Foodie Fun

Good Karma Omelet

/ foodsweatandbeers / 14 Comments

Good afternoon, friends and neighbors!!

It was rough to go back to work today after a wonderful weekend.  In case you missed anything:

I’ll admit, I spent lots of time at home this weekend, being a little homebody.  That’s because the next two weekends will be spent on planes, trains, and automobiles (literally), heading to the Healthy Living Summit in Philadelphia (I fly in at 3:15!! And already have a double welcome wagon of Krissie and Ali!!  Then, the next weekend, I fly BACK to Philly for my cousin’s bridal shower.

Oh yeah, and on Wednesday, August 24th, 2011, I TURN 24!!

I promise to be less Birthdayzilla this year...

In the meantime, I’ve got a busy week ahead of me.  Lots of work, workouts, and a low-carb diet for the week that I’m trying out as I’ve been feeling fairly full and bloaty all weekend (due primarily to MANY carby snacks of fried goodies, too many Wheat Thins to count, Heath bar pancakes drenched in syrup (heavenly), a few too many cheddar biscuit samples at A Southern Season, and (of course) tacos and chips galore.

Oi vay.

Time to cut back a little (though I’ll still enjoy my Fiber One 80 calorie cereal I just started enjoying for breakfast).

Today, when I came home for lunch, I spotted a sad, sad sight.

PLANTTTTTT!!

My poor basil plant took a tumble overnight, probably due to the Noah’s Ark-like downpour all evening….  Well, I flipped it right up, gave it some water, and I think got some good karma because then I did something I don’t think I’ve successfully done since I moved to this apartment.

The Perfect Omelet Flip!!

Well, what happened next will be known as the Good Karma Omelet.

  • 1 egg white, 1 egg base
  • 1 handful of spinach, sauteed
  • 1/5 of a green pepper, also sauteed
  • 5 pieces of turkey pepperoni, sliced into thirds
  • 1 slice of provolone cheese, melted

Slather that bad boy in Frank’s Red Hot, and you’ll taste all that good karma just filling up your belly.

For dessert, I enjoyed a fresh peach from my beau’s boss’ field!

Fresh and ripe and great to the last drop!!

I am sensing great things for the rest of the day.  My plant is upright, my belly is full (but not with many carbs), and True Blood, like that peach, was good to the last drop.

Ha, vampire joke.  Get it?

Good.  For tolerating that silliness, here’s a sexy Eric and Sookie moment to enjoy.

Sexy, can I? (click on image for Source)

Are you going to the Healthy Living Summit?

How did you earn some good karma today?

Six Pack Sunday: Snacktime!

/ foodsweatandbeers / 10 Comments

Hey hey you party people!

Glad you enjoyed my recipe for that Chocolate Crack (and lemme tell you, despite some judging malfeasance, everyone at the picnic loved it too).

It’s been a pretty snuggly weekend, with a total of three naps and very little leaving the house, which I loved…. but that’ll change oh-so-soon with next weekend being the Healthy Living Summit in Philly and the weekend after being a wine-tasting themed bridal shower for my cousin in OCNJ!  But enough about the future, here are the six silly things that I’ve enjoyed or thought about this week.  For your viewing pleasure.

  1. So that’s why they call them navel oranges.

    Wow. Definitely an Inny.

    If that’s not a belly button on a fruit, I don’t know what is.

  2. I demand a revote!

    Gimme a break!

    Now, I know I may be biased…. but of the 5 desserts pictured here, mine didn’t even PLACE! (there were 1-3rd places with gift cards!)  I’ll admit, the cool whip thing on the left was delicious and full of cake and berries…. but the one on the far right…. HAWAIIAN CAKE?! COME ON!!  I gave them all a fair try.

    A nice sampler platter of the competition's goodies.

    Admittedly, I’m a bit sour grapes, so my mind may have played tricks on me, but I’m pretty sure the carrot cake was poison.

    Luckily, the judging didn’t prevent people from eating the heck out of the crack. HA!

  3.  #WTF

    AND a personalized note to boot!

    Have any of you tweeted #WTF when you finish a box of Wheat Thins @crunchiscalling?  If you DO you have a chance to have a brand new box sent to you!!  And they even hand-write the note!!  How nice is that?

    And I can’t promise that I’ll send you boxes of Wheat Thins, but you should follow @foodsweatnbeers on twitter too for live, minute-by-minute updates on what I’m doing.  Doesn’t that just sound great?!

  4. A Blogger Meetup!!

    UNC girls!!

    I met up with Allison, author of Happy Tales, at the UNC School of Public Health.  It was my first ever healthy living blogger meetup, a virtual dress rehearsal for the Healthy Living Summit in LESS than a week (ahhh!)  It was great to finally meet someone IRL who I’ve read all about.  It’s like I already knew her.  Wonderful to meet, chat about HLS and our mutual love of dogs named Happy, and enjoy the company while spending some time on UNC campus again. It just reminded me how excited I am for Football Season!!

  5. Another WTF.  This time, chocolate bar style.

    Oh, it isn't?!

    Read a little about this Yorkie candy bar.  And apparently it’s not for girls. So if you’re trying to eat it, and you’re a lady….

    DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!

  6. North Carolina’s Girls’ Pint Outchapter is making it happen!!

    Sweet Swag

    I had a fantastic meeting with the some of the finest Craft Beer Ladies in the Triangle tonight to discuss future plans for NC GPO…  Things are going to get awesome, very very soon.  Check out @NCGirlsPintOut on Twitter!!  Our next event’s going to be this Thursday(!!!!) at Busy Bee Cafe in Raleigh and I’m beyond pumped.  Also in the plans…. two of my favorite words, combined into one event: KEGS & EGGS!!

    Nothing’s set in stone, yet, but I’ll be working my booty off to get it set.  Perhaps a tailgating event.  That’s just my dream come true.  Dream big, right Jordan?

Those are the little bits of goings on, and now I’m off to enjoy my froyo and a sweet episode of Mad Men. Yup, this is the first time we’ve ever watched it. And yup, I’m addicted.

Get inside of my belly.

Good night, friends, and best of luck waking up for Monday’s meandering.

Chocolate Crack: S’mores Style

/ foodsweatandbeers / 15 Comments

All I could think about when I was making these was the incredibly quotable flick, Mean Girls.

Crack. (click on image for Source)

But I’ll be honest, this crack would definitely crack Regina George.  And Gretchen Weiners.

After our amazing dinner date at Mellow Mushroom last night, we figured it was time to whip up some dessert.  While I used a few different recipes online to remind me how to make this, I also used years of watching my mom make these delicious desserts.  I’ve heard it called all sorts of different names. Sugar Bark. Chocolate Crack. Salty Sweet. Crackle. But whatever you call it, it’s addictive.  And too easy to make.  If you need an easy-to-make food for a crowd you’re trying to please, GO FOR IT!

What you need is:

  • Aluminum foil
  • a tall pan (some people call them jelly roll pans? But I’ve never even seen a jelly roll, so I just called it the tall pan.)
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
  • 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
  • 1 sleeve of salted saltines (like, 40-50 saltine crackers)
  • 1 12 oz package of semi-sweet chocolate, dark chocolate, I bet even white chocolate would work
  • Vanilla extract
  • Some baby marshmallows

Step 1

My saltines were not green. But my lighting was awful, as these were being made at 10 pm.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your so called “Jelly roll” pan with the saltine crackers (pack tight, no spaces) and make SURE you don’t have more than one solid row of crackers.  If there’s space on the edges, break the saltines to fit the gaps. And then, eat the extra saltine bits. Yum.

Step 2

Butter me up.

Take the butter. Put it in a medium sauce pan. Melt it at a medium heat. Don’t burn it. Easiest step ever.

Step 3

Looking sweet

Add the cup of dark brown sugar and a dash of vanilla extract (about a teaspoon, maybe a teensy bit more, we just eyed it) to the melted butter in the pan. Stir it at a medium heat until the mixture is a uniform rich brown.  This will look divine, smell like warm caramel, and you may be tempted to eat it straight from here. Don’t, you’ll burn your mouth and ruin your dessert.

Step 4

(no picture, sorry, so here’s a picture of a jelly roll)

That's a lot of pan for a little jelly roll. (Click image for Source)

Pour the butter sugar vanilla mixture on the crackers, and toss that in the (preheated) oven.  Watch it carefully, and when the mixture starts to bubble, take it out.

Step 5

Chocolatey goodness

Sprinkle the chocolate on top of the bubbling sugar crackers.  You can let the heat melt it, but I like to take a spatula and spread the chocolate for a more even coating.

Step 6

Rockiest road = marshmallows

We forgot to get the marshmallows, but had marshmallow fluff, so we plopped it all around.  However, I always recommend using marshmallows, and sprinkling them around. The fluff’s hard to work with (but, if you’re into getting more on the spoon and your fingers…. by all means.)  Put the pan in the fridge and wait it out.  I’d say at least 2-3 hours, or overnight.

Step 7

Get it OUT OF MY HOUSE!

After refrigerating for a few hours (or overnight, just to be safe), crack the bark up (the foil normally comes off very easily but sometimes you have to pull a bit) into little bite sized treats.  Try a piece. Then get it as far away from you as possible lest you eat the entire thing.
Voila!  I promise, this will go so fast at your next potluck you’ll wonder if you accidentally forgot to bring something.

Ok, now that I’m salivating over crack, I better eat some legitimate breakfast food. A girl can’t live on chocolate, sugar, butter, and saltines alone.

But she can certainly try.

This Friday Night

/ foodsweatandbeers / 4 Comments

Good evening (and a late one at that!)

The beau and I just got done our plans for the night and I’m pretty sure it was exactly like the Katy Perry hit, Last Friday Night (TGIF).  In case you don’t turn on the radio, it’s something like this:

Yeah we danced on tabletops
And we took too many shots
Think we kissed but I forgot…

Yeah we maxed our credit cards
And got kicked out of the bar
So we hit the boulevard…

We went streaking in the park
Skinny dipping in the dark
Then had a menage a trois.

Anyone ever actually think about those lyrics?  Quite a big jump from going skinny dipping and streaking to legitimately having sex with two people at once, IMHO.  But hey, she’s Katy Perry, she’s got it under control, I’m sure.

Yeah, Jordan, don’t worry about me…

But yes, our night was equally as crazy.

I started out ridin’ solo at the gym, with a fantastic Body Attack class.

Not my best, but absolutely not even close to my worst.

My ankle was still bothering me a little but I focused on the lower-impact options (one of my favorite aspects of Body Attack is that they always give you options) to take some of the pressure off, and still managed to work up one hell of a sweat.

Don’t you love when fitness classes turn into wet t-shirt contests?

Then, as Katy and her buddies danced on tabletops, we did a little dancing in downtown Durham.

He calls this one the "check me out!"

I call this one the "pose pretty with your dream purse". I'll be giving lessons at the Healthy Living Summit cocktail party if anyone's interested.

We took too many shots.  And by shots, I mean slices of pizza.

All pepperoni, half artichoke (me), half buffalo chicken (Ry)

From one of our all-time favorite pizza joints in the Triangle (and anywhere):

Mellow Mushroom’s Mellow Menu

We definitely kissed a few times.  But I didn’t forget any of them.

We didn’t have to max out our credit cards because my Uncle had given me a giftcard, but we ALMOST got kicked out of the bar…

Wait, not even a little.  I did almost kick a woman out of the outdoor seating for smoking while we were eating, but she stopped (aka finished her nasty smelly cigarette) moments before the pizza came out (at which point I would’ve complained, loudly and obnoxiously.  and then, maybe gotten kicked out of the bar.)

I enjoyed a delicious Bell’s Two Hearted with dinner.

Thanks for the bunny ears, Ry.

Then, we hit the boulevard (aka walked back to the car).

The rest of the song gets into some pretty risque stuff and I’ll be honest….. we skipped that and baked (sort of) a dessert for his company picnic.

It may not have been the stuff Katy writes songs about, but maybe she’s missing out on a gold-mine of brilliant lyrics waiting to be written.  Katy, gimme a call if you need any more inspiration.  I’ve got gobs of this stuff.

Did you do anything wild enough to warrant a Katy Perry song tonight? 

Did you watch the double play of Con Air on TNT tonight? BECAUSE I’M WATCHING IT RIGHT NOW!

Time to get back to the oh-so-classy and ever-so-well-dressed Nicolas Cage.

Put the bunny in the basket.

What a dreamboat….

 

What I’m Loving This Thursday

/ foodsweatandbeers / 11 Comments

Hey there everyone!

I’m so glad you all got a kick out of my trip down memory lane yesterday.  I’m a big fan of hopping down that particular lane now and then, so thanks for obliging my guilty pleasure.

In a not so guilty manner, I made today’s lunch knowing that tonight I’d be enjoying a few beers and maybe an appetizer (or two) at the Sam Adams Octoberfest Meetup tonight at Rockfish!

Beastly salad or salad beast, now you don't have to choose!

In today’s delicious lunch was:

  • Spinach
  • Red pepper
  • Green pepper
  • Lowfat mexican blend cheese
  • Reduced Sodium Bush’s Black Beans (my very favorite of all beans)
  • Half a small avocado
  • Some crumbled chips (but more on them soon)
  • Salsa!

A virtual fiesta in the mouth.

As I was making this little jewel, I looked around my kitchen and noticed a few new products that I’m a big fan of and wanted to share with the WORLD (or the several of you that read what I’m writing!!)

First up, something I’ve talked about before:

Actually the perfect pinch

I use this McCormick Perfect Pinch Cajun Seasoning on just about everything lately (including my reduced sodium beans… kind of defeats the purpose of the reduced sodium, I know.)  I threw it on my blackened cod the other night and it just rocked my face off.  Ryan likes it because it’s spicy too.  And really, it’s very versatile.  Use it instead of salt and pepper, or instead of taco seasoning.

Trader Joes, you did me right again!

After my picture, I crumbled a few of these Spicy Soy & Flaxseed Tortilla Chips on top of my salad.  They aren’t actually very spicy, they just crumble deliciously in my mouth, and it’s nearly impossible to not eat 100 in one sitting.  That could be good or bad for you, depending on what you’re looking for in a chip.  For me, it’s a little of both.  I love the little flax seeds in it, and the texture of the chips is great. Also, the ingredient list is totally natural normal everyday stuff.  Wins, all around.

Spinach artichoke HUMMUS?!

I’ve discussed my love for Sabra hummus many times (and tweeted too.  I’m like a Sabra groupie.)  But until yesterday, I’d never seen this particular flavor in a store before!  Well, the moment I saw it, I grabbed it and clutched it to my bosom like a mother who’d saved her child from a burning house (read: Death grip.) I have only tried it with the aforementioned spicy chips, so the jury’s still out (too much flavor from the vehicle).  I’m hoping to get something plainer this weekend and give it a real focused taste.  Stay tuned.

Lime popcorn? It's a crazy hybrid like that coronarita I had!!

This popcorn totally reminds me of those Hint of Lime Tostitos.  Only better.  I love popcorn, I love lime and citrus flavors, and LOOK they even rimmed everything in salt!!  Great treat for watching a movie, and each mini bag has only 190 calories.  Better than popping that MOVIE THEATER BLAST O’ BUTTER that I used to like, and with much more flavors.

Finally, the coup de gras:

Fiber One 80 Calorie Cereal!

This Fiber One 80 Calorie cereal is AH-MAZING! It tastes like honey and crunch and awesome, AND has 40% of my daily fiber! I even added strawberries, like the picture suggested, it was perfect. Sweet, crunch, filling.  I used to eat the Fiber One original literally EVERY DAY when I first started Weight Watchers.  That was 60 calories but tasted like sticks and twigs.

Morning Delight

This has at LEAST 400 calories more worth of flavor, but only 20 more actual real live calories.  I plan on buying 100 boxes as they’re currently on sale at Harris Teeter (and you can get a coupon for Fiber One Here!)
Ok, so those are my most recent tasty MVPs….

How about you?  Any new products you’re digging?

Surprise Date Night!

/ foodsweatandbeers / 8 Comments

Hello out there in TV Land! (or internet land. All the lands.)

So I finished the day at the office, and realized that the minor pain that I had in the front of my ankle was turning into a more major pain.  My pipe dreams of doing AbSculpt followed by BodyPump turned quickly into just an AbSculpt (not too much action on the ankle there, right?)

AbSculpt was hardcore today.

For 26 minutes (only really about 22 minutes of working it), that’s NTS (Not Too Shabby – Cedar Rapids). Then, after work, the beau and I decided to pick him up a little apron for a grilling gig he has this weekend (for his company picnic, he’ll be the guy flipping burgers for families and friends!)  Lucky for me (and hopefully him, too!) it turned into an impromptu date… My favorite kind!

After we scampered in and out of Wal-Mart, one apron richer, we were inches away from a Jason’s Deli, a spot I’ve never been in my whole life. Ry was pretty surprised, I guess it’s a fairly common place known for it’s muffalettas, a New Orleans delicacy.  But tonight, I wasn’t feeling the fluffy bready treat, I was feeling a little lighter fare.  They just so happened to have a whole section of the menu dedicated to just that!

Savvy Chicken Salad, sign me up!

Chicken Salad with some corn chips

I enjoyed the Savvy Chicken Salad Wrap: Organic wheat wrap with lower sodium chicken salad made with almonds and pineapple, roma tomatoes, red onions, and leafy lettuce. 

It was a little sweeter than I normally like my chicken salad, but I threw some of those corn chips in the wrap and a little bit of the salsa, added some salt and pepper, and perked it right up.  Ry went for a different option:

Hot Corned Beef and Pastrami

I’m pretty sure his sandwich ate my sandwich earlier in the day. He enjoyed it though, and I enjoyed a nibble or two.

Seeing as we were in the neighborhood…. I couldn’t help myself.  Tutti Frutti!!

A little more crowded than yesterday.

And if you’re wondering, yes I got froyo two days in a row.

Sorry I'm not sorry. Not even sorry for my crazy face.

And now…. we’re enjoying Cedar Rapids, thanks to the people at Neflix.  And maybe… I’ll even enjoy this beer to my left.

The Wrong Side of the Bed

/ foodsweatandbeers / 15 Comments

Good evening friends! You made it through Tuesday, congratulations!  I made it too, but barely!

See, the thing is…. this morning I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

This was my bed setup my Junior year of college.... Neon room? Heck yes. Half consumed bottle of Riesling on the desk? Duh.

See, I didn’t get to sleep until late last night, my own fault, I know. But when I woke up extra early this morning…. I was really off my game.  The result? A grouchy girl.

RAWR!!

Every single thing seemed to annoy me.

Forgot cheese for my salad? Anger.

My emails at work coming in slow? Fury.

This driver’s park job?

WHO DOES THAT?!

Rage blackout.

I knew it was a problem when not even my perfect salad from lunchtime was making me feel better.  So I took matters into my own hands, and spent the rest of the day trying to do all my favorite things that make me happy.

I dropped some packages off at the post office which, coincidentally, was right next to my favorite frozen yogurt spot, Tutti Frutti.  I mean, no harm in stopping by, seeing how long the line was, right?

Completely. Totally. Empty.

Well, at that point, what option did I have, really?

My little day-changer!

Yup.  A mini-cup (about $2.30 worth of froyo) did the trick.  And then, after work, my favorite zumba class and instructor!  It was killer, sweat pouring all over.

And an ab track thrown in at the end! Well-rounded, she definitely is.

And then, for dinner, my favorite method of cooking fish:

Blackened Cod, complete with Cajun Seasoning!

I used a buttload of the McCormick Perfect Pinch Cajun Seasoning which I’ve been putting on everything lately. It has cayenne, thyme, garlic, salt, and paprika in it all in one dash! I paired my piece with half a bag of steamed broccoli and cauliflower and Ry and I split a few fancy beers he got in a birthday pack.  None really worth noting, though, but I’m sure I’ll find one soon to write about in a review.

Basically, after watching an episode of Alphas (my newest favorite Sy Fy show) and splitting some Haribo gummy bears for dessert, I’m feeling a lot better.  In fact, I might even hit the hay early tonight…. but I’ll make sure I get to sleep on the right side (which, for me, happens to be the left side of the bed.)

What do you do when you’re having a lousy day to get your spirits back up?

How do you sleep in bed? On your side? On your stomach? On which side of the bed?

Before and After: Office Meals

/ foodsweatandbeers / 7 Comments

Hey hey there cool cats! (or hot dogs… whichever you choose)

It’s a sunny Tuesday here in Dirty Durham (at least it was earlier this morning….)  Ry has my car today until his car is fixed and working pretty again, so I brought my lunch to work.  And as I was packing it, I realized why I don’t normally do this.

I HATE prepping my lunch at the office!  And, more than that, I hate pre-prepping my lunch the night before, so I chose the lesser of two evils.  I jammed my bag full of the ingredients needed and walks outta the apartment with a grocery bag literally full to the top of stuff.  One day, I’m sure I’ll be a super-organized mom who packs her kids lunches in an adorable fashion:

Oh, this ol' thing? It only took me two and a half hours. I always keep rice pandas around.

But in the meantime, I’ll focus on “Ordo ab Chao” (Order from Chaos, if my memory Internet serves me correctly…)

I started this morning off with a little Attunes Food cereal mix up (which you may have seen in one of my secret hoarding cabinets yesterday…)  Finishing off a box of cereal that has dried blueberries in it results in this:

Not little critters, just blueberry dust!

Which is what my cereal looked like before I even took a bite.  What it looked like after, though, actually matched the color of my FR60 watch more than a cereal!

Violet! You're turning violet, Violet!! - Mr. Beauregarde, Willy Wonka

Regardless of my blue milk, I slurped it up like a little kitten.

But this was the real kicker.  Lunchtime.  Here’s my before:

Salad Ingredients or what a mother of 2 bought at the grocery store?

My haul included:

  • Two bags of spinach (one that I just opened, one that had about 12 leaves left so I polished it off!)
  • Tupperware full of thyme roasted veggies (eggplant, banana pepper, and red onion)
  • Avocado
  • Plum tomato
  • End of a GIANT green pepper
  • Leftover box with fajita veggies and a teensy bit of chicken
  • Trader Joe’s Salsa Authentico (arguably one of my favorite salsas… and I’m a salsa officianado)

The “after” was a lot more manageable.

Salad Beast: You are my lover.

The process took quite some time, but the result was more than worth it.

It sort of reminded me of the “blogging behind the scenes” by Chelsey this morning…. only taken with a cheaper camera and with no real trickery. Just blue milk and a counter full of bags!

Are you an ordered chef or baker?  Or does your counter look like chaos every time (like me!)?

What’d you have for lunch?

Secret Hoarding: Office Edition

/ foodsweatandbeers / 16 Comments

Good evening, all! Normally, I’d just be turning off my HRM from a sweaty BodyCombat class….  That’s my preferred Monday exercise of choice.  Today, alas, I’m on call and BodyPump is really the only fitness class I can take with my phone on hand (translation: the only class that I’m not so drenched in sweat as I kick, punch, or zumba my booty off with the music blasting in my ears where I can hear or see my phone.)  So I took today to run some errands… which was partially successful. The drive-thru ATM at the bank wasn’t accepting checks, but other than that, I:

  • Dropped a package off at UPS
  • Picked up some goodies at the store for a package
  • Packed that package!

I promise, the knife has nothing to do with this package.

Oooh, I also just recently got a package that I’m pretty stoked for….

Oooh, what's that?

More about that at another time. The real topic of the day is something that I just learned about myself.

I think I might be a secret hoarder (of snacks). A coworker gave me something to put in one of my drawers, and that’s when it hit me.

Triscuits Thin Crisps in Quattro Formaggio (deadly addictive, never ever get them) and Odwalla Protein Bars

In our next shelf?

Adora Calcium Disks in Dark Chocolate

Across the office (i.e. over a desk that isn’t even my own:

Two of my cereals from Attune Foods! (Not pictured: my favorite Uncle Sam)

Need a mid-day pick-me up?

Trashy mags and Coke Zero!

Ok, I’ll admit, that last picture was staged. If I’m going to have soda, OBVIOUSLY I’d put it in the fridge (and truly, I am mandated by my job to have tons of media all around me, which actually means that sometimes… I make a workday out of perusing those trashy mags!)

I scatter my goodies throughout my office (didn’t even take a shot of my dried cranberries in the refrigerator or the gum in my purse).  That way, no matter what, if I forget a snack or lunch, I should be okay.  Often, I also keep a can of soup or sandwich thins in the drawers (but you caught me on an off day.)

I promise, I don’t hoard all my things like a thieving magpie (at least not regularly) but something about the amount of drawers and cabinets in my office just brings out the nester in me.  It’s like I’m ready for anything (as long as anything = a hunger pang… or a trip to the hair salon or the waiting room at the doctor.)  Now it’s time to use my hoard of goodies in the fridge and try to find something for dinner! The beau’s talking pork chops…. Let’s see how that goes.

Do you keep snacks at work or by your desk?  If so, which snacks?

Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ Festival in Cary

/ foodsweatandbeers / 11 Comments

Good morning and happy weekend all!!

I’m writing to you from a comfortable couch after sleeping on a less-than-comfortable floor…. ah, the life of a Triangle Nomad, right?

It was more than worth it though, as last night was the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ Festival in Cary, NC!

This was the second year in a row I’ve attended the festival, both celebrating (a day later) my beau’s birthday!  We had a killer groupon deal for it, and joined two of our buddies, Claire and Taylor, for the festivities.

Even though we got there half an hour before the doors opened, there was still a line.  Luckily, we were toward the front (whew).

Oi vay, lots of thirsty folks!

Luckily, we had entertainment in the form of some classy zydeco music.

Nothing classier than overalls in front of a moving van, right?

They actually ended up letting the “will-call” ticket holders in about 5 minutes before the Groupon holders, which was pretty lame in my book. That being said, by the time we got in, there was a lotta beer to go around.

Cheers!!

You can see Taylor’s sweet lanyard on the right there, which perfectly held our tasting glasses when we didn’t feel like holding them ourselves.  It was a nice enabler to my laziness, I have to say.

There was some awesome drinks there:

Offerings from Blue Point Brewery

Outstanding cocktails made with St. Germain elderflower liqueur

There were some…. less than tasty drinks there:

Hey! That's not beer, bourbon, OR BBQ... but it is Burnett's.

The BBQ was off the chain (and included with the Groupon!!)

A full plate of deliciousness!! Pork, beans, a roll, and coleslaw!

And we had a lot of laughs.

RELEASE THE KRACKEN! (and I basically wore that eye patch all night).

We even found some other beer buddies in the area.

Oh, hey LaurPo!

We had Zingo come and pick us up/drive my car back to Taylor’s house for a little late night swimming.

I also have a bit of a confession. When I’m surrounded by the possibility of coming home with free stuff…. I kinda go a little crazy.

So. Much. Swag.

  • 6 temporary tattoos
  • Heavy Seas Eye patch
  • Absolut Vodka bar mat
  • Malibu Rum bar mat
  • Palms Sticker
  • Lanyard and tasting glass
  • 3 koozies
  • a little baggy of hops!
  • 1 flashlight keychain
  • 2 bottle opener keychains
  • a Magic Hat sticker
  • a Magic Hat condom (get it…. a “magic hat”! — That’s what the Magic Hat rep told us.)
  • And an Iron Man shirt…. in a boys medium. Yeah that may have been from the pool later. Sorry, little man. Don’t leave your things lying around.  Creeps might pick em up.  Creeps like me.

Since we lived it up and dined/drank like royalty last night, I’m off to a pilates class at noon. I’m nervous…. Wish me luck!