Guest Blog Whitney: Welcome to Baltimore, MD Growlers!

Pinehurst Wine Shoppe. Where everyone knows your name.

To all Baltimore COAEH Readers:

 

            Have you heard? Growlers are in! And if you haven’t jumped on board with this beer-buying-trend, you are missing out on the best way to enjoy the freshest craft beer.

What’s a growler?

            Dating back to the 1800s, when patrons carried fresh beer home from their local pub in     pails, the name “growler” allegedly comes from the fizzing sound as CO₂ escaped from the lid. Flash-forward to the twenty-first century, a growler simply refers to a reusable glass jug filled with delicious beer straight from the tap!

Thanks to legislation passed last July, Pinehurst Wine Shoppe became the first retail establishment in Baltimore to sell growlers. With a 13-tap growler station, Pinehurst sells and fills growlers 6 days a week. Manager, Gordon, says, “Why not growlers?” Not only are growlers the freshest way to enjoy craft beer but environmentally friendly. In less then a year, Pinehurst has sold 1,400 growlers and filled over 5,000. (To put that number in perspective: that is over 30,000 beer bottles NOT in the landfill!!)

But I think the best part about buying beer in growlers is the ability to taste the beer before you buy it! Which brings me to my Saturday afternoon.

Every Saturday, Pinehurst hosts “Tap Takeovers” featuring one brewery or beer manufacturer on all 13 taps! Last Saturday, Dog Fishead Ale was the featured brewery so I enlisted the help of my sister’s boyfriend, Martin, and we walked over to try some delicious beers. We had our work cut out for us, as clearly we needed to try all 13 beers!

As usual, there was a large crowd, growlers in tow, sampling and discussing the various beers to determine what to fill their growlers with that day.

Martin & I joined the fun & Charles, the resident beer connoisseur, started our tasting with the peach (sour) and we ended with the 120 IPA (20% alcohol!). As we sampled each beer, Charles explained the flavors, recipe origin, alcohol content, etc. I love hearing the different ingredients and seeing if I can actually taste them!

Here is what we tried:

 

Here is what we thought:

·         Martin’s favorite: Rhizing Bines. A Dogfish Head / Sierra Nevada collaboration 8% alcohol.

·         My favorite: Namaste

                  (Which Charles accurately predicted would be my favorite the day before!)

·         Least favorite: Probably the peach because it was very sour.

·         The 120 IPA 20% alcohol by volume . . . It was good, but I think a sip was enough!

 

 

Located on the corner of Bellona Ave. & Gittings Ave., Pinehurst is truly the Shoppe around the corner for its surrounding neighborhoods (remember I mentioned I walked over!) “And don’t you want to go where everyone knows your name, and they’re always glad you came?!

Cheers!

~Whitney Elizabeth (Thanks Mere)

Pinehurst Wine Shoppe

6242 Bellona Avenue

Baltimore, MD 21212

 

*This post is not endorsed by Pinehurst Wine Shoppe. The opinions expressed are my own.

Wine and Lilly Guest Blog: Whitney Wilder

Hello Confessions of an Entertaining Hostess readers! My name is Whitney and I am honored Meredith invited me to guest post on her blog today! I just love all of Meredith’s clever and classy party ideas, because let’s be honest…entertaining is hard work! But…there is nothing better then the perfectly-put-together get-together! I made these Lilly fabric wine glasses for a bridal shower my mom and I recently hosted. I think these glasses went perfectly with the “beachy” theme without going overboard!

Supplies you will need: 

Fabric (I cut up old Lilly pants to use but any bright and fun fabric will work!)
Wine glasses
Tacky glue
Sponge brush
Sharp scissors
X-Acto knife
Paint brush
Varnish / sealant
Sharpie pen or fabric marker

Step 1: Making Tacky-Glue adhesive: (2 parts Tacky Glue with 1 part water)
Use sponge brush to mix water and glue together. This takes some time because the tacky glue is so thick.
 *To be honest I never measured exactly. I just mixed until the glue was translucent (rather than white) when applied to the glass and I made sure mixture felt “gummy” between my fingers.

Step 2: Cut Fabric
Using the bottom of your wine glass as guide, use marker to draw a large circle around the base onto the fabric. It is important that your fabric circle is larger than the wine glass bottom so the fabric sticks to the glass.

Step 3: Apply fabric to wine glass!
Using the sponge brush paint a layer of the tacky glue mixture onto the base of the glass and place fabric so that the design will show through.43 Then apply mixture to back of fabric, making sure to soak the entire fabric circle with glue. (The excess fabric will dry paper-like and fabric will not fray as you cut it!)  

Step 4: Remove air bubbles (Helps fabric stick to glass & prevents wrinkling)
Using you finger, start at the middle of the glass base and drag your finger towards the edge ensuring all air bubbles get removed. Helpful hint: As you remove air bubbles, flip glass right-side up and you will be able to see the air bubbles so you don’t miss any!

Step 5: Let dry & apply finishing coat
Allow glasses to dry upside down for about four hours. Before you remove excess fabric, apply 1 coat varnish of choice to fabric. When that varnish coat dries, remove excess fabric cutting as close to the glass as possible. Then apply another coat (or two) of varnish.

Step 6: Remove excess varnish and glue
Using the X-Acto knife, remove excess varnish or glue that may of accumulated on the sides of the glass base. I also used the X-Acto knife to trim any excess fabric from base of the wine glass.

Not many things I love more then Wine & Lilly! Happy crafting! –Whitney

(Thanks so much for letting me share this Whitney! You are the best! xOxO - M)

Make-Your-Own Bloody Bar

My Make-Your-Own Mimosa Bar post got some pretty good feedback so I wanted to get this complementary idea out there as well, Make-Your-Own Bloody Bar! Combine any or all of these fun ingredients, put out Old Bay-rimmed Glasses and Enjoy!

Here is what you will need:

• 1 Glass Bottle of Vodka 
• 1 Smaller glass bottle of Tequila (If Bloody Margaritas are preferred)
• 1 Pitcher of Home-made Bloody Mix (Mix the below ingredients together except for the Tomato Veggie juice. It should yield approx. 1.25 cups of mix. Put the two out separately so guests can add as much of the stronger ingredients or as little as they like. Typically people will want to follow a 1/2 cup of mix for every quart of juice. Add preferred alcohol or drink virgin  
• 3 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 3 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 Tbsp Prepared Horseradish
• 2 Tbsp Hot Sauce
• 2.5 oz Lemon Juice (or 2 Lemons)
• 1.5 oz Lime Juice (or 2 Limes)
• 2 Tbsp Olive Brine
• 1 tsp Celery Seed
• 2 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• 2 tsp Sea Salt
• 64 oz Tomato Vegetable Juice ( Trader Joe's has a great one!)

• Steamed, Peeled and De-Veined Shrimp
• Celery Stalks
• Green Beans
• Hot Peppers
• Baby Tomatoes
• Green Olives
• Basil leaves
• Lemon Slices
• Lime Slices
• Radish Slices
• Multicolored Baby Tomatoes
• Cucumber Slices 
• Old Bay Seasoning
• Hot Sauce
• Pepper Grinder
• Toothpicks
• Flavored Ice Cubes
• Cucumber-Basil - In a blender, puree the below ingredients with 3 cups of water. Strain through a fine sieve into two ice cube trays. Freeze 3 hours.
• 2 1/2 Cups Chopped Cucumber
• 3/4 Cup Lightly Packed Basil Leaves, Torn
• 1 Serrano Chile, Seeded and Chopped
• 1 tsp Light Brown Sugar
• Kosher Salt
• Tomato-Chile - In a blender, puree the below ingredients. Pour into two ice cube trays. Freeze 3 hours.
• 3 Cups Tomato Juice
• 1 Jalapeno, Seeded and Chopped
• 1/4 Cup Lightly Packed Dill
• 1/2 tsp Tabasco 
• Kosher Salt

xOxO - M

Make-Your-Own Mimosa Bar

Nothing says brunch like a mimosa! Check out ways to make this colorful cocktail all your own! Put out carafes of orange, cranberry, apple and pineapple juice in addition to raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and pineapple chunks. This not only allows your guests fun choices for their bubbly, it looks gorgeous! Cheers!

xOxO - M

Black-Eyed Susan

Spring is in the air and people are beginning to crave cocktails of fresh fruit and herbs. Those from the state of Maryland tent to associate spring with the running of the Preakness horse race. Those who have attended know the Black Eyed Susan is the drink of the day! These seemingly innocent yet potent cocktails are overly huge floppy hat approved. FYI- If you see more than 14 horses on the track you have had one too many. 

Check out the recipe for your Preakness party: 

Race information can be found by visiting www.preakness.com

GIDDY UP!

xOxO- M