Kielbasa and Chive-Infused Potato Pierogi: home ground picnic cut pork mixed with spices and stuffed into natural hog casings to form fresh homemade sausage, then hot smoked in the backyard over hardwood logs; served on home baked honey-whole wheat rolls with homemade freshly grated horseradish, course ground mustard, beer and brown sugar cooked sauerkraut, and homemade mashed potato Perogi enriched by cream infused with the first spring cutting of the fresh-cut #homegrown chives. Paired with Professor Fritz Briem’s Piwo Grodziskie Gratzer, a Digerieren style sour mashed historical recreation of a Sour Smoked Wheat Ale. This beer had a some tartness that matched the sauerkraut while the smoked flavor complimented the smoky sausage for a very traditional beer pairing.

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Hot Cross Buns: home baked buns with raisins and homemade candied grapefruit peel added; then lightly spiced with cardamom, nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon; coated with a sweetened apricot jam flavored glaze; and crossed with icing. Served with The Wild Beer Co’s Bliss. This beer was made with spices, wild yeast, and roasted apricots; making for a great complimentary pairing with the spiced buns and the apricot glaze.

LemonCurd filled Madeleines: in preparation for Easter 2014, home baked egg-shaped vanilla madeleines made from génoise cake batter dusted with powdered sugar and stuffed with a “yolk” of my great-grandmother’s recipe for lemon butter. Served with Dogfish Head’s Namaste. This witbier is brewed with organic orange slices and lemongrass making for an excellent complimentary citrus/lemon flavor beer pairing.

Matzo Ball Soup for Passover:  NYC Lower East Side baked Streits matzos crushed and combined with eggs, home rendered schmaltz, salt, and club soda to form whole wheat matzo balls floating in a rich and flavorful homemade pressured-cooked, golden-hued, chicken stock flavored with onions, parsnips, shallots, and spices; and what better for dessert than Shmaltz Brewing’s Jewbelation Reborn, a sweet barley wine-like beer brewed with 17 malts, 17 hops, and a 17% abv.

Garden Seedlings: getting ready for the 2014 gardening season by giving the seeds a head start under the grow lights.

General Tso’s Chicken: white meat chicken breast chunks dipped into an egg mixture, then rolled in cornstarch and fried in a wok before being smothered in a homemade General Tso’s sauce, mixed with homegrown peppers and organic broccoli florets, and served over rice with a flurry of sesame seeds on top. Served with Mikkeller ‘s Sichuan peppercorn brewed beer, Mission Chinese Food. This brew had a tropical fruity taste that soon warmed to a pleasant hot flavor that paired well with the dish.

Baked Penne with Five Cheese and Tomato Sauce: a rich mix of heavy cream, crushed tomatoes, tomato puree, pecorino romano, fontina, gorgonzola, ricotta, mozzarella, #homegrown basil, penne pasta, and butter; paired with a Leffe Brun.

Rosemary Honey Barbecue (BBQ) Chicken Pizza: home baked Homemade Pizza dough bottoms coated with a spicy Honey Barbecue / tomato sauce mix then topped with cooked onions, cooked homegrown peppers, chunks of chicken breast, various shredded cheeses, and fresh organic rosemary. Served with Stone Brewing Co’s To Go IPA, this hop bursted Session IPA went great with the spicy Barbecue Sauce.

Pastrami on Rye Sandwich: Home Cured beef brisket rubbed with the Fatted Calf  In The Charcuterie ‘s recipe for pastrami rub, Home Smoked and steamed over hardwood logs, then sandwiched in between slices of a home baked Austrian Alpine-style country loaf of wheat-rye caraway-coriander bread made with Hodgson Mill’s non-GMO verified, stone ground, whole grain, rye flour and baked in a newly re-seasoned cast iron camp oven. With a side of fresh chopped coleslaw sprinkled with celery seed and herbed baked “fries”. Served with Wild Beer Co’s MO; the tannins and fruity flavors in this oak barrel aged Old Ale brewed with wild yeast made for a great pairing with the smoked pastrami.

Nantucket Cranberry Pie: What better to pair with a home baked Nantucket Cranberry Pie than Allagash Brewing’s cranberry stout, Red Howes? This draft only offering is brewed with both the Red Howes and Early Black varieties of cranberries that gave it a slightly tart, dried fruit taste that went great with the pie.