Tinto de Verano

TINTO DE VERANO

"Summer Wine"

Mom's birthday is tomorrow, April 8th...but she celebrates for a month. So, we are celebrating today. Tonight to accompany the duck my parents will be eating (I'm still being "meat free", aside from meat that we have raised or my parents have killed) I am making some asian inspired sides. I'm doing my green papaya salad and a lemongrass infused stir-fried rice. But, we had some time to kill while Dad was napping...so I figured it was COCKTAIL TIME. The sun was shining and I had some red wine sitting in the house, so I made a spin off of Heidi Swansons' "Tinto de Verano". Her recipe calls for cheap Spanish red wine, a sparkling lemonade or lemon-lime soda, ice and lemon wedges. Well...I had expensive Spanish red wine (thanks to my friend Rochelle who is a distributor of spanish wines and sometimes gives me leftover sample bottles...), a Tempranillo. And I made my own sparkling lemonade by mixing club soda, agave nectar and the juice of one huge lemon and a juicy lime. It's about 1/3 to 1/2 red wine, and then topped off with the sparkling lemony beverage. Serve over ice, in a small glass, with a lemon wedge. DELICIOUS. Que Rica!

Emma's Cup Cocktail

It's my last night here in Seattle, and we decided to stay home for a delicious J-Ngan homemade dinner and some of Jules spectacular cocktails. The one that J, J and me are sipping in this photo is: 2/3 dry white wine, 1/3 Aperol and a generous splash of St.Germain. Shake the shit outta it to mix it and ice it, then serve strained into a cute cup. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the rind of an orange for the garnish. Enjoy, or better yet- enjoy with good friends...

Natali Vineyards

Let me tell you about Natali Vineyards: Basically you go to the vineyard {its right on 47 in Goshen, for you South Jersians}, they give you clippers and for 3 hours you cut grapes. It goes by pretty quickly and it's super fun...then they ring the "lunch" bell, you head in - and they serve you grilled chicken, grilled veggies {portabello mushrooms, onions, potatoes, zucchini, squash, eggplant, etc}, really good bread - and wine, of course! Also, you get "paid" with a bottle of wine - your choice. All in all its a fun way to spend a wednesday afternoon and you walk away with a great lunch and a nice bottle of wine.
This past Wednesday was my first time cutting at the vineyard, and it certainly won't be the last. We were assigned to the Trebbiano grapes. You cut the vine, pick off the 'bad' grapes, and then put the 'good' grapes into crates. At the end of the 3 hours, Sammy comes by and collects the grapes - which will be pressed the following day.

We had a great time, I met some amazing people, and got a nice mid-afternoon buzz on. So for anyone sitting around, get up off your ass and head to the vineyard!!! The grapes await you!

for more information: www.natalivineyards.com

Fiesta. Fiesta.

Cinco De Mayo. One of my favorite holidays!! I threw a little family fiesta this year and the menu was as follows {all food was homemade, from scratch...obviously}: bean dip, mango salsa, shrimp quesadillas {made by Sharonie}, grilled lime corn, tacos, sopapilla cheesecake, fresh fruit {gracias Pablito!}and sangria {i know, i know, this is from Spain, but whatever! They speak spanish there!}. Here are my recipes:

Mango Salsa:

1 mango

2 red onions

3 tomatoes

2 red bell peppers

1 jalapeno {or more if you like it hot}

juice of 2 limes

small handful of cilantro

2-3 cloves of garlic

*dice it all up, drizzle some olive oil on there, little bit of pepper, and a few generous shakes of salt - voila!

Grilled Lime Corn:

corn on the cob, in the husk {however many you are going to eat}

chili powder

chipotle pepper powder

butter

cilantro

lime

cheese: contija or other mexican cheese. contija looks similar to parmesan sprinkle cheese. you could also substitute feta if you'd like.

*soak the corn in cold water for an hour. fire up the grill on med-high and put on the corn. it will grill for about 20 minutes...more or less depending upon your grill. turn frequently. the outside of the husks will turn golden brown. when they are done, take em off the grill and pull the husks down. you can separate the husks in two and tie them so that they make a handle almost. now time to dress the corn: rub butter on them, sprinkle with chipotle pepper powder and a dash of chili powder...dust with some cheese, squeeze 1/4 of a lime over the corn and then sprinkle with some diced cilantro. BOOM. so delicious.

Sopapilla Cheesecake:

2 packs of cream cheese

2 packages of crescent rolls

pat of butter

cup of sugar

cinnamon

- 9 x 13" baking pan

* preheat the oven to 350. warm cream cheese to room temperature. spray the baking pan with non-stick spray. unroll crescent rolls inside bottom of pan. use 1/2 cup of sugar and mix with cream cheese. spread cream cheese/sugar mixture over crescent dough. unroll second crescent roll dough over top of cheese. melt the bit of butter and brush it over the top layer. mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl and sprinkle over top. bake uncovered for 30 minutes. this should ONLY be eaten for cinco de mayo, considering that the calories and fat in it are through the roof! once a year kinda-dessert.

Sangria:

1 big bottle of red wine

2 cans of ginger ale

1/2 cup of contrieau

fruit

*pour wine into large pitcher, add contrieau and fruit. i used an orange, a lemon, a lime, blueberries, strawberries, and

an apple. the orange, lemon and lime i sliced into thin circles because it looks cute in your glass like that! anyways, put that in the fridge and let sit over night. pour the ginger ale in right before you serve it - and serve over ice!

pablito and me.

aunt ciss, jeff, paulie, shar and dad feasting

sharonie and mom enjoying my grilled lime corn

the "boys" table: dad, my brother and jeff pace.

sharonie says the sangria is GOOOOOOD.

Cinco de Mayo is NOT just about sopapilla cheesecake and salsa:

(wikipedia says...)

Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for "fifth of May") is a regional holiday in Mexico, primarily celebrated in the state of Puebla, with some limited recognition in other parts of Mexico.^[1][2] The holiday commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín.^[3][4] The outnumbered Mexicans defeated a much better-equipped French army that had not been defeated in almost 50 years.^[5]

Cinco de Mayo is not "an obligatory federal holiday" in Mexico, but rather a holiday that can be observed voluntarily.^[6][7]

While Cinco de Mayo has limited significance nationwide in Mexico, the date is observed in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.^[8] A common misconception in the United States is that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day,^[9] which actually is September 16 (dieciséis de septiembre in Spanish),^[10] the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico.^[11]

the battle of the spotted zebralions

Bah. Day 4? 5?

It's all just blending together. Not sure what day it is, but I know that I'm in the state of California.
But I do have my notebook, which I've been writing in, so I will reference that for today's blog.

Wednesday night Jay, Toy, me, and the shark-man himself (Kyle) went out for sushi. We ate a million rolls and drank a ton of japanese beer and sake. Kyle, aside from being unfazed by the infamous great white sharks, is a winemaker {"vintner"}, and he has a dog, DOG [dee-o-ghee]. His hands are stained a deep purple, almost black, from working with the grapes.

Yesterday, Thursday, I went to work with Toy @ Bridlewood Winery to learn all there is to know about wine. It's beautiful here; the grapes, the hills, the horses. I hung out in the office for a bit while Toy got some work done. She gave me the "bible" with all of the information about wine. Here are some things that I learned:
-Top 3 US States in terms of wine consumption: CA, NY, FL
-Why swirl? Because when you swirl your wine you invite oxygen into the glass, which allows the aromas to escape (if you taste or smell vanilla, the wine was most likely aged in oak casks)
-One bottle of wine has 2.4 pounds of grapes.
-Bacchus: the Greek and Roman God of Wine
-The horses @ Bridlewood are named Oprah (cause she's a big, black powerful woman), Charlie, Dr.Pepper, Cannon & Utah. There were a few more, but I didn't like them as much as I liked these horses.
-Fermentation: the process that occurs when yeast changes the sugar in grapes into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
-Tannin: a bitter compound found in the seeds, stems & skin of grapes, and is extracted from wooden barrels. It is quite astringent and causes a puckering sensation in the front of the mouth.
-Tannic: word used to describe wine in which tannins overpower the fruit and other elements. A tannic wine is not well-balanced.

In the afternoon, Juan took me on a tour. First, you crush the grapes. Not with your feet people, they use a machine. Then the wine ferments with yeast in steel containers for 2-3 weeks. After this they are moved into barrels where they will sit for anywhere from a year to 3 years. At Bridlewood they use 75% French Oak and 25% American Oak barrels. I drank unfiltered, still fermenting white wine - it was cloudy, still very fruity, and tasted almost like a white-wine spritzer or a mamosa. Similar to sparkling wine. Juan's job is to taste and test wine. Difficult, I know. He said sometimes you "just dont want to drink anymore wine" hahaha. He also told me that the best way to learn about wine is to drink drink drink. SO I took his advice, starting right then and there, and proceeded to drink for the rest of the day, and into the evening. Around 4 pm Jbird picked me up and we headed to the Red Barn , a local and famous spot. Jay and I sipped cocktails for a couple hours until Toy met up with us. After that we headed to some other bar, where we drank some more drinks! Debauchery should be today's word.

This morning I'm feeling a tad-bit hungover, which serves me right. I'm going to sip some tea and prepare for what the rest of the day has in store for me. Jay is getting done work early, so we will get to go for a surf. Definitely need to rest up for that...