This tasty beer snack is ridiculously easy, shockingly yummy and requires but a few ingredients. You need:

- an assortment of mixed olives from your local grocery olive bar, pits in. Use whatever kind you like.
- fresh garlic
- a fresh herb and a dry herb- this could include basil, thyme, oregano, mint…really any herb you’ve got lying around the kitchen.
- olive oil

In a bowl, add the olives, chopped garlic (1-2 cloves or more depending on how many olives you’re roasting), chopped herb and just a smidge of olive oil.

Mix to coat.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and dump on the olive, garlic and herb mixture.

Roast in the oven at around 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Keep an eye on them and sort of roll them around about half way through.

Once they’re roasted, transfer the olives to a serving dish and enjoy!

The roasted olives are salty, succulent, juicy and just the thing to compliment your favorite beverage, be it beer or wine.

I served mine with Lagunitas Brown Shugga, an excellent California ale with a touch of sweetness. I’d stick to a beer with a good body, a crisp IPA or something hoppy. Stay away from brews that are too caramely or light as the olives will certainly overpower.

A tangy white wine also goes nicely with this appetizer. I served this fabulous French table wine with mine – its crisp, acidic lightness cuts nicely through the savory, meaty olives.

We finally went and ate at Bryan Voltaggio’s (from Top Chef) restaurant Volt today. We had the 3 course tasting brunch menu with some accompaniments.

cherry glen farm goats cheese ravioli
butternut squash, maitake mushrooms, sage air

scallops
variations of cauliflower, beluga lentils, medjool date, verjus

sausage gravy and scallion biscuits

marinated grilled hanger steak
yellow corn polenta, braised greens, four minute egg, garden chive, lobster
mushrooms

goat cheesecake
d’ anjou pear, spiced vanilla ice cream, marcona almond

d’ anjou pear tart tartin
mascarpone ice cream, opal basil

For the past couple of years I’ve been working on a very personal project that is near and dear to my heart. It’s a cookbook of grandmother-in-law’s recipes. She passed away before I met my husband so we were never able to meet.  I feel like my mother-in-law bonded over cooking and from her stories so did she and her mother-in-law. She gave me all her old recipes she could find and I’ve started trying to make them, taking pics and compiling a book along the way. Some have not turned out so well, but there are some missing instructions and I think It was probably my fault.

The book is slow-going because I want to make them all myself and haven’t really had time to do much baking the past few years. There is a little bit of magic that happens whenever I make one. I feel like I’m a part of something and maybe feel transferred back in time a little bit reading her beautiful penmanship.

Sugar Cookies

1 cup corn oil
2 sticks oleo
1 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tarter
dash of salt

Mix oil, oleo, sugars, eggs and vanilla in large bowl. Beat well. Add next flour, baking soda, cream of tarter and salt. Spoon onto baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

These turned out really well. I don’t even know if they make oleo anymore so I used margarine. With the amount of flour these were cakey but pretty chewy too. They could be cut out and decorated but I like them so much in drop cookie form with sugar-sprinkled on top.

You know when you eat a barbecue sandwich and the bun gets all soggy? Well I found a solution: use cornbread for the bun.  Not only does it soak up the juices which just makes the cornbread taste better, but you can add beans to the sandwich too, which makes a fantastic sweet/spicy combination.

I’ve been a little short on cooking time lately so I decided to cheat on this recipe a little, so nothing is from scratch- but it was quick and easy to make on a weeknight which is a plus. I purchased the pulled pork so all I had to make were the buns and the beans.

Cornbread:

I used Jiffy and just doubled the recipe, so 2 eggs and 2/3 cup milk
Bake at 350 in 5 inch  ramikins on the middle rack for 20 minutes
After 20 minutes, turn up the heat to 400 and moved the ramikins up so the tops get slightly brown

Baked Beans:

I don’t really measure anything on this, it’s just a matter of taste. These are pretty spicy with a generous amount of sweet (thanks to the molasses).

2 can Busch’s Baked Beans
Molasses (at least 2 tbsp.)
Rendezvouz seasoning 2-3 tbsp.
Few dashes of worchestershire sauce
Heaping tblsp. of ketchup
Onion
1 clove minced garlic
Bake at 350 uncovered for 45 min to an hour

If you don’t have something like Rendezvouz seasoning, this is what I replace it with:
Chili powder- a lot
Cumin
Hot Hungarian Paprika
Black peppercorns
Salt

My Aunt Carolyn’s baking is the stuff of legend. Back home The Pie Gene is spoken of with reverance and whether or not you have it can make or break your success in the kitchen, or so say the women on the Wilson side of my family.

Recently, I mustered up the courage to call Aunt Carolyn and ask for the oft-coveted “pie crust recipe and TIPS.” My mother swears obtaining Carolyn’s tips is of utmost importance since she surely “does something” that makes the crust so perfect and delicious.

Id’ say the results of my baking experiment were fairly conclusive. If Maury were revealing them like a paternity test, he might say there was a 99.9% chance I had The Pie Gene. My crust came out golden and flaky, flavorful but subtle – the perfect home for some exquisite late summer peaches. Here’s how I did it:

The Crust:
♦ 3 Cups all-purpose flour
♦ 1 Cup Crisco vegetable shortening
***TIP: Aunt Carolyn suggests using the butter-themed Crisco for a “prettier” (read: more golden) crust. I used regular Crisco, which works fine.
♦ 1/2 teaspoon salt, slightly heaping

- Mix these ingredients until crumbly, then refrigerate.

***TIP: You can prepare as much of this mixture as you like ahead of time, then store it in the fridge until you’re ready to make pie. The colder the mix is, the better your crust will come together. I let mine chill  about 2 hours. The amount I mixed here is enough for a 9” pie, and there will be some excess.

While your crust mix chills, prepare The Peaches:

♦ 5-6 medium, ripe peaches – eyeball it for the depth of your pie pan.
♦ 1/4 Cup brown sugar – more or less, depending on how sweet your peaches are.
♦ ground nutmeg and cinnamon, to taste
♦ a few cranks of freshly ground black pepper
♦ 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
♦ 2 Tablespoons cornstarch – more or less, you want the mix to thicken and become a bit creamy. If your peaches are especially juicy, you may need to add more cornstarch – if not, use less.
***TIP: Here, I’ve dared to deviate a bit from Aunt Carolyn’s recipe. She calls for 1/3 Cup granulated sugar; 2 Tablespoons cornstarch, heaping; and a pinch each of ground nutmeg and cinnamon.

In my case, the peaches were quite sweet, and I prefer the taste of brown sugar to white – but go with what you like. I also am a big fan of spice, so I used a good dusting of nutmeg and cinnamon rather than just a pinch. The addition of black pepper gives the peaches a certain extra… something. Something good that people can’t quite place. The lemon juice just keeps things tasting fresh and zingy.

- Peel and slice the peaches, then mix all that stuff together and set it aside – if you don’t plan to bake for a while, stash your fruit in the fridge, then bring it up to room temperature while you roll the dough. If you’re baking right away, leave the peach mixture out – having the filling at room temperature helps everything to bake more evenly.

OK – so the easy parts are done. Dough crumbles are chillin’, peaches are too – now you’re ready to bring the crust together.

***This would be a good time to set your oven to bake at 350 degrees.***

The Crust, Phase 2:
♦ Grab the crumbly dough mix out of the fridge
♦ Fix a glass of ice water and set nearby
♦ Put some plain, dry flour in a bowl and set alongside the ice water

- Add the ice water just a little bit at a time until the dough begins to come together. Use a fork to mix in the first additions of water, then switch to your hands. You’ll just have to feel when it’s right – the dough should come together in a firm, smooth ball – it should not be sticky or too dry. Really, erring on the side of dry is better since you can always add more water, but you can’t take it away. Try not to knead it too much or the crust will be tough.

- Once your dough has come together, divide it into two roughly equal balls, one for the top crust and one for the bottom.

- Grab one of the dough balls and set it on a floured surface, dust it and your rolling pin with more flour, then roll that sucka out. The crust should be around 1/4 inch thick - if it is tearing at the edges or coming apart, just reseal the crack with some cold water. Dip your finger in, wet the offending crust and press it back together. Patience is necessary.

- Once your crust is large enough to cover your lightly buttered pie pan, gently press it into the bottom and sides. Excess crust should hang over the pie plate.

- Roll out the other dough ball, set aside and get ready to fill the pie.

- Spoon the peach mixture into the bottom crust, filling evenly.

- Once it’s full, sprinkle some pats of butter evenly across the surface.

- Trace the edge of the bottom crust with ice water, then set the top crust on the pie and gently press the edges down.

- Trim off any excess crust.

- Using your fingers, pinch the top and bottom crusts together to seal the pie. There are tons of methods to do this: squish them down with a fork, fold it over for a wall-like effect – I just pinched them together, which looks quite pretty.
- Cut a few slits in the top crust for vents, then brush the top of the pie with milk and dust with granulated sugar.
***TIP: The milk and sugar are per Aunt Carolyn, and I totally think it makes a difference. The crust comes out all golden and sparkly.

- Place the ready-to-bake pie on a cookie sheet and into the 350-degree oven for about an hour, more or less. Just keep an eye on it.

- When your crust is golden brown and the peaches are “really bubbling out of the vents,” so sayeth Aunt Carolyn, the pie is done. Remove it from the oven and let it sit ONE HOUR at minimum.

Now, I could not wait for my pie to sit an hour to eat it, and consequently its filling oozed out when I cut into it. If you let it sit an hour, it’ll still be warm and the filling should have set up well. If you don’t it’ll still taste fantastic, but it won’t look as pretty.

Fortunately, I don’t worry too much about aesthetics.

There you have it. Serve with vanilla ice cream, rinse and repeat. You’ll want to. This old-fashioned peach pie is well worth trying, Pie Gene or no. Sure, there’s effort and time involved, but there are few better ways to showcase this late summer fruit, as anyone you share it with will surely agree.

Back home in Little Rock there is bar (very appropriately) named ‘White Water’. It’s kind of a dive bar and so of course it’s my favorite.  Trusty’s gave me a similar feeling and it’s the best bar I’ve found in DC, so far.

The decor can only be described as vintage schoolhouse. There are old oil cans and vintage signs on the walls. All the light fixtures are made of some sort of vintage what-not.

Upstairs is an old school bus that has been recreated into a bar. There are vintage lunchboxes everywhere and I believe I spotted Superman and possibly ‘The Fall Guy‘.

We settled into a small table for two in the front of the bar. All the other patrons were around the bar, but we were awaiting a storm and wanted to watch the rain fall.

Although I liked many things about Trusty’s what was dearest to my heart is that they serve the beer in mason jars. The beer selection is good but not all that extensive. I had a Long Hammer IPA on draft in my jar and I believe the two of us ended up finishing a pitcher. The glasses were thankfully not chilled (I hate that, totally can’t taste the brew). They don’t have many bottles but their can selection is pretty good.

The menu contained mostly greasy bar food (yum), but we had heard they have good burgers so we decided to give those a try.

They came out looking and smelling delicious. The cook asked us if we preferred regular chips or a special selection of sweet onion he had behind the bar. Um, onion of course. There weren’t many left so he gave us a mix. The burger was amazing. It tasted like it was cooked over a charcoal grill and the American cheese is perfectly melted. The toppings: Lettuce, tomato, sauteed onion, were tasty and not overpowering.

The bus bar was closed but we went up to take a peek. There is also an outdoor patio area connected to the bus bar. I believe I also spotted several arcade games including Big Buck Hunter which has in the past provided me with hours of slightly inebriated fun (don’t judge, just try it).

We had a really good time and will be heading back over to Trusty’s soon.  I wish it were a little closer to us, but it’s probably a good thing it’s not my neighborhood because I would probably never leave.

I am generally not a fried snack food-type person, so these little broiled, or grilled, if you prefer, spicy poppers are right up my alley.

Plus, right now my garden overfloweth with ripe jalapeno peppers and it’s a challenge finding ways to use them aside from salsa or hot sauce. These poppers are quick and surprisingly easy to prepare.

So, you need:
♦ Jalapeno peppers, however many you like
♦ shredded cheddar cheese – I used a block of extra sharp New York cheddar grated roughly
♦ minced garlic – jarred is fine
♦ minced fresh shallots
♦ fresh chopped parsley or any other green herb you like
♦ salt and pepper
♦ sliced bacon (!!!)

***Before you begin, soak some bamboo skewers in water – this will prevent the ends from catching fire either under the broiler or on the grill***

I pretty much eyeball all these ingredients based on how many peppers I am stuffing and how much I like garlic that day. A rough estimate might be 1/2 cup of shredded cheese, 1/4 teaspoon each of the garlic and shallots, herbs, salt and pepper to taste.

- Mix the cheese, garlic, shallots, herbs and spices in a bowl and set aside while you prepare the jalapenos.

To prepare your jalapenos you might want to wear latex gloves – the inards and seeds are HOT, so if you don’t use gloves be sure to thouroughly wash your hands after completing this step.

- Cut the tops off the peppers and use a paring knife to scrape out the inner membrane and seeds. If you’ve got a grapefruit knife, use it! It’s perfect for this particular task, believe it or not. Be sure to reserve the tops – you’ll need them later.

- Once you’ve got the peppers gored and rinsed thoroughly, tap them dry and prepare to stuff.

I think it’s easiest to use your fingers – just grab a pinch of the stuffing and jam it in there, as much as possible, taking care not to split the jalapenos.

- Grab a skewer – FIRST, drive it through the top of one of your peppers, THEN, spear the stuffed pepper so the top forms a sort of cap, keeping the cheese mixture inside. The order is important so you don’t end up jamming the skewer all wonky through the pepper or through your hand, since the top is rather tough. Repeat until all your stuffed peppers are wearing nice caps.

- Now, grab a slice of bacon and wrap it around the stuffed, skewered peppers. Just sort of pull and stretch it to get as much coverage as possible. If you want extra security, take another skewer and drive it through the ends of the bacon, pinning it closed around the pepper. This is probably a good idea if you decide to grill your poppers – under the broiler I think it makes less difference.

Using the broiler:
– Turn the broiler on high and let it pre-heat.

- Line a cookie sheet with foil and line up the peppers.
- Toss it under the broiler for about 2-3 minutes, then turn the poppers over and broil for another 2-3 min. Stay nearby and just keep a close eye during this process – broil times will vary with your oven, how thick the bacon is, etc etc etc.
- Once the poppers are crispy, caramelized and bacon-licious, remove them from the broiler and let them sit a few minutes before eating, unless you want to melt your face off with molten cheese.

*** some of the cheese will ooze out during the cooking process – I’ve yet to find a way around this except for stuffing them with lots and lots of cheese in the beginning to counteract any ooze loss***
- Slide off the skewer, eat and enjoy!

- This process is essentially the same using a grill – throw some foil down if you’re concerned with getting melted cheese everywhere or, just lay ‘em right on the rack. The peppers will probably cook a bit more quickly, so just keep your eye on them and be sure to watch out for flame-ups as the bacon fat and cheese melt off.

The poppers will be spicy, but not as much as you might think. And the cheese mixture inside helps to temper the hotness, so what you get is a spicy sweet pepper filled with savory, melted, salty cheese inside a crispy bacon wrapper.

Personally, I like them cooked either way. Sure, the bacon is naughty, but it’s not deep-fried and, best of all,  they’re really quick and easy to prepare as an appetizer or late-night beer snack. I suggest serving them with a nice, cold pale ale or IPA – Bell’s Two Hearted or good ol’ Sierra Nevada are two of my favorites.

phil h, Flickr

Girls.org has been a little busy the past week. Our day jobs are taking over a little bit. We’re sorry we haven’t been able to post and posts will be few and far between in the next few weeks.

Please don’t give up on us, we are still here and will be back posting regularly in a few weeks. We wish we could do this full time but unfortunately it doesn’t pay the bills (yet).

We hope you have a great Labor Day weekend and enjoy some great beer, wine, food and of course, a little fitness to burn it all off. We want to leave you with a great new tune from an amazing band called the Good Time Rounders from east Texas. This tune is called ‘Home’. Enjoy and we will see you soon!

Click here to listen to ‘Home’

It’s almost fall and you know what that means: football, Octoberfest and chili.

We take chili very seriously at our house, to the point where we hold a mostly annual chili cook-off (it went on a brief hiatus for two years). We give prizes (usually silly ones) for best overall chili, hottest chili and most innovative chili, and this recipe won best overall the first year we held the cookoff.

Here’s the recipe (award-winning!) that’s just a little spicy, and just a little sweet:

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey
2 cans diced tomatoes (I like ones that have been seasoned for chili already)
2 cans dark red kidney beans
1 or 2 cloves garlic
1 onion, chopped
3 to 6 tbs any style chili powder to taste
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
1/2 bottle of any good beer (we prefer Sam Adams)

For a slightly thicker chili, you can also add 1 small can of tomato paste.

**Note: As a general rule, do not cook with beer you wouldn’t drink. If it tastes bad when you drink it, it will taste bad when you cook with it.

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large pot on medium-high heat, add onion and garlic. Add ground turkey when garlic just begins to brown. Heat turkey until it’s cooked through. Stir in 1/2 a bottle of beer. Guess what you do with the other half.  Let the turkey simmer in the beer for a few minutes, then stir in the chili powder, diced tomatoes and beans. Then add the honey and brown sugar. Let everything simmer for about 30 minutes.

Top it with anything you like: shredded cheese, sour cream, anything. I like adding a little fat-free Greek yogurt and avocado on top of mine.