Using up unwanted beer...

Most people don't have the issue of unwanted beer in their fridge...either you are a beer drinker or you are not. I definitely fall under the latter. When I was six years old, my dad gave me a sip of his beer...that was enough to turn me against beer for life. The taste is not for me.

Over the last couple of years, I would hear my husband turn down beer telling his buddies that his wife did not like the smell of beer on his breath. Even though I would insist that he could have a beer with his Army buddies,  he always declined. I did not want to be that wife...the one that would not let her husband be 'one of the guys.' So, I decided to be the cool wife and surprise my husband with a variety pack of beers. It turned out that I was just a convenient excuse...he does not like beer any better than I do.

I watched the 6-pack of beers slowly dwindle over the past two years. However, at some point the dwindling plateaued and that one final beer sat lonely in the refrigerator. If I said that it sat in one spot, then I would be lying...it sat dead center in the front of the fridge; it made its way to the side of the fridge; it gradually was pushed to the back of the fridge; then, at some point it was found and placed on the door of the fridge in hopes that it would finally be consumed.

That last lonely beer finally found its purpose today. I am trying to be good about using up the rest of the food before we move rather than have anything go to waste. So, how can people that do not drink beer productively use it up? Easy-- use it in beer bread. It is seriously the simplest homemade bread recipe that I have ever baked.

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Combine together 3 cups of self rising flour with 1/4 cup sugar. 
• Mix in 1 bottle of beer...whichever beer of your choice.
• Pour into a greased bread pan.
• Bake for about 50 minutes...give or take...I am of the school that all ovens vary; so, you really need to learn your own oven's personality when cooking and baking.
• Let cool completely before removing from the pan.

The bread itself turned out good. The truth is that it still tasted a little bit too much like beer for me. This could be just that the bottle of beer that was left was a strong, dark beer. For the best results, have a beer that you think you will like or if the bread will be eaten by non-beer drinkers then choose a lighter tasting beer. If you do find yourself stuck with a dark beer (like I was), then I suggest adding molasses to give the final product more of a "Boston Brown Bread" taste.

A great meal pairing for this bread is homemade chili and a fresh salad. 

The Greene Turtle

This restaurant review is going out for anyone in the Del-Mar-Va area of the Mid-Atlantic region. Yesterday, we found a fabulous local chain restaurant-- The Greene Turtle. I saw commercials for it before and I have to admit that they looked a little cheesey. They were enough to peek my curiosity, but it was not until I saw that they had a "kids eat free" deal that I was willing to commit to trying it. Truth be told, we have not found that many restaurants here on the East Coast that we have liked.

The Greene Turtle advertises itself as a family friendly sports bar. Sports bar paired with family friendly would normally be an oxymoron, but this restaurant has found a way to pair them perfectly. Half of the restaurant does boast sports bar with smaller bar tables which make it easier for mingling and televisions displaying more sports games than I could easily count. However, on the other side of the chest high divider wall was a more family friendly area that included booths with individual televisions. The televisions in the booths were able to be changed to whatever the individual visitors would like to watch...including Nickelodeon and Disney Channel. The room has the perfect set up so that little ones (or ladies not into sports) can watch whatever television show they care to watch while the guys can still keep up on a wide variety of sporting events.

On to the main attraction-- the food. While the kids menu had a limited variety (only 5 options), they had all of the classic kids choices: turtle tenders (chicken), cheese pizza, grilled cheese, mac'n'cheese, and mini cheeseburgers. All choices, except the cheese pizza, come with both french fries and a bag of apple wedges. The children's menu goes up to age 12; so, our 11 year old (who normally flounders between the adult menu and the kids menu) chose the meal that came with 3 nice size "Turtle Tenders." My tween made the tenders a little more gourmet by getting the sweet chili dipping sauce. The sauce was so good that I snagged a few of my toddler's french fries for trying it myself. It tastes like a freshly made sweet and sour sauce with a kick of spice.

My toddler went for the mini cheeseburgers which was 2 cheeseburger sliders. Many restaurants skimp on kids meals, but The Greene Turtle gave full flair by serving the same sliders that they serve to adults on the appetizer menu. The restaurant also did not skimp on portions. My girls could have gotten away with sharing a meal as neither one actually finished all of their food.

For adults, The Green Turtle has gourmet burgers, salads, sandwiches, and full entrees like Maryland crab cakes or ribs. The menu is like the best parts of Red Robin mixed with Applebee's but fresher and more tasty. I had a hard time choosing between their "Chesapeake Burger" topped with crab dip or their "Crabby Melt," which was the same crab dip with melted cheddar cheese, bacon and tomato on toasted sourdough. I went with the "Crabby Melt" and it was the right choice as I woke up this morning craving more of the warm gooey cheesy mixture of the crab dip. The only thing that would have made this sandwich more delicious is if instead of it coming on toasted sourdough bread if it came on a toasty, crusty sandwich roll like the seafood sandwich at The Ram in Washington State.

The two food aspects that we did not have the opportunity to try were appetizers and dessert. The appetizers looked totally delicious. The Greene Turtle had the normal range of sports bar style appetizers as well as fresh baked soft pretzels served with a variety of dips. There is even an appetizer sampler (2 cheeseburger sliders, wings, cheese sticks, and those soft pretzels with dip) that I am tempted to order sometime instead of a meal. We did plan on splitting a dessert as their lava cake sounded scrumptious, but they ran out of it while we were there. Going back for dessert is definitely on our "to do" list.

Not only was the food good, but so was the service. At the Arundel Mills location, we had an awesome server named Thomas. People who really know me know that I dislike the habit of tipping just because it is expected. Do not take that the wrong way...I always tip unless my service is absolutely horrible (in which case I actually leave a little note on the extra copy of the receipt telling them why I did not tip so that they do not just think that I stiffed them). My belief though is that tipping should be a gratuity for a job well done as it was originally meant to be. Thomas earned his tip...nope, I did not make him do any extra work...he did awesome at his job and earned a really nice tip. When Thomas learned that it was our first visit, he offered us advice on the menu items that were the most popular as well as offered to give us a little extra time to view the menu since we weren't familiar with it...rather than rushing us to decide an order. After we ordered, we were surprised when Thomas appeared after what seemed like only a few minutes to apologize that our food wasn't done yet. We told him that we were fine and that our food would not be out that fast at any other restaurant either. Moments later, he did show up with our food. Throughout the meal, he cheerfully checked in on us and chatted about the restaurant. He even offered to bring our older daughter an adult size Pepsi when she finished her child size one...although he first very respectfully checked with us to make sure that it was okay if she have more caffeine/soda. For those who want to request this awesome waiter by name, Thomas said that he works most Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.

Finally, let's talk price. We may have been lured in by the offer of buy any adult meal get free child's meal, but the reality is that the prices are worth it even without that offer. The prices for burgers and sandwiches (with big portions) average between $8-10 with the cost of entrees being slightly more. Children's meals and desserts are normally around $5. The prices actually average just below the amount of other casual sit down restaurants. For this family of four, the free children's meals are an added bonus. It put the price of our dinner to be less than we normally spend at a fast food restaurant.

All in all, The Greene Turtle has the right elements for us to return any time we are looking for an easy bite out...great food at a great price.

**The Greene Turtle Logo at the top of the blog is the creative property of The Greene Turtle restaurant chain.

My Perfect Sugar Cookie Recipe

Note- this is a re-post as I switch articles over from my website: OurArmyFamily.com. Original post date was December 23, 2010. 

Every year when it came time to make Christmas cookies, I would search through recipes and try to remember which of the bazillion sugar cookie recipes was the one I made the time before and whether or not I liked it. I have to admit that when it comes to sugar cookies, I am very particular…it has to be soft, but not too soft, and it has to taste just right. When I came across this recipes a couple of years ago, I knew that it was a keeper. It was enough of a keeper that I have noted it so that I am no longer searching each time for the right recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon milk

• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour

As far as the directions go, I like to mix in a little different order than you will hear in most recipes as I don’t like to dirty extra bowls. Even with mixing in my order, this recipe comes out perfect and is easy enough for a beginner.  I will also note that I have prepared this recipe both by hand and electric mixer– both work well.

First, mix the wet ingredients in the order given. Mix well after each ingredient.

Add the baking powder and salt. Mix so that all of the ingredients are evenly combined prior to adding the flour.

Add the flour one cup at a time.

Refrigerate for about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees so that it heats up while you are cutting out the shapes in the cookie dough.

My hint for rolling out the dough and and cutting the shapes is to sprinkle powdered sugar (otherwise known as confectioner’s sugar) onto some waxed paper (makes for easy clean up) and on top of the dough so that the dough does not stick while being rolled out. Also, lightly powder the rolling pin with the sugar. Using powdered sugar instead of flour allows for a nice sweet taste rather than over floured cookies.  Roll the dough to about a 1/4 inch thick.

As for the quantity, I laugh when I see the number of cookies that sugar cookie recipes say…the truthful answer is that it will fully depend on what size of cookie cutter you use. I average about 2 dozen cookies; however, if you use small cookie cutters you can get a larger quantity.

Bake for 7-10 minutes depending on your oven. Remove when the edges start to slightly turn brown in color.

Let cool for one to two minutes on the pan until the cookies are cooled/firm enough to be moved without crumbling. Do not leave on the actual baking sheet for too long as the cookies will continue to cook from the heat of the pan. I recommend moving to a wire cooling rack for cooling the rest of the way. Allow the cookies to cool completely before frosting or icing.