What the heck am I going to bring?!?!?

I never know what to bring to family cookouts. Luckily, my in-laws requested I make a macaroni salad. They know how I am so I was asked to keep it simple. I searched online to find classic macaroni salads since I always make Italian pasta salad with loads of ingredients that not everyone likes! So I found some recipes and made my own take on them. I love the idea of using dijon mustard in the dressing, that is always tastey when it comes to any summer time salad.

First, every good salad needs a good dressing, so mix this together:

2-1/2 tbsp dijon mustard

2/3 cup white sugar

1/4 cup distilled white vinegar

1 cup mayonaise

salt and pepper to taste

after all these ingredients are mixed well, mix in a pound of cooked macaroni

now time to add veggies

2 celery stalks chopped
2 carrots grated
1 large onion diced
1 green bell pepper seeded and chopped
2 medium tomatoes diced

mix it all together now, and let it sit over night in the fridge for best results

I think it was a hit because everyone kept on telling me how much they loved it. Usually I am my own toughest critic, and yeah, it was damn good!

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Dogfish head 90 minute IPA

I've been craving 90 minute IPA for a while now, and finally found some at the packy so it was a quick shopping trip. Dogfish head 90 minute IPA is an imperial IPA with around 9% abv. I feel that dogfish head IPAs my standard for IPAs. When I sample an IPA I think how it stacks up to DFH 60 minute, and when it comes to imperial IPAs I keep in mind the 90 minute. I love IPAs. I feel that Dogfish head supplies what I am looking for in an IPA. Its a nice balance of bitter hops and a malty sweetness. I have had imperial IPAs that are just so strong that they aren't as enjoyable as they could be. I could drink 60 and 90 minute all the time. The 90 minute ran me around $10 for a 4-pack, but it was well worth it, honestly. After enjoying my Dogfish head throughout the weekend, I was reminded why I always go back to dogfish head and thought hey I really need to purchase this good stuff more often!

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Hot dogs on a hot day

My friend and I were hanging out on a hot day and wanted something simple to make but yet very satisfying. I had leftover onions and saurkraut, and I picked up some hot dogs and buns. Hot dogs are great because they are already cooked and all you need to do is heat them up quick and give them that nice grilled flavor. I don't usually do anything plain and boring and neither does my friend so the dogs were complete with onions, saurkraut, and spicy dijon mustard. mmmmm.

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Berkshire Brewing Company Hefeweizen

I always seem to miss this beer when it comes around. Finally, I saw this 22 oz bomber and had to pick it up! This beer stays true to the hefeweizen style. It was very refreshing on that hot day that I enjoyed it. Best of all, it is local! A must have if you like hefeweizen.

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5 summer seasonals to try

Here is a nice list of some summer beers I have tried in the past or for the first time this year. I find summer the most difficult to find the perfect seasonal beers. A lot of summer beers tend to be too fruity or too bland or just plain awful. Summer time is such a great time for beer so here are some suggestions to mix it up from just having only corona and lime all summer.

Sierra Nevada Summerfest- one of the best summer seasonals out there

Dogfish head festina peche- fruit beer done right

Sam adams east-west kolsch- great new beer in the summer mix pack

Otter creek Otter summer ale- better than ever this year

Gritty Mcduff's Vacationland- something new I tried this year, and enjoyed it!

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Company over....time to grill!

Well it finally stopped raining and a couple my wife and I hand out with came by to hang out. We were all hungry so I decided since the company is kinda picky that I would grill some burgers and do oven fries.

I decided to get fresh meat from the grocery store and do my handmade burgers with my added touches sure to impress guests.

I like to add steak seasoning and some worchestershire sauce to the burger meat. The burgers tend to come out extra juicy and really flavorful when I add these simple ingredients. I completed my burgers with american cheese and bbq sauce. Everyone seemed to rave about these burgers. They were damn good I have to admit. So, premium burgers served with fries, and a nice cold otter creek copper ale...its a beautiful thing!

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Local team and local brew tailgating fun

Over the weekend, I went to Foxborough,mass to watch my favorite sports team, the New England Revolution soccer team. I support local beer and my local teams so this was double action.

Ahead of time, I decided to make Italian pasta salad to go with grilled chicken marinated in Italian dressing. I don't have a specific recipe for Italian pasta salad, I throw whatever I feel like in there with a dressing, cheese, spices. This time I used penne pasta, cherry tomatoes, black olives, onion, green pepper, mushrooms, Italian 4 cheese, black pepper, italian seasoning, and a garlic cesar dressing. Mmmmmmmm it came out very good!

So I had the pasta salad ready to go with the marinating chicken. I packed a six pack of Gritty's vacationland summer ale, a new england beer brewed in Maine. I also had the leftover Sam Adams mix pack. With all this good stuff, I was excited to start tailgating, especially since this was my first real tailgating experience where I ran the show. We get to the game and park in the tailgating section. Time to start drinking the brews! I set everything up, folding chairs, cooler, grill, stereo with Ipod. We crank the tunes and get the grilling going. Gritty's vacationland was a decent summer ale by the way, nice and refreshing. So what better way to kick off the day with great beer, awesome food (grilled chicken and pasta salad came out great!) Right before the game started as we were finding our seats, I found a stand that said "New England Beer" sweet! I was hoping they would have a good beer somewhere, you gotta love New England, they have stands dedicated to local beer at their stadiums! So, I had to get Harpoon UFO white which I love during the summer. My New England Revolution winning 1 to 0, what a great day!

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Laughing Dog brewery's DogZilla Black IPA

I have had a real hard time in the past decided what my favorite style of beer is. I really love brown ales, porters, and IPAs. I would have to say if I had to pick, my favorite beer would easily be the black IPA. I love the hoppy flavor but also the dark rich roasted malts and chocolate flavors. Together, they make quite an amazing beer. So, how does the dogzilla black IPA stack up to the rest?

This beer pours nice and dark as it should be with a nice thick head. You can taste some very strong grassy and citrus hops. Lots of hop bitterness here. You can also taste the roasted malts and chocolate notes. I feel this beer is a slightly above average black IPA. My problem here is the balance and consistancy are off. The flavors don't flow as well as they could. You get a lot of bitter hop especially in the finish but not a lot to blend or counteract which is important in any IPA. You don't want a big hoppy sloppy mess! I did enjoy this beer, and would get it again. It came in a 22 oz bomber for a very reasonable price. This is my first laughing dog brew I've tried so I am interested in trying more from them.

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New and Improved Sam Adams Summer Sampler

The old summer sampler contained the blackberry witbier and the coastal wheat. These beers were decent, but really the weak points of the sampler, and I am glad to see they decided to replace them. The new sampler that I tried over the weekend contains 2 brand new beers: East-West kolsch and the Rustic Saison, a sure improvement.

East-West Kolsch- Sam Adams did a fine job at making a kolsch style beer which is a great summer beer to begin with. Malty-sweet with notes of grains, slight fruity, floral hop slight bitter finish. Very drinkable, crisp, light, great refreshing summer beer.

Rustic Saison- I am a huge fan of the saison style and was a little disapointed with this version of a saison. However, when you look at the beer as a summer beer, it gets the job done. Bread flavor, fruity, tart, honey notes, floral and herbal notes. Flavorful and goes down easy.

Summer ale- This beer used to be one of my favorites, but the recipe seemed to change. A problem with a lot of summer ales is they don't have enough flavor. The flavor is here in this beer, but the flavors dont flow as well as they could, and there is always this funny taste with this particular beer. Lemon zest, spices, light, mellow wheat, and a slight strange sour aftertaste that I dont care for. Still a decent summer beer though.

Boston Lager- always a great choice to count on. Caramel sweet, floral citrus hops, toasty balanced malts, slight hop finish. One of those beers that are always good all year round and just simply delicious in all aspects.

Light lager- this has to be the best light beer out there. It is light but slightly sweet, malty, slight bitter. A lot of flavor for a light beer and perfectly refreshing for a hot day.

Lattitude 48 IPA- when I first tried this beer, I felt that it barely even tasted like an IPA. The formula has changed here. The beer is a lot more hoppy than I remember. The bitterness of the beer is well balanced by biscuit and caramel malts. IPAs are great for summer, but only if they are well balanced as we see here.

I recommend picking up this sampler as soon as you can!

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Grilled Kielbasa Sandwiches

I love grilled kielbasa and I love reubens. I decided to use kielbasa patties and make reuben inspired sandwiches. I love the combination of flavors here. You can pick up kielbasa patties right near where they sell regular kielbasa at your grocery store.

I had the ingredients to make these sandwiches and I had a friend coming over to watch new england revolution mls soccer, so thought it would be a great way to impress a guest.

I started out by cooking up some onions until soft and golden brown.

Then I added saurkraut and cooked the mixture until almost all of the extra liquid was gone.

In a different pan, I toasted hamburger buns in butter.

I started grilling the kielbasa patties and cooked them until each side was crispy.

Once the kielbasa patties were done, I turned off the grill and let the swiss cheese melt while keeping them warm.

I put the patties on the buns, piled on the saurkraut onion mixture and on goes the thousand island dressing!

Had some leftover sweet potato fries. My buddy was very impressed and I was proud of my creation. This is definitely something I would take tailgating. Beer, soccer, and some great food!

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Grilled Steak with smoked porter marinade!

I am still new to actually using beer as an ingredient in a recipe, I have only tried it a few times. A good rule to follow is always choose a beer to cook with that you like to drink! I love Stone brewery's smoked porter and I thought the flavors would be perfect for steaks on the grill.

I used fresh cut round steaks from the grocery store. For the marinade I used a little over half the 22oz bomber of Smoked porter. I added 1-2 tbsp of worchestershire sauce, 1-2 tbsp ketchup, tbsp of lemon juice, tsp garlic powder. Before adding the steaks to the marinade I rubbed each side of the steak thoroughly with steak seasoning.

I decided to cut up some sweet potatos and spray with olive oil and coat with salt, pepper, and paprika. Baked them in the oven at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

After grilling both sides of the steaks til the steaks we medium well with some pink, I couldnt wait to try! Mmmmmm the steaks came out so juicy and flavorful. The beer gave it a rich, smokey, slightly buttery flavor. Then topped it off with the sweet potato fries! Mmmm

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Spontaneous Grilling

Sometimes I forget to check the weather and I get a surprise when I realize how beautiful it is outside. My first thought was..."It is way too nice out not to grill" First thing that came to mind was barbecue chicken. I ran to the store and bought some chicken drumsticks, kansas style bbq sauce with molasses, and premade coleslaw and potato salad (yeah felt too lazy to make my own).

I get home and immediately put the chicken in a plastic tub with a lid. I dump half the bottle and I can just smell the smokey bbq sauce mmmm. I put the lid on and shake the chicken to coat every piece with the sauce. Time to fire up the grill. Once the grill is nice and hot I throw the chicken on and splash more sauce on the top side with my heat resistant bbq brush. I don't ever time my grilling, I have an eye for it. When it was time to flip over, I flipped each piece and splashed some more bbq sauce on. We ate the chicken once I knew it was done. The chicken came out so nice and juicy. What a great meal. Now I just need weather like this more often.

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Dogfish head Chateau Jiahu

I've said it before, but Dogfish is easily my favorite brewer. One of the big reasons is how creative and experimental they are. I love how they take ancient recipes and adapt them to today. You get a lesson in history and culture while enjoying a great brew.

Dogfish head Chateau Jiahu is a brew inspired by a chinese beverage brew 9000 years ago. Wildflower honey, chrysanthamum flowers, rice + barley malt, and mascat grapes make up this very unique and interesting brew.

Very smooth and drinkable especially for having 10% abv. You can taste spices, grapes, honey, floral and very slight citrus peel type notes, very pungent, slight maltiness, with a nice smooth sweet finish that really hides the alcohol content. Very drinkable and enjoyable for anytime but especially a special occasion (just got married, perfect). 4/5. A must try!

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Beer Battle Face-off : Pilsner Urquell vs. Aportel Brau

The battle of the pilsners.

I am really not a huge fan of pilsners, some are good but most are mediocre. So I thought I would do a beer battle with 2 imported pilsners Ive never heard of. I tend to stay away from pilsners because when I think of pilsners I think of popular cheap beers from around the world such as budweiser, becks, Heineken, etc, yeah not my style. So I was interested to see where this beer face off would end up.

Pilsner Urquell is a beer from Czech Republic. This beer had a slight skunky aroma and flavor. Very light hops, slight sour, kind of watery drinkable, but very plain.

Aportel Brau Pilsner is a beer from Germany. This beer has very slight hop notes mostly malt taste but a little watery, smooth and drinkable but very little flavor.

I made this one kinda short and sweet because I really didn't care too much for either beer. I gave both a 2/5. It was a close one but I would like to say the Aportel Brau was better. Both didn't have what I was looking for but the Pilsner Urquell was a bit skunky and just reminded me too much of a typical cheap pilsner.

Next time I am going to do an IPA or summer ale, make it a bit more interesting.

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Pastrami on Wry

I didn't spell wry wrong, its the owners name, Corey Wry, who is behind all the wonderful creations at this local sandwich shop. It is one of those places where you look at the menu and everything sounds so ridiculously good that it seems almost impossible to decide. I went with a classic favorite of mine, the cuban sandwich. Their cuban consists of black forest ham, roasted pork, genoa salami, swiss cheese, pickle and spicy mustard on a pressed buttery hoagie roll. Pastrami on wry has classic deli sides like coleslaw, potato salad, mac salad, etc or fries for additional charge. I had slaw and mac salad on the side with a hosmer moutain soda (local soda company). What a great sandwich and sides! And the prices are the same as any fast fast food joint. I have a feeling I will be back soon to try some of those sandwiches I was checking out on the menu.

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Italiano Delicioso

I recently eloped and my wife and I went to olive garden to celebrate (were simple people) yes olive garden is chain Italian and a lot of people diss it, but I know when I want simple, reliable Italian food, we always find ourselves pleased there. I always enjoy my meals and the service so why not go and enjoy it? May not compare to fancy overpriced mom and pops, but it always hits the spot! I tend to not be able to resist the specials that they advertise. I must go out and try it for myself! This time they had four cheese pastachettis with grilled sausage or chicken. I went with the sausage. What the hell is a pastachetti? I was wondering the same thing...it is four cheese pasta lasagna squares that have no tomato sauce and are parmesan crusted (mmmmmmmm). I loved the crunchy texture of the parmesan crust, and they four cheeses were amazing. Right beside these bad boys were grilled sausage in a sun dried tomato alfredo (love sun dried tomatos). So damn good I have to admit. Top it off with a glass of the reserve classico cianti (ciantis are my favorite). It was one of those meals where the whole I'm like "mmmmm ahhhhh sooooo good!" Ready to pass out with satisfaction. So yeah Olive Garden is a chain, its not the best Italian food in the world, but they sure have some brilliant dishes that I can't help but enjoy!

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