by Christine | Uncategorized, Wine Friday
In these days of high unemployment and global financial crisis, it’s nice to relax with a bottle of wine that doesn’t break your pocketbook. I’m here to sort out the memorable from the truly awful, and each bottle is under $10.
http://birthday‑cake.png via webweaver.nu
Because its my birthday, because I didn’t tackle this post yesterday, and because the hubby is making me a scrumptious birthday breakfast, this is going to be a two-bottle posting.
Today I’m featuring two wines from Cupcake Vineyards. Mainly because I finally decided not to hold their Red Velvet blend against them, lol.
Cupcake Vineyards Chardonnay 2010 Central Coast Alcohol 13.5% by volume; less than $9.99 at Vons.
On the Label: “Our vineyards work hard to bring you the biggest, richest chardonnay from California’s desirable Central Coast, where the sun-drenched grapes create full and elegantly-textured wines. Decadent flavors of butter cream, bright citrus and vanilla melt into a balance of oak and subtle spice. In other words: Sinful. Serve chilled with crab cakes, seared Ahi tuna on waffle crackers or fresh-baked French bread and cheese.”
My Take: I’m glad I took the chance with Cupcake Vineyards. I really liked this wine. It has the buttery flavor that I prefer, but it’s not a heavy wine. We had it with roasted chicken and rice, and it was the perfect accompaniment.
My Rating: ~ Very Drinkable ~
Cupcake Vineyards Pinot Noir, 2010 Central Coast Alcohol 13.5% by volume, 
under $9.99 at Vons
On the Label: “Our vineyards work hard to bring you the finest, brightest, most elegant Pinot Noir from California’s desirable Central Coast. Here the bright sun is paired with the cool maritime fog, which develops these elegantly structured berries. The bright aromas of cherries carries through the palate with a touch of red currants and a hint of spices. Its reminiscent of a cherry cupcake with currant coulis. Serve with lamb kabobs, smoked sausage, or your favorite mushroom risotto.”
My Take: Pinot Noir is one of my very favorite varietals, and I have two very good go-to Pinots so it takes a lot to impress me now. This – well, it doesn’t, sorry to say. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this wine; it is a perfectly good Pinot Noir. It just doesn’t beat the Smoking Loon test.
My Rating: ~ Drinkable ~ Absolutely! Many will find this wine perfectly enjoyable; I kept looking for something that wasn’t there. I think that’s my issue and not the wine’s fault!
So, there you have it; two wines from Cupcake Vineyards. If there’s a vineyard you particularly like, I’d love some suggestions – I’m planning on doing more spotlights this spring.
May the weekend be kind to you, and may your glass never be empty. Cheers, all!
As usual, this is just my honest opinion and depend upon my mood, the weather, and what cycle the moon is in. Your taste buds will differ.
~ Until the next time, cheers – and remember to drink responsibly! ~
Demon Soul is available for the Kindle and the Nook! Have you read it yet?
My Rating System: Undrinkable, Barely Drinkable, Drinkable, Very Drinkable, and the ever-popular Stay away! This is MY wine, you slut!
by Christine | Uncategorized
If you’ve seen this post elsewhere from me, good! LOL…if not – enjoy!
Some of my friends swear that the only good way to celebrate Valentine’s Day is to go out to dinner. Um, no! I’ve been there, folks. Done that. Got the rubber meal to prove it. For all that is holy, do NOT go to a fancy restaurant on Valentine’s night. Here are my reasons:
1. They’re overbooked. Your party won’t be seated on time, no matter how far in advance you got reservations. Plan on waiting an extra 30 minutes to an hour in the bar, on your feet, and ladies, this means in those impossibly high heels you bought to wear and haven’t yet broken in.
2. They’re understaffed. A line cook is out maybe. Or a sous chef. Quite possibly the only knowledgeable wine steward. If you’re really lucky, not only will all three be out with the flu that night, but two waitresses and the dishwasher will be out, too. Enjoy your water, because that’s it for quite some time.
3. By the time your waiter has finally arrived to take your order, the two couples you and your sweetie are with are squabbling, and you’ve forgotten and/or changed your mind as to what you want to order. Instead of ordering wine, because none of you can agree on red or white, a desperate chant goes up for “martinis, and keep ’em coming”.
4. Your meal has arrived, your party is sloshed, and suddenly no one wants what they ordered. Bickering continues as meals get swapped across the table. Food flies.
5. The staff, in order to make you all feel better, give you the same dessert they’ve given every other table in the place – tiramisu that looks like it’s been attacked by kittens. You eat it anyway, needing something besides bread and cold eggplant parmesan in your stomach.
6. You all stumble out of the quieting restaurant, each party sure that they paid more than their fair share. The women all hate the men; the men all hate each other. A fistfight breaks out, and is quickly quelled because one of the women starts vomiting.
7. The most romantic night of the year ends up with your honey passed out on the couch and you tearfully sitting in the shower, wondering how to explain that traffic ticket you earned.
So, trust me. Stay home, make an easy yet delicious dinner for two, follow up with a sinful dessert, and include wine or champagne or sparkling cider along with candlelight and beautiful, romantic music. Not only will you enjoy yourself and have sex that night, but you will still be friends with the other two couples in the morning. What’s not to like?
And here’s a recipe, even…
Pan-Seared Scallops with Bacon and Spinach for Two
This is a fabulous recipe but totally depends on the right scallops. Go out of your way to a fishmonger and get two to three firm, absolutely fresh ocean scallops (the big ones, not the bitty ones) per person. No, not cheap – but tasty! Make sure you’ve got the champagne or chardonnay chilling in a wine bucket.
Ingredients:
3 slices bacon
2 – 3 jumbo sea scallops per person (4 – 6 for two)
kosher salt
black pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, chopped fine
6 ounces fresh spinach
lemon wedges, optional
1. Cook bacon in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, coarsely chop and set bacon aside. (Leave ALL the drippings in the pan!)
2. Pat scallops dry with paper towels. Sprinkle scallops evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Add scallops to drippings in pan; cook until a crispy golden crust forms, then flip to the other side. Roughly 2 – 4 minutes per side (depends on how hot the pan is when you initially put the scallops in!) Transfer to a plate and cover immediately with foil to keep warm.
3. Add onion and garlic to pan; reduce heat to medium. Saute onion and garlic until fragrant, stirring frequently – don’t let the garlic burn!
4. Add half of spinach; cook until wilty. Add the rest of the spinach and cook down (about 2 minutes total).
5. Remove from heat – stir in 1/8 teaspoon salt and and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Divide spinach between two plates; crumble bacon on top and then put the scallops on. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.
That’s it – add a lovely crusty baguette, a fantastic Chardonnay or a sparkling wine, and you’ve got a perfect, simple (and TASTY) meal.
Enjoy…and have a perfectly wonderful Valentine’s Day!
by Christine | Life, Uncategorized
Isn’t it beautiful? This is my Trevi Automatica by Spidem – a fully-automatic espresso machine that will also froth milk, give you hot water instantly for tea or hot chocolate, heck – it does everything except the dishes.
The Hubby and I went to Rome, Italy in February/March of 2004, and we fell in love with the espresso that we gulped down every morning (a perk that came with our tiny hotel room in Trastavere). We also fell in love with the city – its people, churches, winding streets, historical ruins, fountains, open squares and always, always amazing coffee to be found. (Not to mention the amazing food and wine!)
When we came home, we realized we’d settled for boring coffee for far too long. After intense online research and debate, we sent off for the Trevi Automatica by Spidem – all the way from Italy. It did everything – all we had to do was empty grinds, remember to feed it coffee beans and water, and clean it regularly.
This coming May, we’ll have had that wonderful, fabulous machine for eight years. Its showing age – the noise as it grinds beans may be higher-pitched than it used to be. The buttons may stick, now and then. Hubby has been diligent in taking the whole thing apart, cleaning it, and putting it back together; we both have neglected to toss the overflowing grounds bin at times (which causes problems). We will hang onto this amazing machine until it coughs its last; but then what?
I’ve never had a coffee maker last this long. I’ve never had a coffee maker that I’m SO attached to. You couldn’t pay me to go back to a 6-8-10 cup coffee maker. (The coffee at work is enough of a strain on my system!) And that one-cup machine, where you get the coffee pre-packaged (ground, or sludge, or whatever) and in whatever type you’d like (Dunkin Donuts, French Roast, hot chocolate, Chai) may be just fine on the set of a movie, but so not my style. There would always be that bunch of packets no one in the house would drink – and that translates to wasted money.
So what now?
I did some research – the Trevi Automatica is no longer imported. I guess the Italians decided to keep that yumminess to themselves and I don’t blame them. However…look what I found!!!
It’s called the Vienna Plus, by Saeco. It looks like the Trevi Automatica. It holds water and grinds beans and steams milk. All the buttons and gadgets are in the same place as for the Trevi – basically, it is the perfect copy of the Trevi . To my total shock, it costs about the same – maybe even less, since we’re not shipping it from Italy. How could we go wrong?
So, when the Trevi is ready for that machinery-bits-and-parts bin in the sky, we’ll know where to go to get our new coffee maker.
Fresh coffee, from fresh beans and water, brewed just for me. Okay, and for the Hubby. Life is good!
~ Have you read DEMON SOUL yet? If you have, drop me a line and let me know what you thought! ~
by Christine | Uncategorized
I’m interrupting Wine Friday to talk about Veteran’s Day. I don’t see how one day among the rest of the year can possibly be adequate in honoring our veterans of all the wars since the end of The Great War, but I am grateful that our government chose to so honor them.
Veteran’s Day began as Armistice Day, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, when a cease-fire went into effect; the beginning of the end of the Great War. In 1919, the first recognition of Armistice Day was held; but not until 1938 was Armistice Day declared a legal holiday. In Emporia, Kansas, a man named Stephan Riod, working with veterans from the Korean War, actively campaigned to change Armistice Day to honor ALL veterans; and in 1954, after many veteran’s groups applied pressure, the day was renamed Veteran’s Day.
Joseph Ambrose, a then-86-year-old World War I veteran, attends the dedication day parade for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982, holding the flag that covered the casket of his son, who was killed in that war.
In the early 70’s, the holiday was wrapped up in The Uniform Holiday Bill, a proposal to celebrate Washington’s birthday, Memorial Day, Columbus Day and Veteran’s Day on a national basis on Mondays, thus giving the American Worker a three day holiday. Vigorous campaigning saw Veteran’s Day return to the proper 11th day of the 11th month, but not until 1978.
My father fought in Korea – and he never talks about it. My cousin Mike went to West Point Military Academy, was in the military for 10 years, and went into the Reserves when he went to work for IBM. He was involved in Desert Storm. My Uncle Kenny was a POW – captured by the Japanese on Wake Island, and imprisoned for 5 years. The happiest day of my Grandmother’s life was when she got to hug him again, thin and changed though he was. My Uncle Lyn (Aunt Janie’s husband, my dad’s and Kenny’s sister, and Mike’s dad) was also in WW2, but he came through relatively unscathed. I come from a family of proud veterans. My husband does, too – his brother fought in Vietnam, and has terrible PTSD that he is just now, slowly, beginning to come to terms with. Their dad was also in Korea. Their grandfather took part in WW1. War tears families apart, and even when the servicemen and women return home, often they are never the same again. They deserve all our respect, every day of the year.
Oh yeah, something else is happening this 11-11-11. Many people are choosing to get married on this “magical” day; or to have their c-section babies this day. Whatever floats your boat, man. A quick scan of the internet shows more than one site declaring it to be “just a fancy number” while another site declared it the “Sun God” number; and still others warn that it’s bad luck. I guess it’s all in your perspective and in your belief system. So all you wonderful people getting married and having babies, good luck to you! Work hard at your relationships; that more than anything will “bless” your future.
Whether you get married, engaged, become pregnant, have a baby, buy stock, sell stock, have good or bad luck this 11-11-11, please do one important thing. Remember a veteran. Thank a veteran. Say a prayer, light a candle, be thankful that someone out there is fighting for our country (because I sure as heck wasn’t willing to do so, when I was able – were you?).
My dad, Chet Cunningham, wrote a book about Wake Island, mainly to include his brother’s reminiscenses of that time. You can find it on Amazon – it’s called Hell Wouldn’t Stop , an Oral History of Wake Island by the soldiers who lived through it.
To all the veterans out there – I give you hugs, and smiles, and a boat-load of respect. Thank You.
by Christine | Uncategorized
Thanks to http://www.chalicecentre.net/samhain.htm for the picture!
The Harvest has ended and summer is officially over. The light wanes; the darkness creeps on ever earlier. All Hallows’ Eve is the night where the veil is the thinnest between the worlds; when the dead can speak again to the living, and the living can hear them.
Pile your bonfire high. Circle it at least once without looking over your shoulder. Ward your home with hag stones and crystals, or plain table salt; and keep a courteous tongue in your mouth to all who cross your path after dark. You never know if you speak with the living or the dead, when the light has failed.
Be vigilant. Keep your loved ones close, your small pets closer. There is but a sliver of moon in the sky to light your way when the streetlights go dark.
This year has been different; people, strangers, are wishing me Happy Halloween in droves. More people in my neighborhood have Halloween lights and decorations up than ever before. But the goblins knocking on my door range from the sweetest young princess to a towering ogre – all, of course, being properly “treated”. One young witch even rested her broom in the “Broom Parking Only” space by my front door.
The year turns. Sometimes it seems to me that I celebrate the start of a new year two or three times, once school has started in the fall. But that’s okay with me – it gives me more chances to get it right.
Happy Halloween. May your dead rest easy, may your spirit soar on the winds, and may your bonfire never die out – till morning makes the world safer again.
Blessed Samhain. Blessed Be. It’s time to light my own bonfire.
by Christine | Uncategorized, Wine Friday
Unemployment is still high, the politicians are still wrangling, and Friday comes as we all breathe a sigh of relief. I’m here to talk about wines – the good, the bad, the truly awful – and better yet, they’re affordable. Most are under $10 and can be found in your local grocery store.
With Thanksgiving coming up, and a weekend of wine tasting under my belt (that’s another post…), I’ve got a couple of Rose´s to discuss. It was a hot topic at the wineries, with many wineries featured a Rose´ to my surprise, because those same wineries didn’t have the Rose´s out in March. So between now and Thanksgiving, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on Rose´s both from the grocery store, and from the wineries. Because it’s never too early to plan the wine for the meal.
Cypher Pistil Paso Robles, 2010, $17.60 at the winery Alcohol 14.8% by volume – pre-released only for club members due to limited production (I’m a Freak Club Member)
On the Label: “Eclectic Rose Wine Produced & Bottled by Cypher Winery Paso Robles, CA cypherwinery.com
My Take: I loved this wine this past weekend, when I visted the winery. And maybe a tiny part of me bought it because my hubby likes Rose´ and he wasn’t with me. OR, maybe I bought it because it was the first of only two wineries on Sunday, and I was still drunk from the day and night before. Whatever….
The bottle is cool; the front “label” is on the inside, pink snakeskin with the word CYPHER down the middle (what you see in the picture above is the back label). The color of the wine is a pale pink – the blush of a fair-skinned bride, or the color of dawn on a cold winter morning. The scent – is vaguely flowery and alcoholic. The taste? Um…like a steel-casked Chardonnay. Kind of. Maybe.
We had it with turkey-sage meatloafettes and smashed potatoes. The hubby raved about the potatoes, liked the meatloafettes, and didn’t comment on the wine until I asked him. And he said it did its job – cleaned his palate between bites, but otherwise kind of bland. And I couldn’t disagree. Maybe it’s the high alcohol content that is overpowering the delicacy of this wine? I don’t know.
My Rating: ~ Drinkable ~ Such a disappointment overall. I don’t believe Rose´ improves with age (but I don’t know that for a fact); if I head out to Cypher next spring, I’ll definitely give it another taste, since I have a pre-release bottle. If I’d been totally aware of that, I’d have suggested to hubby that we wait to open this bottle. But then again, life’s too short to save the good wine.
Penrosa Tempranillo Rose´2009, product of Spain. Fresh and Easy, on closeout at
$3.99. Alcohol 11.5% by volume.
On the Label: “Spain is producing some of the finest rose´wines in the world due to their beautifully ripe grapes and new modern winemaking practices. This rose has been made to be the perfect al fresco refresher on long hot summer days.”
My Take: I’m a fan of this wine, and yet – having it side by side with the Cypher, I have to admit that this is a juvenile wine. Young, bursting with fruit, flirty, it is unpretentious and – as advertised – perfect on a hot summer day when you’re sitting by the pool. It makes the Cypher taste much more sophisticated, but some days you just want to sip strawberries in a glass, you know? The low alcohol content is nice, too.
My Rating: ~ Drinkable ~
Um…it just dawned on me that I might have reviewed this wine earlier. If so, well then…there you go!
All in all, I don’t think either of these is a good wine for Turkey Day. I much prefer white to start with as I cook, and then switching to a good Pinot Noir – my comfort wine, if you will – to sip with the meal.
But luckily there are a few weeks to go before that all important Thanksgiving meal. I’ll fling some more choices your way as we go along.
As usual, this is just my honest opinion and will totally depend upon my mood, the songs hubby is playing on the guitar as I write, and what bills I’ve just paid. Your taste buds will differ.
~ Until the next time, cheers – and remember to drink responsibly! ~
Demon Soul is available for the Kindle and the Nook! Get your copy today!
