We’ve got pea-pods.

Lil’ Cucumbers

More Kale

And Squash.

The purple broccoli is making itself known, looking gorgeous and delicious.

We also have regular broccoli coming in. I’m rather excited turn this into a salad.

The garden is definitely filling in, if not getting a little overgrown. Like most people I’m sure, it’s definitely in need of some weeding. I anticipate a tomato update in the next few weeks.

Pork Fajitas for Dinner

Roasted red peppers, onions, avocado, tomatoes, sour cream, pork, whole wheat tortillas. Mmm…

Foliage around the Yard

After all the rain, the vines have been really been taking over.

The lilies have been taking over as well.

Minnehaha Creek was full to the gills after last week’s heavy rains. It’s been a popular place for kayakers.

The garden has been progressing wonderfully. Inside we’ve got beans, kale, chard, squash, brussel sprouts, tomatoes, and lots of flowers.

Garden a several weeks ago:

Garden a little further along:

And now:

We’ve been getting massive rain this spring, especially in the last few weeks of June. This weekend we got 3 inches during the course of two heavy storms.

More flowers:

Mulberry Tree

I discovered we have a mulberry tree hiding out in the side yard. I might have to get the ladder out and harvest a few.

The hammock has been getting a bit of use, but it never seems like enough!

Minnehaha Creek is looking great as usual.

The critters are enjoying the house being all opened up.

And napping in the back yard.

Wine Clarification Test

Bottling Day

Bottling Day

Bottling Day

Bottling Day

Bottling Day

The tour was super fun. It was more fun than a movie, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a fun afternoon trip.

For more information about the house, or going on a tour of your own, check out:

Minnesota Historical Society
http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/jjhh/

Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_J._Hill_House

James Hill House – Dining Room

James Hill House Dining Room

James Hill House – Gallery

James Hill House Gallery

James Hill House Paintings – Minnehaha Falls

James Hill House Paintings – Minnehaha Falls

Inside the James Hill House

Inside the James Hill House

James Hill House Basement

Buried Cars, Views From the Porch

Back Yard Snow

From “Creek A Day” (Minnehaha Creek daily progression)

Icicles, Viewed form the Back Window

Snow Dog

Indoor Napping

I’ll start out with a few favorite new lagers.

Henniger Lager was mellow and super delicious. This one comes in a pint and would actually be a great one to keep on hand in the summer. It’s not a lawnmowing beer, but definitely something you’d enjoy on a warm day (it just snowed a food when I drank this one).

A bit of history, Henninger Brewery (see the awesome tower) was a notable brewery in Frankfurt, Germany. It is now distributed by a Greek brewery called Mythos, a subsidiary of Carlsberg (another long-time favorite).

Staropramen Lager. This one takes everything you like about Pilsner Urquell and takes at a few steps further. Buy this one for your homebrewing friends who don’t have any cold-lagering equipment.

Staropramen is the second largest brewery in the Czech Republic. With socialism after the Second World War, all Czechoslovakian breweries were nationalised, including Staropramen.

Au Naturale Organic Blonde.

Okay, I saw this in the “build your own sixpack” isle, and told myself not to be tricked by bottles with naked women on it. But I bought it anyway. It was kind of alright, but in the end all that was good about it was the naked girl on the label.

This begs another question. Why can’t I find any organic beer or wine that really knocks my socks off? If you know of one, please recommend one in the comments.

Okay, on to Schell’s Snowstorm. I first had this one over at Justin’s house and have been hooked on it ever since. Schell’s is one of those brands that I find kind of underwhelming unless I find it on tap somewhere. Snowstorm doesn’t fit that pattern. Though it’s kind of sweet, I find it very drinkable and not overtly filling.

There’s a lot of winter beers that I grow tired of quickly, but this one isn’t it. It even pours nice. Tip: Serve with cookies.

On the tail of Snowstorm is Goose Island’s Mild Winter. Goose Island is another one of those that I only get excited about when I find it on tap. This one wasn’t bad, but Snowstorm is the clear winner in this winter beer tasting.

Schell’s Firebrick. You’re another one of those beers that gets drank last in the sample pack. Sorry, but that’s the best way I can put it.

I’m going to finish up this beer tasting with Bell’s Winter White. This one is kind of sweet, and I couldn’t drink more than one or two at most.

Everyone loves Bell’s. Surely a great one to buy when friends of varying tastes are coming over.

Okay, onto the wines. We’ve been drinking a ton of malbec lately, enough that I’m going to brew some of my own this spring (I’ll post about that later).

Maipe Malbec. This was a pretty fresh wine (2009) that was really good. I look forward to buying this one again.

Here’s some cool photos of the Argenenian winery where it came from.

Iluminado Malbec. Drank this one during the Winter Olympics. It kind of activated my heartburn alarm, unfortunately. Those close to me know I’m kind of sensitive to that. Wouldn’t likely buy it again, even if it was on sale.

Emiliana Natura Carmenere. This one is a 2008 and got a little more time to age than some of the other $10-ish malbecs we’ve picked up. Was decent and mellow, and I wold totally buy this one again.

Andean Ridge. I didn’t have much, but Sarah says it was really decent and she would definitely buy it again.

—

Did you make any personal winter booze discoveries?

Please share.

This winter I began my first batch of wine, which is slated for drinking in at Brian and Rebecca’s wedding in June.

This inaugural batch is based on the Coastal Red (Bourgeron Rouge / Red Burgundy) kit from Vinters Reserve. I got it at Northern Brewer in St. Paul, MN. $60 in ingredients will yield roughly 36 bottles of wine.

For this project I treated myself to a new 6-gallon carboy, brew hauler, a drill-mounted aerator, and a Portuguese floor corker, which will be documented shortly.

Here’s a few action-packed photos of the wine moving from the primary to secondary fermenter.

The process seemed strange to me at first, given my orientation towards brewing beer. However, once you get the equipment setup, it’s not terribly difficult. In fact, I look forward to brewing a another batch (Chilean Malbec) later this spring.

The only truly tedious part so far has been washing and de-labeling several dozen bottles, shown below.

Tip: I have found that a warm bath of PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash) will help you remove labels with ease. In fact, most labels just float off. It’s environmentally-friendly, too.

On the beer front, Justin has been working on his own lineup (honey porter), which got left me itching to start a beer for the tail-end of winter.

Here’s a few photos of the Scottish 60 i have going, moving from wort to primary and secondary. It undergoes a longer, cooler fermentation. Fewer hops and less boozy.

Things are looking good on the fermentation front. I’ll follow up with bottling and tasting in the next few weeks.

Here’s a list of a things I recall putting in the slow cooker last time I made a batch of chili.

Half bag of pinto beans (pre-soaked overnight)
Can of black beans
Can of whole corn
A big ol’ can of peeled tomatoes
A red pepper
An orange pepper
A few stalks of celery
Some carrots
An onion
A bunch of mushrooms
A zucchini
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 jalapeno
Tablespoon or more chili powder
Bunch of salt
Bunch of pepper
Bunch of italian seasoning
Bunch of additional oregano
Bay leaves
1 boxed thing of liquid vegetable broth

—–
1. Bring some veggie broth to a boil and throw it on top.
2. If you need some extra liquid, boil some filtered water and fill to desired level.
3. Stir it up and then drink some beer (sierra nevada); wait for it to cook for aboot 5 hours (on high heat) or 8 hours (on low heat).

—–
Serve with a splash of lime juice, Bearitos corn chips, and a wad of sour cream or cottage cheese. If it’s really cold out or you’ve had a shitty day, top with additional cheddar cheese.

Serves a dozen people, or makes enough for lunches for a week and a half.