Does anyone else effing LOVE mac & cheese with hotdogs?!
OM NOM.
After a post about some really marvelous food, I leave you with this:
PURE. GENIUS.
That is all.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Wasatch Brewery + MacCools = LOVE
For Valentine's Day, Me & Manny, Erica & Brad and Matt & Breanne went to MacCool's Wasatch Brewery dinner. It was five courses of deliciousness, something I hope we'll do again someday.
Not only was everything good, but what made it cool was having the chef and Wasatch Brewery's Brew Master there to talk about everything on the menu. Getting to ask them specific questions was really neat.
I apologize for the crappy photos, they don't at all do the food justice :/
Soup Course: Acorn Squash Soup
Oven roasted acorn squash soup; highlighted with hints of fresh Jalapeno and sweet potato flavors. Paired with a Brew Master Matt Beamer's Wasatch Jalapeno Ale.
Review: I could eat this soup everyday, and I'm not a soup person. It had the perfect amount of heat and flavor and was delightful mixed with the cilantro whipped cream. The beer, amazing. If you've never had a spicy beer, I highly recommend trying one.
Intermezzo One: Pretzel Fingers
A baked Bavarian style soft pretzel with Utah's own Bee Hive Cheese Co. apple smoked cheddar created into a dip. Paired with MacCool's Black & Tan.
Review: EFFING AMAZING. Pretzelmaker can suck it. I don't know if I can ever eat a normal pretzel again. This dinner is ruining me.
Entree Course:Kurobata Pork
Snake River Farms roasted pork with an apricot sauce drizzled with pomegranate reduction; herbed red mashers and tri-colored carrots. Paired with a Hop Bandit Cask Ale.
Review: Everything was incredible. I'm not typically a pork fan, but this was really great. The biggest surprise was the beer. Oh muh lord. I can't even describe how good it was. The biggest let-down was also the beer. They hiked around park city picking fresh hops to use. Usually hops are dried and used in beer. The fresh hops and the wood cask method used made this beer incredible. Using only fresh hops means that this beer is only made once a year :/
Intermezzo Two: Bananas Foster
A baked goat cheese mousse with citrus flavors and a banana essence. Paired with Wasatch Hefeweizen.
Review: Everyone knows how I feel about goat cheese. I could marry it. I was pretty excited to try this, but the sweetness of the bananas was overwhelming. I only ate half... but if no one had been watching, I totally would have dissected it and licked all the goat cheese off the rest of the bananas.
Dessert Course: The Devastator Cake
A moist, rich double bock cake topped with vanilla toffee ice cream and a Devastator malt caramel sauce. Paired with Wasatch Devastator Double Bock.
Review: The cake was good, the ice cream was awesome (also made locally, apparently by a woman that uses the PTO on a John Deere tractor to churn it)
We got to talk to the chef, which was very interesting to pick his brain and listen to how he came up with the recipes for the pairings, and exactly how much beer (4 per 9x13 pan!) he used in the cake.
Not only was everything good, but what made it cool was having the chef and Wasatch Brewery's Brew Master there to talk about everything on the menu. Getting to ask them specific questions was really neat.
I apologize for the crappy photos, they don't at all do the food justice :/
Soup Course: Acorn Squash Soup
Oven roasted acorn squash soup; highlighted with hints of fresh Jalapeno and sweet potato flavors. Paired with a Brew Master Matt Beamer's Wasatch Jalapeno Ale.
Review: I could eat this soup everyday, and I'm not a soup person. It had the perfect amount of heat and flavor and was delightful mixed with the cilantro whipped cream. The beer, amazing. If you've never had a spicy beer, I highly recommend trying one.
Intermezzo One: Pretzel Fingers
A baked Bavarian style soft pretzel with Utah's own Bee Hive Cheese Co. apple smoked cheddar created into a dip. Paired with MacCool's Black & Tan.
Review: EFFING AMAZING. Pretzelmaker can suck it. I don't know if I can ever eat a normal pretzel again. This dinner is ruining me.
Entree Course:Kurobata Pork
Snake River Farms roasted pork with an apricot sauce drizzled with pomegranate reduction; herbed red mashers and tri-colored carrots. Paired with a Hop Bandit Cask Ale.
Review: Everything was incredible. I'm not typically a pork fan, but this was really great. The biggest surprise was the beer. Oh muh lord. I can't even describe how good it was. The biggest let-down was also the beer. They hiked around park city picking fresh hops to use. Usually hops are dried and used in beer. The fresh hops and the wood cask method used made this beer incredible. Using only fresh hops means that this beer is only made once a year :/
Intermezzo Two: Bananas Foster
A baked goat cheese mousse with citrus flavors and a banana essence. Paired with Wasatch Hefeweizen.
Review: Everyone knows how I feel about goat cheese. I could marry it. I was pretty excited to try this, but the sweetness of the bananas was overwhelming. I only ate half... but if no one had been watching, I totally would have dissected it and licked all the goat cheese off the rest of the bananas.
Dessert Course: The Devastator Cake
A moist, rich double bock cake topped with vanilla toffee ice cream and a Devastator malt caramel sauce. Paired with Wasatch Devastator Double Bock.
Review: The cake was good, the ice cream was awesome (also made locally, apparently by a woman that uses the PTO on a John Deere tractor to churn it)
We got to talk to the chef, which was very interesting to pick his brain and listen to how he came up with the recipes for the pairings, and exactly how much beer (4 per 9x13 pan!) he used in the cake.
Las Vegas :)
This year for Christmas, James & I bought our boyfriends each a plane ticket to Las Vegas. It was horrid keeping it a secret for so long because it was so exciting! Guy had never been, so it was fun showing him all the craziness that is Vegas.
After we landed and got checked in to our room, we headed down to Freemont Street. I hadn't been there in like 10 years, so it was something I wanted on the list of must-dos.
Freemont St. is the "original" Vegas. There's still a bunch of old casinos and they've blocked the street off so you can just wander along checking out the pretty lights. And the hobos.
Hello, 99¢ Margaritas :)
There's a canopy the length of five football fields
that has a light show every hour at night. Pretty neat.
Manny's friend Ryan that lives in Vegas drug us to this creepy dark hole-in-the-wall bar called The Griffin. I fully expected to be bitten by a vampire or sacrificed, but we made it out alive. Juuuust kidding mom... I felt totally safe.....
Note to self: No more visiting Freemont St. at 2am.
We happened to be there for Chinese New Year, so all the casinos were decorated accordingly. These were taken in the atrium at the Bellagio.
It's the Year of the Rabbit, Manny's year!
We had to make sure we saw the fountains at the Bellagio. We usually don't do such touristy things, but Guy needed to be educated on the Vegas basics.
We took the boys to VooDoo on top of the Rio. It has a pretty spectacular view of the strip and the entire valley. Of course, the mandatory Witch Doctor made an appearance :)
Of course, there had to be an obligatory Youngs-posing-as-something-else photo. This is the Jelly Belly statue of liberty at the MGM Grand. And her imposters, of course.
After a couple days of crazy busyness, we chilled for a mellow night eating all-you-can-eat sushi and watching the 80's rock cover band "Yellow Brick Road". We also found $7 24oz. Bud Lights. Which is why we were drinking them. Everything else was like, a billion dollars. A BILLION.
Me and Manny spent the last day wandering around the outlet mall. Ok, I was shopping, Manny was mostly people watching. We were both worn out.
There WAS a pretty cool little Chinese New Year parade happening throughout the mall though.
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