A couple of months ago, the hubby and I, along with fellow foodies Phil and Robyn, attended the Amber's Brewing Company brewery tour.



Jim, the very animated owner, gave a lively tour.  We started by sampling the various grains then moved onto the different vats to talk about process, politics of the business and the importance of supporting local products.


And don't forget, to sample the beer! We tried a variety of beers as well as their Grog cooler.




Currently, the brewery is in process of relocating but I recommend the tour.  Educational and a good time.

Jim also sent us with a *beer sampler pack* to take home (*part of the groupon package we bought).  My hubby, Klaus, and I have since enjoyed every version and liked them all.

Klaus, was "lucky" enough to get an entirely different sample :)  Jim pulled a good one on him when he pulled open the tap and walked away leaving the Hubby a bit stressed :)  Don't worry, no spills!



He kept asking me when I was going to post this blogpost (attention hog, I think!) so feel free to surprise him by leaving a comment here or even better on his twitter account!!!

Update news on relocation: Amber's Brewing teams with Hog's Head Brewing Company in St. Albert

On Sunday, I headed down to Churchill Square for the Atco Gas Blue Flame Cook-off at the Taste of Edmonton. Can you believe the above setup! Individual kitchens in the outdoors!  What makes this event even more interesting was that it was some of my fellow food bloggers competing to win with their entries for best food truck entree.

Food trucks have been quite a big trend in our city with more and more coming to Edmonton's scene so this seemed like the perfect idea for a cook-off.


Phil's entree was called Not your Mama's meatloaf.  


It's one thing to watch cooking competitions on television but I couldn't imagine the pressure of cooking and answering questions in front of a large crowd but all three of them did a fantastic job.


Teresa's Feisty chicken bowl

I have to say, I really love the foodie community in Edmonton.  Not only was it a fun competition to watch but I bumped into many other bloggers, tweeters and foodies who came in support to cheer in on the friendly competition.


Michelle's Chicken biryani

The judges, chefs in our city, had a tough decision to make and were so impressed by the entries that they told the crowd that each one of them will choose one of the above entries to showcase in their own restaurants. If you ask me, they are all winners!  Way to represent you three!




It was a tight race with second place being a tie between Teresa and Michelle and Phil taking the prize by one point.  Just goes to show you that the food bloggers can not only talk the talk, but walk the walk ;)

Congrats to all three of you!

We have been eating a lot of grilled cheese lately.

I kid you not.

I'm not one of those lucky folks with AC in the house and with the hot, sticky weather, there is no way I want to turn on the oven.  Also, I admit, I get a little bit lazier with the heat.  I just want to siesta, not fiesta, with meal preparation.  Simple, easy and quick is thy name.

Thank goodness for panini presses!  I love grilled cheese fried in a pan of hot butter but sometimes if I am using a lot of cheese, my panini press is a nice way to offset extra fat usage, since you don't have to butter the outsides.  The outcome still gives a crunchy exterior that I really love.


Grilled cheese in this household is usually made with "old" cheddar but this time it got fancy. Fancy.  I had hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law and had a large cheese platter and then came home with plenty leftovers.  

I tossed together slices of smoked gouda and edam and hot damn, it was ooey-gooey.  I didn't purposely  make that oozing cheese come out of the sandwich, it did it all on it's own.  Fancy huh?



Maybe when it cools down some, I'll experiment with other fancy grilled cheese combinations.

Or not.

Siesta time is calling my name.