Company Picnic

Last Sunday was my company's annual picnic...

To show my co-workers that I'm not just a nerdy workaholic & weird vegan, I asked Brian to accompany me. (He's very good-looking & down-to-earth. He definitely helped fool them, muahaha!)

Good Highlights: We had some free & tasty BBQ, played some corn-hole, utilized the open bar, & I got an awesome temporary tattoo of a turtle!

Bad Highlights: There were lots of crying children & this caricature was drawn of me and Brian...

I asked the caricature artist to draw us on vacation chilling on a boat/yacht. He interpreted this as "Please draw me in a skimpy bathing suit with enormous boobs. And please draw Brian with a rectangular head, pretending to reach out to grope my fake enormous boobs. And please accentuate his Jew nose."  

Needless to say, we grabbed the portrait and high-tailed it to the car before we had to show it to any of my co-workers. The caricature is now sitting in a pile of dust behind my dresser. Quite a memorable picnic!

Singing our song, all day long at HOGGGGG-WARTS!

Happy Labor Day, my happy readers! Today I'd like to tell you about a party I went to this past Saturday evening that had THE greatest theme of all time. What was the theme, you ask? It was "Harry Potter!" Why was the party so magical and impressive? Please read on to find out...



1) The party took place on September 3rd. In number terms, 9/3. It continued on into 9/4, making the party occur on 9 3/4 .... like the platform at King's Cross Station! HOLLA!

2) Every guest was required to dress as a character from Harry Potter. There was a Harry, a Hermoine, a Snape, (dressed in an AWESOME Michael Jackson wig), a Dobby, a Winky, a Mundungus Fletcher, an Arabella Figg, a Bellatrix Lestrange, a Scabbers, a Moaning Myrtle, a Professer Trelawney, a Mad-Eye Moody, and best of all, (because it was my & Brian's costume)... a Harry's Wand and a Voldemort's Wand which together made "PRIORI INCANTATEM!"

3) The house number where the party was held was #12. They hung a sign underneath the #12 on their front door that said "Grimmauld Place!" (AKA- the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix).

4) The hosts, (which dressed as house-elves Dobby and Winky), served Sherbet Lemon candies, Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans, and my personal favorite... Butterbeer, which they concocted themselves with cream soda, real butter, butterschotch schnapps, butterscotch morsels, cream, and brown sugar. (Aka: deadly, but delicious!)



5) Half-way through the party, all activity stopped to watch "Harry Potter and the Mysterious Ticking Noise" on Youtube. If you've never seen it, here's the link... Harry Potter Puppet Show .... Please watch immediately!

All of this Harry Potter magic has helped inspire my Halloween costume for this year. (Even though I've sort of been planning it since last Nov. 1st)... I am going to be the Golden Snitch! (I promise to post pictures).

Beach, Bill, & Broadway

What a fun/exciting/terrifying couple of days it's been! Here are a few Thrills of Hills to tell you about my week...

1) Rehoboth Beach: Last weekend, Brian and I went to Rehoboth beach for 3 days! We had a really nice time chilling on the beach, swimming, reading, mini-golfing, boozing, etc.... Brian beat out 8 little kids at a boardwalk game to win me an awesome stuffed animal pig! (Which we immediately dubbed "Sir Oinks-a-Lot")... I also got sun-burned despite putting on 3 layers of sun-screen and hiding under our beach umbrella w/ a shirt on. I hate tan people!

2) Earthquake: HOLY MOTHER OF GOD! Did you guys FEEL that sucker? I was at work when it happened and almost jumped out of my boss' 50 ft. high window to my doom! (Which, at the time, seemed better than getting buried in the building I thought was collapsing). My hands were shaking for about 20 minutes afterward. O-EM-GEE talk about SCARY!

3) The Lion King: I purchased tickets to see The Lion King on Broadway for my birthday this November. They came in the mail this week and I am OH so excited to go to my favorite city & celebrate my big 11/11/11 24th birthday!

4) Bill Clinton is a vegan: Although I lost respect for Bill after the whole "Monica" thing, he made-up some of his eternal douche-baggyness by announcing his veganism on CNN. Good for him! He's helping save a lot of animals, improving his health, and helping the environment.

5) Hurricane Irene: I'm currently bunkering down in my house to avoid the imminent disaster that is Hurricane Irene. But I have lots of snacks and my Harry Potter books, so don't worry about me, friends. Keep safe, booze up, & enjoy the delightful stormy weather!

Life's a Brew-sical

At work this past Friday, I won an award at our "monthly team rally" for being such a super help this summer to the beer team! (Note to readers... I work in the alcohol industry. Our beer team actually does work. They aren't bums who get drunk on 40s during their lunch break).

Anyways- After the rally was over and I received my award, the manager of the beer team came over to my desk and said, "So, Hilary, I don't know if you've heard....." Automatically, my heart rate jumped from lazy turtle to jack rabbit. Had I heard what!? That my boss had fallen and was being rushed to the hospital? (I would have had a panic attack.... and rushed to bring her a diet coke). That all the wine in the kitchen had exploded and I needed to go clean it up? That the office had all pitched in and bought me a giant basket of dachshund puppies!? What hadn't I heard!?

".... That the beer team and I actually wrote a song for you & were going to sing it when giving you your award"

Yes, those were the words that came out of the beer manager's mouth. Were you expecting that? Nope, neither did I! She then went on to sing me the song, which was to the tune of some Duran Duran song I've never heard of but pretended to know so I wouldn't look like an idiot. I was so elated and confused that I don't remember the whole song, but I know it went something like this...

Hilary writes great beer reviews.
She's great at writing and she knows her brews.
She's now an expert at unique craft ales,
IPA's, porters, she could never fail.
Stouts and wheats are much better than tea.
And Hilary always includes the ABV!

In a nutshell, it was one of the greatest moments of my life. Only once before has anyone written a song about me... and that was my crazy uncle who was drunk & trying desperately to entertain a bored 3 year-old. The most magical thing about that moment with the beer manager was realizing that my life is truly becoming a musical!

Vegan Bake-Swap!

A few months ago I joined the meetup.com group, "DC Vegans," and through that got invited to join a Google group called, "The DC Area Vegan Bake-Swap." One Saturday per month, the group leader picks a vegan cookbook and all the members select a dessert recipe from the chosen book to bake. We then meet at a cozy little cafe near U Street, stuff our faces with each others creations, & swap desserts!

The members of the group are very... "eclectic".... which makes the 2 hours we spend together each month very interesting. There are architects, lawyers, writers, military chefs, housewives, organic farmers, engineers, firemen, butchers, and hotel owners. (Note to readers- I made some of those up. Especially one in particular... guess which one!?)

For a past swap, I made these awesome lemon bars....

For the most recent swap we had, I made these chocolate peanut butter rice-krispie treats...

Another note to readers: This is NOT a recipe/cooking blog! (Just thought I should stress that again to reassure you all. Phew!)

Banana Walnut Muffins!

Please allow me to begin by saying that this is NOT a recipe blog! Although I do consider myself a master chef, (smirkity smirk), I don't think I have quite reached the age where it is appropriate to be writing a blog about home-cooking. (If anyone asks, the proper age is 33.... or 26, if you're Mormon.)

Today, however, I feel the urge to write a post about the wonderful creations I recently concocted. After perhaps dozens of failed attempts over the years, I have finally managed to bake a batch of decent-tasting MUFFINS! Some might even call them tasty... (One of my past failed attempts included "Blueberry Disaster Balls," as I fondly like to refer to them)...

Last weekend I succeeded in making banana walnut muffins w/ a recipe out of the Skinny Bitch Everyday Cookbook. The muffins were moist, sweet, slightly healthy, and crunchy, (because of the walnuts, of course). Here is the recipe so all you hungry readers can flock to your kitchens and bake your hearts out! Nom, nom nom...


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups soymilk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 cup Earth Balance butter
3/4 cups cane sugar
1/4 cup vanilla soy yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large bananas, mashed
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup packed brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
2. In a small bowl, mix the milk and vinegar and let sit until curdled. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.
3. In a separate large bowl, beat the room temperature Earth Balance & sugar with a mixer until fluffy, (about 3 minutes). Add the yogurt, milk mixture, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour the wet mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just incorporated. Stir in the mashed bananas.
4. In a small bowl, add the walnuts, brown sugar, and remaining cinnamon. Set aside. Spoon the batter into paper, (or silver), muffin liners in a muffin pan until they are about 2/3 full.
5. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and add the walnut mixture to the top of each muffin. Return to the oven and bake 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool.
6. ENJOY!!

My Date with Kate!

Last night I had the unique pleasure of spending the evening with my 6 year-old cousin, Kate!

I picked Kate up from her house around 6:00pm, strapped her booster seat into my back-seat, and we were off to the mall to grab some dinner! I took her to Chipotle, a favorite of mine, where she proceeded to order one chicken taco with cheese, a side of steak, and 2 chocolate milks. Halfway through dinner Kate decided to have a costume change. She pulled out her handy-dandy purse and put on all new jewelry. She also put on about five layers of blush, half of which made it into her hair.

After dinner we were walking towards Cold Stone to get some ice-cream when we passed the little train that rides around the food court & movie theater. Of course, we had to ride it! So I dished out $5.00 for a four-minute train ride... (which I have to admit, was AWESOME!)

At Cold Stone, Kate ordered blue cotton-candy ice-cream with Reeses peanut-butter cups mixed in. She said it was delicious, but I was too scared to try it. We then went home to say hi to my parents & wipe half the ice-cream off Kate's face, (the other half landed on the back seat of my car). We took my dog on a quick little walk & discussed inch worms playing soccer, the fact that her brothers had small feet, the moon being full only at midnight, and Cookie Monster's new friend, Veggie Monster!

After our walk we put together about nine kiddie puzzles and built this awesome house out of Duplos. When we played with the house, I got to be the voices of the shark and alligator. Good times, people!

When it was finally time to take Kate home, she showed me every book in her room and gave me some Scooby-Doo gummy snacks to eat on my drive home. She also told me I should call my mom so she would know I was on my way back. (Thanks for looking out for me, Kate!)