normally allows, so I jumped at the chance.  When we got there, we realized that wasn’t my standard Zumba class.  It was, in fact, a whole different ballgame.

The two of us probably brought the average age of the fitness room down about 26 years. While I’m used to the  college students from UNC and Duke, or the young professionals from the Research Triangle who dress in Lululemon, Nike, and Under Armour, the fashion in this class was outfitted in jeans (no joke), plaid shorts, and stirrup pants. We stuck out like two sore thumbs. Two sore thumbs that were about 6″ taller than most of the other women in the class. We’re tall, we’re gangly, and we have zero rhythm.

Clearly, we were meant to be in this class.

Well, we were given weird looks as we were flailing around, taking steps way longer than needed, and jumping up and down.  In fact, at one point, a woman leaned over to us and said “Man, whatever you’ve got going on in your shoes, I think I need it!”

Sweet moves, Ki!

Both of us are tall, lanky, and athletic. Surprisingly, that doesn’t actually translate to being a good dancer whatsoever. It mostly translated to us looking like we were illustrating plyometric drills instead of salsa and merengue steps.  But we got some laughs, we felt like spastic jellyfish, and we broke one heck of a sweat.

Glossy

And, even though I may not have any sexy Latin moves, I can, at times, drop it like it’s hot.

Drop it low

It was great to take a group fitness class and feel like a goof, instead of focusing solely on knocking out serious cardio. I even followed my own group fitness etiquette and made sure that, since I wasn’t sure of the moves this woman used, I hung out in the back.

Do you ever take classes just “for fun”?

I can’t say I regularly do, but it’s such a welcome to take a class with a friend (or, in this case, a friend sister HYBRID!) and be silly. I still felt like it was a killer workout, but that might’ve been all the laughter (good for the abs, I heard.)

Stay tuned for a wedding post in the near future!!

Six Pack Sunday: My Cousin’s Wedding!

/ foodsweatandbeers / 14 Comments

Long lost readers, I made it through the weekend!

I just woke up from a 2-ish hour nap after a long day of recovery (read: brunching, packing, trying to find my brother [who somehow ended up keyless at a train station in the next state over the morning after the wedding…], and riding back to PA from NYC. $100 to park for two days, that city is no joke.)

I’ll save the full write-up for another day, but in the meantime, in true Six Pack Sunday fashion, here are a few funny bits and pieces to tide you over (tie vs. tide? the link suggests I’m good with tide….)

Six Pack Sunday: My Cousin’s Wedding

1. Oh, do they?

Harsh warning.

Ok, maybe I was reading too much into this one. But doesn’t this just read almost like “They F**k You?”

Well, after a few hours in traffic, feeling a bit loopy, that’s how we all saw it.  Hilarious, at the time.  (Apparently, the translation of Daifuku is great luck. Now you know.)

2. A Dead Ringer… for Ringer!

The lovely Sarah Michelle Gellar was my inspiration for my wedding hairstyle, a la her new show, Ringer.

NAILED IT!

Ok, well I’m no Siobhan or Bridget, but I think I rocked it out. Pin straight, slicked back, feeling like a rockstar.

3. Workout Barbie Bunny

Energizer Bunny coincidence? I think not.

At 10:00 am the morning after the rehearsal dinner/party, my brother and I shocked everyone by heading to the hotel gym. Admittedly, it was a TINY room with a treadmill, an elliptical, and free weights + bench… but that was all we needed. GREAT to get a sweat session in while everyone else was nursing their hangovers.

4. Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey and… Drunky?

The Eighth Dwarf?

I loved the venue of the rehearsal dinner/party. It was held at the Open Door Gastropub in the Financial District of NYC and had an excellent beer selection!! One of my favorites, initially for the name, was La Chouffe, an unfiltered fruity blonde beer. The glass it was served in was for the McChouffe, which they didn’t have on draught, but it was too cute. Friendliest little beer dwarf of all time!!

5. Put a Bird On Stick In It!

Party on a stick!

Skewers, kebobs, kabobs, shish kabobs, meat on a stick… call it what you want to call it, this station was one of the best parts of the reception.  It was simple. Marinated steak/salmon/chicken/veggies, meet sticks. Sticks meet fire. Cooked food, meet my mouth.

Repeat.

6. The Girls with the Bro-staches

With these, we’ll never get carded

Fact: For the duration of a single song (I think it was Love Train), my cousin, Devon, and I wore mustaches. Then we removed them. They were like ghost mustaches… I bet folks wondered if it was just their imagination.  Well, it wasn’t. It was real! It was ALL SO REAL!

What was the best/funniest part of your weekend?

True or False: Vintage Edition

/ foodsweatandbeers / 3 Comments

Hey all and THANK GOODNESS IT’S FRIDAY!!

Today’s a fantastic day in the making as I’m relaxing in my family home in Pennsylvania getting reading to head to a hair appointment at my favorite salon that I’ve been going to for the past 7 years. Oh, and, no big deal, then we’re just taking off to NYC for bright lights, big city, and some familial love.  You know, much like the images of my cousin’s wedding from the spring.

I love coming home, cuddling in the bed I grew up in, and seeing my family.  One of my favorite parts of coming home is perusing through my belongings that I’ve hoarded kept around for a while.  I figured I’d share some with you in a little game of true or false.

True or False: I am afraid terrified of snakes.

What? You don't have a giant tropical mural in your home? Bummer.

FALSE! 

I think snakes are amazing, powerful, striking creatures. So much, in fact, that when I was younger and just moving into our house in Pennsylvania (I’m from Wilmington, DE originally), I made sure to request they were included in my rainforest mural. An art teacher from back when I was an itty bitty elementary school-er did it, and it features a black panther (see if you can spot it, bottom left), a monkey, a parrot, and (of course) a snake! Unpictured: a tiny tree frog.

As much as my friends used to say it must be scary to have that panther and snake giving me the eye every night, it’s my favorite part of my bedroom.

True or False: I was a nerd growing up.

Wall of Fame

Totally true. I was a Mathlete, I won english awards, art awards, foreign language awards. Basically, a book worm to the core (some things never change) and a TOTAL teacher’s pet. The middle image is a piece of artwork my mother got done for all the kids in my family. A very talented fellow would make these incredibly detailed pictures from one single piece of paper without use of glue or  exacto knives. Only scissors. It was awesome. My brother’s images showed them kicking a soccer ball or playing catch. Mine shows me sitting at a desk, reading.  Clearly, books defined me.

True or False: I collected Furbies.

My harem

False. Then again, American Girl Dolls was a different story. I even have the one designed to look like me (I’ll give you a hint, it’s not Josefina.)

Hey there, Kit, do us a solid and quit flashing your bloomers! This isn’t that kind of blog.

True or False: I am an animal lover.

Pickles Price

Old Man Happithan

Let's not forget Joey, the turtle.

True, True, TRUE!

I love my boys. Can’t wait to have a pup of my own one day.

True or False: I sleep with a body pillow every night.

He's not just anybody.

True… and false.

Well, in NC, I sleep with a plain old boring body pillow. However, when I’m home, the man in my bed is this green guy (well, on the other side, he’s purple, but you get the idea.) It’s a person shaped pillow called an Anybuddy.

I tried to look them up, and I guess they weren’t a big thing, I’ve never seen anyone else with one. But he’s cozy, he’s fleecy.  He’s basically a dream man.  Well, he was my dream man before Ry-guy came into my life.  I still make time for Anybuddy when I’m home, though.  You never forget your first love…

Ok, well the old man dog just pranced trudged into my room, looking for some love, so I’m off to coddle him.

Any good memories in your family home? Or have your folks turned it into a candle-making studio, a la Serenity by Jan.

bonus points if you know, at all, what I’m referencing. The hint’s in the link…

Ain’t No Wedding Like a Family Wedding

/ foodsweatandbeers / 6 Comments

This is a huge weekend for my family. My cousin, Whitney, is getting married this weekend in the big NYC and the whole gang’s going to be together. With my mother being one of 8 children, and their children being quite numerous, and me being one of 5 children the hits keep coming.  Not too much time for a post today, as I’ll be bustling about at work before flying home immediately after work (oh, and getting a pedicure during lunchtime) there’s not too much time for blogging.

That being said, I’d love to share some pictures from the LAST major family wedding I went to (and had a BLAST and a half at).

Looking snazzy with the beau.

Hopping aboard the jitney

Freezing up in the penthouse suite.

A Coca Cola and a blushing bride, what more can a man ask for?

Driftwood, beautiful

My cousin (the one who's getting married on Saturday) practicing her bouquet toss!!

My brother illustrating the inevitable hangover the following morning.

Here’s to one hell of a wedding weekend coming up.

 

Halloween Brainstorming

/ foodsweatandbeers / 9 Comments

Happy No-Pants Wednesday, folks!

Thanks so much for your feedback on Group Fitness Etiquette, loved hearing your rules and habits!

However, I’m being a bit blasphemous today.  It’s just too cold.

No shame in that game.

Some pants are okay on No Pants Wednesday. If they’re comfy, cozy, and bought from Considering this chilly weather (I know, I’m being a bit of a pansy, but the mornings are freezing for this summer girl!), I wanted something hot hot hot for lunch.

Steamy... just how I like it.

Grilled buffalo chicken sammy!! Sharp provolone cheese on a sandwich thin with Frank’s drenched chicken. Perfectly paired with some steamed veggies. Just what my belly needed.

In other news, quite possibly my favorite holiday is right around the corner.

HALLOWEEN!!

Honestly, any real reason to dress up in a costume, and I’m 110% down.

Pirate-ina!

I have an entire GIANT bag of costumes that takes up more room in my closet than anything else.

Psychadelic fairy!

Wings, glitter, feather boas, cat ears…. the list goes on.

Wooooootini!

Last year, for a theme party, I was even a (sexy) Ewok.  I am probably not going to post EVERY picture of a costume I’ve been recently (there was that year I was a “superman’d ho” – my personal step back for all feminist progress, but hilarious in my eyes).

Jersey Girl: We Pump Fists, Not Gas

My senior year, I embodied my all-time favorite film, Dazed and Confused, trying to match the badassery of the Senior Girls.

AIR RAID!

And the ever popular Toga Party.

Just call me Artemis.

Or that time I dressed up as a Zebra for the Lady Gaga concert.

Little Monster

Last year, I was Patty O’Green from Rainbow Brite, my first time wearing a fancy store-bought costume (since I was a little girl, at least).

Luck of the Irish

This year, though, I’m trying to figure out what to be. I don’t even know what my plans are (other than UNC’s homecoming weekend with ClaireB) but I’d love to make a funky costume.

Here’s what I’ve thought of so far:

1. Hop Cone

This is an ingredient in beer. It is NOT a pot plant.

2. Redfoo from the Sexy and I Know It video

Animal print pants rocking outta control.

3. Bubbly

Pop champagne wooooahhhh

(I know this is a rerun from New Belgium’s Tour de Fat Durham visit…. But reuse-recycle, right? Green’s the new orange and black.)

4. Big Boss’ Angry Angel

My favorite Kolsch = my favorite costume inspiration?

Basically, since there’s no real character, I’d just take some creative liberty.

5. No Doubt Gwen Stefani

Remember the video for I’m just a girl?

I might not have the abs (yet!) but she’s such a rockstar. I’d just need a tank top, put some Old English letters on there saying GWEN, curl my hair, VOILA!

What’re you being this year for Halloween?

What’s your best Halloween costume of all time?

Group Fitness Etiquette

/ foodsweatandbeers / 14 Comments

Hellloooooo friends!

Even though it’s only Tuesday night, I already feel the weekend peeking around the corner.  Today was a little bit of a breeze, which I just loved. I worked on a different project at work which was both fun and exciting (like that hopeful feeling you get when you first start a year of school as a child, I love that feeling.) And then, I realized through the grapevine that it was, in fact, a very special day.

That day was National Taco Day.

Well, I really didn’t have much of a choice but to celebrate….

iDelicioso!

Bandido’s is my favorite Mexican spot of all time.  And, somehow, I managed to be lucky enough to live near two locations for the past 6 years.  We used to frequent the one in Chapel Hill every Thursday, me and my girlfriends Kinsley and Claire, and we called ourselves the Bandido’s babes. And I hadn’t been there since JUNE!  The splurge was totally worth it and included a black bean enchilada, a soft chicken taco (I ate about 2 bites of the tortilla, then just went for the fillings) and a side of black beans. Of course, everything was slathered in cheese and salsa.

Perfection.

In other news, I finally got back to Zumba today! And I was in an even better mood because I felt like I was rocking one of my favorite workout outfits.

All black everything.

In an attempt to show off my brightly colored bra, I also managed to call out the power of skeletor in the form of MY COLLARBONE!

Hey there, crazy collarbone. Thanks for coming out.

Fortunately, the collarbone went back inside shortly after and just in time for Zumba.  While in class, though, I got to thinking about Group Fitness Etiquette.  As a huge fan of group fitness classes (in particular, Les Mills classes, Zumba, and newly, Pure Barre!), I think about this a lot. I’ve been in amazing group fitness classes, and stuck in rooms where I felt like everyone was actively trying to kick me in the face [cough BODYCOMBAT cough]. But I like to think that I’ve picked up some pretty good bits of etiquette.

1. If you’re ever doing a move where you’re kicking or punching, LOOK where you’re going! No one came to the gym looking for a fight.

2. If you don’t know the moves, or choose to do moves different than the ones that the instructor is showing, don’t stand in the front of the class.

3. When taking classes like BodyJam or Zumba as an extremely talented dancer, showing off a little is okay. Re-enacting the hit film, Fame, is not. We get it. You got skills. Take them to a dance studio or some reality show, you’re making us feel bad.

4. Ok, I’ll hand it to some folks. If you’ve got the confidence to rock just a sports bra and shorts, more power to you. But tiny booty shorts and a barely-there braziere might not be the best fit for a group fitness class.  Especially one with lots of bending and stretching [crotch shots. nuff said.]

5. Do unto others. If someone slips and falls, don’t laugh. Help them up, offer assistance if it’s needed, get ice. Don’t just ignore them. There’s nothing like slipping on the ground mid class and almost getting trampled because no one has stopped (sidenote: I’ve done this no less than 3 times).

6. Have fun. It’s so sad to see folks who look miserable, so if there is anything that can get you hyped up, it’s probably some exercise.  Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands (or anyone else.)

What are your favorite bits and pieces of group fitness etiquette?

Or… if you’re a runner, what’re some pieces of runners etiquette?