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!