clown shoes - very funny

First they come out with Tramp Stamp (one of my favorite IPAs), and now Steve Greenlee is writing about Ipswich, MA-based Clown Shoes' latest hybrid beer, Muffin Top. Not sure I'd be caught drinking one in public, and based on the description in the review, I'm not sure it's really up my alley.

"Syrupy and heavy, this beer -- 22 ounces of it anyway -- would be difficult for one person to finish in one sitting, especially given its alcohol content of 10 percent by volume."

Image via 99 bottles

Still, I love hearing about local brewers doing cool things. I don't think Clown Shoes offers tours, but they have a pretty entertaining blog. It could be fun to check them out at the Beer Summit next month, especially if they've released their next IPA, dubbed Supa Hero, by then.

coming up for air/where I've been

Five weeks of school have passed and I have 780 unread items in my Google Reader! Each time I sit to start an entry here I feel overcome with anxiety. And so, I stop. It's all been very overwhelming, in the best way possible. I've snapped over 500 photos that need to be uploaded (having issues with iPhoto at the moment), scribbled over 50 pages of notes, filled an entire three ring binder with recipes and cooking techniques, and each night when I get home, I fall into bed in an exhausted pile. Plus, the last thing I want to do at the end of the day is put more food in my mouth. Wine, of course, is a different story.

A question I keep getting is whether cooking all day keeps me from wanting to make food when I get home. The answer is no. I'm just so gosh darn tired, and I eat all day. ALL DAY.

Take Thursday, for example.

Morning Quickbreads lesson:
sweet potato donut hole
maple syrup scone
blueberry muffin
corn bread

Afternoon Frying lesson:
french fries
potato chips
fried apple
fried Oreo
fried Twix bar (just wrong)
fried clams
tempura cauliflower

As for what can be expected from the blog.... when I started school, I had pretty ridiculous ambitions and my goal was to update every day. Just writing that makes me laugh. I've since decided that I'll update - at most - on what I've done in a week, focusing on the key lessons I've learned. There have truly been a few "ohhhh, AHA!" moments over the past month or so. Moments that further confirm that I'm where I'm meant to be, and continue to inspire me to keep cruising down this butter highway. What comes yet is still to be determined, but I think I'm off to a good start.

Stay tuned.