THANKS FOR ALL THE BIRTHDAY WISHES EVERYONE!!
Well I made it through. Last birthday in my 20’s, still can’t believe it?!
Only 364 more days until I’m no longer a “20-something” – but who’s counting 😉
Tonight’s birthday celebration was pretty fantastic, and spent at one of my favorite places everrrrr.
Whole Foods Beer Tasting Dinner!!!
Doesn’t get much better. I take that back, it would have been better if Fanatic Mom & Dad were able to make it to celebrate Dad’s birthday as well, but alas it decided to sleet/snow all night and it just wasn’t possible since they don’t live as close as we do 😦
Don’t worry Dad, we drank your share of the beer anyways 😛
Each dish tonight was paired with a feature beer from Victory Brewing Company, a craft brewery located up north in Pennsylvania.
So, are we ready to drink eat?
Dinner started out with an appetizer of “chips & salsa” which was paired with a pilsner.
This unconventional salsa was a blend of soy sauce, chili paste, cilantro, scallions and maybe a couple other ingredients I didn’t catch.
Served with some sort of fried pita chip, it sure was tasty!
I also really enjoyed the Victory Brewing Company’s Schwarz Pils, it offset the spicy salsa just perfectly and was nice and light.
Next up we were served Chicken Yakitori which was paired with a pale ale.
This chicken dish was a definite winner! It was my second favorite dish of the night 😀
The peanut sauce atop the chicken had a blend of Asian and Indian flavors which were so good with the cool cucumber salad. Loved it.
And the Pursuit Pale Ale was actually a model version for the one to be released later this year by Victory Brewing – so fun to get a sneak peak!
Onto my favorite dish and pairing of the night: Shrimp Spring Roll with a Belgian Triple.
The spring rolls were so light & fresh plus the dipping sauce was just the perfect flavor & spice! Sriracha, soy sauce & butter I think?
The Golden Monkey Belgian Triple was my favorite beer of the night too, loved it. It was spiced with coriander too, so cool!
The beer really mellowed out the spicy spring rolls so wonderfully and just had the best taste. This one was a winner! 😛
The last savory dish of the night was a Korean Taco paired with a barleywine.
Hard shell filled with shredded beef & topped with an Asian slaw of some sort.
Ehhh, this wasn’t my favorite. Probably because the Asian slaw contained kimchi which just isn’t my cup of tea. Oh well!
The barleywine was pretty tasty though and was pretty cool that it had been aged since 2006. Some beers age well which I found interesting, just like wine!
The Man liked this beer the most I think 😀
Last up was the sweet treat of the night – Gingerbread Napoleans paired with a rich stout.
The combination of gingersnaps, pumpkin goat cheese and brown sugar whipped cream was just divine! And this is coming from someone who doesn’t really have a taste for goat cheese (I know, I know, but I’ve tried!)
Perhaps the trick is to just mix it with some tasty pumpkin and some sugary goodness 😉
This dessert was really tasty and different and definitely something that would be fun to serve at a party.
The Storm King Stout was a bit rich for my tastes, but I do think that it was a good choice to go with the sugary spice of the dessert.
Overall we had a great time and it was a wonderful way to spend my birthday! We’ll definitely be going back again.
Well it’s getting very late, I better get some shut-eye… Looking forward to the rest of the week and then some more birthday celebrating this weekend – you know I always have something up my sleeve 😀
CookinFanatic 