Kegging TommyHawk and Grilling Steaks

The regular season is over for my Blackhawks. Tonight the playoffs start. The Blackhawks did finish with the President's trophy, which means they will have home-ice advantage all the way through the Stanley Cup finals.

The mighty Blackhawks will soon be opening up against the eighth seed evil Minnesota Wild.

SERIES E TIME (ET) #1 Chicago vs. #8 Minnesota Networks
Tuesday, April 30 8 p.m. Minnesota at Chicago       NBC Sports Network, CBC
Friday, May 3 9:30 p.m. Minnesota at Chicago       NBC Sports Network, CBC
Sunday, May 5 3 p.m. Chicago at Minnesota       NBC, CBC
Tuesday, May 7 9:30 p.m. Chicago at Minnesota       NBC Sports Network, CBC
*Thursday, May 9 TBD Minnesota at Chicago       CBC
*Saturday, May 11 TBD Chicago at Minnesota       CBC
*Sunday, May 12 TBD Minnesota at Chicago       CBC

I can't wait. Go Blackhawks!

It is a tradition that I have my world-famous Tommy Hawk APA available to drink while watching the Stanley Cup playoffs. This year, I have planned my batch almost perfectly. I kegged it up on Sunday, so I won't be able to drink any for the beginning of the first series, but it will soon be carbonated. Luckily, I still have some Blackhawk Black Ale to get me through the beginning of the series.

As an aside ... I know that this is going to sound out-of-character (and it makes me a little ill to admit this), but I am hoping that the evil Redwings win their first-round series so that the Hawks and Wings can battle it out one last time in the playoffs. Since the Wings are moving conferences next year, the two teams won't ever be able to meet again until the finals. At least this will be the case until the next realignment.

To be honest, this makes me sad. This is one of (my opinion THE BEST) rivalry in sports, and it is now pretty much over.

I guess the good news is now that Colorado and the Hawks will be in the same division, I will have more opportunity to see Chicago live.

Anyway, though, I kegged up my world-famous Tommy Hawk APA Sunday. The beer is extremely clear with a golden color. Its citrus / pine aroma and flavor is wonderful. I measured the FG at 1.013, which makes this a 6.3 ABV beer, which is exactly where I wanted it. The sample was exactly what I like in IPA's. It is not overly bitter, but has lots of American hop flavor.

I cannot wait to drink this beer.

I also grilled steaks on Sunday. I got a 3-pack of Ribeyes last weekend. They were on sale at our local supermarket.

My wife has a family recipe for marinading steaks. Sometimes she does the marinading, but Sunday I did it. I actually tracked down her recipe to use as a base, but made changes I thought were appropriate (see below).

NOTE: I don't really measure any of these ingredients. I dump in what I think is the right amount. I don't know whose "mom" the recipe is titled for. It may be referring to my wife ... the mom of the house. Or it may be referring to my wife's mom or it may be referring to my wife's mom's mom. It doesn't really matter.

Mom's Marinade for Steaks
1/4 Cup Salad Oil (I used Italian)
1/2 Cup Soy Sauce (I used more)
1-2 Tbs. Vingear / Lemon Juice (I used Lemon Juice)
1/2 Cup water
1/2 teaspoon Accent (I could not find this, see additional spices below)
Clove garlic (I used garlic powder)
Copped Onion
Dash Pepper (I did not use pepper, but see additional spices below)
2 teaspoons sugar.

Marinate for at least one hour (more like 6 hours for me)

Sheppy's additional because he just cannot follow directions:
1 bottle of SheppyBrew's Poison Pumpkin Witbier.
Sprinkle of taco seasoning.
Oregano, Basil, other miscellaneous spices.

The key to grilling juicy steaks is to sear them for a short amount of time and then cook on lower heat for the rest of the time. I overdid the searing portion on one of the steaks, but overall they turned out great. And the rest of the neighborhood was jealous about the smell.

My wife also cooked some corn-on-the-cob, and we ate outside. Such a wonderful spring-time meal.

It is supposed to snow again Wednesday. I love Colorado Weather.

Go Blackhawks!