SF HomeBrew Meeting

Erik did something fun for his SF HomeBrew Guild meeting yesterday. Their meeting spot will be at Anchor Brewing Company here in SF. He went to the meeting and they had FREE beer and a FREE tour!

 Here are some hops...

Here is the Tour Leader explaining the brew process

 Here are some open fermentation tanks...

Here is the Distillery where they make Gin. 

He had a great time learning about their brewing process and enjoying some beer. What a fun meeting place!

Potato Growing

Back in August/September, Erik grew his own potatoes! He actually bought this special bag to grow potatoes in where you fill it with dirt and they grown in the dirt. He put the bag on our apartment building roof and checked on them frequently.

We actually got quite a few potatoes out of the bag! It was pretty cool to see & actually eat them. 

Farmer Erik was at it again! The potatoes were really good and it was fun to eat something that he grew.

Surfboard Shaper

Last Friday, Erik did something reallllllly fun. He shaped his own surfboard! He bought a Daily Deal coupon to go to a local shop, Sunset Shapers, and create his own board. 

 Here is the board before he started. This is just a big piece of foam that needs to be shaped, painted, and glassed. 

He had a lot of fun there & spent a few hours over his session time to work on the board! He is going back next week to work on it again. Glad Erik had fun & we'll show you the finished product, when it's ready!

Tea and Jam

Erik Stewart was at it again yesterday whipping up some homemade bread and JAM. Actually he made iced tea from tea bags, bread, and jam. Tea with Jam & Bread. Anyone get it??? Sound of Music?? haha

Bread was nice & crusty on the outside and warm & soft on the inside...



The jam was sweet but not overly sweet. So good!

Yum!

It is also HOT here. If you recall, we have 3-4 day stretches of 'hot days' where it is 75-80. We don't have air conditioning and people can't handle it. We say "it's so hot" like 20x per hour and are useless! hah.


I think the heat makes the dog crazy too. Check her out when I showed her bubble wrap yesterday. She was running away from me but then I think she got over it it quick.

Home Made Chicken Soup

Erik Stewart was at it again this week by making his own home made chicken soup AND NOODLES. That's right people - he made his own noodles for the soup. He said it was really easy - just mix everything in the food processor and roll out the dough. Unreal.


I walked in the house after work and it smelled amazing. I was overexcited to try the soup & of course, burned my tongue. haha.


The colors look funky due to iPhone camera/flash/steam from the soup but I assure you, it was sooooo good!

Hang Ten

A while back, Erik had a surfboard made for him by a famous, local surfer, Marc Andreini. Erik took the surfboard with him to Mexico and someone got a shot of him surfing on the board. Well, Erik sent the photo to Marc to show himself riding the board he made. Turns out, Marc PUT THE PHOTO ON HIS BLOG.


This is awesome because Marc is famous in the surfing world. So fun that Erik got to be on his blog. I also asked Erik to write a guest post so we can share his trip to Mexico with everyone.

Erik's Delicious Dinner

The other night, Erik made a delicious dinner and he used his own beer to make a part of the meal!

He used this awesome book to make a BBQ sauce out of his Porter beer. He put the BBQ sauce on tuna steaks and grilled them on the stove.


He also made us Foccacia Bread - DELISH.

With a side of arugula from the garden, our meal was ready. Everything was delicious!! I have to say I was a little skeptical at first of the BBQ sauce but it was awesome!

Yum, Yum, YUM!!

Delightful Dinner

Around the house, Erik and I are really good about splitting things up including chores, bills, etc. However, I do cook dinner pretty regularly. Erik does make us a lot of food on the weekends, supply us with homemade bread & beer, and also make some good dinners.

We decided that one night each week, he would make us dinner. Last night was his night & it was delish! He made grilled tuna with a salad and homemade dressing.

The funniest thing was that he got it from that really funny website: WhatTheFuckShouldIMakeForDinner.Com

You know you say this to yourself a few times a week! haha

Burnt Skunk Coffee

Erik has his new endeavor, roasting coffee beans. He tried to create another batch the other day but something went wrong....they burned.

Holy Wow, the entire apartment was filled with smoke and it stunk! I'm surprised someone didn't call the fire department. Evie & I were hanging out the window trying to breathe!

The next morning, the house still smelled like burned coffee. As a true Adventurer, he ground the beans the next day & tried to have a cup of the coffee. I obliged by smelling the coffee only & we both agreed....it smelled like a skunk!

I think 'Burnt Skunk Flavor' would be a hard one to market! haha

More importantly...what would Martha think!?

Whirley Pop

Well, Erik Stewart has added something else to his list of hobbies - roasting his own coffee beans. This week, he received a Whirley Pop (which is a really fun name to sing to N'Sync's 'Dirty Pop') and coffee beans. Yesterday, he roasted them on the stove & then grinded them in a little grinder we have. It definitely smelled like coffee & tasted pretty good!

The Whirley Pop also doubles as a popcorn popper so we can try to make popcorn on the stove.

The Whirley Popper



Now, go ahead and sing Whirley Pop to N*Sync!

Guest Cookie of the Week

We have a guest baker for Cookie of the Week....Erik! He decided to make us Vegan Chocolate Chip/Butterscotch cookies. Ok, so they are like 98% vegan. haha.

The Ingredients

The always present Baking Assistant supervising the baking & hoping for something to drop in her mouth

Erik is a pro in the kitchen - multitasking!







The finished product! They were delicious. They were really fluffy & moist. They weren't super sweet like you get with cookies with a ton of sugar in them. You can find the recipe in the Veganomicon bookbook.

Surfs Up

We all know Erik is obsessed with surfing. His new work schedule is not allowing him to spend 3 hours of his morning at the beach. So, he has decided to try a new way of getting his surfing in.

This morning, he got up around 545 and went surfing. At 545, it is still dark out so he was out there in the dark! He said it was great though & that no one was really out there & he caught a lot of waves.

As for us this morning, Evie did not do too well as a running partner. She was dragging behind, wanted to stop every few seconds just to stand there, and was the opposite of how she was on Monday. So, the good news is that we went out & got some exercise even though it wasn't as productive as it could be. I think I might go out on my own & then come back to get Evie for her walk.

To complete the surfing day, we went to see a surf movie tonight called Stoked & Broke. It is about these two guys who go on a surfing trip with no money. Before the movie, a band played a couple songs. You may know them; they are called the Blank Tapes. I am not that hip but Erik knew who they were. It was nice to hang out together after work.

This week is going well so far, with our new schedule!

Congrats to Erik!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ERIK!! He just accepted a new position at his work!! He will be moving to a normal schedule of Monday -Friday AND he got a raise. Very cool.

So, now we will get to hang out more together and he will have a more normal schedule. Not sure how he feels about that since his surfing time is going to get compromised but he is coming up with ideas on when he will be able to surf.

I also have to figure out what to do with Evie. She is used to going out mid-day and that will be going away. I might get a dog walker 2x per week or something. or buy her the Potty Patch. haha.

My own Martha Stewart

Erik made us something this weekend - cup koozies! He had an old wet suit so he cut off part of the arms to make the koozies - how resourceful.

He gardens. He makes koozies. He bakes bread. I feel like I have my own Martha Stewart living with me! :-)

MVP

Erik won the MVP of the game award in his hockey game last night. Woohoo!

The Urban Gardener

Here's a shot of Erik tending to his garden. This is his new hobby. We now added lettuce & eggplant to our garden. He puts on his rubber gloves & gets to work watering the plants, every day.

We are seeing buds on the tomato plants & a little pepper on the pepper plant. The mint is growing like crazy. The cilantro is able to be used in dishes. The cucumber, pumpkin, hops, and scallions are growing, too!

Erik's Adventures: Hockey Fight

The other night, Erik got in a fight at his hockey game. He said that a guy on the other team accused him of hitting him with his stick. The guy punched Erik's helmet & tried to rip it off. Erik was shit talking to him the entire time.

This happened at the end of the 2nd period and they got penalties. They sat out for the ENTIRE 3RD PERIOD, in the penalty box.

Erik thinks fighting in the adult men's hockey league is a waste of time. You're not in the NHL getting paid millions to fight. You're an adult with a real job. If you break your arm, you're out of work and that opens up a huge can of worms.

So, nobody got hurt. WEll, Erik's neck did hurt the next day from trying to have his helmet ripped off. haha.