Gettin' your grub on

Outside of the obvious holiday attributes the memorial weekend provides, most of us are engaged by eating inappropriate amounts of food and engaging in random acts of making beer disappear at an abnormal pace. Throw in a birthday to celebrate as well and it's a trifecta. But, I've noticed throughout the years that my ability to maintain a thoroughbred drinking pace has diminished and I'm just happy to be able to put a few down with some friends and family.

So, let's just get right to the food lineup for the first annual Carberry Memorial Day Weekend Birthday Feast. My family made the trek up from Elmira, NY so we decided to keep it simple because of my parent's disinterest in eclectic cooking.  I often wonder how I became involved in the food business as until I went to college I thought real cranberries were served in a disc shape from a can. True story.

Here's what we put together:

Baked sweet potato fries with maple pepper
Tangy pineapple coleslaw
Strawberry & fresh mint soup
Pomegranate glazed grilled eggplant
Grass fed, antibiotic free burgers from Mack Brook farm served on fresh ciabatta bread with Oscar's smoked Gouda 
Lake placid India Pale Ale
Magic Hat Not Quite Pale Ale

Grass fed burgers and grilled ciabatta

fresh strawberry mint soup - don't call it a smoothie

 

It ended up being a nice, hearty barbecue with some great light, tangy options. For my birthday I got a little indulgenc-ey. My wife bought me an ice cream cake which I thoroughly devoured at a professional pace which left my stomach in knots while drinking the remainder of my beer. All in all it was a great weekend of eating as we celebrated my birthday at the Olde Bryan Inn in Saratoga Springs. (Review to come shortly)