Proper BBQ : The Perfect Warm-Weather Gift

If this isn't the most perfect summer kick-off gift around, I don't know what is.  Not only is the packaging design exquisite, but I'm sure the BBQ flavors are just right.

The only problem is that I haven't been able to track down where to buy this fine kit...

Anchor Space : Otis Redding

Currently fermenting in the bottles, our Anchor Space : Otis Redding Red Hop Amber Ale is just about ready to enjoy!  I recently designed these labels for the bottles and bottle caps.  It was a fun personal challenge and I'm very happy with the results!

Brew Round Two + Brooklyn Wort Homebrew Competition

This past weekend was full of homebrew for us! Josh and I attended the Brooklyn Wort homebrew competition held at the Gowanus Studio and brewed our second bath of Anchor Space homebrew.  At Brooklyn Wort, we tasted 30 different homebrews and voted on our favorite.  One of the two we voted for received the Judges Choice award.  I think that means we're good brew tasters!

And a bit about our own homebrew : we went for a red hop ale and decided to call it the Anchor Space : Otis REDding.  It should be good!  We used a great blend of grains and chocolate for steeping, four different hops (aroma and bittering variations), and a lovely red malt to make a great hoppy red ale.  Plus it's already fermenting in the carboy!

Two weeks of carboy fermentation ahead, plus three more weeks of fermentation in the bottles until they are carbonated and have some alcohol, but we're already looking forward to the first taste!

Here are some of our weekend photos :

Breakfast for a Queen

My new favorite breakfast is inspired by my local coffee shop, Milk Bar.  So simple and delicious : Fruit+Nut granola topped with Greek honey-flavored yogurt and a few thin apple slices on top.  Paired with a fresh cup of coffee, this breakfast is an incredible way to start the day.  Eventually, I plan to make my own granola, but for now my store-bought version works quite well.

Anchor Space Pale Ale : Bottling Day

Great news from Anchor Space homebrew.... we just bottled our first batch this weekend! After sanitizing all of our bottling equipment, bottles, and caps, we successfully filled almost 8 six-packs of our Anchor Space Pale Ale.  Now we wait again for more fermentation.  After a few weeks, we will test them out!

Don't worry, custom labels are on the way!

Sanitized bottles.

Sanitized bottle caps.

Anchor Space partner, Josh.

Siphoning into the bottling bucket.

First bottled brew!

Anchor Space Pale Ale : Homebrew-Style

Last weekend, Josh and I experimented with our joint Christmas present to each other : a starter homebrew kit from Brooklyn Homebrew.

As intimidating as we thought homebrewing would be, the process was rather simple and straightforward.  Quite enjoyable, actually.  It felt like we were the guides of our own science experiment, and were very excited when our brew began to foam indicating that we successfully began fermenting!

Here's a little overview of how we brewed our first batch of Anchor Space Pale Ale :

With a ton of unknown equipment spread out across the office floor, we explored "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" book to familiarize ourselves with what we had and what we were supposed to do with it.  It's important to note that we followed an ingredient kit prepared by Brooklyn Homebrew to make our first round easy... we're really glad we did! After a half-hour introduction, we sanitized all of our equipment, and got a pot of water on the stove.  

We seeped our grain mixture in some water to infuse the water with all of its flavors.  We added some more water, brought it to a boil, added three different hop variations at different increments, and finally added the pre-made malt liquid to the boiling water.  This combined mixture is called wort.  Once the wort boiled for the proper amount of time, we used a copper tubing coil to chill the wort quickly.  Once chilled, we transfered the wort to our fermenting carboy, filled the carboy with more water to equal 5 gallons, and added the yeast.  

The next morning when we woke up, the yeast was doing it's job fermenting.  Success! Our brew will remain in the fermentation carboy for 7 - 14 days at which point we will add sugar, bottle the brew, and let it ferment once more in the bottle before enjoying the fruits of our labor.  All in all, we will have spent 8 hours brewing beer, 2 months allowing it to ferment properly, and will result in almost 9 six-packs of our own Anchor Space Pale Ale creation to enjoy.  Pretty good deal if you ask me!  

We're looking forward to making our next round of Anchor Space Brew in the near future.

Drinking brew while brewing

Here are a few photos of our process : 

Sanitized Equipment

Hops and malt

Rapid-cooling the wort

Adding the malt

Into the glass fermentation carboy

First day of fermentation : success!

One of the Reasons I Love this Season...

Aside from the decorations, peppermint white chocolate mochas, and general holiday cheer, I love this time of year because you can get d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s grapefruit!!!  I could eat about a hundred of these a day.

Homemade Chinese Dumplings

Several days ago, Josh and I had another adventurous day in the kitchen.  We made Chinese dumplings from scratch!  They were oh-so-yummy with our hand-rolled dumpling skins, and small-batch fillings containing any of the following ingredients : shrimp, tofu, scallions, cilantro, ginger, garlic, onion, shredded carrots, shredded cabbage, and of course sesame and red pepper oils.  We made enough to have a couple of rounds of leftovers, but they didn't last long.  They were just THAT GOOD.

Here are some photos of our cooking adventure:

Made from Scratch : Japanese Ramen

Chef Goleman and Sous Chef Munday-Goleman made a fine cuisine for dinner last weekend.  We took on the challenge of Japanese Ramen from scratch.  We adapted a couple of recipes we found online and the result was spectacular.

It was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!

I Just Love...

I just LOVE weekends like this one.  I was so busy, I didn't even stop to take photos.  My weekend was filled with live music, pommes frites, a little redecorating at our home, tomato bisque dinner party, bread and cheese, delicious wine, board games, handstands and back bends in the park, a wonderful bike ride, and a little couch relaxing before Monday hit.  I spent lots of time with friends and plenty of time exploring Brooklyn, just me and my husband.

It was just wonderful!

Soup's On

What could be a better fall smell than soup cookin' in the kitchen?  It's such a perfect chilly-day treat!  This weekend, we have Chicken Tortilla Soup to warm us from the inside out.  YUM!

Oh My. Apple Pie.

A couple of weekends ago I wandered upstate in a 15-passenger van with several friends to go apple picking. Here is the result of our trip.

I'm not a big crust-lover so this pie was just right.

We also have a fridge stocked with homemade applesauce, a perfect snack. Yum!

Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe

I thought I'd pass along my favorite pizza dough recipe I received from Keith a few years ago.  It makes the YUMMIEST dough I have ever had.  Enjoy!

Pizza Dough Recipe

Combine the following in a bowl: 

2 cups warm water

2 packages yeast add a little sugar

3/4 cup whole flour

Let stand for 15 min.

Stir in the following : 

1 1/4 cup flour

3/4 c. olive oil

2 tsp. salt

2 cups semolina flour

1 cup white flour

Stir to combine.

Knead for five minutes.

Let rise 1 hour before using.

I highly recommend baking your pizza at 375 - 400 degrees using a pizza stone so that your crust will be extra crispy and oh-so-delicious.

Fall Festivities!

Over the past couple of weekends, I've thoroughly enjoyed several fall-themed events. To start with, two weekends ago I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of Eric Ryan Anderson and his (now) wife Amy.  It was a beautiful wedding in Cold Spring, NY with a farm reception.  Gorgeous trees, beautiful people, and perfect location.  Here's a portrait Josh took of the newlyweds at the reception and also one of me at the farm :

The day following the wedding was our annual Harvest Days in PA.  We gorged ourselves with apple cider donuts, cider, pumpkin carving, good food, fun drinks, and great friends. It was pure happiness!  

This past weekend, Sunday was such a perfect fall day!  Several friends and I rented a 15-passenger van, loaded it up and headed upstate a bit to a lovely apple orchard.  We picked apples right of the tree (lots of them), ate more apple cider donuts, local honey, whiskey cider, and gathered back in Brooklyn for individual homemade pizzas, whiskey drinks, and hilarious games!  I've still got so many apples, I need to make an apple pie ASAP.

I'm filled to the brim with warm fall fuzzies, and only hope it continues for the weeks to come!  I just love this time of year!!

Coffee Time - Stumptown in Brooklyn

A good friend we recently visited in San Fran spoke so highly of Stumptown coffee, that we went on a mission to get a bag (or two) for ourselves.  Lucky for us Roots Cafe sells Stumptown by the bag.  The two varieties we are now thoroughly enjoying are Costa Rica Herbazu and Indonesia Gajah Aceh.  Mmmm... makes for a wonderful morning wake-up treat.

Harvest Days 2010

Our annual friend/family tradition of Harvest Days was this past Sunday.  I'm not sure we could re-create the amount of fun we had in one day if we tried!  Complete with caramel apples and apple cider, hay rides and truck rides, the giant tree-swing, a game of croquet, chili dinner, pumpkin carving, and topped off with a bonfire.  The day was pure magic!

After a long day of playing, we had a slumber party at the farm.  We made our way back to Brooklyn on Monday and came home to a crazy storm that included hi wind speeds, hail, and of course some street flooding.  Crazy!