Beer Brats. {a recipe}

Football is kind of a big deal around this house.  And we have found one amazing recipe for the perfect football food.  BEER BRATS.  They cook all day, making your house smell all cozy and yummy and then you throw them on the grill in perfect grillin'/football partnership.

Honey Mustard Beer Brats

Ingredients

• 10 fresh bratwurst sausages
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced into long strips
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced into long strips
• 1 large sweet onion, sliced into rings and separated
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
• 2 cups honey mustard barbecue sauce
• 5 (12 fluid ounce) can beer, or as needed
• 10 hoagie rolls, split lengthwise

Directions

Place half of the bratwurst in the bottom of a 5 quart slow cooker. Arrange half of the green pepper, 
red pepper, and onion over them. 

Layer the remaining bratwurst over the top, and top with the remaining red and green bell peppers and onion. Throw in the garlic and bay leaves. In a separate bowl, mix together HALF of the honey mustard sauce, liquid smoke and beer. Use a good strong beer like Guinness.  It gives good flavor, plus Guinness has that fun little ball in it you get to jingle around. 

 Pour into the slow cooker. Add more beer if necessary to cover everything in the pot. My pot held 5 beers. Try not to play the "one for you, one for me" game.  That would be a lot of beers. 

Cover, and go watch your teams play fall ball. Cook on Low for 4 to 5 hours.

Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil grate. Remove bratwurst from the slow cooker, but leave onions and peppers inside. Place bratwurst on the grill and baste with some of the remaining honey mustard sauce. Turn occasionally until slightly charred.

Place bratwurst on rolls, and use tongs to pull out a few of the onions and peppers from the slow cooker and drape them over the sausage. The onions and peppers are very tasty so don't forget this part!

Top it all off with mustard.  MMMMMM! So good.  

Have a good week!

ps. Sorry for all the meat pictures so early in the morning.  Myself, I could eat burgers for breakfast.  But I realize its not everyones thang.  Tootles.

Max Gets a Haircut.

It's been under debate for a while.  To cut or not to cut.  To cut means he will look like a little boy and lose some of his baby.  Not to cut means he will be borderline hillbilly.  

I finally decided to do it.  His bed head was becoming out of control. He was looking alot scruffy, a little redneck and at times was sporting a rattail/almost mullet.  It was time to cut.

And so we did.

All set on daddy's lap

 Not too sure about things.

Always keeping an eye on what was going on.

Sometimes not liking the hair in his face, but never cried.

Thought maybe we would taste the falling hair?

All handsome!!

And chicken McNuggets for his "attaboy!"

Milo.

The photography stars finally aligned and I was able to take Milo's announcement pictures.  The stars being, Max sitting still for five minutes and Milo letting me hang him from a scale.  Minor things.  HA!