Stinson Liquor Store

Last night we continued our quest for free beer tastings.  We started off at Flat Earth to try the chili porter and then we made our way to the Stinson Liquor Store on Stinson and 18th in NE. With the holidays coming up, free samples can be really helpful in determining what to serve to the family or what to give for gifts.  But let's face it, we just wanted to do a beer-tasting last night.  Stinson hosts a free beer tasting every Tuesday from 4-7 and a wine tasting every Friday from 4-7.  Big Wood Brewery was featured last night so we got to try three of their beers.  It's always fun chatting with the host.  He told us all about the other beers on tap at Big Wood in White Bear Lake.  That is one brewery we have not been to yet, but after chatting with him, I've added it to my list.  The pours were generous, and afterwards, we got to wander around the store to look for something to go with supper.  They have a fantastic assortment of all kinds of alcohol to choose from.  We found a ton of hard ciders we hadn't seen in other stores, so we bought a nice assortment.   

Flat Earth Brewing

November is porter month at Flat Earth Brewing which is located in St. Paul! I love this style of dark, sweet beer, and Flat Earth always delivers on some creative infusions.  By far their best porter is the Grand Designs S'mores Porter.  They actually featured this at the State Fair this year and served it with a graham cracker rim and floating marshmallow.  That was the first release during porter month.  The second release (this week) is a hazelnut porter.  I went in last night to try it and really liked it.  I also got a sneak peek at next week's release - a chili porter!!  They weren't sampling it yet so I'll have to go back next week.  You can check out their website to find out what porter is being released.  Be sure to make it in that week though, they usually sell out!!  They've also done some fruity infusions in the past - cherry cheesecake, raspberry, and orange spice.

One of the coolest things about this brewery is that they offer free samples - as many as you want.  It's the only brewery I'm aware of that does this.  I actually don't even think they have pints available for sale in their tasting room.  They rely on growler and bomber sales in their tasting room and in liquor stores to support the business.  They have about 15 beers to choose from as well as ginger beer and root beer.  They are quite friendly and happy to let you try all of their beers.  And the samples are quite generous - about 3 oz each. 

Yard House

My sister and I decided to meet up and finally see the movie Gone Girl.  We were amazed to find out that it was still in a few theaters.  The theater we chose was the one in St. Louis Park at the shops at West End.  I had never been to this area before.  I didn't realize it was so close to Minneapolis!  Before the movie, we grabbed dinner.

There are a bunch of good restaurants to choose from in the area, and we decided on the newly opened Yard House.  Here are the things I liked about it:

• They have a bunch of happy hour deals on appetizers, pizza, and drinks
• They have amazing brussels sprouts.  Best appetizer.
• Their menu identifies entrees that are under 600 calories.  I chose the cilantro lime grilled shrimp which was served with spicy hummus, rice, and veggies.  It was fantastic.
• We had fantastic service and they did a good job getting us in and out so we could get to the movie on time
• THEY HAVE OVER 100 BEERS ON TAP.  How do you choose?  Carefully.  To help you out, the beer list is organized by type of beer.  I knew I wanted a porter so I went right to that section and decided on the Breckenridge Nitro Vanilla Porter.  Delish.  

I would definitely go back to the restaurant and I really want to go back and shop at the complex!  So many fun stores like Anthropologie and Primp.  

Woullet Bakery

Check out this beautiful fruit tart from Woullet Bakery!!  I picked it up this morning from the Grand Ave location for a party at work.  It was so much fun to admire the huge assortment of pastries, cupcakes, cakes, cookies, and breads at the bakery, but I walked out with this beauty. 

They currently have a groupon deal - $15 for $30.  Definitely a good idea since the goodies here are a bit spendy. 
http://www.groupon.com/deals/wuollet-bakery-1

Houlihans

Houlihans in Eagan tends to be lunch venue of choice when our department goes out to eat together.  They have an extensive lunch menu and all the items are quite reasonably priced.  Some of my favorite lunches have been the baked potato soup (everyone raves about this), chicken tortilla soup, ahi tuna salad, pasta bolognese, and salmon filet.  They are also quite flexible and will let you substitute rice or fries for extra veggies. 

Our team was just here a few days ago and ended up enjoying more than just lunch!  The Red Hat Society was also having luncheon at Houlihans and some of my coworkers tried to get recruited :)  I'm just waiting for them to come to work decked out head to toe in pink and lavender (since they are young'ns).

Here you go ladies, I did some shopping for you:
          

 

In addition to lunch, Houlihans also has some good happy hour specials! You can get 2 for 1 wine and beer.  They also have a few $5 cocktails and appetizers.  Probably a good way to wait out the heavy traffic after work...

North Loop Wine and Spirits - wine and beer tasting

We ended up being in Minneapolis a few times this past week so we decided to hit up one of our favorite liquor stores.  First of all, it's really fun to browse the selection of new and different beers and ciders at this store, but what actually brought us in was the beer and wine tastings.  On Tuesday, we participated in the beer tasting which is offered every Tuesday from 4-8 pm.  We got to try 6 beers that I had never even heard of before.  That's what makes it really worth it - trying something very different that I'd probably never grab off the shelf on my own.  Then on Friday, we went back for the wine tasting.  That was fun because they were featuring 6 pretentious wines that we never would have purchased and tried on our own.  The wine tastings are every Friday and Saturday from 4-8.  So there you go, you can add to your list of places to get free alcohol.  There are a few other places I know of that serve free alcohol so I'll feature more of those.

Brave New Workshop - Twerking Around the Christmas Tree

Last night we went to the Brave New Workshop comedy club and saw the preview of their new show - Twerking Around the Christmas Tree.  I had no idea what to expect with a title like that, but had faith that it would be hilarious.  The show is a compilation of skits that put a very humorous spin on Christmas/family/traditions/gift giving.   My favorite skits were definitely the Little Drummer Boy and the Twelve Days of Christmas song.  Since it was just a preview, I'm not sure which skits will be in the final show.  The preview is kind of a test run of all the skits, and they pick the most successful for the actual show.  While it is a little crude or irreverent at times, it is quite hilarious.  Maybe the perfect way to decompress after the holidays?

Autumn Pizza

Let me just preface this by saying that this was not my original vision.  I had wanted to make an uber healthy main course pizza and dessert pizza, but the cauliflower crust failed miserably.  It was already off to a bad start when I forgot to separate the "dough" for the main course and the dessert.  A dessert pizza probably shouldn't have garlic and Italian seasoning baked in the crust...  After my best effort with the recipe I had chosen, I decided to scrap that crust and just use tortillas.  It turned out wonderfully, but still wasn't what I had set out to do.

I ended up making two main course pizzas and one dessert pizza for my husband and I to share.  They were all quite delicious if I do say so myself.

First pizza - BBQ Chicken Butternut Squash

Ingredients:

• Tortilla with a bit of olive oil on top
• Mashed butternut squash
• Chicken
• Spinach
• Onions
• BBQ sauce 
• Fresh Mozzerella

This combo worked quite well together.  The combo of the chicken, squash, and BBQ sauce was spot on.

Second pizza - Chicken Marinara

Ingredients:

• Tortilla 
• Marinara pizza sauce
• Tomatoes
• Spinach
• Chicken
• Mozzerella
• Italian seasoning
• Garlic powder

Dessert pizza 

Ingredients:

• Tortilla with honey butter spread on top
•  Mashed butternut squash with cinnamon and nutmeg
•  Thinly sliced apples
•  Raisins soaked in honey whiskey
•  Honey drizzled on top

This was superb.  We paired it with a white port wine and it was the perfect fall dessert.  How great is it when you can make a dessert out of veggies!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Wait, you aren't surprised I'm posting about squash are you?  Have I mentioned I like squash?  Well I like squash... A LOT.

Here's the newest recipe:

Ingredients

• Acorn squash
• ground turkey
• onions
• celery
• apples
• spices: curry, parsley, sage, salt, garlic powder
• egg
• cheese

1.  Cut the acorn squash in half, scoop out the seeds, coat with oil and salt and bake on 375 for an hour.

2.  Fry up the meat, onions, celery, apples, and spices

3.  Pour in a bowl and add cheese.

4.  Beat an egg and add that to the filling.

5.  When the squash is done baking, spoon the mixture into the squash and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Well it's basically heaven on a plate.  Enjoy!

Roasted Cauliflower

Couple thoughts.  Let's start with yum.  My husband suggested it.  He knows that suggesting new foods to me is a gamble.  I'll either hate it and we'll never have it or I'll love it, become fixated on it, make it all the time, and we'll both get sick of it (it's good that squash is seasonal).  So it turns out that I love roasted cauliflower.  The beauty of it is that a whole head of cauliflower only has about 150 calories.  Also, it doesn't really have a flavor on its own so you can flavor it with your favorite spice.  And honestly, quinoa, amaranth, and rice really don't have a flavor either.  Why not sub those out for cauliflower?

Here's how we made it:

1.  Cut the cauliflower florets off the stem.  Wash and dry.
2.  Put the cauliflower into the food processor.  It'll end up in a rice-like consistency!!
3.  Put the cauliflower rice into a bowl and add whatever spices.  We used curry, cayenne, salt, minced garlic, and coconut oil.
4.  Spread into a baking pan and broil.
5.  We ended up broiling for about 15 minutes.  I turned it frequently to make sure it was cooked and then I let it roast for a while so the top layer got a nice golden brown.

That's probably the healthiest version.  You could also add whatever sauce you wanted with meat and other veggies and create a spaghetti like situation.  You could put it into egg bake.  I like to fry up turkey sausage, peppers, tomatoes, spinach, and over easy eggs and pour it over rice and break the yolk.  Now I can use cauliflower!

Yep.  If we aren't having squash, we'll probably be having cauliflower in some form or another... Pour hubby...

The Four Firkins

Just FYI...we're currently performing numerous time consuming DIY house projects...so there's not much time for shenanigans.

But we took a quick break (on our way to Home Depot in Woodbury) and stopped at the Four Firkins beer store.  What drew me in was that they offer free samples every Friday and Saturday evening.  It's a legit beer tasting - the resident cicerone provides samples for 6-8 beers as well as detailed description of each beer.  My favorites were the Indeed sweet yamma jamma which is a beer brewed with sweet potatoes.  It reignited my passion for squash.  We also liked the Southern Tier Chokolat.  Dessert in a cup right there!  It was really fun to try some beers we haven't had before.  We wandered around the store and admired the selection of more obscure beers and ciders.  Then they told us about their membership program - you sign up for free and get 3% off each purchase and they'll notify you about the special events and tastings that they do.  Let's face it, the beer scene is in NE and St. Paul.  This is Woodbury/Oakdale's little claim to fame I guess...