photo on left: Giulia Doyle, photo on right: Heidi Larsen

I am excited to share my second installment of Be My Guest . Today’s guest is Heidi from FoodieCrush. Heidi is incredibly talented – she doesn’t only keep up with an enormous amount of food posts each week, she also publishes FoodieCrush magazine, where she shares her love for food bloggers, their photos and their recipes. What I admire about Heidi is her talent and dedication to scour the web to find and highlight food bloggers all over the world. She does this every week and I’m not sure how she does all of that work and manages to cook and photograph all of her own food as well. Her own work is always bright, clean and cheerful – she makes the food her star – and if you like cheese, you should visit her blog regularly!

photo on left: Giulia Doyle, photo on right: Heidi Larsen

This week we’re venturing into beverage territory and Heidi suggested making this Bloody Beer, otherwise known as Michelada. Here’s her story:

One of my favorite times to enjoy a Bloody Beer is for brunch on a hot, sunny morning while house boating on the amazing Lake Powell.

Lake Powell is a cult favorite among Utahns. It’s like nature’s Disneyland and is a must do if you’re a water enthusiast, fisherman or simply crave water adventure. Straddling the borders of Utah and Arizona, Lake Powell has more coastline than the entire west coast, thanks to its meandering canyons and tributaries alongside the most amazing natural rock formations like Rainbow Bridge.

With temperatures that rise into the 100’s during the height of summer, ice-filled coolers loaded with beer are an essential ingredient for a successful trip. Nothing tastes better than a cold beer on the water to wet the whistle.

My friend Krista introduced me to the concept of a bloody beer after a few days of house boating in Lake Powell. While our lakeside versions were simply tomato juice and beer, the addition of the makings for a bloody mary makes for a tasty adaptation for breakfast or pre-lunch sipping for any summertime lazy day.

photo on left: Giulia Doyle, photo on right: Heidi Larsen

I find photographing drinks incredibly hard – I’m never quite sure what angle is best, how to treat the background, how far away to move…so this was the perfect challenge. This drink made me think of outdoors and summer, so I set up on the deck. We’ve had challenging weather lately, it was raining minutes before I took the photos. A little hard to get into the Michelada spirit, especially when referring to Heidi’s story above. But I think it all turned out OK. Did I like the drink? I thought it was quite pleasant. I really like tomato juice, but I’m not sure if I prefer a Bloody Mary, or if the proportions are a little too acidic for me. I think next time I’ll add more tomato, or switch to a V8 for less acidity. My husband liked it a lot though, but he made sure to add a little more spice. Both Heidi and I adapted the original recipe from Food52 and you can see our adaptations in the recipe below. Thank you Heidi for joining me today!

photo: Giulia Doyle