My Personal Thoughts

I've decided that the next 30-Day Challenge will be hors d'oeuvres. I'm now working on the list because I don't want to fly too blindly into this one. Otherwise I'd likely end up doing 25 of 30 days as just variations of the same thing. I want to make sure that I have some good variety in there.

Ideas:

1. Jalapeno Poppers Revamped
2. Variety of Wraps (prosciutto, salmon, cheeses, spinach)
3. Stuffed Grape Leaves (Olives and candied Walnuts)
4. Bacon-Wrapped Prawns
5. Stuffed Roma Tomatoes (Caprese Style)
6. Puffy Pastry Finger Sammies
7. Pigs in a blanket
8. Crab-Cream Cheese Wontons
9. Spring Rolls
10. Panko Veggie Skewers
11. Roasted Garlic Grilled Fuyu Persimmons
12. Red Bell Pepper Squares
13. Sopitos
14. Stuffed Mushrooms
15. Sweet Chipotle Apple Slices
16. Mini Quiches
17. Maple-Pecan Cakes (mini w/ yams)
18. Bruschetta With Tapenade
19. Pickled ginger carrots
20. Pickled Jicama and Pears
21. Asparagus
22. Stuffed Snow Peas
23. Smoked Salmon Spread & Crostini
24. Stuffed Clams, Oysters or Mussels
25. Cream Cheese Balls and Crackers
26. Olive Skewers
27. Something w/ salami
28. Something w/ radishes
29. Jazzed up hot dog slices
30. Some kind of dumplings (Asian or German?)
31. Scallops
32. Sirloin Skewers
33. Cabbage Cups
34. Nacho Cups
35. Flautas / Taquitos

10 or so more to go then I can get this underway. I'm thinking maybe for August, but I may have to push it closer to September.

I wanted to get back to the challenge ideas and add to them. This is really just for me, but if you know what this is and really want to read it, knock yourself out.

Ideas:

Under $10 meal challenge
Roast Challenge
Crock Pot Challenge
Chili Challenge
Baking Challenge
Dessert Challenge
Salsa Challenge
12 Days of Christmas Challenge
Bacon Challenge (Who doesn't love bacon?)
Hors D'oeuvres Challenge
Smoothie Challenge (12 months, seasonal produce)
Latin Challenge
Italian Challenge
Frisbee Challenge (Tortillas, Crepes, Etc)
Low Fat Challenge
10 Minute Challenge
Leftovers Challenge

I was thinking of some different challenge ideas and I wanted to get them down here so I can look back when I forget about them in 20 minutes.

Ideas:

Under $10 meal challenge
Roast challenge
Crock pot challenge
Chili challenge
Baking Challenge
Dessert Challenge
Salsa challenge

Boss told me yesterday at our morning meeting that if I finish all my contractual obligations that day, I didn't have to go to work today. Then my other boss asked if I could come in today because he wasn't ready for me to finish my stuff that day. Luckily that all worked out, but today I have to go in to another place and give a presentation. This may turn into another job. And tomorrow starts my first day of my summer job. For a vacation, this sure is a lot of work.

I've gone full blown on my 30-day beer challenge idea which has been really cool. I've been giving a lot of food away because usually I'll cook a couple days a week and live the rest of the time off of leftovers. I can't even keep up with the leftovers now that I've been cooking every day. It's usually the desserts though that I've been giving away. I think when I wrap these 30-Days up, I should do a recap including a top 10 list and some honorable mentions or something.

I love beer A LOT. I was just thinking about how I don't have enough recipes that use beer while cooking or baking. I did a little search and came up with some ideas on how to incorporate more beer in recipes. I'm going to just list some brainstorming ideas here so that I can come back to this later and try some stuff out.

1) Chili - Bourbon would be great in chili, also several types of beer: porter, stout, IPA
2) Meatloaf - I think I could go Pale Ale, perhaps a brown even. I might stay away from the darker and look for sweet given my typical take on meatloaf.
3) Fondue - I've never actually made fondue, but I need to make a beer & cheese fondue. I think I'll make that my first endeavor into the world of fondue.
3) Mac & Cheese - This literally JUST popped up because of my thought above. Weisbier, Filtered Wheat, maybe even a lager or pilsner. A stout might actually add a nice level of complexity as well.
4) Steak - This will depend partly on the cut, but I should really cook a ribeye in a dark beer. I'm thinking a rich porter or stout would be amazing.

I've done tequila lime in the past for fish or shrimp. I think a Corona-lime sauce with shrimp or fish would also be tasty. Might have to be careful that the fish isn't too light if I did it with fish.

Now I'm going to brainstorm in a different order. I'm going to list some beer styles and try and come up with stuff that would taste good with it.

Porter - Beef, Lamb, Portabella
Stout - Bacon, Beef, Lamb, Hearty Breads, Brownies, Chocolate dishes, Cheesy dishes
Wheat - Pasta, Poultry, Fried foods
Lager - Fajitas, Poultry, Seafood pasta dishes

Alrighty, now I just got a crazy idea. This is going to take some major prep work and I'm going to need to get cooking (no pun intended). I am going to attempt what I am calling the 30 Day Beer Challenge. I'm going to select 30 beers and create 30 recipes. I will post a different recipe every day of June. First goal: select 30 beers. I'm going to rattle a few off right now that I know I want on the list and then I'll go from there.

1. Victoria
2. Corona (Corona-Lime Shrimp)
3. Sierra Nevada Stout (Brownies)
4. Stone IPA (IPA Stuffed Game Hen)
5. Great White by Lost Coast (Lemon Bars)
6. Black Butte Porter by Deschutes Brewery (Ribeye)
7. Guinness (Rye Bread)
8. Celebration by Sierra Nevada (Flank Steak in Raspberry Sauce)
9. Pyramid Haywire Hefeweizen or the Apricot Ale
10. The Abyss by Deschutes Brewery (Chocolate Mousse)
11. Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout (Rice Pudding?)
12. Samuel Smith's Nut Brown (Broccoli Beef)
13. Pabst Blue Ribbon (Battered Chicken Tenders)
14. Heineken
15. Budweiser (Jambalaya)
16. Keystone Light (Biscuits and Gravy)
17. Budweiser Chelada (Cioppino)
18. Tecate (Chicken Fajitas in Brine)
19. Foster's (Angel Hair and Muscles)
20. Moylan's Kilt Lifter
21. Firestone DBA (Chili)
22. Sam Adam's Dark (French Dip)
23. Newcastle (Sliders)
24. Sapporo (Fried Calamari and Wasabi Dipping Sauce)
25. Killian's Red (Pork Baby Back Ribs)
26. Anderson Valley Summer Solstice (Cornbread)
27. Something Molson or Moosehead (Pancakes. Yeah, I went there.)
28.
29.
30.

Needs:
Red Ales
Something from Russian River Brewing Company
Something from Lagunitas

@Bradonweb told me that I need at least 7 awful beers. Granted those are 7 beers that WE think are awful. I'm going to either call those 7 beers the hipster week or the poor college moron week.

I'll have to do some shopping tonight.