Dinner from the grill

Grilled chicken thighs with homegrown and grilled eggplant. One slice topped with cilantro, olive oil, chili powder and salt. The other topped with jerk seasoning. In other news, my space bar broke and typing this is way too hard. Every "space" is pasted in...

Fancy Beer Friday: Redbrick 17th Anniversary

It's not Friday but this beer was worth the wait. Believe me, I've been waiting all year for it.

Over the past four years or so the owners/board of our favorite local brewery have been loosening the reigns on Brewmaster Dave McClure*.  The most pronounced result is the Brick Mason series (and Hoplanta). While it consists of some dynamite beers: Wee Heavy (yep), Vanilla Gorilla (duh). Double IPA (obviously); the anniversary series is world class.

Each anniversary ale is the Red Brick Brown aged in whiskey barrels. They started series with the 15th spending a little over a year on on Pappy Van Winkle barrels. It's become somewhat of  a legend around these parts. (In fact, a beer loving buddy of ours gave us two bottles as a wedding gift.) The 16th was the same base aged for six months in Jack Daniels barrels. I'm not JD's biggest fan and it was a little hot at 11% but I'm looking forward to pulling a bottle out of our cellar  to compare with this years. This years 17th though. Oh this years beer...

The 17th sat on Jim Beam** barrels and it is dynamite. It clocks in at a head leveling 8.5%. As it warms up, it is as complex as a good bottle of bitters. Don't tell my wife, but I'm buying a case of this.

*I don't really know anything about the politics behind the scenes at Red Brick, all I know is that Dave can crank out some stellar suds.

**I may like Jim Beam as much as I like Jack which is to say, not at all. Luckily we're speaking beer, not whiskey.

- Oliver

134lb by 34: UPDATE

It's been four months since my 34th birthday and the final day of my personal weight loss challenge. The goal had been to lose eleven pounds in ten weeks with the intention of lowering my high blood pressure. My final weigh in was two pounds shy of my goal but there was still a noticeable difference in my blood pressure. Since then I've continued to lose weight but at a slower pace. I've gone from a pound a week to a pound a month. This morning I weighed in 131.6lbs. My blood pressure is looking so good that I'm going to make an appointment with my doctor to discuss going off the blood pressure medicine. I'm not sure what she'll say but I promise to pass on the info. 


*Fancy Beer Friday is still on the way! We're having some trouble procuring the beer we want. Check back tomorrow! 

Dinner from the garden

Thursday night Oliver made dinner from ingredients we had on hand. An onion, garlic, olive oil and box of pasta from the pantry. Plus three tomatoes, a green bell pepper, a red chili pepper, basil, oregano, thyme and parsley all picked fresh from the garden. 




*Fancy Beer Friday will be posted tomorrow (Saturday)! Check back to read about Friday night at Redbrick Brewing Company and their soon to be released 17th Anniversary Ale.  

What's for dinner? Pork tacos three ways

Pulled pork tacos (from the slow cooker) topped three ways. From left to right:

• Homegrown, heirloom tomatoes and fresh, diced jalapeno

• Homemade kimchi

• Strained homemade gazpacho

Summer Garden Update: Week Nine

Tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and pumpkin - oh my!

We picked five tomatoes on Tuesday and it looks like we'll have a few more in a day or two. 

Heart disease and oral health

For all my talk about living a heart healthy lifestyle there is one component that I overlook every single day. Any guesses? The answer is a little embarrassing... FLOSSING! I brush at least twice a day and I waterpic several times a week but flossing is such a chore. (Especially for someone with a permanent retainer cemented to the back of my lower front teeth.) My excuses are the same everyday: in the morning I'm too rushed to get to work and in the evening I'm much too tired and just want to get to bed. 

My laziness wouldn't be a problem if I wasn't showing early signs of gum disease - but I am. It is most likely a symptom of taking over a decade's worth of oral contraceptives - but regardless of what is causing it it is something I need to get under control. 


The dental hygenist had a suggestion: don't wait until bedtime - instead make it a habit to floss immediately after lunch or dinner. I'm taking her advice to heart. I've been able to change my eating habits, lower my blood pressure, lose almost 20lbs and make exercise a routine part of my week - daily flossing is just the next step in living a truly heart healthy life. I can do it!

Facts about Heart disease and oral health:

• Those with adult gum disease may have increased risk of stroke

• Bacteria from the mouth may cause clotting problems in the cardiovascular system that lead to an increased risk of a fatal heart attack. 

•People with type II diabetes are three times as likely to develop gum disease then are nondiabetics.

Look honey, I baked! (chocolate cake by Cullen)

Pardon the pun, but this really takes the cake for procrastination!! This treat is officially Oliver's 32nd birthday cake (his 32nd birthday was in September of last year). For almost a year he has been asking when he is going to get his birthday cake - and since I find no joy in baking I have spent a year telling him to forget it! Well honey, I finally did it. I baked. Happy belated birthday!

The Recipe is from the Country Living website.