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If you love great, new combinations of alcohol and food, here’s a great one for you - plus an awesome review of a new beer I finally got to try out!

Yesterday around noon, we had a business meeting with one of our clients.

We were going to barbecue, but it poured down rain in Dallas, so we decided to have a nice mixed bagel and cream cheese spread as we discussed some great marketing ideas.

This was to be an impromptu meeting that was upbeat and very casual. So, a few of us decided upon trying a new beer we hadn’t tried yet - Land Shark Island Lager (thanks, Kent).

Photo courtesy of: LandSharkLager.com

What’s funny about this? It was Read the rest of this entry »

Apr 27th, 2009.  About a month ago now.  The last time a post was made to this site and that was made by one of our lovely contributors, Kimberly Edwards.  The last time I personally posted was back on April 1st for April Fools day.  Funny thing, that was just 5 days before the start of the MLB season and coincidentally I just happen to have a slight obsession with baseball of the fantasy variety…  I guess my lackluster performance over these past couple months can really be attributed to just that! 

In any case, lets put my obsession to good use… Here are some interesting baseball inspired cocktails I came accross:

A-Roid

2 oz of El Mejor Tequila
1 “Performance-enhancing” Spicy Tomato Juice concoction, served in a needle-less syringe.

The energy-boosting tomato juice is a mix of smoked tomatoes and jalapenos put through a juicer, along with canned tomato juice and tabasco sauce.

Papelbon & Jelly

3 oz Smirnoff Watermelon Vodka
1 Table spoon of jelly
1 splash of cranberry juice

Combine into a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain the thing into a peppered flute, fill the rim of the glass with peanut butter and sprinkle crushed nuts along the edges.

Manny’s Homer RamierX

2 oz of Cabo Wabo Tequila
1 oz of X-Rated Fusion Liqueur
1 splash of sour mix
1 Red Bull

Mix together and top it up with Red Bull and mix. Add salt along the rim and a slice of lime for garnish.

I know, I know, these sound quite strange… And to be honest I haven’t tried any of the above but they just sounded so intriguing I had to post. If you happen to try any of the above and post comments below, maybe you’ll find a SizzUp T-shirt in the mail… Who knows???

Instead of giving you a recipe for something delicious this week, and “giving you the fish”, I’m going to teach you how to “catch the fish”…

…Meaning, I want to teach you how to use alcohol for yourself in cooking without a recipe per se.

Beer, wine and other liquors aren’t just for drinking anymore in your kitchen!!!

1. Alcohol enhances and carries flavor in your cooking. Flavors will be brought out more and the dish will be more rich and layered in flavor.

In fact, when cooking with alcohol, the dish will certainly taste even better the next day or if you allow a soup or stew to simmer for 1-2 hours more.

2.  Most often when cooking with alcohol, you are going to allow the dish to simmer or continue to cook to the point that the alcohol dissipates. In other words, the alcohol will evaporate, leaving behind the flavor it added.

Of course, when adding Bailey’s Irish Cream to a coffee after dinner, the alcohol will still remain. Or if you’ve marinated olives, they will still carry that alcohol with them…

…But if you’re deglazing your sautée pan with red wine when creating sautéed mushrooms, the alcohol will surely evaporate and the liquid reduce.

3.  When making a certain ethnic food from a particular geographic area, try to use alcohol, whether it be a wine, beer or liquor, that is from that region or associated with an ethnic food.

In other words, when cooking Asian food, use saké. When making a rich German dish, use a great German beer. When making French food, use a good Burgundy wine. When creating a Caribbean masterpiece, use Rum or even Malibu Rum. A great stroganoff calls for a crisp Russian Vodka. I love Mezcal or Tequila in my Chili Recipes!

4. If you’re using a certain Read the rest of this entry »

As if we needed another excuse to drink…new research suggests that moderate drinking may help prevent your little soldier from failing to salute!

Read the rest of this entry »

I was drunk the other night… Surprise, surprise I know… And me and my buddies were arguing over who the best and worst drinking buddies of all time would be.  Here is what I can recall:

In the #6 Spot:

Best - Barney (NPH) - The ultimate wingman from the new hit CBS show “How I Met Your Mother” never goes home alone, if you know what I mean…  And neither would you, he would see to it!

Worst - Edward Scissor Hands - He had scissors for hands!  I wouldn’t want to be around when he begins to lose coordination… IF he can he even hold a beer. Although I guess we wouldn’t have the game Edward “40″ hands without him.  Still, definitely earns his spot on the “worst” list.
Read the rest of this entry »

Some things to remember from 2008…

The Good:

Giants upset the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII proving once and for all that “Cheaters Never Prosper”.

Michael Phelps inspired a nation, winning 8 gold medals at the Beijing Olympics.

And, the most important event of them all, Barack Obama becomes the first African American President of the US.

The Bad/Ugly: 

Sarah Palin & her team of “Mavericks”, Government Scandal - Elliot Spitzer & Rod Blagojevich, Financial Crisis, & Bernard Madoff… I think that pretty much sums it up!

Wishing you a Happy New Year from all of us here at SizzUp!  Here’s to a great 2009,

CHEERS!

After our “Quotes To Live By,” post, the picture inspired me to go looking for more hilarious shirts. Here’s our top picks.

1) When you plan on spending lots of time upside down.

2) For those of you who prefer kosher liquor.

Read the rest of this entry »

I was attempting to search for content that would lead to my first post on this site, when i stumbled upon this argument to discourage teens from drinking :

” Alcohol puts your health at risk. Teens who drink are more likely to be sexually active and to have unsafe, unprotected sex.”  - (Source: Kids Health)

Well I think that it is clear that whoever put this site together didn’t think things through very well.   This fact is why most of us began drinking…

I think this says it all

Contributed by: Mark Stauffer

Kobe Bryant, who was shut down for most of Game 4 on Thursday, said it will take a lot of alcohol to get over the loss that saw them blow the biggest halftime lead (18 points) in Finals history.

“Lot of wine, lotta beer, couple shots, maybe like 20 of them, digest it and get back to work tomorrow. Nothing you can do,” he said (Source: RotoWorld).

(***This is not a photo from last night, I just found it appropriate)

Demi Moore and Parker Posey, who have been hitting the Philly scene hard the past few weeks while filming their new movie “Happy Tears” were spotted at my favorite wine bar, Tria.  Join the celebrity watch, and keep us posted on where your fav, celebs like to drink. 

 The ladies were also spotted at Snack Bar, Audrey Claire, and Alma de Cuba.