Each day becomes better than the one before. My life is a gift handed down from God and I am thankful for each moment. I recently read a quote that said "If you woke up in the morning with only the things you thanked God for the day before, what would be left?"
Today I am thankful for this blog. The impact it has had on my life, and the lives of those around me, those who read and hopefully are inspired. I am thankful for the opportunities it gives me and the connections it helps me to make.
On Saturday Forbes and I hosted a fun party for our friends, in part that could not have been possible if it wasn't for this blog. Reaching out through writing has opened up resources that would not otherwise exist. I was able to reach out to several companies that were happy to sample their products at the event. A big thanks to those companies!
If you remember way back to the baby-beginnings of this blog, you may recall one of the first posts about being a good hostess, and the joy I find in hosting parties and dinners. I like to feed people. Wine and dine them. To wow and amaze them with my awesome host skills. But more than that, I like to connect with others, spend time with my friends and develop deeper relationships. So this year Forbes and I created a new event to achieve all these things!
Beertoberfest
With the help of some wonderful sponsors, and lots of great food, we were able to share the evening with some of our closest friends.
One of our sponsors, Josh's Market, provided all the pumpkins and mums. Thank you Josh's for making my home and yard look inviting and fun!
Josh's Market is one of the few places around that actually sells local pumpkins! They are also a favorite of mine to stop in and grab last minute veggies for dinner. My favorite part about Josh's, they make you feel "small-town." I stopped in once to grab local honey and forgot they don't accept debit cards. Rather than drive to the ATM, they insisted I take the honey and just return later or another day to pay for it. Now that's service! Josh's Market is located on 189 Williamson Road in Mooresville.
We were supposed to host a pumpkin carving contest, however we got distracted (with beer!) so instead, we sent all of our friends home with a pumpkin as a favor.
The main event was the beer tasting. We brought in several sponsors for Pumpkin and Oktoberfest varietals and supplemented with a few other brands.
We set out small cups and note cards so our guests could take "tasting notes." My favorite of the evening was not surprisingly the Schlafly Pumpkin Ale. This micro-brew out of St. Louis (near my hometown) has been a favorite of mine for a while. Unfortunately we are not currently in Schlafly's distribution area, but maybe they will reconsider after this post!
Schlafly graciously sent us their Pumpkin Ale and their Oktoberfest to sample. Forbes has been enjoying the Oktoberfest!
While I was enjoying Schlafly at the party, I realized last night (when I had another one!) that it is a bit too sweet for me all the time. I opened a Schlafly as we sat down to watch the Bears game last night, and opted for the less sweet Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale instead.
Smuttynose was founded in 1994 in New Hampshire and is committed to providing vegan beers. I plan to do a full recap of what that means in the near future, it is a complicated process. But basically, gelatin is used to improve beer clarity. Smuttynose uses alternative methods to provide cruelty-free products! They were also a sponsor of our Beertoberfest.
I never made it through the Oktoberfest selections, we had enough Pumpkin Ale to hold me over. After a quick beer tasting, I decided to head inside for a food tasting!
Beertoberfest Menu
View all Beertoberfest Recipes
Whole Wheat Soft Pretzel Bites
Classic Hummus
Hummus Stuffed Mushrooms
Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheeze Bites
Fresh Vegetables
Fall Snack Mix
Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes
It was a wonderful evening with great friends! We are definitely thinking of making this an annual event!
A great BIG thanks to our sponsors:
Smuttynose
Schlafly
Josh's Market
No comments:
Post a Comment