Pumpkin Beer

The Fall Season is finally at our doorstep. It is my favorite time of year. The crisp breeze blowing the colorful leaves around. The cool temperatures mean I can take my dogs on walks without sweating. And the most important…pumpkin.

I love pumpkin.

Pumpkin seeds.

Pumpkin spiced coffee (for those who have a Keurig, you have to try Green Mountain’s Pumpkin Spiced Coffee…so good).

Pumpkin pancakes.

Pumpkin Bread.

Pumpkin Ravioli.

Carving pumpkins.

Pumpkin patches.

And Pumpkin Beer.

Now I am not a big beer drinker. In fact when I do drink I don’t venture out from the light beer selections. Bud Light is my favorite and I am not ashamed to say it. But when the pumpkin varieties start to show up at the grocery stores and on dinner menus, I put my drinking hat on and put my Bud Light on the shelf to make room for the pumpkin beers.

And there are a lot of pumpkin beers out there. It seems I am not the only one who loves their pumpkin brews and breweries have taken note. So which ones are worth trying and which ones are not?

To help those who ask the above question, I am going to provide a beer novice’s review of this season’s hottest pumpkin brews: Chassie’s: A Non-Beer Drinker’s Review of Pumpkin Beer.

But I did just say that I'm not a big beer drinker...so I have asked my good friend's Husband, Nick, to provide a review on the same beers. Nick is a beermonger at Arrowine. He has his own blog on everything beer and he reviews beers for Arlnow. 

Stay tuned for the reviews…

The Fall Share (Week 17)

This was the first week of the Fall Share. The farmers, Sue and Claudia, sent out a list of the items we will see this season. Here are a few of the items:

jumbo peaches, several apple varieties, pears, including asian pears, wine grapes, table grapes, bell peppers, sweet peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, zucchini, and squash, heirloom potatoes, sweet onions, beans, beets, okra, kale, tomatoes, butternut and acorn winter squash, and hopefully, lots of different soup pumpkins

As soon as I saw the word "pumpkin" I was sold. Not that I was already before. But the idea of having pumpkins in my share makes me soooooooo excited.

Here is what we got this week:

1 bouquet of flowers

1 loaf of "french toast" bread

12 eggs

1 bottle of "Black Cabernet" wine vinegar

1 lb of honey

1 b of French Roast coffee

1 bag of herbal tea

1 lb of maple sausage

1/2 lb smoke Gouda cheese

6 ears of corn

1 butternut squash

3 red bell peppers

3 green/purple bell peppers

4 jalapeños

1 onion

6 potatoes

1 med/large zucchini

1 lb of green beans

4 pears

4 beets

Whewww that is a lot of stuff.

Here is the menu:

French Toast with home fries (bread, eggs, onion, green/purple bell peppers, banana peppers, potatoes and jalapeños)

Roast Turkey Panini with Pesto, Roasted Red Peppers with Green Beans Salad (red bell pepper, bread, green beans)

Butternut Squash Risotto with Pear Arugula Salad (butternut squash, pears)

Corn & Poblano Lasagna with Beet Salad (corn, bell peppers, beets)

We had the French Toast and home fries tonight. It was really good. I didn't think the bread looked any different than regular bread, but boy did it make good french toast! And cooking the potatoes in the oven before sautéing them on the stove is the way to go for soft inside and crispy outside potatoes for the home fries!

2012-2013 TV Schedule

Every year I put together the new TV schedule and the premiere dates for myself. And since this year I have a TV blog I am going to share it with you.

So without further ado…

Monday: 

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Sunday

I skipped Saturday because it will just be encores and investigative reporting shows.

I will post the premiere dates later. 

Chassie's What to Watch

I know this is late again. I am sorry. Life got in the way...

Here we go.

Switched at Birth Monday at 8:00 on ABC Family

Flipping Out on Tuesday at 9:00 on Bravo

Parenthood Season Premiere on Tuesday at 10:00 on NBC

Sons of Guns on Wednesday at 9:00 on Discovery

Tanked on Saturday at 9:00 on Animal Planet



Enjoy!

Chassie's What to Watch (September 2-8, 2012)

As the official 2012-2013 season starts, this list might get longer and longer. But until the season really picks up we will again have a short "What to Watch List".


Chassie's What to Watch

Switched at Birth-Season Premiere Monday on ABC Family at 8 pm

Grimm-Monday on NBC at 10:00 pm

Rookie Blue-Thursday on ABC at 9:00 pm

Tanked-Saturday on Animal Planet at 9:00 pm

Enjoy!

What I'm Watching this Week (September 2-8, 2012)

This week is the start of the 2012-2013 TV Season. Although the majority of the shows will start in a few weeks, one of my favorite show starts this week.

Sunday

Big Brother

Copper on BBC America at 10:00 pm

Monday

Switched at Birth Season Premiere-ABC Family at 8:00 PM

Hotel Hell on FOX at 8:00 pm

Major Crimes on TNT at 9:00 pm

Grimm on NBC at 10:00 pm

Gallery Girls on Bravo at 10:00 pm

Tuesday

Hell's Kitchen on FOX at 8:00 pm

Hart of Dixie on CW at 8:00 pm

Wednesday

Big Brother on CBS at 8:00 pm

SYTYCD on FOX at 8:00 pm

Thursday 

Big Brother on CBS at 9:00 pm

Rookie Blue on ABC at 9:00 pm

Project Runway on Lifetime at 9:00 pm

Friday

Not sure yet

Saturday

My Cat From Hell on Animal Planet at 8:00 pm

Tanked on Animal Planet at 9:00 pm

That is a total of 18 and half hours. Not too bad!

Last Week of the Spring/Summer Share

This week was the last week of the Spring/Summer share. We received our share in boxes instead of a crate. The box did the job but i much prefer to receive my share in a crate.

But don't worry, I signed up for the Fall share which will continue until the first week in November.

Here is what was in this week's box:

2 bouquet of flowers (which were not technically "in" the box)
1 loaf of bread
12 eggs
4 red bell peppers
2 yellow tomatoes
8 black plums
4 jalapeños
1 small bunch kale
1 graffiti eggplant
1 globe eggplant
7 peaches
2 onions
3 shallots
2 beets
1 yellow zucchini
4-5 lb chicken

Last week I picked up September's EveryDay with Rachael Ray magazine. It is the Italian Issue and it is awesome. This week's menu has four recipes from the magazine.

Here's the menu:

Speck & Zucchini Bruschetta (EveryDay recipe) with Kale with Roasted Beets and Bacon
Kale with Sausage French Bread Pizza (EveryDay recipe)
Zucchini & Penne with Hot Pepper Pesto (EveryDay recipe)
Eggplant Risotto...Shhhh don't tell Dave (EveryDay Recipe)
Quiche with whatever is in the fridge

This week I am going to try and take a picture of all of the menu items before we eat them. Most of the time I get so excited or am so tired i just eat the food. But I am going to have Dave remind me to snap a pic right before we gobble it up.