Stout French Onion Soup Beef Sandwiches I stick my finger in a hole in the side of the plane the size and shape of a bullet hole. The fact that it’s on the inside wall of the plane, from my seat somewhere in the middle of the tiny South American airliner, that causes the worry.… Read More
Grilled Beer and Brown Sugar Wings Food people mark the seasons in a different way. Sure, plant people mark it by what to plant when, and what to prune, what to seed. Fashion people pin the crap out of new wardrobes. The acting crowd doesn’t have weather seasons, they have “pilot season,” “award season,” “I… Read More
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Stout Brownies I was on a train, somewhere near midnight, traveling south trough Italy. I was 20-years-old, traveling with another girl my age who was hardly bigger than a middle schooler. We found a sleeping car, closed the door and latched it shut. These are the things you do when you’re a… Read More
Espresso Stout Chocolate Soufflé Cake I spent the weekend driving a loop around the Pacific Northwest. From Portland, to Hood River, up the middle of Washington, through Leavenworth and Suncadia, over to the coast with a long drive down the 101. It was fantastic. Maybe it was the company, maybe it was how gorgeous Washington and Oregon… Read More
Simple Make Ahead Chocolate Stout Pot de Crème It’s seems small, just a forgotten “5” that didn’t survive the mobile cut-and-paste before I hastily searched the subway app for the route to take me uptown. The minor detail landed me on the wrong train and 10 blocks from my destination, in heels, and a darkened… Read More
Coq au Ale: Drunk French Chicken I’m in a back room of a brewery a few minutes after delivering the keynote address at a beer conference and I settle in to listen to a presentation about glassware. I’m bracing for the typical arguments, still vaguely uncertain that a “proper” glass has anything more than… Read More
Stout Steak with Sriracha Beer Butter For Two I’m not going to tell you what to do. If I did, and you listened to me, you’d end up with a really weird life. Chances are you don’t want to teach anger management to gang members or almost die in Morocco so it’s a good thing… Read More
Porter Caramelized Onion and Brie Dip I have what people now refer to as a “creative brain” and what used to just be called “a behavior problem.” It’s done well over the years to lead me down some fascinating rabbit holes and land me in a job that makes me more grateful than I have… Read More
Chocolate Stout Truffle Mousse Bars with Pretzel Crust At a beer event in a crowded bar in Portland, Oregon last week I talked to a talented brewer about his participation in an upcoming brewing competition. “Really, I’m just going so that I can drink some more of their Yodo!” He laughs and talks about how… Read More
Mushroom Stout Skillet Chicken Pot Pie (with vegan option). One pot, thirty minutes, lick-the-pan-good. What I learned in 2015 If you lower your rates to accommodate someones budget they won’t appreciate you, they will devalue you. You’ll automatically be a bargain item, you’ll be on sale and worth less to them. I learned how to brew… Read More
Porter Caramelized Onion, Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Bites Best Beer Trends of 2015 Grapefruit: Grapefruit became the new bacon in 2015 making its way into nearly all styles of beer from IPA’s to sours. The tart-sour-slightly-sweet ingredient pairs perfectly with hops making it no surprise that brewers became fascinated with the citrusy addition. I… Read More
A few weeks ago I stopped a radio interview, mid-conversation, to correct the interviewer. I don’t ever do this. I love talking to people who don’t know beer, who want to ask questions. People who have genuine interest in learning about a subject they have only scratched the surface of. Sometimes I get someone who… Read More
Pecan Pie Smoked Porter Brownies I have these moments. These “how have I lived this long without this?” moments that seem to reveal an incompleteness prior to the revelation that I was unaware of. Beer was a big one. Realizing in the dawn of my beer drinking days that “imported” didn’t mean better, it meant,… Read More
Corn and Black Bean Enchiladas with Chipotle Stout Red Sauce Let’s say you had someone coming over for dinner. This is a person you like, a person that happened to be vegan. But for you, that’s not a big deal. You’ve got this. Except you don’t. Because salad is boring, and pasta is predictable. You… Read More
Stout Brined Pan Seared Flank Steak with Sage Chimichurri I’m going to tell you why I’m not a good person, at least not at first. I was late a few days ago, trying to get to a place that had me stress-rushing but wasn’t important enough to remember now, three days later. The car in front… Read More
Oatmeal Stout Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars A few years ago I had to sell a house. One I’d bought when I was probably too young to do so, and the Los Angeles housing market was angry and hostile. It was only about a year before things started to go south and I knew I needed… Read More
It started with a phone call. A question. Would I be interested in teaming up with Fort George Brewery out of Astoria, Oregon to brew a beer for this years Willamette Week’s Beer Pro/Am in Portland, Oregon? Of course I would, what kind of questions is that? I’d love to, not-be-able-to-sleep thrilled to. First step: deciding what I… Read More
Stout Braised Pork and Black Bean Empanadas The first thing you notice about the owners of Bogota Beer Company is how much they care. About each other, about the people who work for them, about the brand and every detail of it. It conveys so strong, the minute they picked me up from an airport… Read More