brewers CRAP

Yesterday was "Teach a Friend to HomeBrew Day".  I lugged all my brewersCRAP down to the Amsterdam Brewery in Toronto, Ontario to join the Southern Ontario Brewers (SOB's) for their day of celebrations.  This no fool around group was already elbow deep in mash and wort when I arrived at 10.  They stayed at their stations...not stopping for lunch..... taking a small break to see the bag of mash rise up...... after much boiling, straining and chucking hops into the mix..... everyone went home with their own carboys of yeast to be added .....beer.......

On top of all the little Chocolate bars, lollypops and pint size (not beer pint but small child pint size) bags of potato chips/orangish puffy things that I have consumed...... With in the last week, I have also eaten....... Steak.... Twice..... Pot roast.... Chili..... and today I'm making beef soup...from the bones.... (notice the beef theme).  Beer Man and I purchased a 1/4 beef from the farmer that feeds his cattle the spent grain from F&M Brewery.  Really good beef.  My advice.... find a farmer and buy some beef.    I'm looking forward to having some with the Coffee Oatmeal Stout that was brewed yesterday. Really good beer compliments really good beef.

AND I also read this book.  Jean Little is a local author that writes junior fiction about kids that have real issues.  Great stories for the younger, new to chapter book, reader.  Every Guelph Kids should read some Jean Little.....Every Canadian kid should read some Jean Little.

H

NOTE:  I read allot of junior and young adult fiction. I know this has no connection to beer or brewersCRAP but I like to read.  

My little buddy Spy-D passed away today. She was nineteen years old.  I got her from the North Bay SPCA for $10.  Spy-D was very creative  and often thought outside the box.  She will be missed by her friends LickLick, Mr Pickles and her humans.

and needs to travel.......

Fantasy flows through "Birdwing" by Rafe Martin.  I throughly enjoy the whole story...... Six brothers were turned into swans..... a spell was broken.  Five were turn back to their human form....... Ardwin was left with a swan wing for an arm..... He was a prince growing up with a marked  differance.  Ardwin, journeyed...... and so must this book.  Email me bananaknits@rogers.com and I shall send it to you....and then you, can pass it along and so on and so on...... Birdwing.... Pass it along........H

I'm not sure why I distrust local authors.  We have many in Guelph and most that I've read are quite good.  This was my first Jean Little book.  I chose it because a good friend of mine now works at the Jean Little Public School. I was surprised to find so many, very Guelph references.  Our fountain in the downtown square made it into the opening scene.  My favorite bookstore was named.  

In my own book writing experiences local reference were frowned upon.  It was very frustrating as I'm very much a "show off my community" person.  If I had used photos, they had to be universal.  My little Sock Monkey guy couldn't be in a Canadian phone booth or mail a Canadian letter.   I was told it wouldn't sell on the global market.  My project fissile.  

Jean Little's book "Dancing Through the Snow" is well written, enjoyable to read and chalk full of Guelph references.  Bravo Jean... I even cried at the last bit.  Next time I see you downtown I'll make sure to tell you in person.  

 Beer Man, George E, in his Weyermann pants, is at ease by the grain mill while modeling with some pre-crap......(aka  Weyermann bags still filled with grain)

Teacher.... The dog ate my homework.........

This is one of our Favorite books.  Due to the largeness of his head and ears, little Siamese cat on the cover (Skippyjon Jones) thinks that he is actually a Chihuahua.  (Cat thinks he is dog)............ 

Mr Pickles (our cat) has taken a special interest  in this book. 

                  

But doesn't everyone........... This book (along with others) was waiting for me when I came home today. 

I'm turning the page on Mustard and seeing what a Tribble has to offer...... baked in a pie?  (oh my).   What kind of beer do they drink in the Lambda System?  Things can only get better after a tall glass of Iced Neth.......Klingon food is scaring me a bit BUT  Scotty's Lemon Chicken looks like a great place to start...... Thanks so much M.  : ) H

I bought the book off of Amazon, read all the interesting facts about Mustard,  pondered over which recipes to try...... and made some.  I can't stop eating the Mustard and Anchovy Marinaded Olives.....

The kids even ate the Spicy Sugar Cookies..... ginger, cayenne, pepper, and of course Mustard.....

Cauliflower dipped in  Saffron Mustard Cream.... I'm making that again..... BUt the Mustard..... VERY hot mustard.......

and I ask WHY??? Other's made Mustard for our party and they weren't as hot.  Aunt Betty's mustard, sweet, smooth, yummy.  Even the "Zippy Mustard" was edible.  NOT that mine wasn't edible, both looked quite inviting......

the Course Grain Beer Mustard..... could be used as a wicked decongestant.   (but worked really well in Mustard Cream)..

 and the Honey Mustard..... I added extra honey....it's still hot.... BUT has a great Honey flavor and added a nice mustardyness to the Veggie Soup that I made the next day.

I will use "The Good Cook's Book of Mustard" by Michele Anna Jordan...... again and again...  The first section is loaded with great Mustard information and historical facts,  the recipes that I tried..... while not all as I hoped for were easy to read and most I will make again..... One thing that I found really neat with this book is the "Tasting Notes" section at the back.  Empty, tasting note forms that you can record your own findings while trying different mustards.   

The Beer Man and I will have to Make our way to "The Mount Horeb Mustard Museum"..... one of these days..... now that we are "Mustardafiles".

: ) H

This small backlog of consumed items is best displayed in a beer and book paring.

"The Maze" by Monica Hughes .... Each chapter of this made me want more....at a certain point I had to just finish it. An extreme case of high school bullying with some crazy magic twists.  Monica Hughes has always been a fav of mine, she did not disappoint with this one.    "Belvidere Big IPA"  by Rock Art ..... Each sip of this beer was as enticing as the last.... at a certain point my beer man just had to finished it.....

Polly Horvath has great stories, each so different from the last.  Each book I read is a surprise.  "The Canning Season" tells us about two old ladies who live deep in the woods in Maine and a little girl that comes to live with them.  With a telephone that only has incoming calls, bears, blueberries and a crazy set of people showing up..... hey it's a Polly Horvath, plot hilarity and unpredictable..... read this book........ "Red Racer" brewed in Surrey, BC.....did I mention that Polly (we are on first basis) lives in BC.... "Red Racer"  I love the graphics.  Girl with wild red hair riding a bike with her pumps...... NO helmet ..... Crazy Fun... I actually didn't drink this one yet but the ladies of the woods in "The Canning Season" seemed to be drinking a lot.... it reminded me of this can.

Mustard and Beer are a classic combo.  In this case I used Wellington's (one of my locals) Silver Wheat Ale in a Course Grain Mustard.  It takes at least 3 weeks for the flavor to develop.  The Mustard Party is tomorrow, I have resisted tasting it for three long weeks..... the mustard not the beer...... the beer smooth, lovely, just as every wheat should be, I have it now and then..... it's one of my locals but not the Beer Man's Brewery....... THE MUSTARD.... will be sampled tomorrow along with several others and I'll get back to you on how it goes....... H

Blonde Ale that is.  Last night my beer man and I tried Railway City's Iron Spike Blonde Ale.  I would buy this again. With a Bright and Cheerful finish and  a lovely amber color, it left me wishing I had bought more than one........ Beer man reviled that he had, had the Dead Elephant from Railway City and was a fan.  It would seem that Jumbo the Elephant had died in Saint Thomas and is now remember in the form of a IPA.  (I'm told that they have a Coffee Porter and somthing about a double IPA.)    H

 "Grease Town" is a junior fiction novel by Ann Towell.  Set in Oil Springs, Ontario during the oil boom in 1850's.  Ontario....oil boom....yes...... I checked online.......Some how I either missed this bit of Ontario history or have forgot this bit of history.   Non the less, this novel was interesting (historically) AND well written.  Grease Town.....Railway City........ while online I noticed that Oil Springs is quite close Railway City brewery in St Thomas.  I haven't yet tried any Railway City nor been to Oil Springs.......I'm thinking road trip.

H

BEER

Regal.....Spell it backwards...... I found that slogan on the front of a book that George bought today at the CCBA (Collectors of Canadian Brewery Advertising) 31st annual convention in Kitchener.  What a fun bunch.  Everyone was so friendly.  Thank-you so much for including us.  AND Extra Thanks to George Vine for sharing some Les Trois Mousquetaires....Looking forward to trying that later.

BOOK

I have finished "if you live like me" by Lori Weber.  READ this book.....if you are 15 read this book.....if you are 45 read this book.  I was captivated from start to finish.  Cheryl, the main character, is forced to move every year for her father's job.  She just wants to go home and is so focused on wanting to go home, that she doesn't realize there are some pretty cool things going on in Newfoundland.  A crazy incident gives her a new outlook on "the rock".   Again read this book.

H

 Don't get me wrong.  I do enjoy drinking beer.  Trying new beer.   Toronto Beer Festival is coming up this weekend and with CASKapalooza at the event..... Let just say I'm looking forward to "Does This Muumuu Make me Look Hefe?".  I enjoy being marketed to with interesting labels. I enjoy watching my partner's beer passion.  I enjoy eating ridiculously large steaks with our friends from Toronto and sampling selections of ridiculously hopped beers.  I enjoy sampling different kinds of sausages with different mustards while drinking one of my favorite beers. 

I have been struggling with this BLOG thing.  I really want to write it, but felt I should write about beer....as not my passion....it felt forced.  My passion books. 

I recently met a girl.  She is lovely.  My son wants to be just like her (he wants her job).  She works for Simon and Schuster.  I met her at Hillside Music Fest and immediately noticed her Bill Pete body art.  They (her boyfriend and her)  came over for sausages and mustard..... and brought the above mentioned favorite beer.  We talked books, the boys talked beer..... the evening was perfect.  

Last night.....early this morning, I decided that I shall BLOG about books.... Two things A.... I love Young Adult.....B I read mostly Canadian authors.  I'm about halfway through "if you live like me" by Lori Weber.  The back cover boasts Lori to be a masterful story teller.  The book doesn't disappoint.  The main character is unlikable, and yet I like her.  The setting Newfoundland.....and now I want to move there......... Lori even worked in a brewery reference.   Cheers Lori....I can't wait to see how it ends.    H

Hillside Festival starts tomorrow!!!!  brewersCRAP will there all weekend selling our CRAP...... 

This crazy ass photo is actually the Strawberries used to make their Strawberry Light.  Soooo. Yummy. 

 Hillside in four and half weeks...........

 Although we are still in Guelph.  George and I have spent the last while "movin' shop".  We've only gone two doors over but the box and unbox procedure remains the same.  AND I'm proud to say that most of the box from one house to the other was done via cycle and trailer!!!

Mr Brewerscrap…..aka George is now on route to the Craft Brewers Conference in Chicago.