the girl behind the pink door: deliciously diving deep into the cakes and candies by maryellen

Only steps away from the hustle and bustle of West Chester Pike, a pretty-in-pink sign hangs on one of the petite highway shopping strips reading, vibrantly, “Cakes and Candies by Maryellen.” As an edible labor of love for a former occupational therapist who cherished the flavors and aromas of her afternoons spent in her grandmother's kitchen, Maryellen Bowers began embracing her hereditary skills as an artisan baker and confection creator almost 16 years ago, but it was only in 2009 that she considered taking baking orders full time.

“My Nanny would watch my brother and I, and she would seat me in a booster and I would sift sugar on all the Chruscikis [Polish fried cookies] she had made,” said Bowers. “She would bake everything and I would always help. Every time I came home, I looked like a ghost.”

Influenced by the heartfelt moments of her past, Bowers always embraced baking and candy making as a hobby, clinging to the kitchen trades as an escape from her full-time therapist career. But, with the constant growth of her word-of-mouth baking business over the last several years, she knew that her self-taught craft (some of which sourced from her grandmother) would lead her to soon peddle her bountiful baked goods and confectioneries in her own dessert boutique.

amy marie strauss, in 30 pictures

While haunting around my usual lineup of regularly read blogs, I came across a few bloggers who recently tackled the "30 pictures" assignment. I know, I know, it is such a task that may come across similar to surveys scribed by teens, but trust me -- it is a thrill to comb through your photographs and retell important pockets of memories of your past.

01 / someone i spend a lot of time with:

 02 / a picture of myself:

 03 / a picture of someone in my family:

 04 / a picture of something that makes me happy:

05 / an old picture of myself: 

06 / a picture of my sibling:

 07 / a picture i never posted on my blog before:

 08 / a picture of a person i miss:

09 / a relative of mine:

10 / a picture of my favorite place:

victory brewing company celebrates 15 years, releases new beer

Last week, Tuesday, February 15, marked the official release of Victory Brewing Company’s anniversary beer, the Headwaters Pale Ale.

Victory Brewery, co-founded by Bill Covaleski and Ron Barchet 15 years ago on this specific day, decided that if they were to offer a beer to commemorate their years in the making, it would be one that could be shared by many and did not follow “big beer” suit seen in many anniversary releases. (And, in recent trends of barrel-aging and upper-end ABV releases, it’s refreshing to have a full-flavored, yet simple session beer on the market.)

Headwaters, at a slim 5.1%, pays homage to one of the Downingtown-based brewery’s major assets, the pure water they receive from the East Branch of the Brandywine Creek. Concocted all-natural, with malted barley and Citra and Centennial hops, the solid pale ale packs an aromatic nose and never lacks in flavor, sip after sip. 

While I could continue gabbing about this above-par year-rounder, I'm tossing over the reviewing to where this writeup initially appeared, on Downingtown Dish, where I detailed what my beer-writing comrades, who attended a tasting preview of Headwaters with me last Sunday, February 13. For the full report, click here.

Above photos included Ryan Hudak of In Search of Beer, Mary Bigham of The Town Dish, Lew Bryson of Seen Through a Glass and Jack Curtin of Liquid Diet.

And, you can't have just beer for brunch (which I would be OK with). Follow the jump to take a peek at what we had for breakfast at Victory's brewpub.

finger lakes ladies' week: ithaca beer company

It has become part of our traditions, since age 23, that my best friend and I flock to the Finger Lakes of New York, at least once a year. Our first visit, which we tagged along with her experienced parents, concluded with a laughable crock of stories, and a fine case plus more of fine wines that I cannot typically find in my local state shops.

Last year, however, we planned two trips, because I suppose it seems that age 25 has just been a hard one, and we get giddy sharing our trips to upstate New York with new wine trail trekkers. Back in November, we packed up our traveling boots and invited my cousins to a mid-week excursion, with the first-stop of the whole journey being at Ithaca Beer Company in Ithaca, New York.

cheers to another year!

As I couldn't be anymore giddy over 2011 being among us, I would like to wish all of you wonderful cyberspace comrades a happy new year! I hope your end-of-year celebrations allowed you to sweetly sail out of '10 with a beautiful bang, enabling you to embrace the ever-present fresh start that comes with every January. Cheers to many more years & of course, several more beers.

(Above photos are from our New Year's Day in South Philly, as we attended Lappy New Beer festivities at Ms. Woods and Mr. Lapierre's place.) 

sly fox brewery celebrates 15 years

On Friday, December 10, Sly Fox Brewery & Restaurant’s celebrated its Fifteenth Anniversary, kicking off a full day of beer-infused celebrations with their first-ever Brewmaster’s Breakfast. The breakfast, held at Sly Fox in Phoenixville, was flooded with a show-stopping menu created by guest chef Andrew Deery, chef/owner of Phoenixville’s acclaimed Majolica. 

 

The Friday morning food-and-beer pairing marked the release date of two brand-new beers in the Sly Fox portfolio: The brand-new beers for Sly Fox portfolio, including the Majolica Coffee Porter, brewed with a special coffee blend from Kimberton Coffee Roasters, and Succubus, a sour beer interpretation of their Belgian-style Incubus Tripel.

Since celebrating 15 years of success, the Brewmaster's Brunch encouraged local beer enthusiasts to spend their weekday at as early as 10 am, slugging all the pours that allowed the nearby brewery to rise notably in the state and national beer scene. Pairing five innovative courses perfectly with five Sly Fox brews, the four-hour long match-ups proved that the momentous occasion had been something not to be missed.

private tasting of victory brewery's dark intrigue

 

On the morning of Thanksgiving Eve, November 24, as early as 7:30 am, beer fanatics flocked to Victory Brewing Company, in hopes to score a case of the brewery first-ever bourbon barrel-aged beer, Dark Intrigue.

Just one month ago, the brewery leaked, via their Facebook, that their upcoming release had made use of an attractive lineup of Heaven Hill Kentucky Bourbon oak barrels found in-house. 

Keeping up with the mystery of what one-off marvel would soon be available was an adventure in itself, and even more so, the excitement of only 80 cases available for purchase, at a limit of one case per customer—an amount that quickly sold-out in less than 45 minutes.

 
Recently accepting an invitation to sample the elusive brew aside the mad-scientist mastermind, Frank Iosue, a small beer-hungry crew and I became cozy in the brewery’s barrel-aging room, just hours after the sold-out mayhem.