With Blue Heron Brewery’s take-and-bake Christmas dinner, you and your guests can enjoy a chef-prepared feast without the hassle of cooking
By Ken McEntee
The holiday season is a time for reflection. As you sit before a warm fire near a glistening Christmas tree reading this issue of Mimi magazine, you may be reflecting on that fabulous Thanksgiving take-and-bake feast from Blue Heron Brewery that got the season started.
As your thoughts drift back to that family gathering, you may be reliving not only how delicious the turkey dinner was, but also how easy it was—no cooking, hardly any cleanup—and you may be dreaming about how nice it would be to do the same for Christmas.
You can, assures Ben Erjavec, Blue Heron Brewery’s executive chef and co-owner.
“Our Christmas take-and-bake dinners are chef-prepared meals served right in the comfort of your festively decorated home,” he says. “Everything is fully cooked and ready to warm up. We take care of all the hard work. All you have to do is order, pick it up on Friday, December 23, and warm it all up to enjoy on Christmas.”
The Christmas take-and-bake meals for families of 10 or four include:
• A 6-ounce filet mignon and chicken Florentine for each person
• Smoked gouda and chive scalloped potatoes
• Shrimp scampi with cheese tortellini and Alfredo
• Roasted garlic and Parmesan broccoli with lemon butter
• Blue Heron house salad
• Fresh baked bread and garlic butter
• Homemade chocolate peppermint roll
• Red wine
“It comes with full instructions about how to heat it all to perfection, whether you enjoy your filet rare or well done,” Ben promises.
While you’re waiting for your meal to heat, you may want to enjoy a refreshing Blue Heron Christmas Ale.
“We have four packs of some of our most popular winter brews available to take home,” says Mike Piazza, Blue Heron brew master and co-owner. “In addition to our Christmas Ale, you also can take home some Blue Heron IPA or Hazy Wife-Hazy Life—and we also have a gluten-free honey cream ale for people who want something on the lighter side.”
But most of Mike’s new winter selections are darker, robust beers, like the German dunkel—an amber brown colored wheat beer with a touch more body than a traditional Hefeweizen, Mike explains.
“We also have a dunkel bock—a dark bock that sits at about 9½% alcohol,” he says. “It’s an amber-colored traditional German lager that’s a real good wintertime beer. Everyone’s looking for those bigger body, darker colors that they can sit down with by the fire and call it a night.”
And if you’re looking for s’more, you may want to try Mike’s campfire-inspired concoction.
“We took our brown ale, which also sits above 9%, and added a touch of smoked malt and fermented it with graham crackers and marshmallows to create a play on s’mores,” Mike tempts. “It’s kind of a sweeter, dessert-style beer.”
You may enjoy drinking your cold beer—or hot coffee—from your own wintertime mug adorned with the Blue Heron logo.
New Year's Eve Bash!
While you’re sipping, you may want to reserve your place at Blue Heron’s New Year’s Eve party. On Saturday, December 31, from 8 p.m.-1 a.m., enjoy live music by Faction, a tenderloin carving station, a seafood pasta bar, an antipasti display, cedar plank salmon, shrimp cocktail presented in an ice carving, cheesecake, a top-shelf open bar and a champagne toast to ring in 2023—all for only $125 per person. A breakfast buffet will be served at midnight.
You can order your Christmas take-and-bake feast and make your New Year’s Eve party reservations at ExploreTock.com/blueheronbrewery. You can call Blue Heron at 330-870-BLUE (2583) and get the latest updates on parties and entertainment at Facebook: @blueheronmedina. Blue Heron Brewery is located at 3227 Blue Heron Trace, in Medina.