Sipping Saturday!!

Unlike thoughtful Thursdays, I drink everyday... and just tell you about it on Saturdays...

First, I must rave about my favorite tea this week:


Cozy Chamomile. Warm. Satisfying. I think it's really just the name that makes me feel cozy when I drink it... they need to make Bouncy Breakfast Tea or Giddy Green Tea... Anyway... you can't go wrong with a chamomile and honey at any time of the day. Caffeine free! What uppp!

And now the wine!

Matthew Fox Shiraz. I'm gonna be honest, I just kind of pick wines like I pick my PJ pants, whatever feels good at the time. I really just picked this wine because it had Matthew on it... but also because my wine app said Shiraz would go well with red sauce spaghetti. This was my first Shiraz and it really is kinda strange at first sip. It was sweet and then had an almost spicy after taste. I really liked it, but then again, like PJ pants, I really love them all...

The Pie Maker!

After doing laundry yesterday, I decided to make an Apple Crisp (one of Matt's favorite desserts)or otherwise known as:

Dutch Apple Pie


1 ready made grahm cracker pie crust
1 egg yolk beaten
5 1/2 cups cooking apples peeled, sliced
1 Tbls lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 Tbls flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Topping (in recipe)

Preheat oven to 375, brush bottom of crust evenly with egg yolk; bake on baking sheet until light brown, about 5 minutes. Combine remaining ingredients, mix well and spoon into crust.
Topping:
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter.
Combine with fork until crumbly. Sprinkle topping over apples. Bake on baking sheet until topping is golden and filling is bubbling.
Prep: 30 min Baking 55 minutes

And as I'm typing this, I realize that I only cooked my pie for 30 minutes (I guess I was reading the prep minutes and not the bake time...) but it was still great and my family went back for seconds! So you can't really mess this up...

And my final bottle to complete my 10/10!!

Gallo White Zin!
Ok, this is by far the best. It is so very sweet and delicious. I can only imagine if this was all you drank at a party all night- the hangover would be horrible, but this would be a great girls night wine because it's so easy to drink (also because it's pink).

We are waiting to hear about a townhouse we might move into. I'll post about it should we be moving into it. We should know by the end of the day.

I never did give myself that pedicure... I believe I will finish this wine, eat some pie, and do just that while I wait for the house call.

And It's All Right, All Right With Me

Summer is here, we are working SO MUCH. I barely have time to go to the beach or sit down and read. But I have done a few things on my list since I last posted.

I read a new book (it's really short).


The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. This book will change your life. Basically it tells you the four rules that will help you become a better person and live better.
It's in no way preachy or demeaning. It's more spiritual than christian-y. I loved it and it really helps me deal with life better and see it in a whole new way.
Would you recommend this book:
Absolutely. It's a life changer for sure. Even if you skim the chapters, the basic idea is really interesting.

Drank A New Wine:

Pink! It's a sparkling wine. It's kind of rose colored, but I don't think it's a sparkling white zin. It's sweet at first and then it gets a little tart, but it's nice. It's a good 'sit around and chat while you sip' kind of wine.

Painted a picture!!?

My Cape Hattaras Acrylic painting!

So my friend and I were bored one day, and she wanted to try out her oil paints. Now, oil paints scare the life outta me, so I grabbed my acrylics and met her on her porch outside. We listened to my Love Song Pandora play list and painted for hours. It was really relaxing. After I finished though, I found a lot of things I want to change to the painting (it's really flat looking mainly- add some shading and depth to it all), but the bad thing about acrylics are that when you go over it, it just sits on top. So right now, it's sitting in our OBX themed guest room waiting for me to think about finishing it, but I don't know if I even want to get into it at this point. It looks alright.
Next crafternoon we're gonna try crocheting (also on my list!!)
It's freaking hot down here and WAY too humid!!

Music: All right with me- Kris Allen

Cooking and Reading!

Wine!

Beringer Chardonnay 2008 - It was soo good! We cooked it in the fondue and also drank it with the meal. It's a little tart, but very refreshingly so. It goes down smooth for being so crisp. It is a very good cooking wine too.

FONDUE!

So, we broke out the fondue pot. Oh man. This was SO. AMAZING. We had it with yummy rosemary and olive oil bread and green apples.
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
a little over 1 cup relatively dry white wine
8 oz. gruyere, grated
8 oz. emmentaler (think Swiss cheese, with the holes), grated
fresh ground nutmeg
1 tbs. cornstarch dissolved in a couple tbs. kirsch/brandy
white pepper to taste

Read more: http://jenncuisine.com/2009/12/classic-fondue-the-big-move/#ixzz0s5lIMA00



The Mother Load Layered Cookie Bars

Ok, this is a warning: this recipe took me and my friend 2 hours from start to finish, but it's so worth it. It makes a huge 13x9 pan of cookie bars, and 2 dozen cookies on the side. (the chocolate chip and double chocolate chip cookies were twice the recipe the bars called for). The peanut butter came out kind of predominant after the fact even though theres only one cup in the whole thing. It's definately a fun time consuming baking project. Check out more at http://picky-palate.com/

here's the recipe

Layer 1: Sugar Cookie

1 Roll of Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Press sugar cookie dough into bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish that’s been lined foil and sprayed with cooking spray.

Layer 2: Double Chocolate Chip Cookie

(the recipe below makes double what you’ll need for the bars, use extra for cookies)

1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder)
2 tsps. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Slowly add eggs and vanilla until well combined.

2. In another bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Slowly add to wet ingredients then stir in chips. Layer 1/2 the recipe over sugar cookie layer, pressing gently.

Layer 3: Peanut Butter Cookie

1 Cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 Cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1. Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix until combined. Press over chocolate cookie dough.

Layer 4: Chocolate Chip Cookie

(the recipe below makes double what you’ll need for the bars, use extra for cookies)

2 sticks softened butter

3/4 Cup granulated sugar

3/4 Cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 Tablespoon pure vanilla

2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 bag chocolate chips

1. Make sure oven is preheated to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer cream the butter and sugars until well combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Place flour, baking soda and salt into a large bolw; mix to combine. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips. Spoon 1/2 of the dough evenly over peanut butter cookie dough but don’t press, just leave uneven. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until center of dough is cooked mostly through. Edges will be brown. I covered pan with foil during the last 15 minutes of baking.

2. Let cookies cool completely. Lift out of pan with edges of foil. I cut off 1/2 inch edges and just used softer centers, but do as you wish. Edges are crispier. Drizzle top with 1/2 Cup melted chocolate chips if desired.

*Note: You can layer dough and refrigerate until ready to bake. This is what I did and it worked very nicely.

8 large bars (if you cut off edges), 12 bars (if you keep edges)





Finally finished the 4th Harry Potter. It's about 700 pages, but the next one is over 1000. I just hit a rough patch and didn't pick it up for a week, but after that I tried to read it whenever possible. I didn't really like this one at all the first time around. I thought there was too many things happening and alot fo new information was thrown in. However, this time, I really loved it. I loved the international aspect and the tasks were a refreshing change from the regular school year. It also made me love Cedric alot more. I also understood Voldemort's rebirth alot better by reading a second time. Thumbs up! Onto number five!!

I'm also reading The Sugar Queen (to start my 10 books not HP related). It's really good so far!

Now Down To Business!

Drank some wine:


Cabernet Sauvignon (california)(I think it was 2008?)
Turning Leaf has had good things said about it, so I tried some the other day. It was warm, and at first it was really hard to swallow, but I started really liking it by the end of it. Like I said, I really like wine when it's cold, so I'm sure if I had this one chilled it would have been alot better. Over all, really smooth and not too dry. Definately a red I would have again.



BEST. PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES EVER.
Let's put it this way, I made 4 dozen of these babies for poker night and they were gone by the next morning. And THEN I made 3 more dozen for movie night the next day, and THEY were gone by the next afternoon... so yeah. These. Win.

Double Peanut Butter Cookies

1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 (1 stick) butter
1 cup peanut butter
2/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 bag peanut butter chips

Mix, bake at 350 for 10 minutes (the trick is to take them out even if they look softer than they should, and let them cook while they cool on the pan for a few minutes). I also chilled the dough before I cooked them, and I used to flatten the dough on the cookie sheet, but wondering why the brake and bake cookies always turned out so perfectly, I started making mounds of dough and that seems to do better.

The first 4 dozen (which is what they made the first time, I made them a little small) I did the bag of peanut butter chips, but for the next night, I made some with semi sweet chocolate chips, some with m&m's and some with PB m&m's and over all I liked the chip ones better.

I'm scrapbooking tomorrow!! So that's another thing to cross of the list!!
I promise I'm trying to read all of my books... but Nesting is so much easier....

Happy Birthday to me!!

Tried some more wines!!


Chocolate Vino! It's a mix of chocolates and red wines. Let me tell you, this stuff is amazing. It's really strong. You think it's innocent because it looks like chocolate milk, but BAM. It's crazy. It's like Bailey's but not as thick. Totally an amazing after dinner buzz-worthy wine.
Oh yeah, and that's one of my birthday cakes... it's also chocolate, and they went really well together!!


Gallo White Merlot 2008- it's really sweet in a kool-aid way. It wasn't my favorite but it will go down easy if you don't like wine very much. It wasn't very dry, but it just didn't go well with the pasta we had.

"oh girl, it's yo brithday open wide, I know ya thirsty! Say ahh!"

Growin' my Garden!!

Got dirty one day!



So it only took me about an hour in the dirt to get everything in there (from lil buds, not seeds).
I planted:
Yellow Peppers
Green Peppers
Romain Lettuce
Tomatoes
Strawberries
AND we got a peach tree!!! I'm pretty excited about it.



I can't wait till I can make something with all my veggies! I need to get a few little fences for my strawberries so they don't take over all the other plants.


And another wine!!
1992 Mondavi Pinot Grigio






So I let Matt's little brother try it (he's 16) and all he said was, "Tastes like puke." ... awesome. Thanks. So that's all I could think of when I was drinking it...

At Last... I'm posting again

Wow, ok so I did alot on my list so I'm gonna break it up into a few different posts!

Got my hair cut!!!
BEFORE:



There it goes...



After!:


So I got a foot cut off, and I donated it to Locks Of Love. It's definately a huge change, I can't really put it up anymore, but at least it looks styled without me doing anything- plus it takes like no time to shampoo/condition/dry it anymore.

And I did alot of wine drinking so I'm gonna put one in each post.



Jam Jar! 2009- It's a sweet shiraz, so naturally I expected it to be really sweet, but it wasn't. It was your average red wine, but it didn't have that much of a dryness which is good. If I were to have a red, that would be in the top 5 for sure.

Yummy in my Tummy!

Two more recipies down! And another bottle of wine!

Grandma's Ginger Fish Casserole
35 Minutes Total
383 Calories
19g Fat
7g sat fat
73 mg cholesterol
4g fiber
15g carbs
337g sodium



4 teaspoons extra-vergin olive oil
1 medium onion, very thinly sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
8 ounces Pacific Cod or Tilapia cut into two peices
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3/4 cup finely chopped whole wheat bread (about a slice)
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup finley shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 F
2. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in medium oven proof skillet (we just poured it all into a cassarole dish to put it in the oven). Add onion and cook, stirring often, until just starting to soften, 4-6 minutes. Add wine, increase heat to high and cook, stirring often, until the wine is slightly reduced, 2-4 minutes.
3.Place fish ontop of the onion and sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper. Cover the pan tightly with foil; transfer to the oven and bake for 12 minutes.
4. Toss the bread with the remaining 2 teaspoons oil, paprika and garlic powder in a small bowl. Uncover the fish; top with bread mixture and cheese. Bake uncovered, until the fish is just cooked through, 8-10 minutes.
We had it with white wine, salad, asparagus and small slices of garlic toasted wheat baquette.


For dessert, I made fruit parfaits!
4 small slices of pound cake, diced
1 box vanilla pudding
strawberries
blueberries
cool whip

Layer in glasses top with a strawberry! (if I had taller glasses, I would do multiple layers of cake, pudding and fruit, and top the glass with whip.)

We drank/cooked with this wine:


It was Two Vines Columbia Crest Riesling (Washington State 2008). So yummy. It was light and crisp and kind of sweet. It was amazing in the recipie. Definately one I will get again!

Today's Song: Bella Luna-Jason Mraz
"Intertwining like a ring around the finger, of a girl
I'm just a singer, you're the world
All I can bring ya
Is the language of a lover
Bella luna, my beautiful beautiful moon
How you swoon me like no other"

Two More Down!

Finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets the other day. I pretty much read the whole thing in one sitting. I really loved reading it. I'm not sure if it's my favorite of the series, but we'll see after I finish them again. I love how they happen to over hear and find out all sorts of clues about whatevers going on, and then are the only ones who can save hogwarts every time. But that's why we love Harry, and that's why he's in Gryffindor.


I also tried a new wine with Matt the other night with dinner. It was Francis Copola 2007 Black Label Claret (Cabernet Sauvignon). I'm not a huge fan of red wines, they are usually too dry for me (and most are kept at room temp. and I like them cold). I keep all my wines in the fridge, but this one wasn't too bad! It was kind of chocolatey and not as dry. We had it with a white sauce pasta, which wasn't the best idea, but it was very good.

Matt's birthday party was saturday night, and along with buying two new wines (which we were too busy with tequila to try), we got two more as presents! So there will be alot more wine posts to come! Also starting on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban!