Review: Traderspoint Creamery Yogurt

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Andrea

Let me start off by saying that this was the most difficult thing I have tried to take a picture of so far. I could not get a straight picture and was about to lose my cool while stomping off to get the tripod. Then I realized that the sticker on the bottle was crooked and not my picture taking.

Whew!

So I apologize for the crooked picture but it’s not my fault and I’m okay with that.

I stumbled upon this yogurt from Traderspoint Creamery, while I was picking up some Snowville half and half for Scott’s coffee. I thought this was just a milk company and then I noticed that this bottle said yogurt on it.

Oh?

I’ve been looking around for a new yogurt for a little while now. I still love Fage but sometimes I want something a little sweeter and not so thick. I’ve been displeased with yogurts lately and all about abandoned my mission. Then the florescent store lights shined down up this gem.

2011 Pumpkin Beer Review Roundup

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Andrea

The pumpkin beer reviews for 2011 have been completed! We tested a great variety of brews this fall and even found a new favorite!

First up was a crowd favorite, Pumpking by Southern Tier. Sadly not a FE favorite at all.

Next was Shipyard Brewing’s Smashed Pumpkin, and won this year’s favorite!

Followed that up with Heavy Seas The Greater Pumpkin, a lovely barrel aged ale.

Last up was Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela, which sadly didn’t rate very high.

We ended the pumpkin ale season with a tasting at our favorite bar, Hal and Al’s.

This was a great season for tasting new pumpkin brews!

Were you able to get any pumpkin ales this season? Did you find a new favorite?

Up next? Perhaps some winter ale tastings!

If you’re into ales as much as we are, feel free to follow me on Untappd!

Review: Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Andrea

It’s the last pumpkin beer review for 2011! It’s been a month already and we are on our fourth pumpkin beer for October! Let’s get to it!

We had a hiccup with one of the pumpkin ales that we bought. It was skunky.

Ugh.

A skunky beer is never a good experience. So we were kind of scrambling to find a replacement beer. The thing with pumpkin beers, they don’t last long. When you see them in the store, you gotta jump on those quick because once they are gone, they’re gone.

Only so many of them get made and sometimes they are in limited release.

We stumbled across this Jolly Pumpkin , La Parcela No. 1 Pumpkin Ale and picked it up.

I have had Jolly Pumpkin’s La Roja which is a sour beer. It’s lovely for a very hot and humid summer day which means it’s great beer for an Ohio summer.

I decided to go with their Pumpkin Ale because if the brewery has pumpkin in the name, they should know what they’re doing, right?

Review: Heavy Seas The Greater Pumpkin

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Andrea

This week we are taking a look at Heavy Seas, The Greater Pumpkin. This is in the Mutiny Fleet series of ales.

I have to admit that I did a little happy dance when we spotted this beer because it’s got two of my very favorite things combined into one brew:

Pumpkin Ale
Bourbon Barrel Aged

Oh my pumpkins!

I was excited and a bit nervous to try this beer so I was putting it off and putting it off, tasting others first. Excited because barrel aged pumpkin! Nervous because what if I didn’t like it? Yikes!

Finally I put my foot down and said that we needed to taste this beer.

Smell: 3/5 :pumpkin:

The smell is more concentrated in the bottle. You get hints of spices in the background letting you know that you are about to drink a pumpkin inspired beer. The spices are not overwhelming and are toned down a bit from the bourbon in the background.

Review: Shipyard Brewing Smashed Pumpkin

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Andrea

One of the things that I love about Columbus is that we are not lacking for good beer and it’s not hard to find either. Even your local grocery store will have craft beer to offer!

However this does mean that it can be difficult when shopping for beers to review. So many options!

Up for review this week is Shipyard’s Smashed Pumpkin in the Pugsley’s Signature Series.

Smell: 4/5 :pumpkin:

Great pumpkin smell right outta the gate. While the pumpkin smell is subtle, the spices come through strong but not in an overpowering way.

When you smell this brew, it’s clear that it’s a pumpkin and fall inspired ale. This is exactly what you’re looking for with pumpkin ales.

Color: 5/5 :pumpkin:

Shipyard has done the perfect color for this beer! It’s a great bright orange color and also very cloudy. I personally don’t like a beer that has been super filtered, allowing you to see through it. I want some heft to my beer and I’ll take a cloudy beer any day.

Review: Southern Tier Pumpking

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Andrea

Alright gang, it’s October which means it’s time to review a whole new set of pumpkin beers!

Are you excited? Because over here at the HQ we are estatic!

You can take a quick glance at the beers that we reviewed last year.

Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

New Holland Ichabod

O’Fallon’s Pumpkin Ale

For a brief tutorial, we will be looking at several qualities of the beer:

Smell
Color
Head
Taste

Rating the beers in pumpkins :pumpkin: , from 1 to 5, 1 being the poorest and 5 being the best score.

First up is Southern Tier’s Pumpking. This beer comes highly recommended from just about everyone. The minute you mention pumpkin beers, most people will ask if you’ve had Pumpking.

Since it’s so highly recommended, it’s going to be the beer that kicks off the month!

So let’s see how it did!

Smell: 4/5 :pumpkin:

It has a strong pumpkin smell to it that immediately hits you as soon as you pour the beer. There’s another scent in the background and I almost want to say it’s reminiscent of melted butter. Like the way a graham cracker crust would smell.

Review: Buried Hatchet Stout by Southern Star Brewery

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Andrea

If you’ve been around here long enough, then you’ll know that I love the dark beers. I love them a ridiculous amount and I tend to stay away from lighter beers. IPAs are my Nemesis.

Recently while I was having a meeting with a twitter friend, Scott was off purchasing some beers and other necessities. He came back with several beers, some favorites and some new ones.

This Buried Hatchet Stout was a new one and I was skeptical.

I’m not a huge beer from a can girl. Yes it sounds snotty but cans of beer just seem so cheap. And yes I realize that even cheap beer can come in bottles (You know who you are!) but still, the stigma is there.

Even though Monk’s Blood, which is a great beer that also comes in a can, has taken my fears down a notch, they are still there.

Scott bought this beer for me and I wasn’t even the first one to drink it, he was. One night when I was still getting over my cold, he popped open a can and plopped down on the couch.

Review: SO Delicious Coconut Milk

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Andrea

Since I mention this stuff all the time in a lot of my recipes, I figured that I should explain it a little bit in case you haven’t tried it yet or are curious about it.

I’ve been using it for months now. Well maybe even coming up on a year? That’s totally possible.

Our affair goes a little something like this, I spotted it in the grocery store and decided to give it a try. I bought the vanilla version and really it did nothing for me. It was a tad sweet and ended up not being my thing. It didn’t work in coffee as a creamer substitute, and I didn’t like making oats with it. So I forgot about it, putting it aside as another product that didn’t really fit the HQ needs.

Then something nudged me and said that maybe I should give the unsweetened version a try. I did and haven’t stopped buying it since.

Red Gold Tomato Products

Posted on January 5, 2011 by Andrea

Last month I was contacted by Red Gold asking if I would like to receive a gift box and try out their products. I eagerly accepted because one thing I go through quickly here at the HQ is tomato products. Next to beans and stock, they are the most consumed canned good.

I’ve tried Red Gold products in the past and have been pleased with them. They are also one of the few companies that does not put HFCS in their canned tomatoes. Bonus!

Read the labels of the canned tomatoes you purchase and see if they contain HFCS. Most do and a few will only contain sugar. It was one of the products that surprised me the most when I started reading labels more.

Okay, sorry for the tangent! Getting back on target, I got the gift pack in mail and was surprised by all the goodies that it contained.

The gift pack contained:

4 cans of tomato products

Read more on Red Gold Tomato Products…

Review: Febreeze Laundry Odor Eliminator

Posted on December 2, 2010 by Andrea

I was contacted by Rachael on behalf of Febreeze to inquire if I would be interested in testing out their new Laundry Odor Eliminator. I debated about this for a while before replying to her. Part of my apprehension is due to the fact that when it comes to laundry, I try and keep things really simple. I used a dye and fragrance free detergent along with vinegar to help eliminate odors. I try and keep away from chemicals and perfumes as much as possible.

However I do use Febreeze spray a great deal in the house. I spray curtains to keep them fresh, sometimes I spray the furniture, and I spray down my workout gear. Scott and I train in Muay Thai and let me tell you that wraps, gloves, and shin guards can get sweaty and stanky. Spraying them helps keep them from being too offensive and grossing out our sparring partners (and each other!). Because I use the spray, I decided that yes I would try out this product on some of my laundry and see if it helps.