Monday, June 1, 2015

Beet Beer, Bears and Grad Party!!

So Handsome and I have been brewing quite a bit now for almost 2 years. I dont always post about it here because I dont always post. Also we have a blog for that (See Terrible Lizard Brewing Link) but this one was so cool I had to share. We brewed up a lovely batch of Beet beer! Thats right. With boiled and pureed BEETS! it sounds super crazy pants but I promise it actually turned out quite nice, and almost berry like with earthy undertones. Also it has the best red color you can imagine! We started with a basic pale ale recipe and added 2 lbs of beets to the boil. Then when we transfered into secondary we peeled, cubed and boiled 5 more lbs of beets. We then blended the mix and added it once it had cooled to the carboy. when we kegged it, we had to be careful of the 5 lbs of trube in the bottom. But totally worth it. We want to try letting it ferment longer too and try it with less sweetness, but for this party it was PERFECT!


 So as posted before in another post, I sleep with a bear every night. Mostly its my childhood bear Binky. But Bink is getting old, and I have been reading horror stories of comfort animals splitting in half from old age and use. I also sleep with Chutney my other childhood bear, and my "New Bear" whom my dad had got for me to take pressure off of Binky... But in 1994. So Chutney isnt a spring chicken either. With the stress of finals and graduating I have been needing a comfort animal more lately and so my search began for a new sleepy animal. I tried my awesome Anteater plush, Octopus and Giraffe, but Giraffes neck kept getting tweeked even after 2 nights, and anteaters nose was getting mushed after 4 nights, and octopus just was the wrong shape. I was using Handsome stuffed African Wild Dog Kunta, and Wolverine (the animal) Logan. Logan was the best shape but he's not mine.
So I did some research and found they still made a childhood bear of mine that my mom has kind of kidnapped. Snuffles the Bear by Gund. Most people will remember the polar bear, which is what I had had.

Stock image of Snuffles 

I then asked Handsome if I could have one since Im not working and am a broke bitch. So guess whos got a new bear!!





He's really super cute. And is the right size and squishyness to sleep on! Plus he looks like a sunbear. I named him Waffles. Im a grown ass woman.

On that note, this last weekend I threw my gradubirthday party. it was a ton of fun and a bunch of people came who i didnt think would and i was way to busy to take many pictures. But it was wonderful and my heart is full of love and wonder.











Graduation Pictures


As promised here are some shots from graduation. Eric and I had our first semester together and managed to make it to graduation together! Thats a tough feat. Also a bunch of the Macys crew happened to be in this graduation which is also pretty cool. My phone for some reason didnt save all of the pictures i took.. I gatta get used to this damned thing,,, Anyway, enjoy!!





















Pet Update, and Pictures from Academ of Science

Meet Phillip J Fry. I was bad and splurged on a betta boy. He's really pretty, and so fiesty which is uncommon anymore with the petshop guys. He's in my 2Lfor quarentine since the last 4 poor guys I picked up from evil corporate petshop all died from velvet and infections. Im not dealing with velvet in a bigger tank.That is velvet? a parasitic infestation, kinda like fish fleas but deadly.. and so microscopic they look like orangy velvet on the fish. Its a pain to get rid of. But anyway, I had a Facebook poll to name him and Phil just seemed right, Captain Purplesides was also a big contender. Pickles is great, though not pictured. Castor is a jerk and healthy, but loving, and the girls have started playing and digging at night which is keeping me up, so I will have to play with them more during the day. I took their hidey house, punched some holes in it and secured it to the roof of the cage, for their enjoyment, which they really do enjoy. 


While mom was staying I made Pancake muffins. The joy of these muffins is they have the syrup already mixed in, and you can add any mix ins you want in the muffin tins. I made berry, coconut, chocolate chip and pumpkin spice. So yummy. 


Easy Baked Pancake Muffins
Make about 16-18 muffins
Ingredients
2 cups pancake mix
2/3 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup maple  syrup


optional mix-ins (1-2 TBLS per muffin)

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Super easy!

So I had posted before that Handsome took Mom and I to the Academy of Sciences for Nightlife a bit ago, so here are some pictures!! 




















The bear is Monarch, the male bear who posed for the California State Flag. Also shown an extinct passenger pigeon and extinct Carolina Parakeet