Brutul

There are limited GF beers (even though every time we go to the store I ask). Ciders can get old quickly because of their sweetest. A nice compromise is to make a Black Velvet, which is a combination of cider and dark GF beer. I talked about my first experiment here. Last weekend, Justin spotted this Brutul (brew tool) at Spec's.

For this combination, I chose Woodchuck Farmhouse Original Hard Cider and Green's Dubbel Dark Ale. My sister, Kristen, gave me this awesome Woodchuck glass from a dinner she went to where they paired food with ciders. For Justin, in honor of Movember, I took out this mustache glass that he received while in a wedding.

I took a picture of Justin with his glass mustache and I pulled up an old photo when he grew a mustache in 2009 to support Movember.

The brew tool worked awesome! It took a minute to figure out what position (close or far) gave the best pour. The closer to the turtle shell, the better. Plus, the turtle's mouth is also a bottle opener!

The perfect pour and mixture!

Amy's GF Pizza

It's Sunday night, and I am thankful that I don't have to work tomorrow. In fact, I have the entire week off for Thanksgiving; it couldn't have come at a better time. This school year has been nonstop! I'm looking forward to sleeping in, catching up on cleaning, going to appointments, and just relaxing. I'm hoping to be able to start blogging regularly again.

I'll start this post off with some football food that we enjoyed yesterday during the MSU game. We had an Amy's gluten free pizza that Justin and I found it at the commissary.

It was a plain cheese pizza that we cooked on our pizza stone. 

But, we decided to jazz it up with some cajun sausage that we had left over from Jambalaya.

 I sliced it up and spread it across the pizza. You could of course add veggies, other meat, or eat it plain.

The pizza cooked up nicely with the sausage and added extra flavor.

We also made a Black Velvet to drink with the pizza. Last weekend we bought a new tool that makes the process much easier. I'll share about that tomorrow! I also had some Wishbone buffalo ranch salad dressing to dip my pizza in (seen here). Overall, the pizza was decent. I think adding to the top of it made it taste better. The crust was thin and the sauce wasn't over powering. 

Mini Wine Tour

This school year has been jam packed with events, paperwork, lessons to plan, papers to check and meetings. I've been staying late and still bringing more work home to complete. It's almost 9:00 and I just finished my lesson plans. This past weekend was a breath of fresh air because we were able to spend the weekend in the hill country. I could leave all my stress and a dirty house to enjoy a weekend in Wimberley.

On the drive out, we always pass a sign for a winery not too far from the property. Justin and I love exploring the various wineries in the area (remember this visit, and this one too) so it was hard to believe we had never been to that one! Justin, his grandparents, aunt, and I decided to check out a few wineries on Saturday afternoon. 

Fawncrest Winery is located right near Canyon Lake. Here is the view from the back porch.

We also stopped at Driftwood Vineyards where they were set to host a wedding. It looked gorgeous!

Another view from Driftwood.

Our last stop was Wimberley Valley Winery. Did you notice the llama in the background? We were too caught up in wine tasting to take any pictures inside the wineries. At least I took pictures of the beautiful day.

The whole crew!

Gluten Free Options at Comerica Park

In honor of the Tiger's playing in the World Series tonight, I thought I'd find time to update. Plus, this post relates to my previous one about the Tiger's.

When we were at the game about a month ago there was a rain delay. With all the waiting, I didn't realize I had become hangry (hungry + angry). Luckily, I knew there were some gluten free options at Comerica Park. I had read up on their website about the Brushfire Grill.

I was a little disappointed when I did read their gluten free options because none of them were a meal. My choices were a fruit plate, hummus & veggies, or peanuts!

Although I did smile when I noticed Redbridge!

I opted to order a chicken breast (of course sans bun), a Redbridge, and hummus & veggies. The chicken was served with Lay's potato chips which I could eat. Since I was hangry, I was upset that they served me a bag of pretzel thins with the hummus. In the end, I was thankful to have some gluten free choices especially because it filled my belly and I wasn't sick.

Another FYI, under concessions on their website it also lists other GF choices:

All Sausages and Hot Dogs (without the bun), Chicken Breast, Turkey Leg, French Fries, Peanuts, Popcorn, Nachos w/o cheese (salsa only), Frozen Minute Maid, Redbridge, Beer – Beer Hall

Summary of Michigan Trip

I need to wrap up my Michigan vacation posts since tomorrow is my actual last day of summer vacation. I officially go back to work on Wednesday to start another year of teaching fourth grade! Plus, I've been working on some fun DIY projects I want to share. So this post sums up some memorable things I did (& that I have pictures of) while in Michigan last month.

I was fortunate that my sister, Jill and her husband allowed Iivana and me to come stay with them for a few days. While they were at work my parents and I took the kids to Potter Park Zoo one day. These two pictures crack me up! Maren is petting the goats and my dad is with Maren in the kangaroo cut out.

 Jett and my mom with the spider monkeys which was his favorite part.

After our zoo visit, we stopped by the MSU Diary Store.

We enjoyed some ice cream.

We went out to eat for Jill's birthday at Ruby Tuesday.

They had a gluten free menu, but it was a chain restaurant. If I'm at a chain, I usually try to pick something that doesn't require a lot of modifications. I'm not sure how knowledgeable the kitchen staff is about gluten free and cross contamination. So I kept it simple with the petite sirloin, a baked potato, and broccoli.

 I was able to attend my sister's annual 4th of July party with my baby, Iivana.

I think I pretty much scarred her for life of being terrified of fireworks. For some reason, I didn't think the noise would scare her because she hears loud planes all the time. But we retreated to the van for safety during their show.

But I still got a glimpse of some of the fireworks.

My niece, Maren was still going strong that night. She was a doll and put on her mama's shoes; she was so proud of herself.

I met up with some friends for drinks.

I tried some new gluten free beer that I don't have access to in Texas. (Thanks to my sister, Kristen for hooking me up!) Here I was drinking Dogfish Head's Tweason'ale beer. I thought it was a wonderfully refreshing summer drink. The strawberries and honey give the beer a fruity flavor that isn't as sweet as cider. I hope they start selling this in Texas soon.

Check these links for other Michigan things from my trip:

• Vince & Joe's
• Fruitiversary
• Crunch Granola
• More Goods from Vince & Joe's
• Yummy Filled Donuts
• Gluten-less Maximus IPA

Gluten-Less Maximus IPA

Still posting about my vacation in Michigan!

One night my mom and I met up with my sister, Julie, to eat dinner. Of course, I had to choose a place to eat that was gluten free friendly. I searched the Royal Oak and Ferndale area for something that would please every one's palates. Searching consumed a considerable amount of time. I looked for blogs, read Urbanspoon reviews, perused online menus, and even found myself on Facebook. And then it happened...I found out that Woodward Avenue Brewers just came out with a gluten free beer on tap! It is a rare occurrence to not only find a gluten free beer at a restaurant, but to find one on tap none the less.

My mind was instantly made; I wanted to have dinner at the WAB! Plus, it was a week night and we could score happy hour prices.

The beer was made from sorghum, like many I drink. But this beer was definitely different than what I'm used to with gluten free beer. I think because it was an IPA, it had a bitter taste. It had more of a beer (with gluten) taste. With each sip, I loved it more and more. I loved it enough to get a second one.

I assumed by the description that it was all gluten free. I wanted more proof and was searching the Internet to see if the gluten content was ever tested. But I really couldn't find anything about that. I did however, come across a question on Facebook.

Before we went to eat at WAB, I looked at their online menu. I figured if they had a gluten free beer, they would surely have gluten free food. I was disappointed to find nothing about gluten free on the menu; they only had vegetarian friendly items noted. I decided to call before we went to ask if they accommodated GF diners. My call left me a little hopeless, but I REALLY WANTED TO TRY THE BEER! There were some items on the menu that seemed like they could be okay with some rapid questioning. When we arrived, I asked about their tortilla chips, which I learned are made in a shared fryer across the street so those were out. After what seemed like a billion questions, I settled on a salad, the Southwest Chicken Salad. I opted out of the bacon because I wasn't sure, I ordered the salsa for dressing, and I asked what brand of BBQ sauce they use. I felt positive about my menu decision and proud of myself for asking the right questions. (After reading over the menu, I feel they could make some of their menu items GF as a way to expand their market along with their GF beer. If they used GF tortilla chips, a lot of their Mexican dishes could be GF. So take this hint WAB!) It was a nice treat to enjoy some GF beer at a restaurant like everyone else.

Traveling, Birthday, & Food

Well, we hung around the hotel while they fixed the van. Iivana enjoyed looking out the window at the hotel.

She especially liked laying in the bed.

We had a late start on Thursday due to the fixing of the van tire, and spent the night in Indiana. We arrived in Michigan on Friday, July 6, my hubby's birthday. I was even able to Skype with him! I sent him a package for his birthday that included a microwaveable brownie packet in a mason jar with a candle. The brownie mix is gluten free, Pamela's individual packets.

I also filled the package with balloons, an idea I saw on Pinterest. In each balloon, I included money or a note. Apparently I didn't keep track of the money and only sent him $11. His co-workers wondered if there was a significance to the number 11. (No, just a zany wife!)

For dinner on Friday, we enjoyed some Carlo's Pizza, a local place right by my parent's house.

Of course my pizza was gluten free. I ordered mine with mushrooms and green peppers. The crust was thinner, but tasted decent. It must not have been too bad, because I ate half of my pizza for dinner.

Iivana has been adjusting to my parent's house. She has more room to roam around, so we've been trying to think of ways to contain her. She managed to squeeze through the chairs anyways. She is loving all the attention from my mom and dad.

And now I'm brought to today. Sipping on Biggby coffee, I was working on comps for my master's most of the day. They are due tomorrow! Hopefully this will mean more regular updates in my future.

Houston

My stress level has been reduced dramatically. Iivana's bite wound is healing. There is still no hair but it is no longer red and has scabbed over. The best part is that she doesn't have to wear that dreadful e-collar. Friday was my last day of school with my students. I have to work tomorrow to finish up paper work and pack up final items in my classroom. Last weekend I enjoyed a weekend away in Houston, which was much needed and filled with fun in the sun. As usual, the majority of my photos do not include people, I'm still working on that. But here are some of the highlights!

Infused tequila drinks at El Gran Malo which are so fresh and amazing. I can't wait to go back to this place some day for more and I usually don't like tequila. 

I ordered the blueberry jalapeno cilantro margarita! It was spicy but sweet at the same time.

Dinner at Taco Milagro which the majority of the menu is naturally gluten free. Rachel and I each ordered something and split them. Below are chicken tamales.

Here are the spinach and cheese enchiladas. I preferred these over the tamales, but both were scrumptious and filling.

We stopped at The Hay Merchant which had too many beers to count. But there were also a few ciders, so I wasn't left out.

We drove to Galveston to spend a day at East beach.

While it was cloudy, it was still a sweltering day.

Before we left the beach area, we stopped to eat some crawfish. It was my first experience eating the sea creature and was nervous. They required lots of work, but I actually did enjoy it. I know my husband is a little jealous that I ate some fresh boiled crawfish.

Finally a shot with people! Sangria at Pub Fiction

We also stopped at Spec's and I found Woodchuck's Farmhouse Select.

The label

Thank you Rachel, Amanda, and Ashley for a much needed get-away weekend! Since last weekend wore me out, it's been nice to relax this weekend. I also start my last semester of classes for my masters tomorrow.