It’s the start of the New Year and with that comes the inevitable barrage of resolutions, where people try to make positive changes in their lives. With that, of course, comes new blogs and we are going to jump on the bandwagon. Of course the little voice I’m hearing right now is Cogsworth from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, “… promises you don’t intend to keep.” Well, we’re going to do our best to do this!
Seriously, though, I was guest blogger for The Bubblebath Reader for the month of December and I had so much fun I decided it was time to put our blog concept into production. My husband and I have been discussing doing a wine, food and travel blog for about 7 months now; the idea was born after a long weekend spent in Waterton, Alberta, the absolute weirdest holiday we’ve ever had. It occurred to us that a good way to deal with such oddity would be to blog about it. However, what with educational pursuits and changes in work we just never got serious about it. Well, it’s time to get serious … about food, wine and the places one goes to find those things. Whether it’s in our home, our town, or halfway across the world I’m looking forward to sharing our thoughts and experiences with whomever wants to hear them (even if it’s just our mothers … you had better be reading this!)
We may hijack this forum from time to time to talk about random things, the latest book I’m reading, new music we’re enjoying, or maybe *gasp* beer (looks around furtively); I’ve never understood why there’s this idea that people can’t enjoy beer and wine both … that’s a conversation for another day. For the most part, however, we’ll be talking about vinum et itinerantr et cibum.
So, to begin … we rang in 2015 at the home of some fabulous friends. This particular group, the core of which we call the Crazy 8s (Mark’s clever nickname for the 4 couples), are major foodies and a get-together always consists of great eats and fantastic wines. I brought my mother’s spinach dip, in a Cobb sourdough round because they make the best bread in our area. Just a quick note about spinach recipes, can we just do away with frozen spinach altogether, pretty please? I know that fresh spinach requires more work, but with a food processor (even my little 4 cupper) it only takes a little longer and tastes so much better! Safety tip for Cobb’s sourdough – make sure your knife is sharp and being wielded with proper care and attention. The crust is formidable and resists all attempts to surrender its softer innards. Never before has Mark desired an electric bread knife. However, the bread is worth the battle, practice caution! We also enriched the noshing board with the Gouda my parents brought home for us from Holland; we’ve been saving it for just such an occasion. If you haven’t had the pleasure of going to Amsterdam, go there if for no other reason than to buy cheese! Not even kidding … this particular cheese was relatively sharp in flavour, as Goudas go, with subtle smoke but a really nice texture. It paired well with Layer Cake’s new red blend, Sea of Stones. This wine is a beautiful, soft combination of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Petit Verdot grapes, which give it lovely hints of coffee, chocolate and berries. Mark noticed an aroma of bread while nosing the glass. All told we had a wonderful evening and started the year off right with fine food, good wine, and better friends.
The goal of this blog is the mutual betterment of us and our readers. Feel free to join the conversation, we’d love to know your thoughts on Sea of Stones, Dutch Gouda and spinach dip … or anything else you’d like to share. All the best for 2015!
Seriously, though, I was guest blogger for The Bubblebath Reader for the month of December and I had so much fun I decided it was time to put our blog concept into production. My husband and I have been discussing doing a wine, food and travel blog for about 7 months now; the idea was born after a long weekend spent in Waterton, Alberta, the absolute weirdest holiday we’ve ever had. It occurred to us that a good way to deal with such oddity would be to blog about it. However, what with educational pursuits and changes in work we just never got serious about it. Well, it’s time to get serious … about food, wine and the places one goes to find those things. Whether it’s in our home, our town, or halfway across the world I’m looking forward to sharing our thoughts and experiences with whomever wants to hear them (even if it’s just our mothers … you had better be reading this!)
We may hijack this forum from time to time to talk about random things, the latest book I’m reading, new music we’re enjoying, or maybe *gasp* beer (looks around furtively); I’ve never understood why there’s this idea that people can’t enjoy beer and wine both … that’s a conversation for another day. For the most part, however, we’ll be talking about vinum et itinerantr et cibum.
So, to begin … we rang in 2015 at the home of some fabulous friends. This particular group, the core of which we call the Crazy 8s (Mark’s clever nickname for the 4 couples), are major foodies and a get-together always consists of great eats and fantastic wines. I brought my mother’s spinach dip, in a Cobb sourdough round because they make the best bread in our area. Just a quick note about spinach recipes, can we just do away with frozen spinach altogether, pretty please? I know that fresh spinach requires more work, but with a food processor (even my little 4 cupper) it only takes a little longer and tastes so much better! Safety tip for Cobb’s sourdough – make sure your knife is sharp and being wielded with proper care and attention. The crust is formidable and resists all attempts to surrender its softer innards. Never before has Mark desired an electric bread knife. However, the bread is worth the battle, practice caution! We also enriched the noshing board with the Gouda my parents brought home for us from Holland; we’ve been saving it for just such an occasion. If you haven’t had the pleasure of going to Amsterdam, go there if for no other reason than to buy cheese! Not even kidding … this particular cheese was relatively sharp in flavour, as Goudas go, with subtle smoke but a really nice texture. It paired well with Layer Cake’s new red blend, Sea of Stones. This wine is a beautiful, soft combination of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Petit Verdot grapes, which give it lovely hints of coffee, chocolate and berries. Mark noticed an aroma of bread while nosing the glass. All told we had a wonderful evening and started the year off right with fine food, good wine, and better friends.
The goal of this blog is the mutual betterment of us and our readers. Feel free to join the conversation, we’d love to know your thoughts on Sea of Stones, Dutch Gouda and spinach dip … or anything else you’d like to share. All the best for 2015!