My husband David has always been a wine lover. Never much of a beer drinker. We do keep a little beer in the garage in case guests ask for it, but not long ago we had to throw the stuff out. It was so old it had gone bad.
Then along came Andy, our English son-in-law who hails from the land of pints and pubs. Andy loves beer. The first few years of their marriage Maggy and Andy lived in England, and to earn a little money in grad school Maggy worked at her neighborhood pub. There’s not a tipping tradition in England, but appreciative customers would treat Maggy to the occasional pint. Over time she became quite a beer lover too.
I’m sure Sharon drank her share of bad beer in college, but with Berkshire Brewing Company in Deerfield, Mass just down the road, she also started to cultivate a taste for good beer. We were up to three beer connoisseurs in the family.
And now there’s Tony, our soon-to-be son-in-law—equal parts Irish and Italian—who grew up in Cleveland, home of Great Lakes Brewing Company. Tony’s so committed to good beer he’s working on the seemingly impossible logistics of getting kegs of Great Lake’s Christmas Ale shipped to Connecticut for the upcoming wedding. The addition of Tony makes it a solid majority of beer drinkers in our family.
Why, then, was I surprised, about a month or ago, when David declared himself a devotee of beer? We had friends for dinner two weeks in a row. While everyone else was sipping white wine, he was tipping a beer bottle!
David threw a pizza party for a church committee the other night. “There was a time,” David said, “when I would have bought the cheapest brand for a party like this, but now that I’m a beer drinker…”
A couple of days ago we were out on a little shopping spree. As we were getting in the car to head home David said, “Let’s go get a beer.” What fun, I thought. So we took a little detour to our local pub, Brave Heart, and ordered a couple of pints with a platter of Buffalo wings. As we swigged our beer, gnawed on wings, and watched a little sports TV, I thought how wonderfully out of character this was for us.
Last night Sharon and Tony came for dinner. David grabbed four beers from the fridge. While I held out for wine, beer is clearly seeping into my life. I’ve been cooking with it more–beer bread, beer cheese soup. I can see it coming. It’s just a matter of time before I go brew.
Okay, Pam, next time you’re at that pub —
“Blue. Moon. With. Orange.”
Four simple words guaranteed to bring you over to the dark side with the rest of us, once and for all.
(And in the meantime, I’m makin’ this soup. Thanks)!
Although I don’t really care to drink beer, I love cooking with it. My husband, a beer man, swears by Guinness and its “healing powers”… especially headaches. P.S. This soup looks great!
I gotta say – after working in a pub for a year in England, I turned into a beer lover too. But I’ll always love wine more, Mom.
Had this soup for lunch – it’s delicious! Andy loved it too. We’ll be making this in the future.
These tantalizing references to Sharon and Tony’s wedding are making me curious- perhaps impertinently so! So far I gather there is to be a December wedding with a wish for Christmas Ale. Please feel free to share more plans or frustrations or hopes with us… especially about the menu! I so enjoy how the whole family contributes to ThreeManyCooks… the more the merrier. Best wishes to you all.
Very astute, Tina. It’s a December wedding and we’ll keep you in the loop:)
My husband and I are becoming beer snobs 🙂 I went from drinking Bud Light (or anything else free) in college to brewing our own beer.
My husband actally converted a full size fridge into a large “kegerator” that can fit 3 different brews on tap, which dispense from the outside of the fridge like at a bar.
I prefer wine as well, but sometimes it’s nice to crack open a good beer. My husband is a beer drinker. When it comes to beer we are both snobs 🙂 We only drink microbrews and and living in Utah you wouldn’t think there would be much of a beer following, but there are actually some fantastic microbreweries here!
I’m a wine girl now, but when I do have a beer, I can’t imagine liking anything more than a Bud Light. Is my red neck showing?
I’m from NE Ohio & have that GLBC Christmas Ale imported to Chicago every year by our family “pony express”. I love wine, but beer has a fond place in my heart. Guinness is Ireland, and some of the good local brews here in Chicago – 312 in the summer (nice & light) or a Honkers varietal in the colder months. YUM!!
My husband is a beer lover and I am not – however I LOVE foods made with beer – I must try this soup!
Craft beer is a whole new world. Try out a sampler at your local brew pub. Also, Samuel Adams does a GREAT job with the variety of beers that they brew. Cheers!
I made your beer bread receipe from USA weekend.The center stuck to the cookie sheet that I used which also is one of those insulated cookie sheets. Should you grease the pan or use one that is not insulated?
Hey Judi,
It could be that the insulated sheet caused the bread not to heat up as quickly and therefore stick. I haven’t had any trouble with sticking so i guess I’d suggest switching cookie sheets or spray the insulated sheet with vegetable cooking spray.