Desert Hops Beer Festival: Food And Beer Pairing

I was recently asked if I'd share my favorite food and beer pairing as part of a blog shout out to the The Desert Hops International Beer Festival which is being held today, at the The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. I'd never heard about the festival before, but my first reaction was "OMG where's my admission ticket?" 

For me, going to a beer festival is second to going to a good writer's conference. Can you just imagine combining the two events? That would be incredible. Just think of how many writers and agents we could pair up or just how many books could be published....or... yeah, maybe not. :P 

Anyway, I wish I could tell you that I have some fantastic and exotic pairing of food and beer, but for me, simple is best. What I'm not a fan of, is sweet flavored beers and don't really like the weird fruit beers be it watermelon or pumpkin, and God forbid you add a peach or grenadine syrup to your beer like they do here, yuck! I figure if you're going to add syrup to your beer, you might as well order a cocktail. To each their own. 

Basically, I prefer a good beer with a dish of salty carbohydrates. Because let's face it, there's nothing better than a nice cold one and pizza, or chips, or just plain old peanuts. But better yet, beer on a hot day, in the back yard, cooking BBQ, and hanging out with family and friends. I think that's what I associate beer with the most, sharing it with friends and enjoying the simple things while we talk about how better the world would be if we ran things.  

So, when it comes down to it, I'm much more of a have-a-couple-cold-ones-at-home-with-friends-while-watching-Arrow kinda gal. 

So here is my favorite beer / food combination to date: 

Abbaye des Rocs (9 %), a strong Belgian ale with a rich dark amber color and full body taste that lingers in your mouth afterwards. In other words, it tastes awesome. Now take a beer like this and pair it up with a perfectly cooked steak with sautéed mushrooms, along with a side of potatoes loaded with bacon, onions, and melted cheese all cooked in an iron skillet. There, a slice of heaven... unless you're a vegetarian who doesn't drink alcohol. Then, this would be hell. :o  (Actually, there is a beer called Hell, just sayin... :)  )

So even if you're not much of a beer drinker, I'd be willing to bet, with all the different microbreweries producing such a wide range of craft beers from around the world, there's a beer even (or especially) for you. :) 

******
So do you have a favorite beer/food pairing? Or maybe you have another drink/food pairing you'd like to share. I'd love to hear about it!


#BrewLV

Get Healthy Bloghop

Good Health: The slowest way to die

I want to thank Stephen Tremp, L. Diane Wolfe, Michael Di Gesu, and Alex Cavanaguh for hosting this blogfest. Eating healthy and trying to live a  healthy lifestyle is something I feel very strongly about and I wish more people would take their health and diet more seriously. Most of what I'm going to say are things that people reading this blog already know, which is why I'll try to keep this short because YOU know what's good for you and what isn't. But what baffles me is despite this knowledge, many people still choose to eat foods that are destructive to their health and the environment. Why? Why do that to yourself? Is it a false sense of security in modern technology that makes you think if you get sick, there's a pill you can swallow that'll make everything all better? You have to know that in the long term this is crazy thinking. Right? On top of that, a lot of people who don't value their health are folks I know, they are people I care about, people I consider my friends, it may even be you and you know what? I'd like you to stick around for as long as possible and in the best possible condition. Seriously.

I grew up on a western diet, and having lived in the States for almost twenty years (I now live in France), I'm convinced that the western diet promotes obesety, lifestyle diseases, and puts the planet at risk. One of the problems is that people on a western diet eat too many animal products (by a factor of 10) and don't eat enough plants. Plus, they eat far too many calories than necessary, and most of these calories are absorbed from foods that promote diseases instead of preventing disease. While I'm mostly concerned about people living in the States, the trend is spreading world-wide and is showing up here in France. 

Bottom line, if you want to live longer, in a healthy body, and in a healthier environment, your eating habits must change. And for change to happen, you must make life changing decisions. Getting on a diet is not going to cut it because diets don't work. If you're serious about improving your health and leaving behind a postive impact, you must be willing to change your behavior and your philophy about food. I've made a lot of changes to my eating habits since moving to France. I buy organic (about 80-90% of everything I buy is organic), we have a vegetable garden, I don't own a microwave and haven't used one in over a decade (shocking I know, but you can survive without one).  I cook our meals and have reduced our consumption of red meat. Plus, we don't eat meat at night. Another important thing is EXERCISE. I just recently started exercising six days a week. Anyway, I'm not going to detail all the aspects of my eating habits because it's not perfect and I'm not perfect however, I will leave you with this one piece of  advice for those willing to change their eating habits and get healthy:

INVEST IN A SIMPLE STEAM COOKER

My steamer and cast iron skillet. 

It doesn't have to be fancy with a lot of buttons that'll eventually break down. Simple is best. A steam cooker is easy and versitile. I  make soups in it, cook vegetables in it, and use it to reheat the occasional dish. This is a picture of mine and I use it practically every daily. For cooking vegetables, all you do is put about 1/4 water in the bottom, place your vegetables in the basket on top, cover, and steam cook your food for a few minutes. Vegetables taste different when they are steamed--they taste good, they taste like vegetables! <===this is a good thing! 

Your health is important people. 

You are important. 

Get healthy.

And You Are? Bloghop

Today two awesome folks Emily King and Tammy Theriault are hosting this fun little blog hop designed to embarrass the heck out of its participants. 
So of course I dove right in....wait, what?

****

 "And You Are...?"
crazy.

1. How many speeding tickets have you gotten?
Only one, long time ago for going 97mph in a 65. 

2. Can you pitch a tent?
Do spiders on your toothbrush make you scream?

3. What was your worst vacation ever?
The one that made my bum explode. 



Warning, if you're not comfortable reading about stomach issues, and/or are easily grossed out or offended, then I suggest urge you skip to question 4, please.

The year was 1999. 

I went to Martinique with some college friends to bring in the Y2K. Though secretly, I was hoping for the global computer meltdown so we could get stranded on a paradise island. See, that's me always thinking ahead. Anyway, we stayed with a lovely host family in a beautiful home surrounded by a dense tropical forest. Simply put, we were in paradise. The third night there, our hostess made dinner for us, a créole soup called le pâté en pot. This local dish is often served on special occasions, family reunions, etc. It's made with a variety of wonderful fresh vegetables and surprise, sheep giblets and intestine. I'll give you a moment to chew on that...

It's still not too late to skip to the next question.

Normally, I'm the adventurous type and don't get squeamishness over such things, heck I'm half French and lord knows the French eat some weird s*** not to mention Martinique is an overseas region of France. But still, I was nervous about the soup but didn't want to come across as rude. So, I took a long sip of wine, then another, and lifted my spoon, took a quick breath and had me some sheep guts soup. Guess what? The soup wasn't bad. In fact, it tasted pretty damn good and I even finished the bowl. But, there were consequences, grave consequences for the little college girl. Later that evening I broke out into a cold sweat and spent the rest of the night throwing up in the toilet and trying not to crap on my ankles while doing so. Did I mention the walls were thin and there was a boy on that trip I was trying to impress? Total humiliation. But the fun doesn't stop here. Noooooooo.

The next day, we went to the beach and it was postcard perfect. The fine white sandy beaches were bordered by coconut palm trees for miles on end. Warm sun rays reflected off a calm, crystal blue-green sea. People relaxed on the their colorful beach towels and children frolicked in the water. And where was I? Curled up in a fetal position against a palm tree, fully dressed, shivering, and running a fever. But don't worry, I was going to be fine, right up to the point when I felt a disturbance in the force my stomach. My eyes popped open and cold panic splashed over me. There was no way I'd ever make it to the bathroom in time. I only had one other option, run to the trees. Half praying, half swearing, I hoofed it with urgency into the boarding woods. My stomach had me doubled over as sweat pored out of me and yet, my only thought was to get far enough into the vegetation where no one could see. At the very last second, I hunkered down and there was an explosion. Birds scattered and mother nature wept.

That day the toilet
paper was  green and waxy 
Worst. Vacation. Ever.

The End. 

4. What was the last thing you bought over $100?

A steam cleaner. 
My life is so boring but the steamer really is awesome.

5. We're handing you the keys to what?

My time machine that moonlights as an alien spaceship, of course. 
That's something that would have keys, right?  

6. What was the last meal cooked that made even you sick?

 see question 3

7. Fill in the blank: Oh my gosh! Becky, look at her butt! It is so big. She looks like _____?

...the butt of many jokes.

8. What was your first car?

The first car I ever drove legally was a blue 1990 Chevy Cavalier. Thanks Mom. 

9. Your best friend falls and gets hurt. Do you ask if he/she's okay or laugh first?
If she gets hurt then I'm not laughing. But, I will laugh at her after she gets better.  

10. What's the worst song ever?
There are so many, but right now the 12 days of Christmas makes me 12 shades of crazy.

Thanks ladies for the bloghop! 

Lockmeupology - Happy Thanksgiving

For all of you celebrating Thanksgiving, 

I wish you a wonderful holiday. 

Travel safely, 

enjoy your meals, 

make the best of family and friends. 

See you all on Monday. 

(: