Guest Poster Sara, from Finding the Time- OBA Blog Swap!

As promised earlier this morning, I'm happy to introduce you to Sara from Finding the Time.  I had the lucky opportunity to sit next to her at out last meet up and really enjoyed chatting with Sara and getting to know her "in person".  Thank you so much Sara for being a guest here today!  For a full listing of today's blog swap participants, please visit Poise in Parma.

Don't forget to follow me over to Sara's blog and read my guest post there! See you at Finding the Time!

Well hello, My Retro Kitchen readers! I’m Sara from Finding the Time! I’m excited to be here today thanks to the OBA Blog swap. I’ve been reading Amie’s blog since I met her at an OBA meet-up a few months ago and I’ve even tried a few of her recipes!

I’ll be honest; I’m not much of a cook. I was brought up going out to eat A LOT and my fast-paced life has me often cursing my lack of forethought when I come home from work with no plans for dinner. Luckily, if you visit my blog today, Amie has posted some tips for people like me! YAY! I hope you’ll stay around after reading her post. You’ll find a fun little mix of CLE pride, puppy love, DIY attempts and general silliness.

I do have a few “go to” recipes that make regular appearances on my dinner table. One such recipe I received at my bridal shower from a mom much like Amie! This crock-pot chili recipe is perfect for me because it requires only about 20 minutes of prep. After that you let the crock-pot do all the work! What could be better?!

Easy Chili
1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion – chopped
1 package of McCormick Chili Seasoning
1 large can (21-28 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (15-16 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (15-16 oz) black beans – rinsed
1 can (16 oz) mild chili beans
3 chopped carrots
1 can corn

I like to start by mixing all the canned ingredients (chili seasoning, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, black mild chili beans corn) in the crock-pot on low heat. It gets things moving and makes me feel accomplished! BTW- you might notice that the photo above has pinto beans instead of mild chili beans. I used those this time because they were what I had. It definitely changed the taste so – live and learn - stick with the mild chili beans!!

Cook beef and onions in skillet while cooking carrots covered in water in microwave for 5 minutes.  Drain beef/onions and carrots and add both to crock-pot. Stir well.  Cook on low for 4-5 hours or high for 1-2 hours.  Done!

I love this recipe because it makes enough to last multiple days in my house (with myself and my husband who LOVES to eat). I’m not a huge fan of leftovers but chili is just so versatile! One day I’ll have it in a bowl with cheese and sour cream, the next on chili dogs and one final meal of chili mac (served over spaghetti). For me, the one condiment that the chili cannot be served without is hot sauce. It tastes good all the time!

OBA April Cleveland Blogger Beer Tasting with The Brewer's Daughter

On Tuesday was our Ohio Blogging Association's April Meet-up. We were gathering this time at Lizardville Beer Store and Whiskey Bar for a beer tasting lead by Renée from The Brewer’s Daughter. She is indeed a real brewer's daughter; her father Jack McAuliffe is known as the father of craft beer in America! How cool is that?!  I have been wanting Scott to come along to a meeting for a while now, all of the people I talk about so frequently would then have faces to them.  I thought this beer tasting would be a perfect opportunity for it- he loves a good beer!

A lot of the other bloggers had the same idea, there were a lot of spouses in attendance!  The more the merrier, especially when there is good beer and good food around!

The bloggers for the evening were:

Alicia from Poise in Parma – with PIP Aunt Kathy
Amie from My Retro Kitchen with husband Scott (that's us!)
Crystal from Eat Drink Cleveland
Dave from Health Insurance Issues with Dave and Again? Really?
Jeff from My Future Past with wife Alice
Jen from Why CLE? with fiancé Matt
Jill from Cleveland Rocks Cleveland Eats
Jody from The Days Go On
Kimberly from SMITTEN…in cleveland with husband Chris
Nidhi from NIDHIZZLE and Cleveland Socialite
Renée from The Brewer’s Daughter
Sara from Sara Finding The Time
Sarah from Cooker Girl
Stuart from sosAssociates
Tammy from Miss WineOH

Smitten in Cleveland with husband, The Brewer's Daughter and WhyCLE with fiance' 

The Beers from left to right: 
Lager: Lagunitas Pils
*Amber Ale: Bells Amber
Belgian: Victory Golden Monkey
*Porter: Founders Porter
Stout: Anderson Valley Oatmeal Stout
IPA: Bells Two Hearted

Our hostess for the evening Renee and the knowledgeable Burl taught us so much about each and every one of the beers!  It made it so much more then just ordering a beer and having a taste.  I learned about the the different hoppiness in the beers or mega addition of malts in another.  I also learned that due to the wonderful tastes of chocolate and coffee in the Founder's Porter, it is fantastic added to cake batter or brownie mix.  I am soooo doing that! 

My most favorite of the beers we tasted were definitely the Bells Amber and the Founders Porter.  I am not normally a beer drinker, except for a wheat beer from time to time or my most favorite type of beer the pumpkin ale.  So it was really fun trying something new and found some new favorites along the way.  

For our food we had a Cheese and Sausage Tray.  The reddish looking sausages were super spicy! It sure made that round of beer go down that much faster! Phew!

There was also a delicious Beer Cheese Bread which was a huge favorite amongst the table plus two flat bread pizzas, a Margarita Flatbread and a Buffalo Chicken Flatbread.  

Scott and I are already planning on making the Buffalo Chicken one here at home in my retro kitchen... Yum! It appeared to be topped with chicken that was tossed in a buffalo wing sauce, mozzarella and crumbled blue cheese and sauteed chopped celery.  It packed a lot of flavor and paired really well with the beer.  

Poise in Parma, sosAssociates, Eat Drink Cleveland, NIDHIZZLE and Cleveland Socialite, Cleveland Rocks Cleveland Eats, Cooker Girl 

I am truly loving my new blogging friends.  Joining OBA has been one of the best things I have done since becoming a blogger.  To have the support, encouragement and friendship from so many people and blogs that I myself admire is amazing.  I always thought it would be difficult to make new friends now that I am an adult, but this group welcomed me with open arms.  If you are a blogger and would like more information about The Ohio Blogging Association, check out their website and pop into one of our events.  They're FUN! 

Coming up we have the OBA May 2012 STATE WIDE Ohio Blog Swap.  I participated the last time we did it and had a wonderful time!  This is a fantastic way to get to know more bloggers in the area and share our support to one another.  For more information on joining or following along virtually, visit the facebook event page.

It was an incredible night and I am thrilled Alicia from PIP put it all together.  Thank you Renee for welcoming us and along with Burl, being such wonderful teachers!  This was such a fun and memorable evening!  

Ohio Blogging Association Blog Swap! (With a Sugar Cookie Bar Recipe)

As a part of today's Ohio Blogging Association's Cleveland November Blog Swap, I'm happy to introduce you to Sarah from Cooker Girl. On this day, bloggers from around the Northeast Ohio area are guest posting on one another's blogs as a way to help to get to know each other in our blogging community. For a full listing of blog swap participants, please visit Poise in Parma today.

I am sharing one of my favorite recipes on Cooker Girl today so please visit me there as well!

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Hi, I'm Sarah from Cooker Girl.  I like to cook and I love to bake.  I created my food blog to keep track of recipes I've tried so I can go back to them later.  Most of the time they are adaptations of existing recipes, but there are some originals and family recipes that I've shared as well.  I hope you'll stop by sometime!

The holiday season is approaching, and for many people that means making and decorating cut-out sugar cookies.  It's a great project for the whole family, but they're time consuming.  For this reason, I only make cut-out cookies about once a year.

During the rest of the year, when you want the sugar cookie flavor (and frosting) without all the work, these bars are the perfect solution.  This recipe is made using a jelly roll pan, but it can easily be halved and baked in a 9x13 pan.

Sugar Cookie Bars
Adapted from Beantown Baker

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg. Add the vanilla and mix well. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.

Spread dough onto a greased 11x 17 jelly roll pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes until light golden brown, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely then frost.

Buttercream Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp milk
4 cups confectioners' sugar

In a large bowl, mix the butter, vanilla and milk with an electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually add the sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. Keep mixing until all the sugar is incorporated and the frosting is white and fluffy.

A big thanks to Amie for letting me take over for the day!