Brews Day Review :: Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout

The Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout is a beer that both Matt & I feel like we seem to always pass by but never have tried sadly soooooo Matt finally grabbed a bottle on his latest trip to the liquor store. From some research this beer was first brewed in the 1880's and the reintroduced in the 1980's. The flavor was great, a strong dark chocolate burst is what you get right away and then smooth yet rich and earthy roasted malts follow. Overall, great beer~ no wonder why it's been around for so long :-)

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Matt & I aren't much for always celebrating smaller holidays (ie: Valentines Day, St.Patricks Day Flag Day... you get the idea) but we have been trying to a bit more because it does make an ordinary day a bit brighter and we can have something to look forward to. Plus one day down the road when we have kids I think little things like this could be really fun!

SO I thought Cinco de Mayo would be a good day to try out a meal that I LOVE to order when going out for Mexican but have always thought it would be too hard to make at home, which is Chili Rellenos, which I happen to turn into more of a Chili Rellenos cassorole. Damn, it was soooooo good! The husband said its one of the best meals I have made in a long ass time and I couldn't agree more!

The Finished product.

Basically Chili Rellenos is egg battered chili's stuffed with cheese & such. Well, turns out with a bit of planning I can make this awesome meal at home now!! Now I now Cinco de Mayo isn't really a big thing in Wisconsin (it REALLY was when I lived in Arizona of course) but hey, it's got cheese in it so thats Wisconsiny enough, right?! Here are the rest of the photos on how I made this fun dish!

The tools for some homemade guacamole Matt made.

Charred and blistered chilis before they were pealed.

The filling: refried beans, tomatoes, garlic, onions, spices and shredded cheese.

Starting to layering everything - oh and MORE cheese :-)

The egg batter topping.

Hot bubbly yummyness, strait from the oven!! So good!

Of course we washed it down with a tasty brew!

Wisconsin on Etsy

So I love Etsy... (who doesn't)!? Well for me one of the things I happen to enjoy most is the fact that their are so many truly inspiring/talented artists of all kinds featured that are local and proud of it. I found a few Wisconsin related items that I have added to my wish list and if you are from Wisconsin or just love Wisconsin you may like these as well~ Enjoy!

Link to Wisconsin Wood Hook

Link to Wisconsin Cutting Board

Link to Wisconsin Necklace

Link to Wisconsin Wooden Teething Toy

Wausau Sunset

Takin a trip Up North for the weekend and they sky's over Wausau, Wisconsin never looked so good! We were lucky to see an amazing sunset after a crappy drive with rain and dark clouds. Sadly my non iPhone/Droid phone camera did it NO justice.

Lapham Peak & Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive

Over the holiday weekend we tried to get out for a bit and so we headed to near by Lapham Peak State Park, hiked up the fire tower and enjoyed the view (though it was VERY windy!) I know I am looking forward to heading back to this near by spot to take the pup for a hike and Matt is excited to try out their bike trail, especially once the weather gets nicer! Here are a few picts from our time there, we'll have to get pictures too again when the weather improves and everything doesn't look so dead.

After Lapham Peak we weren't quite ready to head home yet so we continued on and took in some Wisconsin Rustic Roads and the Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive. It was really relaxing and not too far from home so we didn't have to spend to much in gas considering it's over $4 a gallon here now~ UGH! Enjoy a few of the quick shots we snapped on the drive!

Happy Easter

Oh yeah, the Eater Bunny & I were not getting along to well this year, but don't worry, we made up!! Happy Easter 2011!

Lumber Inn

Since due to a crazy few weeks of work for both Matt & I for the first time ever I think we are not traveling for a holiday weekend but instead are just staying home (though for the record we are Northwoods bound next weekend.) We love breakfast though we don't go out for it all that often but decided today we would hit up one of our favorite breakfast joints, the Lumber Inn in Delafield Wisconsin. Tasty food, quick, priced right and diner style bar... you can't ask for much more!

It was only fitting to look the lumberjack part at the Lumber Inn...

I got what I am going to have to refer to as the "Michele Special" (after my sister who LOVES this). What it is, is a blueberry pancake with over easy eggs on top. I guess it might sound gross to some but it really hit the spot today- thanks Michele!

Enjoying a tasty cup o' joe!