Showing posts with label beer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beer. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

The Great Chili Cook-off!



Last month, Z's mom helped organize a little event for their neighborhood with beer tasting and a chili cook-off competition for Oktoberfest.  Even though I am not sure how chili fits in with Oktoberfest, Z decided to enter the competition competing against some of his family's friends and even against Z's own father. Z basically threw everything but the kitchen sink into his chili and then fretted about it being too spicy for his audience, whose idea of a good bowl of chili comes from a can prepared via the microwave. (Just kidding, but sadly this might be the American standard) Tasters were able to vote for their favorite chili, but halfway through the competition Z ran out of food. Rookie status! Z received a couple of votes though during his short time serving, so all was not lost. While Z was busy serving chili, I was busy drinking free beer from Das Brew (a local microbrewery from the area) and making Finnegan take ridiculous photos with all the hay bales and scarecrows in the vicinity. This probably was not a good idea considering how I talked about giving my liver a vacation in my last post, but apparently I forgot about this. After Oktoberfest beer, Z and I later joined some friends in Oakland at our favorite Tiki Bar for more drinks. It was a great weekend overall! Below are photos of an apathetic pig dog and a day-drunk Z. Cheers!


Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Babies and Beer

Last weekend, I visited my cousin who just recently returned from a trip to Australia. I spent some time with his little baby--who is rapidly growing right before my eyes! His face gets more expressive each time I visit. My aunt was also visiting and she had made some Filipino food for dinner: pancit, lumpia, and beef kaldereta. I was in heaven!  It was great to catch up with everyone and I can't wait to see them for Thanksgiving later next month!
Next, Z and I went to a birthday party in San Jose at a German Restaurant and Beer Garden called, Teske's Germania.  Since it was the last week of Oktoberfest, there was live music in the beer garden and many lederhosen-clad lads. SO MUCH BEER SERVED IN LITERS THE SIZE OF MY HEAD.There were also sooo many bros (being that we were in San Jose), and I felt terribly out of place. Z and I shared some beer, schnapps, pretzels, and salmon topped-potato pancakes. Below are some horribly blurry photos from the evening (what happens when you drink beforehand):
Hope your weekend was great!

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Free Beer For All!

Last week, Z and I took the red-eye flight out to Boston, Massachusetts for his cousin's wedding. Most of Z's family lives on the East Coast, so it was lovely to see everyone since the last time I saw them all was a couple of years ago.  We arrived at around 7:45am and then we headed towards Jamaica Plain--a historic neighborhood in Boston founded by Puritans seeking farmland to the South. This area is rich in history (like all parts of Massachusetts, of course) and I fell in love with a myriad of old brick buildings and trees dripping in fall foliage.  After not getting much sleep earlier in the week due to midterm season at school, we thought that we might as well stay up as to adjust to the time difference sooner. We decided to check out the Samuel Adams Brewery. We are not huge fans of the beer and will not usually order the beer in a bar setting, but hey! The brewery was down the street, walkable, offered free brewery tours, and beers at the end. You can't really complain about that!
I am completely fascinated with the brewing process--one of my favorite experiments in Organic Chemistry during my undergrad was brewing beer that we were able to taste test at home. I learned some good facts to use in case of Trivia Pursuit/Jeopardy need regarding the differences between manufacturing different beer types, and then was able to sample the different seasonal beers on tap.  Now for the touristy photos of Z being awkward in front of various beer-tour props and signage that serve as evidence of our adventure:
After drinking beers in the early morning/afternoon, we then drove down to the little town of Newburyport to get ready for the wedding rehearsal dinner and cocktail hour. This vacation was definitely a whirlwind of non-stop activities. Stay tuned for more!