Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Home-cooked meals are always the best!

One of the best things about Facebook is catching up with friends and family that you haven't seen or talked to in years and then trying to catch up on the last 2-5-10 years that you missed! hehehe Thanks to Facebook, I got to go to a friend's wedding to Seattle and went out to KC last weekend to try and make up for lost time by visiting friends.

One friend that I recently got back in touch with, has become a chef in the time that we were apart. So OF COURSE the first thing I said was, "When are you going to cook for me?" As part of fair trade, I brought the wine.

Since I had left that Pinot Grigio back in KC, I was down to my LAST bottle of wine in the house: a semi-dry red from St. James Winery.

Yeah yeah yeah...I know wine purists may turn their noses up at Missouri wines but @STLWineGirl (http://www.stlwinegirl.com/) recently held a class at Provisions to show off how good Missouri wines could be. (Sorry I missed it, Angie!)

As someone who doesn't normally drink red wines, a semi-dry was just perfect because it had a smooth taste with very little tannin. This also was an excellent choice since the main dish was a spicy chili. I ended up having to put in two big glops of sour cream to mix with the chili. hehe

But for the appetizer, we actually started with a white "daily drinking wine" that is inexpensive and you can get anywhere: Barefoot Chardonnay! (http://www.barefootwine.com/) They're just so easy to drink an accessible to everyone. Plus I can't help but think the baby footprint on the label is just SO CUTE! I can't resist. hehe

Anyway, as I last mentioned, I have a couple of classes already marked down on my calendar so I encourage you to check them out as well.

November 10th - Beer and food pairing class with @STLWineGirl at Provisions (http://www.stlwinegirl.com/UpcomingEvents.html)

November 17th - Wine and cheese pairing at Wine Merchant (They just released their class list via their mailing list!) http://www.winemerchantltd.com/

Unfortunately, it does not appear as though Whole Foods Galleria will have any more classes the rest of the year.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Fun food and wine trip to KC inspires serious blogging...

Up until now, this blog had just been a diary for me to record some fantastic cheeses, meals, and wines that I have enjoyed through all the classes that I have been taking as a hobby. Not to mention the monthly restaurant outings that I have been scheduling with my friends.

Another favorite hobby as of lately is social media and social marketing. While I enjoy Facebook and Twitter for myself, I am trying to learn how to use social media to its fullest potential. So I think now is the time to promote my blog if I can actually keep up with it and have interesting content to post.

While I have been trying to cut back on the number of classes I am taking lately to save some money, there are always opportunities for me to eat and drink, and I really want to share all the fantastic foods and wines that I partake in on a regular basis. A good friend of mine recently asked ME for advice and that was definitely inspiring.

This past weekend I went to Kansas City to visit a friend and some family. This was an excellent chance for me to use what I have learned and share it with others. It’s always good to be around people who know more than you so I took a wine expert into Trader Joe’s (http://www.traderjoes.com) with me so I could find the right “gift”. She helped to pick out a bold, red wine…the Rosemount Shiraz (http://www.rosemountestates.com)…since my friends are particular about their wines.

Since I was bringing a stronger red, I knew it was important to bring some cheeses that could stand up to the flavor. I brought one of top favorites, Midnight Moon (http://www.cypressgrovechevre.com/cheeses/PDFs/midnightMoon.pdf), which is a goat cheese, as well as a fairly young Gouda with red wax. I also brought some Drunken Goat (http://cheese.about.com/od/internationalcheese/p/drunken_goat.htm), from Spain, although it had a real mild flavor.

Another gift that I brought along with me is some Funkadelic Salsa, mild flavor. Spicier foods go well with red wines I think. They’d be too strong for a white wine for sure. The salsa was also a big hit and you can contact Nicki Funk at funkn69@hotmail.com to place your order. Her salsa comes in three levels of heat and I was able to purchase it at the St. Charles Farmer’s Market, which unfortunately, is done for the season.

While I thought the Rosemount Shiraz was smooth enough for me to drink, I still prefer white wines and I happened to have a Cycles Gladiator Pinot Grigio (http://www.wineglobe.com/21747.html) that I had been saving to enjoy with company. I felt this was the perfect wine for my trip because it’s not sweet like a Riesling nor too light like a Chardonnay, but a mellow flavor.

Although the best treat from the weekend was all the home cooking I got! Hehe My sister-in-law made a beef stew with a tomato base and my stepbrother cooked an omelet for me in the morning. I really meant to watch his secrets because the omelet came out perfectly folded in thirds with no burning…I still have a lot to learn in the cooking field myself!