The Next Beer Dinner

I promised you guys this post on Friday, and due to a lack-luster internet connection, I could not successfully get this posted until today. 

Spring weather has finally arrived in Wisconsin - woot woot! I could not be happier to be able to sit out on a patio, take in the smells of the food cooking on the grill and sipping a new beer or two.

Pick 'n Save has a mix-n-match 6-pack area in most of the beer coolers or beer aisles. I highly recommend you take advantage of this to try some great new beers this summer. Recent new beers that I have tried are as follows:

ShockTop Honey Crisp - pretty sweet, but with a nice crisp flavor
(UPDATE) Mike's Smashed Apple Cider - rather sweet, but refreshing. There is a dry cider version that I want to try as well. (Thanks to Mike's on Twitter @mhl for helping me figure out what I drank last week!)

I paired these with Italian seasoned chicken kabobs, Cheddar Potato Chips and Cucumber Salsa. That's what my friends and I made that night, so it wasn't something that was thought out and made to pair like Brooke does at Bernie's.

Speaking of.....  

Bernie's Tap Room has announced their Memorial Day themed Beer Dinner and I would like for you to join me at this great experience. Here is the menu and it's drool-worthy. When are they going to come out with those scratch and sniff computers???

Here is the email:

The unofficial start to summer, Memorial Day weekend, is right around the corner. Summer is the perfect time to enjoy a nice refreshing beer and some great food, and Bernie's wants to help you get the summer off to a great start. We will be hosting our Summer Kick-Off Beer Dinner on Tuesday May 28th. We have selected five of our best selling beers for this dinner, Lakefront Wisconsinite, Alaskan Amber, Big Eddy Imperial IPA, 3 Floyd's Alpha King and Ale Asylum Bedlum. Brooke, as usual has planned some wonderful culinary treats to be paired with each beer, please see the attached menu.

This is sure to be a memorable dinner and a great event. It will also be the last chance many of us will be able to enjoy and share beer knowledge with Alex Berns. Alex is leaving Bernie's for an opportunity in Chicago. We are very excited for him and I know he would be thrilled if his last Beer Dinner with Bernie's was a packed house. So if you can make it please give us a call to make a reservation. If you can't, be sure to stop in and say bye to Alex by the 28th.

For my 200th post, I asked readers to submit their favorite beer pairings to me to be entered to win a free beer dinner from Bernie's. I used Random Number Generator to pick the winner.

Congratulations Tarisa! Hope to see you at a beer dinner soon. :)

Move-It Monday: 1 Year of Running

Saturday marked my the one year anniversary of my first 5k race. To celebrate this occasion, I ran the same race, the Sole Burner 2013 in Appleton with my cousin and her husband and her father-in-law. Her mother-in-law and sister walked the route with the kiddos.

Unfortunately the weather wasn't like 2012 and we woke up to chilly temps and overcast skies. 2012 started cooler, but warmed up with beautiful, sunny skies by the time we started running. Our 2012 times were: Trisha ran a 26, Steve ran a 27 Perry ran a 39 and I ran a 40:04.

2012 Sole Burner

We registered the day-of this year because we were questioning the weather. Unfortunately they were out of t-shirts by the time we got in the tent. A little bit of a bummer as it was my one-year, but that's what I get for registering late!

The overall mood of the pre-run area was a little calmer than the previous year as we were all trying to just stay warm before the race.

We wandered up to the front just in time for them to blow the horn and we started off. It was less congested of a start this year which was nice, but my Pandora app decided to not work at that moment and I was so pumped to run to the Eminem station. I just turned on my run iTunes playlist instead and zoned out to Dave Matthews, Alex Clare and P!nk.

2013 Sole Burner

I could tell I was going a bit quick at the start, but I was feeling great. I knew the route and pretty much what to expect because it was the same course. I remembered the year prior when I needed to slow down and catch my breath, and I made sure to power through those spots this year.

About a half mile into the course, I started feeling ran droplets on me. I figured it was just a little storm and didn't worry about it. When we turned to head to College Ave. just after the 1 mile marker, the wind came gusting up behind us and flipped over barricades used blocking side streets. I realized I couldn't be so zoned out and had to watch for things flying around. But the wind at my back was great. (No one was hurt by anything flying.)

We turned onto College Ave. and the gusting winds were pushing against us then. Hats flew off and it was like a wind tunnel. I couldn't wait to get up the hill on College and turn again.

I remembered the big downhill and huge uphill in the last mile and took advantage of the water station to rinse my mouth and prepare. I was still feeling amazing despite the wind and rain.

I powered up the last hill the best I could and it was really raining at this point. Icy cold water on my face made me have to stare at my feet while running through the finish.

But I crossed that finish with a smile on my face as I knew I beat last year's time. It was really raining and I headed right for the tent that we were meeting at. I grabbed a water and caught my breath. Look at that red face representing my red faced runners (#RFR5k)

We waited in the tent for the others to meet up with us. It was too miserable for them to walk the whole 5k with the kiddos, so they cut back and joined us in the tent after a mile. We ran to the car and headed straight to Starbucks to warm up. When we got in the car, it started to sleet and we could hear the ice hitting the car.  Seriously, it's May - where is our warm weather? (It's also Wisconsin so we have 4 seasons each week sometimes!)

A skinny chai tea latte was exactly what I needed. The drive-thru Barista said Starbucks was the place to be after the race and we thanked her for her hard work and yummy beverages.

From inside the tent

We got back to the house and while waiting for official results to be posted, I took a really warm shower.

Results were posted a few hours later and we found out Trisha ran a 25 Steve was 28, Perry was 40 and I was......

Listed as an Other Participant :(

My chip timer didn't read for some unknown reason: rain, a wrinkle or bad read across the finish are a few reasons listed on the website. Luckily I was using my MapMyRun app and I know that I ran 3.4 miles in 38:14. I beat Perry and I beat last year's time!!!!!!!!!!

I took some turns wide so that is why I would have done a longer route than what was marked. Check out my splits below! My first mile is the fastest I have ever run by over a minute!!! Hello adrenaline. I am so happy with my time and can't wait to run another race soon!

Wauk Wednesday: 200th Style

It's my 200th post!

I cannot believe that I have written so many posts. What started as something I did maybe twice a month has become something I really love and do twice or more a week. I love sharing my experiences with you and I love the feedback that I have received from my readers.

I have attended Online Blogger Conventions and even attended one in Salt Lake City to help me boost my blog. I have made some great friends all over the US because of my blog and I have learned from fellow bloggers what to do and what not to do. And my local foodie blogger friends are really what helped me get the courage to keep at it and see where my blog would take me.

One of the things that I am really striving for is sticking to a schedule and focusing on my community. And how do I do that? With my stomach of course. If you haven't noticed, I love to cook and eat :)

I have featured a lot of area establishments on my blog and a lot of it focuses around my love of craft beer.

If you search my blog for Waukesha or Beer, you will notice a lot of posts relate to those and most recently, I have attended many beer dinners at Bernie's Tap Room. These are wonderfully run events that pair craft beer with craft food by their amazing chef.

I even attended a KBS tasting at Bernie's last week Monday. The tap room was lucky enough to score a barrel of Founder's Kentucky Bourbon Stout (KBS) and offered it up to the public to come in and try it.

My friends and I stopped in before a get-together to try this rare beer. It was $10 a glass and has an alcohol content of 11.5%. A pint would have put me on my butt! But the smaller sample was delicious. You could taste the alcohol in it, but it wasn't overpowering. The beer is a great conversational beer that you can relax and chit-chat and Bernie's is a great place to do that.

And now for the moment we have all been waiting for.....ok well I have been thrilled since I found out about this. One lucky (local) reader is going to be able to experience a Bernie's Tap Room beer dinner for free thanks to the generosity of my friends at the Tap Room. There will be a beer dinner coming up later this month and one at the end of June. You must live in the area to be eligible to win as we cannot ship one of these meals - you have to experience it first hand. 

Contest Now Closed:
To enter, just leave a comment below telling me what beer and food makes a good pairing to you. One entry per reader please. I will pick a winner at random next week Wednesday, May 15, so get your entry in before midnight on May 14. Please leave your email address if it's not linked to your profile that you comment from so I can get in touch with the winner easily.  

Thanks for coming on this blogging journey with me and I hope you continue to enjoy my posts. Yay for 200!!!!

Pin-It Tuesday: Cinco de Mayo

I'm recapping my Cinco de Mayo cookout that I had this past weekend with a few friends. Finally I had great weather for a party at my house. In October for my birthday, it was 35 degrees and we couldn't sit close enough to the firepit. And for 4th of July, it was 105 and we were all melting.

Sunday was a beautiful, light-breezy 70 degree Wisconsin Spring day. My friend Tiffany brought over her bean bag games and we were ready to have some fun.

I, of course, followed a Mexican theme with the food and marinated chicken for Tequila lime kabobs. I apologize for the lack of photos of the food, but I was rushing around and didn't want to contaminate my phone. But here is the recipe.

I bought 5 lbs of frozen chicken breasts and chopped them into 1 - 2 inch cubes (for skewers). I then started guestimating my ingredients to marinade it. I never follow quantities for a marinade and just do what I think is right.

Tequila
Lime juice
Purple Onion pieces
Sprite
Cumin
Adobo Spice (from Penzey's)
Onion powder
Rice Wine Vinegar

After it marinated for close to 12 hours, I skewered up the chicken putting 4-5 pieces per kabob stick (skewers soaked in water for hours to prevent burning). Then I heated up some of the extra marinade to then brush over the kabobs on the grill.

I had about 20 kabobs to navigate on the grill and unfortunately a few were a little dry, but with only 2 kabobs left, there weren't many complaints.

We also made veggie kabobs that I sprinkled with a little Mural of Flavor (from Penzey's). Those were a huge hit.

But what was even a bigger hit was the cucumber salsa that I found on Facebook first and then Pinterest, which led me to this blog and the recipe. I made about 1.5 times the recipe and here are my alterations. I used dried parsley as I forgot to buy fresh, Greek yogurt in place of sour cream and diced chilis instead of a jalepeno. It was fun to make and it was gone fast at the party.

And then the fun part - cervezaritas (beer margaritas). I have had this recipe pinned on Pinterest for a long time and decided to have a little fun with it and make some different flavored cervezaritas.  Unfortunately the original website is now spam that my pin goes too, but the recipe is written right on the picture :)

I made Pear and Mango cervezaritas. The water and 7Up are replaced with a 12 oz can of Pear Nectar or Mango Nectar. I found these at the local Mexican grocery store in Waukesha called Panos. They had a lot of flavors but I just tried those two. I will definitely be making these more often. They are very refreshing and will be great for summer and so easy to make. I didn't even use the limeade for the second batch. 

Other treats at the party included, taco dip, cheesy black bean dip, spicy Mexican rice, guacamole and tortilla chips, Ruffle chips and french onion dip, fresh fruit, cheese and sausage, oreo gooey balls and brownies with ice cream!

Of course, because it is Wisconsin, we all overdosed on the sun and got a little burnt. But then we had a fire to help keep us warm into the night. I hear we are in for a wicked summer of mosquitoes and such so we have to enjoy it while we can! 

Chef Spotlight: Bernie's Tap Room

Bernie's Tap Room is an excellent addition to downtown Waukesha and I'm so glad I took a chance on the place. My first time in was right after they opened for a beer or two with some friends. The walls were bare, but the exposed stone and wood on the west wall behind the bar was just rustically beautiful. My friends tried some food that night and I was super impressed with the beer list.

Week 1 of being open - love the exposed stone

Bare walls on opening week are now painted warm hues

During the Waukesha Christmas Parade was when my friends and I decided to sit in Bernie's and enjoy some drinks during the parade. Because Bernie's is up off the street, we could see over everyone to the parade and enjoy the duck flatbread and some beers.

beer dinner chop salad

 When I started attending the beer dinners and immediately was hooked. I have attended four in total and if they continue to have the dinners, I will continue to attend. It is definitely something that my friends hear me talk about often. The pairings are just crazy good and at the second last dinner, I sat with the chef's boyfriend. After the meal, she came out to thank us for coming and then sat down at our table. I told her that I write my little blog asked if I could pick her brain about her skills to share with others via the blog. She was delighted so I threw her some questions and here it is:

Brooke

Brooke attended the culinary program through Clark College in Vancouver, Washington. Through this program she met some amazingly talented people and great friends. Although she didn't cook except for special times as a child, she admired those with the skills from the table.

She moved to Wisconsin not too long ago with a long-time friend and worked for a corporate hotel kitchen where the food was very cookie-cutter. She wanted to get outside of the box and use her skills to create her own style, which led her to Bernie's.

Because Bernie's is a place that serves a great selection of craft beers, the beer dinners were a perfect fit to introduce customers to the art of pairing and enjoying how an entree brings out different flavors of the beer. Brooke's goal is to create "craft food" to go along with all the craft beers and not just have a menu like all the other places in town. (She is doing an awesome job at this!)

Strawberry Marscapone Tart from a beer dinner

The beer dinners allow Brooke to really pull at her creative strings and she is free to create the entire menu. She thinks about seasonal and holiday ingredients when starting the menu. I wonder if she will grab items from the upcoming Farmer's Markets to use on the menu - I love local food!

Beef Stew from a beer dinner

Brooke works hard at home to perfect the menu well in advance of the beer dinner. She makes her KitchenAide mixer and two burner stove work overtime to get things just right. I guess I should stop being picky when looking at apartments that they don't have a full size stove, huh? If a chef can work on two burners, I should be able to manage with a mini stove, right? Hmmm...

Brooke considers her style of cooking to be "freestyle." She can make anything that is in a cupboard or refrigerator into something unique and awesome, thanks to her culinary education.

Brooke would like to thank everyone that has supported Bernie's in their first half year of being open and invites anyone that hasn't stopped out yet to give it a try :)

I personally recommend the Duck Flatbread and the Garlic Chicken Flatbread. I took those to a get-together and they were huge hits. And they stayed plenty warm on the 20 minute ride there, so I know I can order after work and bring it home for my family to try as well!

#MinimizeInMay - My Goals

May is here and Wisconsin is finally starting to reflect April with the temperatures. Hopefully May weather will show up soon and stay :) 

I have decided that May is going to be a month of reduction of many things in my life. And thus the launch of #MinimizeInMay. All month long, I will be blogging about things that I am doing to minimize different aspects of my life. I invite you to join my efforts this month and minimize something in your life that needs it. You will be surprised what a difference one month can make :)

1) Minimize Spending - I have plenty of clothes that I bought in the past years (and even months) so I don't need anything new for a spring wardrobe. Hopefully I can make it the whole month without a single splurge. I know I will be tempted, but if I just cut down a few pounds, I will so much more to wear in my current wardrobe. And thanks to Pinterest, I have learned to pair elements of my wardrobe that I wouldn't have before. 

2) Minimize My Waist - I really need to get some of this pesky weight off that seems to have decided to make permanent residence on me. With the change in the weather, I hope to get out on my bike, my feet and maybe even my rollerblades and get in a lot more fitness. I still have classes remaining on my punch card for EnergizeZone, and because I already paid for it, I can go for "free" in May. 

3) Minimize My Junk Food - With not spending much this month, I will only be able to eat what I have available and not impulse buy lunch/dinner at the grocery store or make trips over to Walgreens for snacks during the day. I have already started this plan this week with bringing peasant lunches or leftovers.

Homemade gnocchi marsala - recipe posted soon!

Peasant lunch - berries, carrots w/ hummus, cheese, crackers, tea

4) Minimize My Clutter - I have obtained quite a few things in the past few years and it's time to purge. I am planning to have a rummage sale mid-month to unload these things from my life. The rummage will consist of clothes, candle holders, books, CDs, knickknacks and whatever else my parents feel they want to part with between now and mid-May. I know that this will give me less to move when I do that as well as free up some space at my parents house for them :)

Another level of clutter is my personal email Inbox - There are soooo many old emails in there that I need to file or delete and I hope to get a solid handle on that. Who needs 5,000 emails just sitting in their inbox? This girl doesn't anymore. And with this, I will hopefully remove my name from some email lists and cancel accounts for companies that I don't need to be a part of anymore and not be tempted about "sales" and events. 

So True!

5) Minimize My TV Addiction - In the last month, I really got addicted to TV and I can't even say it was for new shows. Big Bang Theory being on for three straight hours every evening isn't a necessity in life. Sure I will still DVR my shows and catch up on them when I can, but I hope to have the TV off and my eyes in a book or be outside more. The weather has changed, I can blog, read, write and have fun instead of glue myself to a TV. 

LOVE THIS SHOW!!!

6) Minimize My Carbon Footprint - I drive to work and can't get around that, but I don't need to drive around on my lunch "just cuz." I should go for a walk on my lunch and after work, I should bike if feasible. Unfortunately, I do live too far from my friends to practically ride my bike to them for a night, but I will carpool when I can and try to use less gas. 

By doing all these things, I am hoping to maximize my savings and my overall happiness by living a cleaner lifestyle all around. I'm sure things will come up and I'm not going to become a hermit for May, but I just have to start working on readjusting my goals and it takes consistent effort to make anything happen. Wish me luck - Here's to #MinimizeInMay

Wauk Wednesday: Bernie's Tap Room Beer Dinner #4

Last month, I attended another beer dinner at Bernie's that features 3 Floyd's Brewery. I had tried a few of these prior to dinner, but never paired with food. I usually sipped them at The Nice Ash while enjoying a Hookah and a band with friends.

But Brooke worked her magic again and produced a fabulous five-course dinner for everyone. I contacted Brooke and picked her brain about these wonderful meals because if you haven't been able to tell by this , this and this and the post you are about to read, she is a culinary wizard and I'm so happy she made her home in the Waukesha area and found Bernie's. More on her tomorrow on the blog :)


Course 1 - French Onion Crostini paired with Robert the Bruce Scottish Ale (7.0% ABV). The gruyere cheese was perfectly creamy and melty and the onions were carmelized to bring out their sweetness. The beer is a malt-lovers delight!

Course 2 - Soba Noodle Salad paired with Gumballhead American Wheat Ale (5.6% ABV). I don't know why, but I was expecting this to be warm and having it be chilled was a new taste to me. It tasted like a cold peanut satay dish - not bad, just different. I love asian peanut dishes and cold noodles was new to me :)  Not to mention the Gumballhead is one of my friends' and my favorite beers and it paired nicely with this salad. 

Course 3 - Pepper Crusted Flank Steak paired with Pride & Joy (5.0% ABV). My friends and I have an inside joke about flank steak and how heavenly my former boss' wife cooked it for a get-together so I knew I would love this entree. The steak was perfectly cooked and melted in my mouth. The vinaigrette was like a ceasar dressing with truffle oil, thus inducing a mouth-wateringly amazing flavor for my buds :) The Pride and Joy was one of 3 Floyd's I had never had before and it was refreshing with the steak. 

Course 4 - Thai Chili Fire Braised Ribs paired with Alpha King American Pale Ale (6.66% ABV). I was a little worried with the words Thai Chili as my buds aren't fans of spicy things, but these were perfectly seasoned and came almost right off the bone. Ribs over rice was new to me, but brought the meal into the Asian cuisine to me. 

Course 5 - Strawberry marscapone tart paired with Behemoth Sweet Barley Wine (10.5% ABV!). The tart was crunchy with a light layer of creamy marscapone and beautiful strawberries. Nice and refreshing at the end of the meal. The dessert pulled out the sweet notes of  caramel in the barley wine and again a great pairing.

These beer dinners have really taken off for Bernie's Tap Room and if you want to stay in the loop on all things happening at Bernie's - like specialty beer tastings, dinners and new menu items, send an email to berniestaproom @ att (dot) net to get on the list. 

I'll have my brain-pick with Brooke from Bernie's on the blog tomorrow and Waukesha has a huge weekend coming up for downtown - Cancer Walk, Farmer's Market, Art Crawl and more. Come to downtown, take a stroll, enjoy a bite or a drink and check out all that downtown has to offer.