Snowbank Brewing

Here we go…
am1The cat’s out of the bag! I’ve alluded to this over the past few months. Actually, I’ve basically showed you in depth over my Twitter and Instagram.
AM6Brew boots…
AM5Grain out…
am12Social media blasts of malt and sight glasses…
amAnd quality control tastings!
am16I’m now working for a brand new 15bbl brewery in Fort Collins called Snowbank Brewing! I’ll be the taproom manager and social media manager for this wonderful place, along with anything and everything else that needs to be done – including beer pairings and creating recipes with our amazing brews.
am4We’ve been in a mad rush getting everything ready for our very first event which is TONIGHT at one of my favorite Old Town spots – Cranknstein.
am5If you’re in the Fort Collins area around 6pm tonight, stop by and be one of the first to try a few of our brews and meet the brewer!
am2Remember this beautiful monstrosity from my Instagram? Odell mac ‘n cheese, pulled pork and barbecue sauce wrapped in a waffle cone from Common Link. That wasn’t just for fun. That was research! We’ve booked our first food trucks for our grand opening!
AM58But…. you’ll have to wait on that date for just a little bit longer! We’ve got some more quality control to do!

And now I ask for all of your help/interest. Like Snowbank Brewing on Facebook and follow our new account on Twitter? I’ll be live Tweeting and Facebook posting from our event tonight. And I’ll love you forever!

Who’s coming to join me at Cranknstein tonight for our tapping party??

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Puppy Love

Even with that awful, crappy day I had last week, I’ve been in an awesome mood. Everything has seemingly turned around in amazing ways I never could have seen coming.
amGetting custody of this handsome guy for a week definitely helped. My parental unit went on a vacation in the mountains to celebrate their anniversary (HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!). Barley was stuck with me.
am1He got trapped in the car a lot as I took him between houses for work and the like. Here he is trying not to get carsick (seriously) as I take him to my bro’s house to play with his cousin puppies while I went to work.
am3When I went back to pick him up I was treated to vegan burritos, this spicy and slightly hot (yet still freaking delicious) Houblon Chouffe and a dog covered in slime from other dogs.
am4The next morning I took him for an insanely long walk and let him wade in the lake we strolled by since he needed to be bathed anyway to remove the lovely dog slobber that had solidified overnight.
am5FLUFFY POST-BATH PUPPY! This picture kills me. He kind of looks like he might kill me.
am6But besides the pup… I’ve enjoyed rainy evenings with glasses of merlot…
am7Free brownies from work that were deemed “too dry to sell” so I rehydrated them with butter pecan ice cream for lunch. Obviously. Have I mentioned yet that I love my job?
am8And more puppy. I’m completely infatuated with him, even after a year.
am9I got a new sink! The sink that came with my house was brand new stainless steel that began rusting the day after I moved in. They replaced it with a shiny one that hopefully won’t rust. Hopefully…
am10I felt like I should counteract the brownies and ice cream lunches I’d been having with zucchini noodles, onions, garlic and parmesan. This is one of my absolute favorite dishes.
am11I worked late on Friday night and then went out for a beer with a bunch of friends in Old Town, played pool, kicked ass, blinked and it was 2am. We closed down the bar and everyone continued on to party at someone’s house while I was feeling sleepy from my one beer I had around midnight. So I went home and passed out. I’m a party girl.
am12Sunday was my day off and it was time to get out and enjoy Colorado the right way – Kayaking!
am13My pops and I loaded the kayaks onto the car and drove about five miles to a local lake with tons of coves and inlets, and spent the morning paddling around.
am14Glassy water, storm clouds and mountains.
am15Blissed out.
am16And blistered out too. I ended up ripping up my thumb pretty gnarly with my supercool intense paddling. Battle scars.
am17The only way to really heal battle scars such as these is with a trip to a local pub and a local brew. Between Worlds Belgian White IPA from Verboten Brewing.
am9And now I must head off to work, so I’ll leave you all with this beautiful face. Because I’m sure you haven’t seen enough of him. Happy Monday!

Ever been kayaking before? Do you prefer the sit-in or sit-on?

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One of Those Days

Ever have one of those weeks? Everything is perfect.
amIt starts off wonderfully with delicious cake mix cookies.
am1And continues on to barbecue at Nordy’s. I have absolutely nothing wrong with brisket and mac ‘n cheese, but I should’ve seen the signs.
AM2
Those rainy days. Those blissfully rainy days.
AM4Curled up inside my cozy house, sipping a hot mug of Bhakti Chai with candles lit all around, the rain trickling down the windowpanes in little rivers. And then real life beckons.
AM3Luckily enough, brews at work is one part of my real life.
AM5As are (free) medium rare bison burgers with more mac ‘n cheese.
AM11And then sneak peeks of new beer rained down upon my front stoop, begging to be paired with wonderful foods. Stone Coffee Milk Stout (out in distribution today!)!
AM12So I paired it with firecracker shrimp and soba noodles. The rich, creaminess of the stout cut through the intense spicy bite of the shrimp and rounded out the dish with an emphasis of earthy roast. There wasn’t as much coffee as I was expecting, but plenty of smoky roast in place!

And after that great week, on a Sunday afternoon, everything falls down. And it becomes one of those days.
AM6
One starts reminiscing of happier days where responsibility didn’t exist – freshman year at UCSB… (Plaid pajama pants, scarves and aviators. Could I be any more stylish?)
AM9Steven Bauer from Scarface wishing me a happy 21st birthday at Saddle Ranch in Hollywood…
AM7
Jonas getting shot
after we crashed our car…
AM10The boys and I at the season 1 finale of Lonelygirl15…
Screen shot 2014-08-03 at 9.59.52 PM
And then the danged dog headbutts you and gives you a bloody lip to top off the worst day to end a wonderful week. (It wasn’t that bloody, but I also didn’t feel like I should force any of you to look at my swollen lip and sad, pitiful eyes.)
AM15I thought Sharknado 2 would make everything better, because the original Sharknado was so bad it was good… But this was so bad that it just compounded every bad thing in my life into two hours of wasted time. And I was so very excited too!
AM13Luckily, I had something sweet to end this craptastic day – Senorita Imperial Porter: Horachata style! Intense rich chocolate dancing with sweet vanilla and spicy cinnamon, and just enough bitterness to balance out the sweetness.

But today is over. Tomorrow is a new day. Chin up, smiles on, let’s start anew!

What went right in your life last week? What are you looking forward to?

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Gray’s Peak and Torrey’s Peak

Last week I took the initiation into becoming a true Coloradoan.
am8Topping a 14er – Gray’s Peak! (Spoiler alert – I summited). My bestie Michelle told me she was hiking Gray’s and Torrey’s and I figured that, since I have plenty of time on my hands lately, I should join. I drove down to her place last Sunday and we binged on sushi to fuel up for the ascent. Our alarms were set for 3:45am so we headed for bed around 10pm, me trying to ignore the gentle throbbing in my temples.
am2We left the house at 4:15am and headed into the mountains to hit the base before 6am and avoid the afternoon thunderstorms. We drove up the windy, rocky road past the winter parking lot, heading for the summer lot at the start of the trail. The road got rougher as we got higher until our car took a nosedive into a deep trough. The tires spun and the aroma of burning rubber filled the car. I jumped out as Michelle reversed out of the trench, trying to see if there was a way around it. To the right, we’d ram into the rocks. To the left, the undercarriage of the car would be shredded. We reversed down, a line of cars slowly backing down behind us, before pulling a 3 point turn and parking in the middle lot. A handful of other lower clearance cars decided to join us after watching our little adventure and realizing they probably wouldn’t be able to get around the trench either. We pulled our packs on and started the 2 mile hike up to the start of the actual hike. The throbbing in my temples the night before was starting to knock a little louder.

That hike up. Was. Painful. We finally reached the ditch we’d gotten stuck in when a large white pickup began to navigate through the same spot. An older gentleman got out to help guide the driver and asked if we wanted a ride.
am20YES! We gleefully jumped in the back of the truck and enjoyed the chilly, bumpy ride to the top parking lot, ready to start the 8.5 mile round trip.
am3It was absolutely gorgeous! The sun started cresting over the horizon as the trail immediately became a steady incline.
am4The first mile consisted of large, rocky steps before evolving into a crescendo of rocks that pointed directly upward.
am5We huffed and puffed along, taking 30 second breaks to gasp for air before passing a handful of red-faced groups snacking on Cheez-Its on the side of the trail. It wasn’t a race, but man, we were so winning!
am6As we continued on, we were passed by Superman. This guy was powering up behind us at inhuman speed. “Hiking for time?” I asked him. Turns out Superman (aka Patrick) just wanted some exercise and this was his normal speed for all of the many, many 14ers he’s topped. He ended up reaching the top of Gray’s in an hour and a half!
am7The top! The glorious top! It took us 2 hours and 15 minutes to get from the start of the trail to the summit. My head was pounding full force now and the winds were whipping like crazy.
am8We pulled on our gloves and  headed down the steep saddle across to Torrey’s Peak. We dropped down at least 1,000 feet before starting an even steeper ascent.
am9An hour later, we were standing on the top of Torrey’s, gazing in awe at the views all around us, scarfing down sammiches and chugging water.
am10I debated going in to my pack to grab the ibuprofen for my head, but we were ready to start the descent and avoid the clouds that were rolling in in the distance.
am12After a few more obligatory pictures, we started down. Superman joined us. He told us that while he was a powerhouse on the uphill, he preferred to take his time down to avoid injury. With the blisters forming across my feet, my aching knees and bruised soles, I decided that was a good way to go.
am13We had to cut across a snow bridge to avoid topping Gray’s again. I took the lead and began slowly sliding across. About halfway through, the snow turned to ice and my foot slipped. I threw myself facedown in a full arrest on the bank, driving my fingers into the snow while I attempted to regain my footing. Visions of my bloody, battered body resting on the rocks below flashed through my head. I jammed my foot into the snow, stood up again and kept inching across, my ragged breath shaking out of my lungs even after I stepped onto solid ground. Needless to say, I wasn’t a fan…
am14The ground finally started to even out, but each step still sent knives of pain through my knees, feet and skull. Patrick (Superman) told us he was going to stretch his legs out and speed up a little and took off towards the base as we gimped along.
am15As we continued, the memory of our lucky pickup ride up to the base jumped into our minds. And then we remembered that we would have to hike the extra two miles back down to the car. Lovely.
am16We finally reached the base of the trail or, for us, the beginning of our final two miles. We hit the outhouse and started to cross the parking lot before we saw… SUPERMAN!!!! Patrick had waited for us after hearing our tale of the exciting drive up and gave us a lift down the mountain to where our car was parked. Patrick. Superman. Angel.

We thanked Patrick profusely, took off our packs and chucked them in the back seat, took off our heavy shoes and peeled off our socks. I’d just summited TWO 14ers! I threw a handful of ibuprofen down my throat in an attempt to silence the pounding in my head and we drove home.

Flash forward to a week later and the headache is FINALLY gone. A solid week of aspirin, ibuprofen and gallons of water finally conquered the altitude headache.
amQuality control also seems to help a bit. A little extra vitamin B and protein to aid in the healing!
am18And braids. Just cuz feeling purdy also makes one feel better.
am19Either way, I’d take a week-long headache over having the day that this guy had…

Have you ever hiked a 14er? I’ve been inspired by all of my Colorado transplant bloggers 🙂

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Sweet ‘n Smoky Short Ribs with Cauliflower Mash

Colorado has been getting some crazy weather lately!
am6See those specks? That’s cottonwood, embarking on an allergy-infested journey from the trees into people’s sinuses.
am7Crazy gushers have been rampant, followed by plenty of hail and booming thunder.
am5And then God apologizes and sends us sunsets like this. Love it. Love all the craziness, hail included.
amFor all those moments when we were stuck inside, avoiding the drenching, piercing rains, this box came to the rescue.
am1So pretty!
am2They’re always saying you should add some color to your diet.
am3My favorites from the box were the Chico King pale and Double Latte stout. Luckily, I have plenty of craft beer nerd friends who were willing to split some bottles with me. These are all pretty hefty beers and they definitely needed to be shared.
am8For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that I got a pressure cooker as a housewarming gift! All those beers in a box + people who want to share said beers + a new pressure cooker = vegan split pea COOKOFF and beer tasting!
am11(Spoiler alert – mine was too thick, Janna’s was too thin so we ended up blending them together and the ending result was AWESOME!) We spent the evening sipping, stirring, laughing and playing with puppies.
am9My handsome fella joined us for the cook-off and a sleepover. Augh, that face! I love my rescue puppy!

Anyway back to the pressure cooker…
am10It’s led to crazy things like me making more artichokes. Despite the first debacle, I’ve become obsessed with artichokes. Unhealthily obsessed.
amThe ridiculous amount of chokes and vegan things I was creating in my pressure cooker left me craving something a wee bit more substantial. I was sitting on my couch with the pup and got an insane, desperate need to make short ribs. And there definitely needed to be beer in that recipe.
am1Stout, to be specific.
am5I seared off three pounds of these babies, threw a bunch of beer, vinegars, sugars and spices into the pressure cooker, shut the lid and prayed.
am3To add a little health factor, I rested the short ribs on a smoky cauliflower mash. All the carnivores in the house adored this recipe. J’adore.
[gmc_recipe 7887]
am4I also highly recommend pairing it with the same stout you include in the recipe. Oh pressure cooker, you’ve changed my life!

What’s your favorite kitchen appliance/tool? I thought nothing could beat the slow cooker, but I think I may have just been proven wrong.

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Kitchen Sink Banana Bread

A quick recap of last week before we launch into this week’s latest recipe.
am6Biking to beer is my latest favorite thing to do. This Sorachi saison from Funkwerks tasted so much better after I worked for it!
am7My pops had a birthday last week! We visited Dancing Pines distillery in Loveland, shared a flight and ended up heading out with their brand new vodka (distilled from grapes!) and cherry liqueur. Goooood stuff!
am8And we visited the gun store. Looking, no touching after that tasting.
am9I got funky new pants from Marshall’s and watched my dog go camouflage. He’s kind of cool like that.
am10I baked balsamic olive oil cookies for the housewarming party I threw on Friday night.
am11It started pouring right after I snapped this picture. A rousing game of Hedbanz was played until we all hurt from laughing so hard. I left the cleaning for my roommate and was in bed around 12:30am because…
am12Saturday morning brew! More details about all of this to come, but until then follow Snowbank Brewing on Twitter! I’m running the Twitterverse there during all of our brew days/tappings/random outings.
am13Leftover cookies and caustic acid. Looking back, I probably should’ve removed the acid-covered nitrile gloves before consuming this…
am14After a 22 hour brew day, we returned for yet another brew day yesterday. My body was screaming for greens so I whipped up a green monsta before heading back to the shiny tanks.
am1Which brings me to this bread. I bake things for brew days. That’s just what I do. Pumpkin donuts and face cookies were my Enegren tradition, so I figured it would be a good thing to carry on with my new brewery.
am3I had leftover pumpkin puree from last week’s pumpkin donuts, and half of an avocado from some guacamole I’d made earlier this week. I figured since they were about to go bad, along with the huge bunch of Costco bananas, I’d just throw them into the bread and see what happened.
am5Delicious success! And way too much orange in these food styling pics… I think it’s time to go buy some new props…
am4I threw in some chia seeds as well to make myself feel like this bread was even healthier. So there’s that.
[gmc_recipe 7849]
am2I’m off to another crazy busy week! Happy Monday!

What else do you bake with browning bananas? I have a ton more I need to use up!

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Chokes ‘n Mash

I learned some important things this past week.
amLike cooking artichokes requires a large pot. And wine.
AM1Boil-over. My stove top and floor had needed a good scrubbing, to be fair.
am2Floor-scrubbing stress gone.
AM3And success! I am most definitely investing in a steamer basket to save myself from another traumatic incident such as this.
AM6I’m thinking most of you may have guessed by now, but I left Loveland Aleworks a while back to pursue some other endeavors that will be elucidated upon soon enough. These babies are officially out of retirement!
AM4Mash!
AM5Mash Mash Mash!
AM12Fermentors – my happy view. Bonus points: What’s the difference between fermentors and fermenters? Answer in the comments for a chance to win a copy of Craft Beer for the Homebrewer! I’ll choose a winner on July 21st.
AM7Rehydration/celebration/caustic cleaning time.
AM8I started off Independence Day in the most Murika’n way I could think – Chicken and waffles smothered in rosemary sausage gravy and maple syrup from The Waffle Lab. If you ever get out to Fort Collins, this food truck is a must-try!
AM9Kara and I went to watch the downtown parade which was incredibly quaint and cute. I love the small town feeling I get here! The rest of the day was spent lazing about with power naps interjected here and there, and completed with a taste of my old life in my new life!
AM10Ahh, good old Firestone! I remember when they created 805 to be exclusively sold in the 805 area! Apparently that didn’t last long. I enjoyed the fireworks from the comfort of my own front porch while listening to music and sipping brews before all my friends flocked to my house with more beer to watch the local fireworks displays going off all around the neighborhood.
AM11Now it’s time to start another crazy week!

How did you celebrate Independence Day?

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This Is…

This is my life now.
am4This is a bike ride to breweries with new friends.

This is home.
AM2This is fishing at sunset.
AM1This is catching fish at sunset (or snagging them on the head with a hook and feeling absolutely terrible about it, but still taking a picture).
am3This is free pretzel Friday at the Mayor of Old Town.
am5This is Watson Lake.
am7This is a windy selfie of me and my beloved bike after we rode 15 miles to enjoy Watson Lake.
am9This is my finger intruding upon the amazing views during a 30 mile ride.
am8This is the angry Poudre River, raging with freshly melted snowpack.
AM11This is a well deserved Loose Leaf on the patio of Odell with my amazing friends after a 30 mile ride.
AM12This is an aptly named brewdog, Simcoe, with ready-to-mill grain.
am15This is home.

This is happy.

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Mixed Vegetable Hash with Imitation Panda Meat

I know I sparked your interest when I posted this picture last week…
AM8My interest was sparked as well and I went home with two of these sausages to test out. But before I get into the recipe, here’s a recap of last week – It was insanely awesome and busy.
AMFridays are free pretzel day at The Mayor of Old Town. This will be a new tradition of mine, so if you’re in FoCo on Fridays and want me to treat you to a jalapeno cheese pretzel with raspberry jam, show up and I’ll generously call over the waitress so you can enjoy one of these heavenly babies!
AM1The evenings have been absolutely to die for up here! I went out with some friends after Mayor and enjoyed a few of the many patios about town.
AM2Hot Rocks Lager from Port Brewing. Drooool.
AM3Saturday was the Taste of Fort Collins. I went with my friend Kara and met up with a handful of people to sample the goods and enjoy a concert.
AM4Braffle (a brat smothered in sauerkraut and maple syrup, wrapped in a waffle) from the Waffle Lab and Collective Soul!
AM5I had to Google Collective Soul to find out who they were… BUT they played three songs that I recognized from my middle school years! The drunken crowds rocked out until the sun set.
AM6Father’s Day was spent up in the mountains eating mass amounts of Indian buffet, helping pull a guy out of the middle of the road who had passed out on his bike after drinking a pint (no joke) of vodka and threatened a bunch people with a knife. We calmed our nerves that night with Pure Imagination stout from Verboten Brewing.
AM7My Aerogarden is a success! I ate these leaves and promptly had to sit down from the exhaustion of the harvest.
AM8And that brings us back to this. Imitation panda meat. I came across this at The Boar and Bull – a local butcher shop in Loveland that has some of the most delicious beef tenderloin I’ve ever had the good luck to consume. I saw these and knew I couldn’t leave without ’em. It is not, in fact, panda meat. Shocker, I know. These sausages are full of pork, bacon, cheddar cheese, red onions and Coca Cola. They. Are. Incredible.
am7To make this hash, I used the handy Veggetti.
am4It’s basically a much cheaper version of a spiralizer that takes up less space and gets you an arm workout.
am5It’s also very sharp. Be careful so you don’t end up with sliced fingers like me. Genius.
amI shredded two potatoes and a zucchini…
am2Sliced up some onions extremely thin, threw them in a pan to soften…
am1Sliced up some asparagus into matchsticks and threw them into the pan with the zucchini and potatoes…
am6Cooked up some panda in a separate pan, then threw everything together…
am8Magic!
[gmc_recipe 7775]
am7Real panda meat. Would you or wouldn’t you?

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Coconut Roasted Sweet Potatoes

One week until internet finally graces my house! Until then, I’m thanking Oprah for her chai while resting in the wonderfully air conditioned Starbucks in Old Town Fort Collins. It’s a welcome change after slaving over a hot oven to make these gems!
am4I’m completely exaggerating. This is one of the simplest and tastiest recipes I’ve ever made. A few weeks ago I received an awesome care package in the mail from my bestest buddy Rick.
am6In case you’ve forgotten, I should remind you of my obsession with Lourdes Gourmet chimichurri sauce. I discovered this four years ago at the farmers market in Ventura County and couldn’t get my mind away from it. I dreamed about the wonderfully tangy and herby spread, slathered slices of bread with it, basically drank the stuff. When Rick was kind enough to send me all these other goodies, I knew yet another unhealthy obsession was about to occur.
amThe coconut spread. Another thing with which I’ve been slathering slices of bread. I decided that an actual recipe should occur before I finished every single jar in my fridge.
[gmc_recipe 7753]
am6Simple, quasi-healthy and delicious! Thanks to Rick for both the care package and patience!

What’s your favorite way to spice up a simple sweet potato?

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