Whenever Matt goes down into the basement, you never know what he’s going to bring up.
We were on the porch, swinging and talking, when he excused himself to the bathroom. Upon his return, he had what appeared to be a Budweiser in his hand
But if you know this family, you’d know that we only consumed Bud in dire emergencies, like we’re parched on a hot summer day with no clean water for miles around.
This was actually a new kind of mocktail. Instead of seltzer with a splash of juice or POM or cherries or lemon, it was seltzer with a splash of beer! Matt’s home-brewed hoppy pale ale, to be precise.
I was skeptical at first – but it was really GOOD! In a lite fizzy beer way. It tasted like water (Matt only put a tablespoon into the seltzer) but had the aroma and a hint of beer.
Why would you ever drink this when you could just drink a beer? On a night when you don’t want a buzz. Or are so dehydrated from your 6-miler in the spring 75* that you just don’t want alcohol ; )
Because we all know how much I do love beer!
And sweet potatoes and kale!!! Two of my very favorite foods.
Tonight’s dinner featured sweet potato fries made with a white sweet potato. All of those stripes are because we’ve discovered the PERFECT method for cooking fries: a cooling rack. [See the rack on a sheet pan in this cracker post.] The rack elevates them and allows for ideal air circulation. We cook them for 40 minutes at 400*. No need to flip or tend to! We also lightly coat them in olive oil before cooking.
The kale chips were cooked per usual and topped with SMOKED PAPRIKA!! Oh smoke, I knew I’d fall madly in love with you. World Market is the first specialty store I’ve found it. And it was only $2.99!
We also had baked Twin Oaks tofu! The Italian herb style.
Oh and ketchup! This was the Tribal Moose Cranberry Ketchup! I liked it OK, but after a few tbsp it was a bit too much.
CRUNCH.
Matt and I watched Cider House Rules tonight. GREAT movie!!!!!
We enjoyed the last of our homemade chocolate cups for dessert
Tomorrow’s gonna be a busy one – packed with fun I hope!
{ 87 comments… read them below or add one }
Love your blog as always….and I finally figured out who Faith looks like. Minnie Driver! Wonder if she hears this a lot. Also, I have the same pillow from Pier One that you have on your porch swing…love! Can’t wait till the bakery gets up and running. You guys are awesome!!
Love your energy!!
It’s definitely not the first thing I’d think of adding to my cocktail, but I don’t doubt he can make it taste good! If you guys come up with a cocktail recipe for that, do share.
http://gold-heartedgirl.tumblr.com/
oooo what are white sweet potatoes like? I’ve never seen them? So much fun how you and Matt experiment with drinks, I’m glad it was a good one! O and cranberries and ketchup make up part of my blood stream so I believe I will be needing to try the ketchup =). Have a great weekend!
White sweet potatoes are awesome! I don’t know how to accurately describe them for you in a way that will make sense. They’re sweet but almost like a lighter sweetness. They don’t seem as dense. I personally like them better than the orange.
I had kale chips at lunch.
Super yummy! I just found out today that we have a World Market in town! I’m definitely hitting it up tomorrow! 
So smart – I may just have to go to homegoods and find me a cheap – oven safe cooling rack!
I love that technique for cooking fries!! I am definitely going to have to try that.
You and Matt are too cute with your beer. My dad brews beer too. I love being his taster.
That is the perfect dinner – I am all for that meal! Yum!
I made Kale Chips the other (and ate the whole tray myself). They are sooooo good!
That’s supposed to say “other day!”
Cider House Rules was a good movie.
I’ve never had a white sweet potato! I think I’m partial to orange just because it’s orange and colorful, lol.
Do you ever make Bloody Beers? (Bloody Mary + Beer mixed together?) — My Mother in Law likes those, and they taste pretty good!
I’ve never seen Cider House Rules, but I read the book and I liked it very much.
Have a great night!
I don’t love bloody Mary mix..
This reminds me of Clamato Bud Light… one of my guy friends buys them sometimes & they’re terrrrible… making your own sounds much better!
Back when I used to drink, I looooooved me some bloody beers, but we called them Red Eyes!
I’m really jealous of your weather. I love the idea of the cooking rack for the sweet potatoes. I’m sure it makes them nice and crispy.
Cider House Rules is such a good old movie!
The white sweet potato wasn’t a Hayman sweet potato was it? My MIL was telling me about them, the last time we visited.
Ahhh I love fizz! You two rock my socks, I will definitely be brewing my own when I have my own place one day! Slash I am so excited for your bakery love dove! I love breadddd:)
You can also find amazing Hungarian smoked paprika at Penzey’s spices store or online!!! It’s the best!
Whole Foods Organic Ketchup (365) is the bomb!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have you tried it?
Not yet. I tried an organic one once and hated it so I’m scared to try again!
It’s inexpensive, so I say try it!
I figured it would be bland but…Oh No! It tastes sooooo awesome!!!
Maybe WF will read this and send you some to blog about…
one thing I know for sure is that WF’s Bone suckin’ sauce is aaamaaaaazzingg!
What’s w the closeup shot of your right boob? Lol. Kale chips look good though!
You are supposed to keep your eyes on the logo!
Those do look like the perfect sweet potato fries! I must get one of those racks!
Smoked paprika is the BEST! Try it on hummus, in egg salad/deviled eggs, and of course, in chili. We love it!
Paprika on kale chips is a great idea! I had them for the first time a couple weeks ago and loved them!
I like bud light on a hot summer day because it’s a more watered down beer, but for special occasions it’s ales for me!
enjoy this great weather!
Have fun tomorrow!
Sounds like a perfect meal! I love using a cooling rack to make nice grill marks on my sweet potato fries, but I’ve never seen a white sweet tater before. Hope you’re having a fab night Kath!
In Germany they served something called “Biker’s Beer” – basically beer mixed with lemonade served in the summer to be a refreshing drink to help hydrate people who had been out bike riding in hot weather. It was quite good!
Smoked paprika is totally awesome… I made dehydrated kale chips with a hummus/nooch/smoked paprika mixture on them that were FABULOUS!
I made my first trip to Charlottesville today in preparation for our move in fall 2012. LOVED IT. I’m totally moving there solely for the gooey brownie, though. I can see why you love Cville now!
Yay! Fall 2012 is so far away!
I picked up some of the local newspapers too, for possible job contacts (I’m a journalist) and I saw your picture in the Cville weekly talking about the Great Harvest opening! Best of luck!
Have you read the book _Cider House Rules_? It is even better than the movie! I highly recommend it.
Oh man, I loved smoked paprika. I’ve found it for super cheap at local discount grocery stores (it’s called Price Rite here, but I don’t know what you have in Virginia…. oh, by a Google search, it looks like Food Lion might be your best bet…) but yeah, I get a lot of really exotic/hard-to-find spices at discount markets that cater to those who enjoy cooking traditionally ethnic foods.
Oh my, those chocolate cups look to DIE for!
Love all the photos.
Cranberry ketchup? Not sure how I feel about that… but that’s probably because I don’t like ketchup
That looks like my kinda dinner! Love all of it.
I have heard so many bloggers mention these kale chips I finally tried it tonight. It was the first time I’d ever had kale at all and we split the kale between a sauteed recipe and the chips.. lucky we didn’t try them all as chips because my husband didn’t check them like I told him to, so they ended up a burned mess. But I really want to try them again because the one tiny piece that I tried that wasn’t burned was pretty good. Yours look great!
You do have to watch them closely!
I just got me some smoked paprika at World Market, as well! Ashley turned me on to this precious gem, and with one use already, I love it
I’m going to try making her vegan parm cheeze next! Happy eats!
The German drink to which Nancy alluded is the Radler, so name for the bikers; Rad means bike in German (Fahrrad is the proper name for a bicycle). It’s made with a lighter beer (I really like it with Hoegaarden) and lemonade. You can also make it with 7Up, and you are right – it is excellent after a good 10K (and it makes a bad one better). Can’t wait to try kale chips again, too!
Cool! I love the sound of it!
so many amazing things in this post!!!!
Matt’s home-brewed hoppy pale ale = nice!
cranberry ketchup
THAT tofu!
the kale chips
the marked sweet tater fries..
omg i just opened like 7 links from this post. your impressions went way up after my reading. lol
i adore it all in this post!
I love the idea for the cooling rack for sweet potato fries! I will have to try that. I have been making bacon using that method for awhile now. The cooling rack allows the fat to drip off & it makes the perfect bacon. Don’t forgot to line the bottom pan with foil or something for easy clean-up of that grease!
A tablespoon of beer in sparkling water? Really…
And it looked like that and tasted good? Somehow I doubt it.
After reading posts such as this, I start to question why bloggers feel the need to make people who may drink bud light feel like thats a bad thing. You say many thing I agree with, but the condescending tone and better than thou attitude always start to turn me off again.
Aron,
I missed the ‘condescending tone and better than thou attitude’–what part was it actually in? Maybe if you read the blog and look at the photographs, you will know Matt brews his own beer (looks dark and heavy) as showcased in photograph #3 through #5. I find it believable that a Tablespoon of that was put into the ‘homemade seltzer’ to create something similar to Bud. Kath didn’t ‘dis’ it, she drank it! I am not much of a beer drinker, but actually had an experience that I drank a bottle when I really wanted water because that WAS THE ONLY THING available after pushing a broken down vehicle a mile to a friend’s garage to get it fixed. Was very winded and parched… funny when one unrelated comment reminds you of something unpleasant that you can later laugh at. Anywho, don’t get turned off… we really are a happy, friendly, informative, fun environment. Have a nice day.
Oh, I meant to add – Everyone is unique and entitled to their own opinions and tastes. That’s what makes life interesting. If everyone were the same, life would be boring. Apparently, Kath had consumed Bud years ago, but now prefers something different. I have also previously consumed it and enjoyed it at the time. Also, Bud is a successful company (which indicates many people do enjoy it). Kath’s posts are fun, and sometimes sparks memories in what she presents that causes us laugh. I really don’t believe she ever wants to insult or hurt anyone–what she writes about are her own personal true feelings.
As a homebrewer and a craft beer lover, it’s easy to hate on the megaswill companies – they produce the lowest common denominator of beer. They use a very small amount of malt in each batch, which means less grainy flavor. They substitute things like corn and rice for barley, which also decrease the intensity of the flavor and lighten the body. They use just enough hops to barely surpass the human threshold of bitterness perception. All to create a beer with a single purpose: it’s refreshing and people will drink a lot of them.
BUT ALSO as a homebrewer and craft beer lover, I have a huge amount of respect for the fact that they can take malt and hops, which are an agricultural product that vary from year to year and even lot to lot, and make a consistent product that tastes exactly the same AROUND THE WORLD. That’s impressive production.
I just encourage people to sample the variety of beer out there – I have no doubt that there are people whose palates feel that BMC is the best beer out there and their favorite, but until you’ve really explored the world of beer it’s like saying Folgers is the best coffee and never looking any further.
Check out the documentary Beer Wars for a really interesting look at BMC’s dominance in the beer industry.
Those sweet potato fries look amazing, I never thought to use the white ones before but will definitely try this!
i ADORE smoked paprika… i’ve been known to steal all of my roommate’s expensive kind.
Kale chips and tofu! Oh, this beats my salmon and roasted butternut squash dinner, I think!
That is a great way to cook fries! As it is such a pain to turn every single one. Have a fun filled Saturday
I haven’t had kale chips in a while, might have to rectify that soon!
What a wonderful new mocktail idea. Absolutely love it! And, it’s about time for more kale chips around here. Yum-o!!!
“But if you know this family, you’d know that we only consumed Bud in dire emergencies, like we’re parched on a hot summer day with no clean water for miles around.” HA! I couldn’t have said it better myself! There are so, so many better beers in this world!
Hi Kath! I have a silly question for you!
We are coming down to Cville this weekend and I was wondering if any stores in Cville have coconut butter? Maybe Rebecca’s Natural Food or Whole Foods? Thanks! And hopefully next time, your Great Harvest will be open!
I am not sure if I’ve physically seen it at those stores, but I bet one of them would have it. Check at Integral Yoga on Preston too. Welcome to Cville!!
Thanks!! I love Cville and will definitely check all of those stores! I’ll let you know what we fond!
They had Artisana coconut butter at Rebecca’s!!! I finally get to try it! Just thought you might want to know
Oh yay!! What else did you do here!?
We went to the UVA vs VT basketball game yesterday and then had dinner at the Shebeen. (Not recommended after our meal last night though). Today and tomorrow are just for exploring more of UVA and some family time
I’m hoping to try Arch’s famous frozen yogurt tomorrow!
Fun! Def. get some gooey brownie
This dinner is perfect!! One of my favorites.
I buy all my spices from world market. It is so cheap, saffron especially!!!
I love cranberries and I love ketchup but I just don’t think that’s something I’d like together.
Roasted veggie and tofu dinners are a total staple for me. I’ve got to try topping my kale chips with smoked paprika next time!
Hey – love the title of the post! And good boob shot too.
My first batch of kale chips are on the agenda today.
wow I love roatsed dinners like that!!!!! I have got to try that sweet potato cooking method….the ones you made looked to crispy<- just the way I love! em'. Now if only I could get my hands on some of that twin oaks tofu….wow the way you describe it, it must be delicious! Oh and I love smoked paprika…I picked some up about two years ago and it is now a staple in my spice rack. It adds such great depth to any dish I add it too.
I’ve never heard of white sweet potatoes… do they taste the same as the orange variety?!
You always remind me of how much I love kale chips. Kale is going right onto my grocery list
.
really curious about that ketchup – my husband and i have been looking everywhere for some fancy types!
Your dinner looks delicious! Any interest in coming to Smith to teach the dining staff to make kale like that?!
oh my mymy my oh my oh my gosh. kerf, you are wiser. that entire meal looks great
Speaking of beer, I saw this today and thought of you and Matt! Also available as a poster…
http://popchartlab.com/index.php/shirt_detail/the_very_many_varieties_of_beer_t_shirt_navy/
More important than the boob in that pictures was the advertisement for Big Sky Brewing and Moose Drool – great beer from a really great place.
Great post love the vices in the article… and those fries and kale look great!!! I added this article in my weekly link recap bc I enjoyed so much!!!
Thanks!
http://fitfabfemale.com/2011/02/19/the-weekly-link-recap/
Kath…how did you do the baked tofu…I have a hunk that I was wanting to use this week??? Whole Foods has Artisana coconut butter…
Just in the oven at 400* for 30 minutes.
I love the cider house rules, such a fabulous movie
I need to get into beer more…
Heidi xo
The cooling rack is a genius idea … can’t wait to try it!
And, “The Cider House Rules” is a rare, rare case where I loved the book so much that I was afraid to see the movie, certain it wouldn’t be as good, but it very nearly is.
If anyone has trouble eating “healthy” food – they wouldn’t after seeing your pictures. I want to eat your page…
White sweet potatoes?? I didn’t know there was such a thing…thought they would just be white potatoes?
LOVE the cooling rack idea! Genius!!!!!!!
I’ll be making some sweet potato fries next week, for sure!