Wine Region Travels With Lori
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I'm an experimental cook who loves to drink wine and travel. I've been an entrepreneur from the age of 17 when I had my own fudge company. For the past 28 years I have been a full-time wife and a mother of two sons. My professional life has included being a full-charge bookkeeper, developing and running a gourmet food gift basket mail order company, Whet Your Appetite! After that I went to culinary and travel agency schools and earned certificates from each. I was fortunate enough to go to Paris for an externship and work at a patisserie for a month. I have traveled through most of United States, Canada and Mexico. Abroad I've been to Israel, England, Beijing, Hong Kong, India, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Cook Islands, and through most of Europe.Unique Wine Items For Sale - Art, Gourmet Foods, Books...
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P.S. I Love You - Dark and Delicious
On February 19th we went to another great event in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was put on by the local P.S. I Love You, the Petite Sirah Advocacy Organization. The event was called Dark and Delicious. It was held on Alameda at Rock Wall Winery which is on an old Naval Base, so the facility was huge with very high ceilings. The barrels that were stacked against the walls looked very small compared to the size of the room.
Dark and Delicious Event at Rock Wall Winery
There were about 300-400 people all willing and ready to eat and drink. The event cost $70 per person. There were over 40 wineries, and about 30 different restaurants and caterers. The wineries and food companies were interspersed together. Unlike the Make-A-Wish foundation fundraiser we went to a couple weekends ago, where the wineries poured whatever they wanted, here they just poured Petite Sirah.
I need to apologize. I lost my piece of paper that I took all my notes of the evening. So, I’m going off of my memory with some help from Larry.
Some of the Petite Sirah stood out more than others such as Cecchetti Wine Company Line 39, Tres Sabores, Twisted Oak, Concannon, Heringer Estates, Michael-David, and Ursa Vineyards to name a few. The cool thing about the Petite Sirah is that it grows in many different regions. Such as Lake County, Sierra Foothills, Lodi, Livermore, Paso Robles to name a few.
Swirling the Petite Sirah Serving Up Some Food
The food was overall very good. There was a lot of meat, but that makes sense when you are trying to pair with Petite Sirah. There were about 4-5 different versions of pulled pork sliders, one that stood out was where the pork was served with coleslaw and a lime aioli, there were a number of different meatballs too but the one with bacon in the meatball and served on a crostini with caramelized onion was great as was the wild boar meatballs. There was deep fried curried cauliflower that was really good but didn’t stand up to the wine so well. Our favorite of the evening was a slow braised pork shoulder served on top of a homemade savory bread pudding with a Petite Sirah plum sauce. There also was pork served on a light Lavosh cracker with a cilantro pesto, foie gras, paella and homemade beef jerky. There was plenty of chocolate there too. There were brownies, chocolate with bacon bits in it, chocolate truffles filled with Petite Sirah cream, bacon strips with chocolate drizzled on top, (was that a dessert or was that an appetizer? Whatever, it was good!) there was some seriously intense fudge, I had their peanut butter caramel chocolate, Larry had their dark chocolate. We left that booth with big smiles on our faces.
Fantastic Fudge from Z-Cioccolato The Best Pork Dish Of The Night - Bistro 29
We bumped into a few blogger friends Thea Dwelle from Luscious Lushes and Alana Gentry from A Girl with a Glass.
We want to thank the P.S. I Love You for treating Larry and I to this event. We loved everything about it and would highly recommend it to everyone who likes a good bold wine.
Dark and Delicious Event at Rock Wall Winery
There were about 300-400 people all willing and ready to eat and drink. The event cost $70 per person. There were over 40 wineries, and about 30 different restaurants and caterers. The wineries and food companies were interspersed together. Unlike the Make-A-Wish foundation fundraiser we went to a couple weekends ago, where the wineries poured whatever they wanted, here they just poured Petite Sirah.
Some of the Petite Sirah stood out more than others such as Cecchetti Wine Company Line 39, Tres Sabores, Twisted Oak, Concannon, Heringer Estates, Michael-David, and Ursa Vineyards to name a few. The cool thing about the Petite Sirah is that it grows in many different regions. Such as Lake County, Sierra Foothills, Lodi, Livermore, Paso Robles to name a few.
The food was overall very good. There was a lot of meat, but that makes sense when you are trying to pair with Petite Sirah. There were about 4-5 different versions of pulled pork sliders, one that stood out was where the pork was served with coleslaw and a lime aioli, there were a number of different meatballs too but the one with bacon in the meatball and served on a crostini with caramelized onion was great as was the wild boar meatballs. There was deep fried curried cauliflower that was really good but didn’t stand up to the wine so well. Our favorite of the evening was a slow braised pork shoulder served on top of a homemade savory bread pudding with a Petite Sirah plum sauce. There also was pork served on a light Lavosh cracker with a cilantro pesto, foie gras, paella and homemade beef jerky. There was plenty of chocolate there too. There were brownies, chocolate with bacon bits in it, chocolate truffles filled with Petite Sirah cream, bacon strips with chocolate drizzled on top, (was that a dessert or was that an appetizer? Whatever, it was good!) there was some seriously intense fudge, I had their peanut butter caramel chocolate, Larry had their dark chocolate. We left that booth with big smiles on our faces.
We bumped into a few blogger friends Thea Dwelle from Luscious Lushes and Alana Gentry from A Girl with a Glass.
We want to thank the P.S. I Love You for treating Larry and I to this event. We loved everything about it and would highly recommend it to everyone who likes a good bold wine.
Wine and Wishes - Make a Wish Fondation Event
Last Saturday Larry and I went to a special gourmet food and wine tasting fundraiser for Make-A-Wish Foundation. We bid for this event at a silent auction last summer and won two tickets to this tasting event. We feel pretty pleased that we got this bid for the price that we did. We privately donate to Make-A-Wish every year but had never been to a function of theirs. We put on our nice clothes and went to Treasure Island (the island in the middle of the Bay Bridge between Oakland and San Francisco. The views of San Francisco from there were amazing!
View of San Francisco From Treasure Island
For this tasting there were about 35 wineries and 35 restaurants. We walked into a very large warehouse building of which the atmosphere was set up very dark. There were muted spotlights from the ceiling that made each vendor stand out. There must have been about 500 people there. The vendors were flanked around the room. There was a great assortment of wine and food of which most were new to us, although we had heard of most of the restaurants and about half of the wineries. There was music in the background and the place was decorated with black shining flooring and monkeys flying in a circle in the air in the middle of the room. Below the monkeys were the silent auction items. They had some very nice wines, getaways, restaurant and winetasting for the auction.
Flying Monkey Decorations Lori all dolled up for the Make-A--Wish Tasting
We got there very close to the beginning around 5:00 and stayed until it ended around 7:30. We ran into our buddies Thea and Liza. We haven't seen them since last summer! We will see each other again next week at the P.S. I Love You - Dark and Delicious event in Alameda on February 19th.
Some of the wineries and wines that stood out to me were Ladera Vineyards Pinot Noir, Whitehall Lane Winery Cabernet, McPhail Winery ’07 Pinot Noir Anderson Valley, Cakebread Cellars Zinfandel, Patz & Hall Pinot Noir, Verge Wine Cellars Syrah, Chateau Montelena ’06 Cabernet, and Chappellet ’07 Cuvee. Some of the restaurants and delicacies that stood out as well were Citizen Cake - chocolate pudding cake with a lemon marmalade, The Moss Room with a snapper ceviche, Namu with a Kim Chee ravioli, the CCA with pork vindaloo sliders, Aqua Restaurant with Ahi tuna tartar with Moroccan spices and a lemon confit, Farallon with New Brunswick oysters on the half shell, Millennium Restaurant with truffled pecan mushroom pate on a crostini topped with a fig red wine syrup on top, The Girl and the Fig with prosciutto and gruyere crostini with fig jam, and Kara's Cupcakes who served their carrot cake, chocolate mousse and lemon cupcakes.
GATX, Hartmann Studios, Sybase, Weil Gotshal, KRON 4, and Opentable.com sponsored this event.
The nice thing about this event was that there was enough food and wine to match up the tastes properly. Everyone who attended seemed to have a great time. The crew did a great job keeping the tabletops clear and the trays empty. I hope they received some great donations. This is a great cause and it’s all for the kids. To donate to Make - A - Wish, click here.
View of San Francisco From Treasure Island
For this tasting there were about 35 wineries and 35 restaurants. We walked into a very large warehouse building of which the atmosphere was set up very dark. There were muted spotlights from the ceiling that made each vendor stand out. There must have been about 500 people there. The vendors were flanked around the room. There was a great assortment of wine and food of which most were new to us, although we had heard of most of the restaurants and about half of the wineries. There was music in the background and the place was decorated with black shining flooring and monkeys flying in a circle in the air in the middle of the room. Below the monkeys were the silent auction items. They had some very nice wines, getaways, restaurant and winetasting for the auction.
Flying Monkey Decorations Lori all dolled up for the Make-A--Wish Tasting
We got there very close to the beginning around 5:00 and stayed until it ended around 7:30. We ran into our buddies Thea and Liza. We haven't seen them since last summer! We will see each other again next week at the P.S. I Love You - Dark and Delicious event in Alameda on February 19th.
Some of the wineries and wines that stood out to me were Ladera Vineyards Pinot Noir, Whitehall Lane Winery Cabernet, McPhail Winery ’07 Pinot Noir Anderson Valley, Cakebread Cellars Zinfandel, Patz & Hall Pinot Noir, Verge Wine Cellars Syrah, Chateau Montelena ’06 Cabernet, and Chappellet ’07 Cuvee. Some of the restaurants and delicacies that stood out as well were Citizen Cake - chocolate pudding cake with a lemon marmalade, The Moss Room with a snapper ceviche, Namu with a Kim Chee ravioli, the CCA with pork vindaloo sliders, Aqua Restaurant with Ahi tuna tartar with Moroccan spices and a lemon confit, Farallon with New Brunswick oysters on the half shell, Millennium Restaurant with truffled pecan mushroom pate on a crostini topped with a fig red wine syrup on top, The Girl and the Fig with prosciutto and gruyere crostini with fig jam, and Kara's Cupcakes who served their carrot cake, chocolate mousse and lemon cupcakes.
GATX, Hartmann Studios, Sybase, Weil Gotshal, KRON 4, and Opentable.com sponsored this event.
The nice thing about this event was that there was enough food and wine to match up the tastes properly. Everyone who attended seemed to have a great time. The crew did a great job keeping the tabletops clear and the trays empty. I hope they received some great donations. This is a great cause and it’s all for the kids. To donate to Make - A - Wish, click here.
Superbowl Racked!
Yes, I said Superbowl Racked! Not Rocked (even though it did), I said Racked. I know what you are thinking! It was Superbowl weekend, and in any football game there are cheerleaders. And we know what part of the cheerleaders the cameramen look at - and show to the audience! Their Racks! Of course! But that isn’t what I’m talking about so get you mind out of the gutter! Really!
I’m talking about racking wine, specifically Winemaker B’s wine! If you read my blog in September about going up to Sonoma and picking and crushing grapes at Dave Kram’s place, this is that wine. We got to sample from Winemaker B’s garage his Viognier, Zinfandel/Petite Sira blend, Cabernet Sauvignon and his Syrah. Everything tasted so good. The Viognier is just about ready and was perfect. He has about 2-3 oak barrels a few glass multi-gallon containers and a couple metal containers full of wine. Before the Superbowl game commenced Larry helped Brandon with the racking of the wines. They had to top off the wines in the barrels, and move the wine from the one jug to the other leaving everything that dropped to the bottom out. Winemaker B has every thing very organized in his garage. The winemaking takes up about 1/3 of his garage. He was still able to set up his ping-pong table for fun before and after the game.
We had some good food at the party. I brought two different types of hummus that I had made. One was my traditional cayenne pepper hummus and the other was artichoke/feta cheese hummus. We also brought some fresh flatbread (garlic and cheesy jalapeno) made at our local Afghani store Sahara. Both were so good. Kim made a delicious butternut curry squash soup and Brandon made B.L.T. sandwiches using gourmet sun-dried tomato bacon. Everything was very good. We enjoyed the game. No matter whom you were routing for, it was a good game. Larry and I happen to be routing for the underdogs, the Saints, and they won! That was the first time that the New Orleans Saints were even in the Superbowl. Cheers!
Cancun Rocked and Rolled in 2010
Larry and I went to Cancun over New Year’s week. This trip had been planned for about a year. We gifted each of our son’s a plane ticket to Cancun and invited them to stay in our two-bedroom time-share. All they had to do was to purchase a ticket for their gals, Brandon his wife Kim and Jacob his girlfriend Brittany.
Larry and I last went to Cancun in 1995 to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary with our friends Ken and Sally who were doing the same. In 2001 we went to Playa del Carmen with the company that I was working with as a benefit toward all the good sales from the previous year.
I love the Caribbean ocean. I have only been to Cancun and its surrounding areas, to Belize and to the Dominican Republic in the very Eastern part of the Caribbean. I love the sand, the coral, the color and warmth of the ocean, the snorkeling the people their cultures, the food and the drinks.
Our kids and their women had never been to Cancun. We all arrived there on Saturday December 26th. We stayed at the Casa Maya Hotel which if Cancun is layed out like the number “7” then we were in the middle of the top of the seven. The hotel row goes down the right side of the leg of the seven and the lagoon is on the left side of the leg of the seven. At the Casa Maya we didn’t have all-inclusive (which I really don’t like) but as it turned out the restaurant and food staff were great and we ate many meals there. We ate our first and last dinners there both with an option to have a buffet or eat from the menu. We ate another night there when they had a Welcome Night and we were treated to not only 3 drinks plus dinner but also great a great dancing performance all for less than $20/pp.
Our view of Cancun from our condo
At the Casa Maya they had beautiful beaches that were actually on the Gulf of Mexico as opposed to the hotel row that is on the Caribbean. The nice thing about being on the Gulf vs. the Caribbean is that the ocean is shallower, milder and perfect for wading and swimming. It’s a great place for kids to enjoy. The Casa Maya also had a palapa facility for lunch and dinner if weather permitted and a smaller palapa bar with stools on the sand as well as tables by the pool. The resort had all sorts of events going on daily from beach volleyball, darts, and pool basketball to ceramics and water aerobics. Besides the main pool they had an adult-only pool, which is where the gym, spa and hammocks were. One of the features that I loved were the servers who came walking around the beach. A couple times I ordered their medium margarita. It came in a ½ yard bright orange plastic glass with the longest straw ever! This was very refreshing. They also had lit tennis courts that Brandon and Jacob took advantage of a couple times. We were no more than a 5-minute walk to the bus stop, which would take us into downtown Cancun, or to the hotel row with all the discos and restaurants.
Drinking with the family Kim and Brandon at the beach
One day we took an excursion to Isla Mujeres. The Mother Island. Our tour consisted of a full day of sailing on a catamaran, drinking rum, tequila and cervazas on the sail boat. We stopped at a National Park to snorkel with our captain as our local guide, we docked at Isla Mujeres and had time in town on the island to shop and get a feel of the locals. Then off we went to a private beach south on the island to eat lunch and relax. We sailed both ways and had perfect weather. We did all of this for the price of $39.00 per person! Such a deal!
Jacob, Brittany (forward), Kim and Brandon sailing to Isla Mujeres
Another day we rented a caravan and drove it south to Tulum where there are Mayan ruins. We spent about 2 hours getting there, and then walked all around for a while. The ruins were over 3,000 years old and are still in pretty good shape. Especially considering they are right along the cliffs of the Caribbean. After Tulum we drove to Akumal which is a very small beach community known for its diving. We had a delicious lunch there then had a couple hours of beach time before it got dark. Those of us who snorkeled enjoyed seeing sea turtles (my first time!), stingrays, and a few other assorted fish. From there we continued to drive north with another stop in Playa Del Carmen. There we had a fantastic Mayan dinner to celebrate Kim’s belated birthday. We walked all around the shops up and down the main street. It was extremely crowded! From there we drove back to our condo. A long day but we all had a great time.
Larry and Lori at the beaches of Tulum
A couple nights after enjoying the beach all day at our resort we took the bus out for dinner. One night we went into the downtown area. We went on a Sunday and found it very interesting. All the families were out in town walking around. We ended up at a square in a park where they have a number of concession stands of food, drinks and goods for sale. The little children were on these electric vehicles, like bumper cars, but made out of plastic. All different sizes and shapes. A lot of them had room so there were two kids per car. Flanked around this very large park area, (no grass) were some restaurants. We ended up at an Italian restaurant. We really enjoyed what we ate. We didn’t have wine, mostly because before we even left home we realized where we were going, and knew that their alcoholic specialties were going to be tequila, rum and cervezas. So, that is what we stuck to. The other night we ventured out and we took the bus in the opposite direction and went to the hotel row area and met up with cousins Eric and Delores who had just flowed to Cancun for 4 nights from Los Angeles. We all experienced Senior Frogs together. And I mean experienced it. The wait staff is all crazy in a very fun way. We sat outside so we could hear ourselves talk a bit better. We had a magician come to our table for a while, did some good tricks, we had funny labels pinned on us, mine was 75% blonde for example. Our servers were full of surprises and fun. The food was edible, but the drinks were better. If you got too drunk they have a sober slide where you end up in the lagoon. After dinner we walked around the mall and shops and discos. It was just starting to get busy at 10:00 at night.
Drinking at Senior Frogs Drinking at Playa del Carmen
On New Years Eve we went out to dinner to a Brazilian Steak House. This type of cuisine is getting more and more popular especially in the larger cities. We got there around 6:30, got seated and then were taken to the salad buffet, which has a large number of different types of salads for you to choose from. You could get full just from this but when you are ready for the meat to start coming to your table you turn over your coaster to the red side and the real dinner begins. The different servers come over to you with a huge hunk of meat on a large skewer and they tell you what the meat is. If you want some, then they slice a nice thin slice for you and put it on your plate. So, we received Rib Eye, Flank Steak, Pork Loin, Turkey wrapped with bacon, New York Steak, Top Sirloin, to name a few. Unless you turn your coaster over they keep on coming over. After a while we asked if they had of their obscure meats. So pretty soon they brought over lamb, ostrich and crocodile. Everything was delicious. I especially liked the ostrich, the crocodile was tasty, but it reminded me too much of chicken with a gamey flavor. In the middle of the table they served us some French fries, Caesar salad, fried bananas and fried cheese for us all to share. The meal was pretty pricy, about $40/pp without drinks. If you go, go real hungry in order to get your monies worth. The good thing eating here on New Years Eve was that the food lasted all night long in our tummies.
Speaking of New Year’s Eve this was to be the highlight of our trip. Jacob and Brittany had gone out on Monday night to check out what our options were for N.Y.E. They came back with what appeared to be a great option for $80.00 all you can drink and dance at The City disco club. This was in our price range so we all bought tickets for the Thursday night spectacular. Now, remember we were very full from all the protein we had at the Brazilian restaurant and were well rested up for a great evening. We started out by going to the outdoor bar. Larry and I started with Margaritas on the rocks. That is where we ended up too. There was the shot of tequila at midnight but besides that we stayed on course. We all stayed pretty close together at the beginning then before we knew it Jacob and Brittany were downstairs on the dance floor bumping and grinding. We staying up stairs to do our own bumping and grinding. They had a couple acts before the New Year, one was a fire juggler. The other was a couple doing different gymnastics similar to Cirque de Soleil. Then the music went on and we did a quick 20-second countdown to the New Year. It was pretty puny. The balloons didn’t drop for a number of minutes. Anyways, time flew; we were dancing and drinking and drinking and dancing. Before we knew it Brittany was tapping on my shoulder showing me her new ring that Jacob had just proposed to her with. Yes they got engaged! Evidently they found a little corner in the club, and went into their own little world. Jacob got on his knee and proposed. He had the ring, a special necklace from their first date and all sorts of goodies. All of us except Brittany knew that this was suppose to happen sometime on New Year’s Eve. We actually knew about this all week long! Which made for a long week, even longer for Jacob. Brittany was totally shocked and very pleasantly surprised. He did this at 2:00 local time, which was 12:00 back at home. We then danced for another hour, went walking on the beach and celebrated some more then we left the two lovebirds and went back to the condo. We got back around 4:00 and got to sleep around 5:00.
Jacob and Brittany get engaged!
On new years day we all got up around 11:00. We moved around slowly, made some eggs for breakfast and got ready to go down to the beach. It was a pretty windy day so it didn’t warm up so well. It was annoying trying to read in the wind and so we stayed down only for a couple hours. We came back upstairs and took a nap. Around 7:00 we all converged together and went downstairs for our last diner together. This was a celebratory dinner for Jacob and Brittany’s engagement. The dinner theme was Caribbean. Their buffet was pretty good with fish, beef and pork dishes. I was very interested in their salad bar. I took two helping of that. Everyone enjoyed the dinner. We went back to the room and just hung out. Brandon and Kim packed, as they were first to leave the next morning.
We each brought different games to play while we were there like, dominoes, cards, farkel, Uno, trivia questions and cribbage. We played Uno the first night while we were waiting for time to pass by for Brandon and Kim to arrive. Jacob and Brittany played some cribbage. We all took a couple hours one night and played Oh Hell.
This trip was perfect, we had alone time, we had time with each couple and we had time as a whole family unit. We all got along great, shared all sorts of stories and have new stories to tell. I hope we can do this sort of trip every 5 years.
Larry and I last went to Cancun in 1995 to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary with our friends Ken and Sally who were doing the same. In 2001 we went to Playa del Carmen with the company that I was working with as a benefit toward all the good sales from the previous year.
I love the Caribbean ocean. I have only been to Cancun and its surrounding areas, to Belize and to the Dominican Republic in the very Eastern part of the Caribbean. I love the sand, the coral, the color and warmth of the ocean, the snorkeling the people their cultures, the food and the drinks.
Our kids and their women had never been to Cancun. We all arrived there on Saturday December 26th. We stayed at the Casa Maya Hotel which if Cancun is layed out like the number “7” then we were in the middle of the top of the seven. The hotel row goes down the right side of the leg of the seven and the lagoon is on the left side of the leg of the seven. At the Casa Maya we didn’t have all-inclusive (which I really don’t like) but as it turned out the restaurant and food staff were great and we ate many meals there. We ate our first and last dinners there both with an option to have a buffet or eat from the menu. We ate another night there when they had a Welcome Night and we were treated to not only 3 drinks plus dinner but also great a great dancing performance all for less than $20/pp.
Our view of Cancun from our condo
At the Casa Maya they had beautiful beaches that were actually on the Gulf of Mexico as opposed to the hotel row that is on the Caribbean. The nice thing about being on the Gulf vs. the Caribbean is that the ocean is shallower, milder and perfect for wading and swimming. It’s a great place for kids to enjoy. The Casa Maya also had a palapa facility for lunch and dinner if weather permitted and a smaller palapa bar with stools on the sand as well as tables by the pool. The resort had all sorts of events going on daily from beach volleyball, darts, and pool basketball to ceramics and water aerobics. Besides the main pool they had an adult-only pool, which is where the gym, spa and hammocks were. One of the features that I loved were the servers who came walking around the beach. A couple times I ordered their medium margarita. It came in a ½ yard bright orange plastic glass with the longest straw ever! This was very refreshing. They also had lit tennis courts that Brandon and Jacob took advantage of a couple times. We were no more than a 5-minute walk to the bus stop, which would take us into downtown Cancun, or to the hotel row with all the discos and restaurants.
Drinking with the family Kim and Brandon at the beach
One day we took an excursion to Isla Mujeres. The Mother Island. Our tour consisted of a full day of sailing on a catamaran, drinking rum, tequila and cervazas on the sail boat. We stopped at a National Park to snorkel with our captain as our local guide, we docked at Isla Mujeres and had time in town on the island to shop and get a feel of the locals. Then off we went to a private beach south on the island to eat lunch and relax. We sailed both ways and had perfect weather. We did all of this for the price of $39.00 per person! Such a deal!
Jacob, Brittany (forward), Kim and Brandon sailing to Isla Mujeres
Another day we rented a caravan and drove it south to Tulum where there are Mayan ruins. We spent about 2 hours getting there, and then walked all around for a while. The ruins were over 3,000 years old and are still in pretty good shape. Especially considering they are right along the cliffs of the Caribbean. After Tulum we drove to Akumal which is a very small beach community known for its diving. We had a delicious lunch there then had a couple hours of beach time before it got dark. Those of us who snorkeled enjoyed seeing sea turtles (my first time!), stingrays, and a few other assorted fish. From there we continued to drive north with another stop in Playa Del Carmen. There we had a fantastic Mayan dinner to celebrate Kim’s belated birthday. We walked all around the shops up and down the main street. It was extremely crowded! From there we drove back to our condo. A long day but we all had a great time.
Larry and Lori at the beaches of Tulum
A couple nights after enjoying the beach all day at our resort we took the bus out for dinner. One night we went into the downtown area. We went on a Sunday and found it very interesting. All the families were out in town walking around. We ended up at a square in a park where they have a number of concession stands of food, drinks and goods for sale. The little children were on these electric vehicles, like bumper cars, but made out of plastic. All different sizes and shapes. A lot of them had room so there were two kids per car. Flanked around this very large park area, (no grass) were some restaurants. We ended up at an Italian restaurant. We really enjoyed what we ate. We didn’t have wine, mostly because before we even left home we realized where we were going, and knew that their alcoholic specialties were going to be tequila, rum and cervezas. So, that is what we stuck to. The other night we ventured out and we took the bus in the opposite direction and went to the hotel row area and met up with cousins Eric and Delores who had just flowed to Cancun for 4 nights from Los Angeles. We all experienced Senior Frogs together. And I mean experienced it. The wait staff is all crazy in a very fun way. We sat outside so we could hear ourselves talk a bit better. We had a magician come to our table for a while, did some good tricks, we had funny labels pinned on us, mine was 75% blonde for example. Our servers were full of surprises and fun. The food was edible, but the drinks were better. If you got too drunk they have a sober slide where you end up in the lagoon. After dinner we walked around the mall and shops and discos. It was just starting to get busy at 10:00 at night.
Drinking at Senior Frogs Drinking at Playa del Carmen
On New Years Eve we went out to dinner to a Brazilian Steak House. This type of cuisine is getting more and more popular especially in the larger cities. We got there around 6:30, got seated and then were taken to the salad buffet, which has a large number of different types of salads for you to choose from. You could get full just from this but when you are ready for the meat to start coming to your table you turn over your coaster to the red side and the real dinner begins. The different servers come over to you with a huge hunk of meat on a large skewer and they tell you what the meat is. If you want some, then they slice a nice thin slice for you and put it on your plate. So, we received Rib Eye, Flank Steak, Pork Loin, Turkey wrapped with bacon, New York Steak, Top Sirloin, to name a few. Unless you turn your coaster over they keep on coming over. After a while we asked if they had of their obscure meats. So pretty soon they brought over lamb, ostrich and crocodile. Everything was delicious. I especially liked the ostrich, the crocodile was tasty, but it reminded me too much of chicken with a gamey flavor. In the middle of the table they served us some French fries, Caesar salad, fried bananas and fried cheese for us all to share. The meal was pretty pricy, about $40/pp without drinks. If you go, go real hungry in order to get your monies worth. The good thing eating here on New Years Eve was that the food lasted all night long in our tummies.
Speaking of New Year’s Eve this was to be the highlight of our trip. Jacob and Brittany had gone out on Monday night to check out what our options were for N.Y.E. They came back with what appeared to be a great option for $80.00 all you can drink and dance at The City disco club. This was in our price range so we all bought tickets for the Thursday night spectacular. Now, remember we were very full from all the protein we had at the Brazilian restaurant and were well rested up for a great evening. We started out by going to the outdoor bar. Larry and I started with Margaritas on the rocks. That is where we ended up too. There was the shot of tequila at midnight but besides that we stayed on course. We all stayed pretty close together at the beginning then before we knew it Jacob and Brittany were downstairs on the dance floor bumping and grinding. We staying up stairs to do our own bumping and grinding. They had a couple acts before the New Year, one was a fire juggler. The other was a couple doing different gymnastics similar to Cirque de Soleil. Then the music went on and we did a quick 20-second countdown to the New Year. It was pretty puny. The balloons didn’t drop for a number of minutes. Anyways, time flew; we were dancing and drinking and drinking and dancing. Before we knew it Brittany was tapping on my shoulder showing me her new ring that Jacob had just proposed to her with. Yes they got engaged! Evidently they found a little corner in the club, and went into their own little world. Jacob got on his knee and proposed. He had the ring, a special necklace from their first date and all sorts of goodies. All of us except Brittany knew that this was suppose to happen sometime on New Year’s Eve. We actually knew about this all week long! Which made for a long week, even longer for Jacob. Brittany was totally shocked and very pleasantly surprised. He did this at 2:00 local time, which was 12:00 back at home. We then danced for another hour, went walking on the beach and celebrated some more then we left the two lovebirds and went back to the condo. We got back around 4:00 and got to sleep around 5:00.
Jacob and Brittany get engaged!
On new years day we all got up around 11:00. We moved around slowly, made some eggs for breakfast and got ready to go down to the beach. It was a pretty windy day so it didn’t warm up so well. It was annoying trying to read in the wind and so we stayed down only for a couple hours. We came back upstairs and took a nap. Around 7:00 we all converged together and went downstairs for our last diner together. This was a celebratory dinner for Jacob and Brittany’s engagement. The dinner theme was Caribbean. Their buffet was pretty good with fish, beef and pork dishes. I was very interested in their salad bar. I took two helping of that. Everyone enjoyed the dinner. We went back to the room and just hung out. Brandon and Kim packed, as they were first to leave the next morning.
We each brought different games to play while we were there like, dominoes, cards, farkel, Uno, trivia questions and cribbage. We played Uno the first night while we were waiting for time to pass by for Brandon and Kim to arrive. Jacob and Brittany played some cribbage. We all took a couple hours one night and played Oh Hell.
This trip was perfect, we had alone time, we had time with each couple and we had time as a whole family unit. We all got along great, shared all sorts of stories and have new stories to tell. I hope we can do this sort of trip every 5 years.
One afternoon = Five wineries in Livermore Valley
Last Saturday I had to go into work for a few hours. I had Larry drive me so afterwards he could pick me up and we could go wine tasting in the Livermore Valley. I work in Livermore and we really wanted to visit a few wineries that we have heard about but not visited yet. So Larry picked me up and off we went into the city of Livermore. The city, which is large in size but small in reality. You will find the downtown area with cute stores and good restaurants on First Street. There are about four to five blocks with all the activity, which makes it easy to take a leisurely stroll and check out the goings on.
The first winery we went to was Ryhan Winery. I had been there before but Larry had never been and it was close to the two wineries that Larry wanted to visit. Ryhan winery was very nice; they had a very nice staff and some foods to pair with their different wines. They offered pepper jack cheese, mozzeralla cheese, homemade chili chicken, olives marinated in different herbs and spices, and some chocolates. Being a foodie I won’t go into details of what I would have done differently, but they made a great effort. I liked their raspberry sparkling wine. Larry and I both had their Syrah, which was pretty good; they also have a Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Gricio and many others. This was strictly a tasting room. Their tasting fee is $5.00 but if you buy wine they don’t charge you. Their hours are Friday 12-5, Sat/Sun 11:30-5:00 or by appointment.
Right next door to Ryhan Winery in the same attached building was Cuda Ridge Wines. Larry Dino the winemaker and owner was there pouring the wines. This was the winery, cellar and tasting room all in one spot. Larry’s specialty is making Bordeaux style wines. Cabernet Franc is one of their specialties. We also tried a Sauvignon Blanc, a Merlot, a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Zinfandel that is on a different label. All of their wines are made from grapes they get in the Livermore Valley. They opened their winery in 2007 and their tasting room this past fall ’09. They produce 1100 cases at the present moment. They will also be offering a Semillon and a Malbec. The surroundings were very comfortable and Larry and his wife Margie were very hospitable.
Our next stop was about 2 miles away. These next two wineries are next to each other in a business park that fronts onto the main street. The first winery we walked into was Occasio Winery. They have a nice comfortable set up with a front room with the tasting counter, then behind that is a boardroom that can be used for a crowd up to 10 persons. In that room they offer cheese and or lunch if you’re so inclined for your purpose. Courtney was the person behind the counter pouring for us. She was very nice and very knowledgeable. We found out that the winery similar to Cuda Ridge had its first vintage in ’07 and opened their tasting room in the fall of ’09. The owner and winemaker is John Kinney. They currently are producing 500 cases of wine but very quickly will be up to 1,200 by the end of the year. We got a small tour of the facilities. They have a very nice sized laboratory. Then the back area where the winery/cellar is was just the perfect size, room for growth yet small. Back in the tasting room we tried a Pinot Gris ’08, a Sauvignon Blanc ’08*, a Rose of Zinfandel ’09* and a Zinfandel ’08*. The future will be bringing a Petite Syrah, Fume Blanc, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and a red blend of some sort. We really enjoyed the wines and bought 3 bottles*. Their wine club membership is different where they give you 20% off all wine purchased. Their tasting fee is $5.00 but that is taken off if you purchase wine. Their hours are Friday 12-5, Sat/Sun 11:30 – 4:30 or by appointment.
Right next door was Nottingham Winery and Satyrs’ Pond Winery. The winemaker/owner Jeff Cranor, makes the wines for both labels. Justin and Chris helped us with our wine tasting experience. Similar to Occasio the feel when you walk in was very comfortable. Their tasting area was a bit more cramped. But they also have room for you to wander around and look at the different artwork on the walls. The owner’s brother Pat Cranor is a thriving artist in San Diego and he has quite a number of pieces for sale there. Chris took us for a tour of the back, which is very large for their size winery. They like to have enough room for their special events that they host. We sampled the Viognier from Nottingham Cellars, which was floral but not overwhelming, as it can be. Then we tried the Satyrs’ Pond Winery Lux Alba white blend, which is a Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc blend. Then in a decanter we sampled Satyrs’ ’06 Cabernet Sauvignon. I really liked this. Then in the next decanter we sampled Nottingham ’07 Cabernet Sauvignon. Both were very good, smooth but the Satyrs’ had more potential I thought to lay down for a few years. At the end Chris opened up the Nottingham Ralphi’s Red Blend, which is Merlot from Napa and Cabernet from Livermore. At first this wine fell flat on the tongue. But after a bit of swirling and waiting patiently for it to open it did so in a big way. We had to buy one of those. They charge a $5.00 tasting fee, which gets reimbursed if you purchase any wine.
After all of this, and I was done, Larry said do you want to go visit Linda and Earl at Cedar Mountain? I said sure as it was only 2 minutes away. So we went to see our old buddies. Unfortunately they were busy but we got to sample their Sauvignon Blanc side by side with their Sauvignon Blanc Reserve. Quite a difference - I liked the reserve better. Then I tried their Chardonnay of which I have always felt that they make one of the best in the Livermore Valley. We both had to sample their Tortuga Royale. This is a port made by co-fermenting Blanches Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon grapes with Scharffen Berger 70% cacao powder and fortified with fine Eau De Vie Brandy. You can only imagine how amazing this was. There was just enough of the chocolate aroma and flavor with the grape flavor of the Cabernet and the brandy for the alcohol and smoothness. I could have continued drinking this all afternoon! However, we had grocery shopping to do etc. Next time I’m there I’m going to buy one of those for my liquor cabinet. For $25.00 it’s a fantastic gift for any wine lover!
So this concludes another wine tasting experience in Livermore Valley. There are over 50 wineries there now and more popping up. It’s a great place to go and sample wines without feeling any pressure. I feel very fortunate that I live 20 minutes away!
The first winery we went to was Ryhan Winery. I had been there before but Larry had never been and it was close to the two wineries that Larry wanted to visit. Ryhan winery was very nice; they had a very nice staff and some foods to pair with their different wines. They offered pepper jack cheese, mozzeralla cheese, homemade chili chicken, olives marinated in different herbs and spices, and some chocolates. Being a foodie I won’t go into details of what I would have done differently, but they made a great effort. I liked their raspberry sparkling wine. Larry and I both had their Syrah, which was pretty good; they also have a Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Gricio and many others. This was strictly a tasting room. Their tasting fee is $5.00 but if you buy wine they don’t charge you. Their hours are Friday 12-5, Sat/Sun 11:30-5:00 or by appointment.
Right next door to Ryhan Winery in the same attached building was Cuda Ridge Wines. Larry Dino the winemaker and owner was there pouring the wines. This was the winery, cellar and tasting room all in one spot. Larry’s specialty is making Bordeaux style wines. Cabernet Franc is one of their specialties. We also tried a Sauvignon Blanc, a Merlot, a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Zinfandel that is on a different label. All of their wines are made from grapes they get in the Livermore Valley. They opened their winery in 2007 and their tasting room this past fall ’09. They produce 1100 cases at the present moment. They will also be offering a Semillon and a Malbec. The surroundings were very comfortable and Larry and his wife Margie were very hospitable.
Our next stop was about 2 miles away. These next two wineries are next to each other in a business park that fronts onto the main street. The first winery we walked into was Occasio Winery. They have a nice comfortable set up with a front room with the tasting counter, then behind that is a boardroom that can be used for a crowd up to 10 persons. In that room they offer cheese and or lunch if you’re so inclined for your purpose. Courtney was the person behind the counter pouring for us. She was very nice and very knowledgeable. We found out that the winery similar to Cuda Ridge had its first vintage in ’07 and opened their tasting room in the fall of ’09. The owner and winemaker is John Kinney. They currently are producing 500 cases of wine but very quickly will be up to 1,200 by the end of the year. We got a small tour of the facilities. They have a very nice sized laboratory. Then the back area where the winery/cellar is was just the perfect size, room for growth yet small. Back in the tasting room we tried a Pinot Gris ’08, a Sauvignon Blanc ’08*, a Rose of Zinfandel ’09* and a Zinfandel ’08*. The future will be bringing a Petite Syrah, Fume Blanc, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and a red blend of some sort. We really enjoyed the wines and bought 3 bottles*. Their wine club membership is different where they give you 20% off all wine purchased. Their tasting fee is $5.00 but that is taken off if you purchase wine. Their hours are Friday 12-5, Sat/Sun 11:30 – 4:30 or by appointment.
Right next door was Nottingham Winery and Satyrs’ Pond Winery. The winemaker/owner Jeff Cranor, makes the wines for both labels. Justin and Chris helped us with our wine tasting experience. Similar to Occasio the feel when you walk in was very comfortable. Their tasting area was a bit more cramped. But they also have room for you to wander around and look at the different artwork on the walls. The owner’s brother Pat Cranor is a thriving artist in San Diego and he has quite a number of pieces for sale there. Chris took us for a tour of the back, which is very large for their size winery. They like to have enough room for their special events that they host. We sampled the Viognier from Nottingham Cellars, which was floral but not overwhelming, as it can be. Then we tried the Satyrs’ Pond Winery Lux Alba white blend, which is a Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc blend. Then in a decanter we sampled Satyrs’ ’06 Cabernet Sauvignon. I really liked this. Then in the next decanter we sampled Nottingham ’07 Cabernet Sauvignon. Both were very good, smooth but the Satyrs’ had more potential I thought to lay down for a few years. At the end Chris opened up the Nottingham Ralphi’s Red Blend, which is Merlot from Napa and Cabernet from Livermore. At first this wine fell flat on the tongue. But after a bit of swirling and waiting patiently for it to open it did so in a big way. We had to buy one of those. They charge a $5.00 tasting fee, which gets reimbursed if you purchase any wine.
After all of this, and I was done, Larry said do you want to go visit Linda and Earl at Cedar Mountain? I said sure as it was only 2 minutes away. So we went to see our old buddies. Unfortunately they were busy but we got to sample their Sauvignon Blanc side by side with their Sauvignon Blanc Reserve. Quite a difference - I liked the reserve better. Then I tried their Chardonnay of which I have always felt that they make one of the best in the Livermore Valley. We both had to sample their Tortuga Royale. This is a port made by co-fermenting Blanches Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon grapes with Scharffen Berger 70% cacao powder and fortified with fine Eau De Vie Brandy. You can only imagine how amazing this was. There was just enough of the chocolate aroma and flavor with the grape flavor of the Cabernet and the brandy for the alcohol and smoothness. I could have continued drinking this all afternoon! However, we had grocery shopping to do etc. Next time I’m there I’m going to buy one of those for my liquor cabinet. For $25.00 it’s a fantastic gift for any wine lover!
So this concludes another wine tasting experience in Livermore Valley. There are over 50 wineries there now and more popping up. It’s a great place to go and sample wines without feeling any pressure. I feel very fortunate that I live 20 minutes away!
Paso Robles Wines in San Diego Grand Tasting Tour
Good news, if you love wines from Paso Robles and live in Southern California. The Paso Robles Wine Country, one of the nation's premier wine producing regions, hits the road for its 2010 National Grand Tasting Tour with the first stop scheduled for February 22-25, 2010 in San Diego. Wine producers from the nationally acclaimed wine region will showcase their wines in a number of tasting events, including winemaker dinners, wine retailer tasting, a trade tasting and two consumer tasting events. This expanded marketing approach gives wine enthusiasts more opportunities to take in a Paso Robles Wine Country experience.
"It's been two years since our Grand Tasting Tour visited San Diego," said Stacie Jacob, executive director of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance. "This is an exciting city with an amazing epicurean movement that is a perfect pairing for the style of wines produced in Paso Robles; we are thrilled to kick of our 2010 Tour in San Diego."
The 2010 Grand Tasting Tour is the region's 6th annual tour dedicated to bringing the Paso Robles Wine Country experience into top cities across the nation. San Diego was chosen as the only stop in Southern California with only three total Grand Tasting Tour events scheduled for the year. More than 40 winemakers will converge on San Diego with a variety of winemaker dinners and wine retailer tastings at many marquee restaurants and retail locations. Complementing these smaller events, two walk-around style consumer tastings will take place, each focusing on different audiences, including a late night tasting geared to attract the millennial generation.
The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance will also hold a seminar and tasting exclusive to the wine trade of San Diego. The many wine brands of Paso Robles utilize this outreach to expose wine buyers and influencers within the region to their brands. The complete schedule of events, venues and ticket prices for the Grand Tasting Tour - San Diego will be available by early January. Click here for more information.
Wine Retailer Tastings - Monday, February 22 - Thursday, February 25, 2010
Winemaker Dinners - Tuesday, February 23 - Thursday, February 25, 2010
Trade Tasting - Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Consumer Tastings - Wednesday, February 24 - Thursday, February 25, 2010
If you live in Northern California don’t fret, the second leg of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance 2010 Grand Tasting Tour includes a visit to Northern California the week of April 19, 2010. Cities include - Sacramento, San Francisco and the Silicon Valley.
The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance represents wineries, growers and businesses in Paso Robles Wine Country. Centrally located between San Francisco and Los Angeles, along California's Central Coast, Paso Robles Wine Country is California's fastest growing wine region. It encompasses more than 26,000 vineyard acres and more than 180 wineries. For more information, please click here.
"It's been two years since our Grand Tasting Tour visited San Diego," said Stacie Jacob, executive director of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance. "This is an exciting city with an amazing epicurean movement that is a perfect pairing for the style of wines produced in Paso Robles; we are thrilled to kick of our 2010 Tour in San Diego."
The 2010 Grand Tasting Tour is the region's 6th annual tour dedicated to bringing the Paso Robles Wine Country experience into top cities across the nation. San Diego was chosen as the only stop in Southern California with only three total Grand Tasting Tour events scheduled for the year. More than 40 winemakers will converge on San Diego with a variety of winemaker dinners and wine retailer tastings at many marquee restaurants and retail locations. Complementing these smaller events, two walk-around style consumer tastings will take place, each focusing on different audiences, including a late night tasting geared to attract the millennial generation.
The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance will also hold a seminar and tasting exclusive to the wine trade of San Diego. The many wine brands of Paso Robles utilize this outreach to expose wine buyers and influencers within the region to their brands. The complete schedule of events, venues and ticket prices for the Grand Tasting Tour - San Diego will be available by early January. Click here for more information.
Wine Retailer Tastings - Monday, February 22 - Thursday, February 25, 2010
Winemaker Dinners - Tuesday, February 23 - Thursday, February 25, 2010
Trade Tasting - Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Consumer Tastings - Wednesday, February 24 - Thursday, February 25, 2010
If you live in Northern California don’t fret, the second leg of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance 2010 Grand Tasting Tour includes a visit to Northern California the week of April 19, 2010. Cities include - Sacramento, San Francisco and the Silicon Valley.
The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance represents wineries, growers and businesses in Paso Robles Wine Country. Centrally located between San Francisco and Los Angeles, along California's Central Coast, Paso Robles Wine Country is California's fastest growing wine region. It encompasses more than 26,000 vineyard acres and more than 180 wineries. For more information, please click here.
Los Angeles, 80th birthday Party and Tons-o-Food!
As I sit here in my living room with my cat curled up on my side, and the cool autumn breeze blowing outside, I got inspired to write about my week in Los Angeles. I went down with the intent to help my Aunt Sylvia, who was throwing an 80th birthday party for herself. In all the years I've known her, she has thrown many extravagant themed parties. All these parties have been for everyone else but herself. I was very happy that she decided to throw one for herself. She is a very special woman that gives to all and takes very little.
I flew down to Burbank airport on Monday; the party was set for Saturday evening. Aunt Sylvia picked me up at the airport and from there it was a whirlwind week. The theme of this party was "Rumble in the Jungle". Everyone was to dress up as his or her favorite jungle animal, tourist or warrior. We went straight off to Target to buy some stuffed animals so the very few little kids that might show up at her party will have a memento. On our way to her house we stopped at In-and-Out Burgers and we each ordered the same double-double with cheese and shared an order of fried. We got home and gulped it down.
This party took serious organization on her part. She wanted to do all the cooking for the party which was to be mostly passed hors d' oeuvres, with the exception of a couple buffet tables. She hired a staff of two to handle the kitchen and re-heat things and place on the platters to pass, plus two staff to pass the food to the guests. She started making her lists back in June for the end of October party. One list was for the items to make, the other list was each recipe that went with each item, another list with the items to buy at the grocery store, and a list for the dates that these items could be made and frozen, then another list with the directions of reheating for the servers. There was another list of errands that needed to get done, and which day they needed to be done. We went through all the lists, looked at the freezer and lack of space. One of the things that she had in her freezer that was taking up a lot of room was a roast beef that had been cooked and half eaten. So we took it out of the freezer and I made up a big salad with the beef in it for dinner during the week. We took a walk around the house and visualized how we were going to set up and decorate. We had a casual night of eating tuna and watching the baseball playoff game.
On Tuesday we got up, had a casual breakfast with coffee and then we got to work. This was our day to make the cheese blintzes. First we had to make all the mini crepes. I made the huge bowl of batter, which was consisted of milk, oil, eggs and salt. The two of us stood over the gas stove and made the crepes, one-by-one. We had a system going and we were determined to make 250 crepes. Before we started making the crepes I made the cheese filling mixture, which is heavenly! Basically it’s cream cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Cousin Berta came over and the three of us filled, folded and stacked up the blintzes. We got it all done from start to finish in about 4 hours! This was a big job. We put all the blintzes but a few into the freezer. We left out a few for us to have for dinner. In late afternoon we went to go have a pedicure. It felt so good especially after all the time we had just been on our feet.
Wednesday was our lightest day. We went and did some errands and did some decorating and locating our platters and baskets. I numbered each platter and basket and matched that number to the name of the dish that was going to be served in it on the buffet. After dinner we contemplated going to a Chinese massage place to enjoy. So we went. We got there around 8:00 and each went in for an hour-long foot massage. Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into! Not only did we end up with a foot massage, but we also ended up with a full body massage with our clothes on. It was one of the most amazing massages I've had and it only cost $25.00 less a coupon we had for $5.00 off! Afterwards we went to Baskin Robbins and treated ourselves to an ice cream. I got Gold Medal Ribbon and Aunt Sylvia got Pistachio. We sat there eating our ice creams with a glow to our faces and bodies. We couldn't believe the experience we had just been through, and wanted to go back the next day for another!
Thursday morning we got up and started in with the vegetables. We cut the vegetables for the platter and I cut the veggies that I needed for one of the wonton cup items. As I was cutting, the rental company came, delivered, and set up all the tables and chairs.
They looked great with either a zebra theme or a giraffe theme. We finishing up on that and were ready to go do our afternoon errands which included going out to lunch. We were waiting for Aunt Sylvia's friend Cathy to drive up from San Diego. We didn't quite know when she was due to get there, but just as we were ready to head out, she arrived. It was perfect timing. We went to a nice Italian restaurant and sat outside. The weather was really nice, in the mid-70's, which could be considered cool for the Valley! After lunch we went to do a few errands including picking up tealeaves to go on the platters as decoration and a cooked chicken and veggies so I could make dinner. Cathy wanted to go out for all the meals, but I was more insistent on staying around the house and had no problem cooking and cleaning up. We had a good time with Cathy. I had never met her before but heard a lot of great things about her.
List of some of the food items to be passed or on the buffet tables:
Zucchini pancakes, mini-cheese blintzes, chicken wing pops, chopped liver, shrimp with cocktail sauce, wontons cups filled with fresh chopped vegetables, mini bagels w/cream cheese and lox, mini ruebins open-face sandwiches, Chinese wonton pockets, vegetable platter with ranch dressing, meatballs, mini franks in chili sauce, cheese selection, potato knishes, and spanicopita.
Friday, things were going to start getting a bit crazier. I made the chopped liver first thing in the morning. That consisted of slicing up four very large onions and caramelizing them in a pan with ½ pound of butter for nearly an hour. When that was done I removed the onion and cooked the 4 pounds of beef liver just to medium rare. I then added some salt and a hint of cinnamon then put all the liver and onions through a grinder. This is called either chopped liver or liver pate. The liver was then put into the refrigerator to set up. During all of this, cousin Berta went to the airport to get Kay and Dick, who were flying in from Minnesota for the party. Aunt Sylvia and Cathy went to get some baked goods for breakfast the next morning and to get the mini-bagels and rye bread. After I finished up the liver I started on making tuna salad and chicken salad for lunch. During lunch it was great getting caught up with Kay. I hadn’t seen her in over 20 years. And I had never met Dick. In the afternoon, some of us took naps or laid outside reading and talking in the 80-degree sunshine. That evening the five of us went out for a very nice dinner to the Wine Bistro on Ventura Blvd. in Studio City. I had their Duck ala Orange'. In a word "YUM". We had ordered a nice pinot noir from Oregon to go with the meal. I was the designated driver so I didn't drink much. I did however have too much of the chocolate mousse for dessert and it kept me up until 3:00 a.m.
Saturday we were rudely awakened by a phone call at 7:45. It was just a friend calling to wish Aunt Sylvia a happy birthday. As it turns out the day of her party was actually her 80th birthday day! This day started off pretty quiet. We had the delicious Danish with fresh fruit and coffee. I took Dick over to the massage place so he could have the same experience we had and the girls went shopping for shoes. My brother Marc and wife Angela arrived with my great-aunt Beatrice from Palm Desert. Lunchtime was a very casual buffet of great deli meats from Brent’s, potato salad, coleslaw, pickles, chips, rye bread and bagels. The house was filling up with people. We were doing last minute preparations, taking out the items from the freezer, putting the nuts into bowls, putting the dips into their bowls, etc. I was able to sit outside for about an hour and have a nice chat with my great-aunt. Larry arrived around 3:00. I helped him to set up his bar. Before we knew it, the helpers were there and I sent Aunt Sylvia in to get showered and dressed. I followed shortly after her. The party was called for 7:00.
About 70 friends and family showed up for the party and everyone had a great time. I drank cosmopolitans all night, which really hit the spot. I was so tired from not sleeping the night before I was really running on adrenaline.
One of the buffet's The beautiful waterfall cake
The food, the drinks, the people, the cake was all-perfect! The cake was a beautiful three-layered cake, which had a waterfall and the animals drinking from the pool of water. It was half chocolate half lemon with a white butter frosting. Delicious. It seemed like just a few minutes after the party started that we were sitting in the living room with our shoes off, our feet up on the couch talking about how the party went. So much planning and preparing for such a short time to be had. Aunt Sylvia was very happy how everything went, and that was my main goal for the week.
On Sunday morning one of Aunt Sylvia's best friends had a nice brunch for her at her home. Charlene lives in Malibu right on the ocean. The weather was perfect as the fog had just lifted and it warmed up to about 65 degrees. But we sat outside with the waves and sand as our backdrop.
Aunt Sylvia (on right) greeting a guest Brunch at Charlene's house on Malibu Beach
It was nice to see Aunt Sylvia enjoying herlady friends from her teaching days, mahjong, her volunteer work at WeSpark and the temple. There were about 35 ladies all having a greattime. We had a delicious catered lunch of vegetarian tortilla salad, then a full plate of a Mexican food sampler. There were empanadas, tacos and quesadillas. There was fresh guacamole, salsa and sour cream being passed around the table. The bar tender was pouring a white wine, Arnold Palmers, iced tea and water. The cake was amazing.
It was a white chocolate cake with a fresh fruit filling.
As soon as the crowd left we left too so we could get ready to get on the road to head home. Since Larry drove down on Saturday we drove home together. I was not looking forward to our 6-hour drive home. We got on the road around 5:00 with a playmate full of leftovers and some cake. I was exhausted from all the work from the week and the lack of good sleep. I had a great time helping my aunt but I was also glad to be home and to try and get on with my normal routine.
I flew down to Burbank airport on Monday; the party was set for Saturday evening. Aunt Sylvia picked me up at the airport and from there it was a whirlwind week. The theme of this party was "Rumble in the Jungle". Everyone was to dress up as his or her favorite jungle animal, tourist or warrior. We went straight off to Target to buy some stuffed animals so the very few little kids that might show up at her party will have a memento. On our way to her house we stopped at In-and-Out Burgers and we each ordered the same double-double with cheese and shared an order of fried. We got home and gulped it down.
This party took serious organization on her part. She wanted to do all the cooking for the party which was to be mostly passed hors d' oeuvres, with the exception of a couple buffet tables. She hired a staff of two to handle the kitchen and re-heat things and place on the platters to pass, plus two staff to pass the food to the guests. She started making her lists back in June for the end of October party. One list was for the items to make, the other list was each recipe that went with each item, another list with the items to buy at the grocery store, and a list for the dates that these items could be made and frozen, then another list with the directions of reheating for the servers. There was another list of errands that needed to get done, and which day they needed to be done. We went through all the lists, looked at the freezer and lack of space. One of the things that she had in her freezer that was taking up a lot of room was a roast beef that had been cooked and half eaten. So we took it out of the freezer and I made up a big salad with the beef in it for dinner during the week. We took a walk around the house and visualized how we were going to set up and decorate. We had a casual night of eating tuna and watching the baseball playoff game.
On Tuesday we got up, had a casual breakfast with coffee and then we got to work. This was our day to make the cheese blintzes. First we had to make all the mini crepes. I made the huge bowl of batter, which was consisted of milk, oil, eggs and salt. The two of us stood over the gas stove and made the crepes, one-by-one. We had a system going and we were determined to make 250 crepes. Before we started making the crepes I made the cheese filling mixture, which is heavenly! Basically it’s cream cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Cousin Berta came over and the three of us filled, folded and stacked up the blintzes. We got it all done from start to finish in about 4 hours! This was a big job. We put all the blintzes but a few into the freezer. We left out a few for us to have for dinner. In late afternoon we went to go have a pedicure. It felt so good especially after all the time we had just been on our feet.
Wednesday was our lightest day. We went and did some errands and did some decorating and locating our platters and baskets. I numbered each platter and basket and matched that number to the name of the dish that was going to be served in it on the buffet. After dinner we contemplated going to a Chinese massage place to enjoy. So we went. We got there around 8:00 and each went in for an hour-long foot massage. Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into! Not only did we end up with a foot massage, but we also ended up with a full body massage with our clothes on. It was one of the most amazing massages I've had and it only cost $25.00 less a coupon we had for $5.00 off! Afterwards we went to Baskin Robbins and treated ourselves to an ice cream. I got Gold Medal Ribbon and Aunt Sylvia got Pistachio. We sat there eating our ice creams with a glow to our faces and bodies. We couldn't believe the experience we had just been through, and wanted to go back the next day for another!
Thursday morning we got up and started in with the vegetables. We cut the vegetables for the platter and I cut the veggies that I needed for one of the wonton cup items. As I was cutting, the rental company came, delivered, and set up all the tables and chairs.
List of some of the food items to be passed or on the buffet tables:
Zucchini pancakes, mini-cheese blintzes, chicken wing pops, chopped liver, shrimp with cocktail sauce, wontons cups filled with fresh chopped vegetables, mini bagels w/cream cheese and lox, mini ruebins open-face sandwiches, Chinese wonton pockets, vegetable platter with ranch dressing, meatballs, mini franks in chili sauce, cheese selection, potato knishes, and spanicopita.
Friday, things were going to start getting a bit crazier. I made the chopped liver first thing in the morning. That consisted of slicing up four very large onions and caramelizing them in a pan with ½ pound of butter for nearly an hour. When that was done I removed the onion and cooked the 4 pounds of beef liver just to medium rare. I then added some salt and a hint of cinnamon then put all the liver and onions through a grinder. This is called either chopped liver or liver pate. The liver was then put into the refrigerator to set up. During all of this, cousin Berta went to the airport to get Kay and Dick, who were flying in from Minnesota for the party. Aunt Sylvia and Cathy went to get some baked goods for breakfast the next morning and to get the mini-bagels and rye bread. After I finished up the liver I started on making tuna salad and chicken salad for lunch. During lunch it was great getting caught up with Kay. I hadn’t seen her in over 20 years. And I had never met Dick. In the afternoon, some of us took naps or laid outside reading and talking in the 80-degree sunshine. That evening the five of us went out for a very nice dinner to the Wine Bistro on Ventura Blvd. in Studio City. I had their Duck ala Orange'. In a word "YUM". We had ordered a nice pinot noir from Oregon to go with the meal. I was the designated driver so I didn't drink much. I did however have too much of the chocolate mousse for dessert and it kept me up until 3:00 a.m.
Saturday we were rudely awakened by a phone call at 7:45. It was just a friend calling to wish Aunt Sylvia a happy birthday. As it turns out the day of her party was actually her 80th birthday day! This day started off pretty quiet. We had the delicious Danish with fresh fruit and coffee. I took Dick over to the massage place so he could have the same experience we had and the girls went shopping for shoes. My brother Marc and wife Angela arrived with my great-aunt Beatrice from Palm Desert. Lunchtime was a very casual buffet of great deli meats from Brent’s, potato salad, coleslaw, pickles, chips, rye bread and bagels. The house was filling up with people. We were doing last minute preparations, taking out the items from the freezer, putting the nuts into bowls, putting the dips into their bowls, etc. I was able to sit outside for about an hour and have a nice chat with my great-aunt. Larry arrived around 3:00. I helped him to set up his bar. Before we knew it, the helpers were there and I sent Aunt Sylvia in to get showered and dressed. I followed shortly after her. The party was called for 7:00.
About 70 friends and family showed up for the party and everyone had a great time. I drank cosmopolitans all night, which really hit the spot. I was so tired from not sleeping the night before I was really running on adrenaline.
One of the buffet's The beautiful waterfall cake
On Sunday morning one of Aunt Sylvia's best friends had a nice brunch for her at her home. Charlene lives in Malibu right on the ocean. The weather was perfect as the fog had just lifted and it warmed up to about 65 degrees. But we sat outside with the waves and sand as our backdrop.
Aunt Sylvia (on right) greeting a guest Brunch at Charlene's house on Malibu Beach
It was a white chocolate cake with a fresh fruit filling.
As soon as the crowd left we left too so we could get ready to get on the road to head home. Since Larry drove down on Saturday we drove home together. I was not looking forward to our 6-hour drive home. We got on the road around 5:00 with a playmate full of leftovers and some cake. I was exhausted from all the work from the week and the lack of good sleep. I had a great time helping my aunt but I was also glad to be home and to try and get on with my normal routine.
My weight loss journey has a detour
Here I am at week 4 and I've gained 1/2 pound. I haven't lost any weight! I feel pretty discouraged at this point and I'm going tol be stopping my weekly updates. I will keep you informed from time to time as I will still be trying to lose weight, but I don't want to bore you will all the details when I'm not losing anything. I am heading to Reno to celebrate two life cycle events this weekend then I'm heading off to L.A. to help my aunt with her 80th birthday party. I will try to be good, walk and eat properly, but I also know that there will be temptations that will be hard to ignore. If you have been following my blogs and are having success at losing weight, please tell me your story and how you are doing.
Trip to Santa Rosa for Hugs, Pizza and Winery Tour
Today was a great day. Larry and I did some work in the morning then we got on the road about 11:00 to meet Brandon and Kim (our son and daughter-in-law) for lunch in Santa Rosa. It took us less than 1 1/2 hours to get there. We met at Rosso Pizzeria and Wine Bar. The main purpose for this visit was to give them a hug to congratulate them on their first pregnancy. That means this spring we will become grandparents. We are way too excited about the whole thing! ☺
Anyways, the lunch we had at Rosso's was great. The four of us shared their Fritto Misto, calamari and green beans fried in arborio rice flour and served with a green chile aioli. This went down really fast. Then we shared two pizzas. One was called Uovo. It has a red base sauce, prosciutto, oven roasted artichokes, olives, Sonoma organic egg and basil. The other pizza was their Funghi. This has a white base sauce with oven roasted shitake and crimini mushrooms, taleggio and fontina cheese, shaved artichokes and fresh thyme. We added cooked prosciutto di parma on top of that one. Both pizza's were delicious, the crust nice and crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside. We ordered just the right amount of food for the four of us. The meal came to about $12.00 per person. The atmosphere there is great. They have booths around the periphery and tables in the middle. They also offer casual dining outside, but the restaurant is in a shopping center so the view outside are the cars parked in the parking lot. The service was great, the wine list incredible with a great selection of wines from around the world. Each day they have a special that is cooked in the wood oven. Today it was clams. The wine bar is beautiful with a large television in the middle, only showing soccer games. Rosso's is in the southeast end of town off Third Street. It's very easy to get to, but if you didn't know about it you would never see it.
After lunch Larry and I went to go visit Brandon at Dutton Goldfield Winery. There was a lot of action going on there. They were washing and sterilizing brand new French oak barrels and racking them so they will be ready to be filled with the red wines that are in the tanks going through their second fermentation. The interns were putting dry ice into the open top fermenters and covering them which keeps the grapes at a controlled temperature. We took some samples of the chardonnay, pinot blanc, gewürztraminer and pinot noir. Mostly we were tasting grape juice that was just turning into wine, but you can still taste the great different flavors of the grapes with the acids and sugars.
We got home before rush hour and went back to work. Another good travel day to the California Wine Country.
Wine tasting? Head for the Hills! Murphy's, in Calaveras County that is!
If you like to go wine tasting without the pushing and shoving and high tasting prices then you should head for the hills! I’m referring to the Gold Country, specifically Murphys, in Calaveras County.
There are over 23 wineries in the Calaveras County. Some you might recognize, like Twisted Oak Winery whose specialty is Rhone varietals, and Ironstone Vineyards which amongst the many things to see there, is a heritage museum and a deli for a snack.
The Twisted Oak Tree
Heading to Murphys makes the perfect weekend getaway. In the Fall see the foliage.
There are many quaint inns and bed and breakfasts for you to lodge at. One place you should try is the Cottages at LaHonda Park.
Angels Creek at the Cottages at LaHonda Park
They offer individual cottages on 6 acres of land with a swimming pool, picnic area and Angels Creek winding through the wooded grounds.
If you go to these places make sure to mention that ViciVino.com sent you and have a great time!