What could you imagine more perfect for Matt’s birthday than a beer dinner!!?!?
Gosh, we have GOT to get to bed!!! His alarm is set for 3AM, mine 5AM. Yikes!!!!
Backing up…..
My oatmeal for 40 cafeteria manager went OK. I made the batch and it turned out as expected, but I didn’t realize it was being SERVED at a different location!!! D’Oh!!!!!!! I had to package it up and transport to the school headquarters for serving…
I have to say, it was easier to get KIDS to like my oatmeal than ADULTS!!!
That is until I got my officemates to try it….with Barney Butter!!
I think they liked it :mgreeen:
A while later I packed up and snacked on these on my ride home….PLUS an end piece of Dakota bread that I had in my bag
When I arrived in Charlotte I met Matt for a birthday power walk uptown before our dinner reservations. Thanks to a runner for the iphone photo!
We walked for an hour – my workout for the day – and discussed our house sale, Great Harvest and our NYC trip logistics. It was an important business meeting!!
I walked in tennis shoes and brought boots for dinner
The birthday dinner tonight was a BEER dinner at The Liberty!
We met Kate + Nate + Diana + Dan! So happy they could join us 
We arrived early and headed to the bar where we got his and hers drinks
And a pumpkin beer sample
Before heading into the private room for the dinner
The beer was by Big Boss, a local Raleigh brewery. I have to say I was really, really impressed by the flavors!! I don’t care for IPAs or hoppy beers and theirs pleasantly surprised me 
The menu:
For the opener they served biscuits with ham and pimento cheese
Wasn’t my favorite…
But I really liked the Amber Rye that went with them
The scallops were great
LOVED the Bad Penny
And with the Coca-Cola pork shoulder!?!? OMG! This is where cola is appropriate!! I ate most of this combo dish
Next stop [Note - I didn't drink too much of each brew - just enough for tasting + pairing]
Totally the best dish of the night – Montana Bison Short Ribs!
I don’t care much for meat and these were out of this world!
Dessert brew
Each course was better than the last…
This was Chocolate + Vanilla Ice Cream with Honey Peanuts, Valhrona Ganache + Marshmallow Fluff.
TOTALLY AMAZING!!!!!!! Ganache in the middle!! Marshmallow and amazingness.
Gotta get to sleep ASAP, but we’re already excited for the Liberty‘s beer dinner in February!!
{ 58 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, that looks like a fantastic birthday celebration!!! The scallops + bison look amazing! And the desserts… OMG! Yummm
Have a good night’s sleep!
Jenn
That looks so yummy! Looks like a fun birthday dinner
The birthday celebration looks like a great one!
That is an awesome way to celebrate Matt’s birthday!
The scallops are to die for…glad you had a good celebration!
What a fun birthday! The dessert looks amazing!
You guys make such a cute couple! I love that first picture!
I would go to that restaurant just for dessert – YUMMO! Happy Birthday, Matt =)
Looks like a great Bday celebration! Happy Bday Matt
Honey peanuts… marshmallow fluff… yum! Sounds like a nice b-day celebration!
Looks like a fun birthday dinner! Looking at it is making me hungry!
Hope getting up tomorrow isn’t too difficult!
Awww what a sweet present for your brew master. I hope your alarm doesn’t go off too soon.
Oh. My. Gosh. Your plates look AMAZING. What an awesome birthday feast
Happy birthday, Matt!
Is that a Bell’s Glass I spy?? I love going to their Brewpub in Kalamazoo, and totally miss Oberon now that I live in Dallas!!
Yep!!
Happy Birthday Matt!!
Awesome dinner for an awesome couple! Looks fantastic!
Happy Birthday, Matt!!! What a perfect dinner for the brew master himself. Good luck with the wake up call
The bison ribs and the ice cream dish sound amazing! Have a happy Friday!
correct me if i’m wrong…but is that a Bells glass (in the first picture)? If it is, awesome that Bells would be where you live. If I’m wrong…at least the beer looks tasty!
Yep, Bells! And that’s what the next beer dinner is!
what a fun birthday! my hubby’s turning 27 next weekend…maybe i can find a beer dinner for him here in Colorado? you guys are too cute
Hi – I just wanted to share my news with you!
Today I got accepted to study a Degree of Nutrition and Food Sciences, at an Australian University!
I am (almost!) 34, and haven’t been at school or studied anything since 1993! And it is all because of you.
Three years ago I changed my life around, eating habits and exercise and went on to lose 25kg (55lb) in the next 2.5yrs.
One day I googled how to roast chickpeas…. and up came your recipe on your blog. I began to read and found that we had so many common interests. Your blog is a wonderful place to find new foods to eat and plenty of inspiration to keep working at my goals. And it is fun to see how someone lives on the other side of the world.
Early in 2009 I decided that being a Pastry Chef / Baker (hows that for uncanny…) no longer had my full interest and I began looking around for a new challenge in life. And it came to me while reading your blog one evening.
Why not roll all my food, weight loss and love of health and life into one. So i enrolled.
I’m so very excited to start on this new pathway – and I just wanted to let you know that you are the reason I am. Thank you!
thats amazing
Congratulations Leanne!! I feel honored
oh what a wonderful evening
Glad to hear that you all had fun!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MATT! Hope the bears got you something good.
i’ve always been intrigued by coke + ham since seeing nigella lawson do it. happy bday to your fantastic hubby!
nice pics of the foods!
I might have to relocate, just to go to this restaurant! LOOKS AMAZING!
The food looks so yummy! This is a fun birthday dinner!
What a great birthday dinner! Sounds like so much fun, and it looks delicious!!
Gosh American people seem to find a way of fitting pumpkin into anything and everything!
and WOWZER that dessert sounds incredible..!!
Glad you had a good day
big boss
yay!! so glad you liked it. come to raleigh + go to the brewery! my sister claims it is ‘a dive’ but i’ve never been there. i really like their beers!
What a fun dinner! Happy Birthday to Matt! The scallops looked amazing! Yay for Friday!
Yay! Glad matt had a great birthday, the dinner looks awesome!
I’m sure Matt loved his special beer dinner.
Dear Kath:
I want to thank you for a great and interesting post. I added your blog with many others to my Reader because it had a health bent, but it stands out from the crowd for me – I look forward to it. Your posts about healthy foods in schools is so interesting, and I love seeing what new things you’ve done and what good can come of helping kids get good food while they’re at school. Oatmeal yay! I am working on my certificate to teach K-12 Art, another reason I am interested, since I’ve been seeing the good, the bad, and the ugly while teaching and observing. Some schools are making sure kids have eaten breakfast – which I think obviously makes a huge difference for everyone – the kids and the teachers/staff alike.
I also relate to and enjoyed this post because of the other topic, the beer dinner. My boyfriend is craft-brew crazy and he’d love something like this! Not saying I wouldn’t enjoy it too of course. So it was interesting to see your exploits in both the world of the cafeteria and the world of beer tasting dinners. Thanks for a cool and interesting post!!
Sallie
Thanks for your nice comment!
Happy birthday matt!! The liberty looks great!!
That dinner looks so amazing! Seems like the perfect birthday dinner. Happy 27th Matt!
Happy Belated Birthday Matt!
That dinner looks amazing. I definitely want to check out the Liberty for their next beer dinner or the wine dinner coming up in a few weeks!
Hope you are both surviving the day-after-the-night-before! I was just going to direct you to Nigella Lawson’s recipes! Its interesting how children, if you catch them before they are too old, are far more receptive generally to new things, or change than adults– thats why your job at the moment is so important! After working alongside dieticians in caring for patients in hospital, I’m looking forward to reading about your hospital rotation
Aww…looks like a great meal and so much fun!!
I wanted to tell you that I live in Raleigh and if you’re ever here, you have to go on the Big Boss brewery tour. It’s a lot of fun and they give out samples of everything. Big Boss is served in most of the good bars and restaurants here and I like pretty much everything they make!
It’s on the list!
I’m the same… IPAs are generally too “hoppy” for me, but I love a good, strong malt-y flavored brew!
That dinner looks awesome! I tried Barney Butter for the first time last night and was amazed at how much it tasted like peanutbutter and was D-E-LICIOUS!
Looks like a great birthday dinner! You know, Barney Butter will make anyone like oatmeal better! I made my oats with a little egg white in them this morning per something I saw on your blog a while back. I loved them! I was a little hesitant (especially since I don’t want to mess up my oats – best way to start the day), but I gave it a try since I am trying to sneak a little more protein in my diet (I don’t eat meat). I will be posting on it and linking back to you in the next couple of days. Thanks for sharing that!
Big Boss is awesome, I went there over the holidays and loved their beer!
aw, looks like such a fun celebration!! and perfect for someone who loves beer as much as matt
Looks like such a fun night! I had scallops too for dinner, but yours looked better
Looking forward to meeting you tomorrow at the Brooklyn Brewery!
yay birthday celebration! That restaurant looks awesome! The food was presented so well and looked mighty tasty!
Oh. My. Gosh. I am CRAZY jealous of that dessert, looks out of this world!!!
And Barney Butter makes all things better!
Totally sounds like the perfect Bday night for my guy too!
Happy Birthday to Matt, and Cheers for the Bell’s beer glass I think I see in the photo! (Former Michigan resident missing the Bell’s love!)
I’ve been to big boss brewery!!! it’s a really cool space with lots of different rooms for hanging out. And their beer is good too
Happy Belated Birthday Matt!
Oh my! That dessert looks so good. I love marshmallow fluff!