HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA!

Today is my friend Melissa's 30th birthday. Happy Birthday Mel. Hope it's a great one! :) xoxo

A visit to the IL side

This weekend we ventured over to the IL side for dinner and pinball. We decided to try something new and stumbled upon Peel Wood Fired Pizza.

Not knowing what to expect we weren't too sure about the 30 min wait, that is until we saw the Rogue Morimoto Soba Ale on tap (along with some other great brews - I tried the New Holland Ichabod. It had just a touch of pumpkin and spice and was O-So-Tasty!)!

If you are not aware, Tim and I are huge Rogue fans!

Tim has family in Oregon so every trip up there we always make time for a few (as in 3 or 4) visits to the brewery. Around here if you see Rogue on tap it's usually the Dead Guy Ale, which is still a pretty good beer. The Morimoto on the other hand is a real treat and I'm pretty sure is Tim's favorite. As far as I know the only place it's found on tap is either at the Rogue Brewery or Morimoto's restaurants in CA. So imagine our surprise when we found it in little ol' Edwardsville, of all places. Yes, you can find it in bottles here and there but it is no comparison to the tap version.

So, back to Peel, not only did they have Morimoto, but you could order it in a boot. That's right, a boot! You don't see beer boots on the menu very often so when you do, you gotta just go for it. They are hilarious and awesome all at the same time.The food...Peel has many different pizza's to choose from and all sounded amazing. We went with the Thai Red Curry pizza. It was delish. Not too spicy and the cilantro really gave it that extra punch. Loved it.

Along with our pizza we also tried the wood fired wings. There were six flavors to choose from and we landed on the "Fire". It was prepared with red pepper flakes, Parmesan cheese, basil, gray salt and roasted garlic olive oil. Amazing!

So good we nearly licked the plate clean!

If you are looking for a new pizza joint, give Peel a whirl. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Oh and as I mentioned above, we ended the evening with a $10 all you could play pinball extravaganza. It was so much fun. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures but don't worry, we'll definitely be going back and I'll do a write up on it at that time. :)

Rachel's 32 years beautiful!

Today, Wednesday, October 6, 2010 is my BFF, Rachel Ann Hughs Carpenter's birthday! I am proud to say that we have been best friends for 20 years. That's right, 20 years!! Yes we have had our ups and downs, as does any female relationship, but my world would not be the same with out her. We've been through a LOT through the years and I miss her daily.

Happy Birthday BFF! I love you and hope you have most wonderful birthday!

PS - One gift I try to make sure to send Rachel are plenty of boxes of FrankenBerry (her fav). However, I think there must be a shortage this year. I'm not having much luck locating it. But have no fear Rachel, I won't give up! :)

BEERFEST!

Saturday we went to Provisions Gourmet Market for Beerfest. The deal seemed too good to be true. The event included a tasting glass, over 100 beers to sample, various meats and cheeses, plus you could choose from a brat or pulled pork lunch w/ pub chips...All for the low low price of $5 per person! I tell you, how on earth could we pass that up? I'm so glad we didn't. We had a blast and tasted some pretty awesome beers. See the full list of beers below.

About 30 samples in we ran into some friends.

Aren't they cute?!

And now for the list of beers we sampled...

Pyramid Hefewizen

Pyramid Juggernaut

Magic Hat Hex (only available in their fall sample pack)

Magic Hat HI.P.A (only available in their fall sample pack)

Magic Hat Fall Odd Notion (only available in their fall sample pack)

Hofbrau Oktoberfest

Charleville Hoptimistic IPA

Augusta Farmhouse Tripel

Schlafly Bierre de Garde

Avery Collaboration not Litigation

Avery White Rascal

Great Divide Double Wit

Great Divide Espresso Oak Yeti

Great Divide Belgica

Great Divide 16th Anniversary Ale - Wood Aged Double IPA

Great Divide Rumble IPA

New Belgium LOF (Lips of Faith) Transatlantique Kriek

Tin Mill Skyscraper Lager

Anchor Humming Ale

Bells Oarsman

Bells Oktoberfest

Rochefort 10

Rogue John John Juniper

Sam Smiths Raspberry

Abita SOS

Abita Pecan Harvest Ale

Paulaner Oktoberfest

Paulaner Salvator

Fullers 1854

Fullers London Pride

Delirium Tremens

Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye

Cathedral Square Belgian IPA

Cathedral Square Iglesias

Grand Teton Trail Waggin

O'Fallon Hemp Hop Rye

O'Fallon Pro Am Sweet Nectar Imperial IPA

Tallgrass IPA

Schlafly Pumpkin

O'Fallon Pumpkin

Southern Tier Pumpking

Shipyard Pumpkin

Buffalo Bills Pumpkin

Goose Island Minx (only available in Chicago)

Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat Ale

Goose Island India Pale Ale

Goose Island Harvest Ale

Goose Island Sofie

Goose Island Matilda

Goose Island Pere Jacques

Goose Island Demolition

Woodchuck Fall

Woodchuck Pumpkin Cider

Whew, that was a mouth full! I have to say, a good majority of these beers were pretty tasty but there were some that were far from delicious. But nonetheless this event was definitely a success. The winners for us were the Goose Island Harvest Ale and O'Fallon Pro Am Sweet Nectar Imp IPA. Unfortunately, you will not find the O'Fallon Sweet Nectar at any store. This was their GABF entry and their last keg. This weekend was the last opportunity to try this sweet nectar of the gods. Hopefully they will realize how terrific it is and bottle it some time in the future.

Cheers to a wonderful weekend!

Smore's!!

The weather last night was perfect. As far as the first weekend of Fall goes, this one is off to a great start. Last night we lite the bonfire and made some huge smore's. After a long week, it was so nice to just sit outside with my Tim and listen to the trees talk, crickets sing and just chat about nothing in particular. Until the Junkyard Bar behind us started thumpin' but that's okay. Everything else was so nice, it didn't bother me at all.

We found the largest marshmallows ever to roast. It was fun but they were a little challenging to work with. The outside would get all nice and toasty but the inside wouldn't be totally melty. All in all it made a pretty amazing smore. And PS dark chocolate Hershey and chocolate graham is the way to go!

I'm not sure what's in store for today but I'm sure it will be great. I hope you are having a good weekend too.

It's here!!! HAPPY FALL DAY!!

Even though it's still a little hot and humid, the first day of FALL is finally here!! Don't worry, cool air is coming!! Break out those hoodies and flip flops kids it's time for bonfires and spiked cider!

And we can't forget about the pumpkin beer. I wonder who will have the local best this year. Will it be Justin Pfeifer's home brew (made with my garden pumpkins I might add), Trailhead, O'Fallon, Schlafly, or new comer Hill Brewing Co. I feel a pumpkin beer-off party coming on!!

I'm anxious to try Hill's pumpkin beer. I believe it will be ready by the first weekend in October.

I'll be sure to do a full write up once I have done a side by side comparison of all. =)

The weather is suppose to be beautiful and little more fall-ish this weekend. I can't wait!! Maybe I'll roast a marshmallow or two!

Are you ready for some chili!

It's that time of year ladies and gents. It's time to plant mums, put out your pumpkins and light those spice candles. It's also the start of chili season at my house. Every year to celebrate the return of football I make a huge pot of delicious chili. Although I'm not much of a football fan, I do love the food involved with the season. Chili, soups, pretzels, chips and dip....YUM-O!

This morning I was so excited to plant some mums and play in the cool rain. This afternoon we are lounging around with the scent of chili in the air. I know football isn't until tomorrow but chili is always better the next day. So we'll have our bowls tonight and save the best flavor for tomorrow!