Beer migration

I am not a huge lover of beer. I do like it and I will drink it, happily. However, if I am allowed only one drink (which I am since I'm nursing) and am given the choice of beer or wine, I will always choose wine. There are a couple of beers I hold quite closely to my heart and perhaps it's that they are so hard for me to get that I love them so much.

Beer number one is Fat Tire. It's brewed in Colorado. I used to live there with my father and when I went back and visited several years ago, I tried Fat Tire for the first time. I fell in love with it. I was treated to it again the last time I was in Arizona. I was sad not to find it on the east coast. That is, until 3 weeks ago. I was in Moe's (the fast food mexican joint) and they were selling the Amber Ale by the 22 oz. bottle. Later that week, I found one last bottle for sale at Parker and Otis. This weekend though, I was very very happy to be treated to it on tap at Tyler's as one of their seasonals. It seems Fat Tire has finally made the ride to the east coast.

Beer number two is Sweetwater Blue. I was turned on to this by two friends that had friends in Atlanta. It's a lovely ale with a hint of blueberry. I looked forward to holidays when the friends would make the trek up from Atlanta and always with some Sweetwater Blue. Well, life happens and people move, drift apart, get divorced, etc. I haven't had Sweetwater Blue for many years. That is, until last night. When I was shopping at my local Kroger yesterday, I traveled down the beer aisle to see if they maybe had Fat Tire. This is when I spied the six pack of my other beer love. At $9.14/6 pack, I find it a little steep for casual daily consumption (not that I drink beer daily), but this was a special occasion. I was celebrating my two favorite beers migrating to Durham!

Saturday pub crawl downtown

As Carpe Durham blogged earlier this week, Triangle Brewery is doing a pub crawl downtown tomorrow. Starts at 2:30. We'll be there. Come on out and drink some good beer. Details here.

Orzo salad

With spring here and summer on the horizon, I find myself grilling a lot and making lots of types of salads as side dishes. M doesn't like mayo so that narrows things down a bit for me. I made this last night and it was excellent. I used what I had on hand and urge you to try the same. It would also be great with the addition of artichoke hearts or some pine nuts!

Orzo salad
1/2 lb orzo
2 TB olive oil
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes (diced)
1 large handful of arugula (roughly chopped)
1/2 can of black olives
1/2 cup diced red onion
1 TB garlic powder
1 TB red wine vinegar
1 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup cubed mozzarella (or more if you really want it cheesey)

Cook orzo as package instructs. Drain and return to warm pot. Mix in the olive oil and arugula. Stir until the arugula wilts some and takes on a bright green color. If the orzo and pot have cooled too much, turn on the burner for a minute or so to expedite the wilting. Add all remaining ingredients EXCEPT mozzarella. Chill. Add cheese once cooled completely.

We had this with some grilled brats (sauteed onions and peppers), grilled asparagus and homebrewed beer (west coast pale ale). We cracked our first bottles last night and it was really really tasty. Thanks Mr. Beer!!!

I had leftovers for lunch today and the salad got heated and was yummy warm too. I love the texture of orzo!

Dains Place - Ninth Street, Durham

Last night we had a far departure from the healthy, low starch food that I've been trying to make up until we honeymoon. We both were craving a good burger. Normally, we go to The Federal, but I'd heard about Dain's Place on 9th street and had been wanting to see how they compare.

This place is non-smoking which was a nice change. The 8oz. angus burgers were med-well done (we were not asked as to how we would like them cooked). I usually like a medium burger, but this really was juicy and yummy. It didn't have the nice charred crust on it like the federal burger, but was still really good. Not greasy at all and I loved the bun. Nice and soft. There are a million toppings to choose from so if you like a hyperactive burger, this is your place haha.

The service was great and despite having a table of about 6 frat boys next to us, it was relatively quiet. The beers were a little pricey by the bottle (4.75) so stick to the draft pints if you're budget-minded. I'm sure we'll be going back when burger fever strikes again and we're too lazy to pound them out ourselves!

BEER

I bought M an introductory type thing to homebrewing at Christmas. It was pretty cheap and they do most of the measuring for you so it's really a kit. He finally used it on Sunday. I sat on the sidelines, documenting and drinking beer. Click the image for a larger version.
It should be ready to be bottled when we return from getting married. And ready to drink once we're back from the honeymoon.