Tag Archives: St. Patrick’s Day

Getting Up to Speed

A few of the things that have transpired lately…
amPLINY THE YOUNGER! Didn’t even have to wait in line! I was taking a different route home, got a call from a lovely lady from Ladies at Ladyface and was receiving a pour two minutes later. I’m glad that I tried it, but I’m very glad I didn’t wait in line for it. It’s a perfectly balanced beer. Someone at Tony’s Darts Away explained it the best way – “So perfect it’s forgettable.” I’ll remember it just because of the hype. And the jalapeno and bacon mac ‘n cheese I paired with it.
am3Enegren Brewing and El Segundo Brewing beer pairing night at Short Order!
am1am4Tom from El Segundo Brewing, Matt and Joe from Enegren Brewing.
am2Valkyrie California Alt in front of the fire on a warm evening.
am5Bad news for you guys – the food was so delicious that it was devoured before I remembered I should be taking pictures. My apologies.
am7Custom Melt visited the brewery for our St. Patrick’s Day event!
am9Green Mac ‘n Cheese with Bangers. Spinach blended into the cheese made it green. And healthy. That’s how that works.
am8Heavenly corned beef and cabbage melts. It was jam packed again, similar to Superbowl Saturday, so I was only able to snag a few bites of everything.
am6Irish Car Bomb bread pudding! Thomas of Custom Melt made Valkyrie beer bread to use in this recipe. Have I mentioned how Custom Melt is my hero/haven/love/dream?
am10We had the 21st meeting of Ladies at Ladyface! Irish brews were the theme.
am11Plenty of donations from the ladies.
am12Traditional examples of nitro Irish stouts.
am13And and “Irish Car Bomb” beer by Ladyface owner Cyrena. She used Ladyface’s Barleywine and threw in whiskey-soaked oak chips. Dangerously delicious, plus each glass had an oak chip or two gracefully floating atop the sweet nectar.
am15Corned beef and cabbage sliders to top off the evening!
am17I also designed and hosted a beer pairing at Cafe Fiore in Woodland Hills!
am16The things my job requires me to do… It’s rough, I’m tellin’  ya.
am18Chef masterpieces commence….NOW.
am20Ahi Tuna Tartar with fresh avocado,  house-pickled cucumbers and crispy focaccia. I could’ve eaten just this all night and been content.
am21Citrus-glazed shrimp skewers with citrus wedges and spring greens.
am22House-made chicken and sun-dried tomato sausages atop sweet polenta, drizzled with a balsamic reduction. Again, heavenly.
am23Corned beef sliders – twas the season.
am26Awful picture, but possibly my favorite dessert EVER – caramel sauce, freshly sliced Fuji apples and asiago cheese atop freshly baked pizza crust. My boss, my boss’s boss and myself each ordered an additional one to take home and share with those who were truly deserving of such an abundance of deliciousness – that means I ate the majority of it. It’s THAT good.
am27I had a lovely girls’ night with Janelle and her little Avery last night as well! She made an amazing spread of stuffed peppers, roasted sweet potatoes and fresh salad to pair with the beers I brought.
amamaFarmer’s Reserve No. 2 by Almanac Beer Company. Wonderfully tart and not overpowering with spices at all. This will be a repeat.
am28Avery was a little jealous of us I think. Only 20.3 years and then you can join us in appreciation of fermented liquids! She shall be trained well when the time comes, but for now I’m enjoying capturing her beautiful innocence.

Coming up this week – a new restaurant review. I did a beer education at this amazing place with an eccentric/genius chef and have been dying to sit down and have a full meal there. Tomorrey is that day.

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Ladies at Ladyface: 10

Monday was our monthly Ladies at Ladyface: The Fermentables and Comestibles Education and Tippling Society meeting! We had a little belated St. Patrick’s Day celebration.
This means Irish and Scottish beers! We had more than plenty to split amongst our group. Of course I had to start off with a little warm-up taster…
Ladyface’s Trebuchet – a farmhouse ale with a slightly sour quality thanks to the lactobacillus. Crisp, fruity and refreshing!
Lise brought her celebratory homebrew – as of yet to be named, but always hopped to high heaven and delicious!
Cyrena made sure to save us all an order of their corned beef and cabbage sliders. I missed out on having Irish food on St. Patrick’s Day, and these MORE than made up for that! The tender corned beef melted in your mouth, and the sweetness of the caramelized onions and cabbage specked with peppercorns balanced with the saltiness of the beef perfectly!
For dessert, the lovely Janelle provided chocolate chip and pistachio cupcakes. I may have eaten six or eleven. I stopped counting wrappers. It was becoming embarrassing.
Speaking of, here’s Janelle downing an entire glass of water! Her little Avery is due in about 3 months, and while I’m sure Avery would love having a taste of beer (possibly one from Avery Brewing Company??), her mom was diligent about only consuming water, sliders and cupcakes.
We had a packed table that was soon topped with glorious amounts of food ordered from the new spring menu! Goat cheese and basil fritters, anyone? Or steak tartare??
Unfortunately, I had to leave after only an hour in order to pack more and sleep. The next day was a brew day: Up at 4:45am! I darkened the pictures to make it appear like time had passed… Yea, all that up there is artistic and stuff…

Now I need to pack again! I’m heading out to Tucson, Arizona for my second to last trip with the artist. I’m sad to miss a brew day, but I’m certain there will be more then enough heavy lifting, grain shoveling, gravity taking and recipe tasting when I get back!

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