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.

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!

Food Energy Whole Foods 9/9/09

Yes...I did go to a second Whole Foods class this week...back to back. But I saw a new class that I was interested in and it was reasonably priced. I figured this was going to be more of a cooking class but I am always interested in eating healthier.

I really thought this class was going to be about eating foods that provide more energy, and therefore were healthier, such as not eating processed foods and why vegetables are so much better for you.

This was completely different.

This class had to do with macrobiotics. I'm still not sure what that is because I haven't gotten the chance to read the information about it. But this class had more to do with spiritual energy and finding balance in the food that we eat. Some foods feel heavy while others feel light. We were encouraged to mix and match those foods and pretty much stay away from all processed foods, which are really considered dead.

Tonight's theme was going back to the basics...so ate a lot of vegetables and REAL grains.

We started out with a butternut squash soup that had just a hint of onion taste to it. Other than that, it was very simply made. My favorite part was the texture of the soup.

Later on, we had a lentil soup that was filled with other vegetables. You could really taste the difference in how the squash was very light compared with the lentils. Not that one was bad for you...but it was more about how at different times of the year, you may prefer a heavier food for winter. Or perahps you're feeling uptight...you might want a lighter, calming, more flowing food.

We also got to compare plain brown rice....much different than white...with couscous, which is extremely light and fluffy (and one of my favorite foods). Shoot. I just love SAYING couscous.

I had seconds and thirds with everything. I certainly wish I could eat more nonprocessed foods but as someone who hates to cook, I know it won't happen. But it certainly makes me appreciate these foods a lot more.

Seafood Class 9/8

These seafood classes seem to be coming up quickly and there is already another one scheduled for October 6th! I'm not sure I can keep up!

This class again is a seafood lover's wet dream because each course was better than the next, even though there wasn't anything flashy on tonight's menu.

We started off with Creole Crawfish Cakes...in other words crawfish tails were used instead of the typical crab and Seafood Chef Matt said that it took him four tries to get it right...basically, he needed to stop chopping the fish so fine so that the cake would stay together. And these were giant, meaty cakes with quite a bit of cayenne pepper to give it quite a kick.

Chef Matt was inspired by a seafood and pasta dish that he had at a wedding over the weekend but decided it would be better as a Smoked Rainbow Trout Penne Pasta. I thought the trout was a little fishy and not my first pick but the light oil dressing with parmesan cheese was really tasty without weighing you down. I was just about full after we each got two servings of pasta.

Keeping with the New Orleans theme, next up was a catfish Po'boy and for sure I thought the catfish would have a fishy taste but with the cajun seasoning on top of french bread, tomatoes, and pickles, it was just the right amount of fish flavor. It's probably the first time I've enjoyed catfish. This course required extra napkins!!!

The last course was my favorite...although not to take away from any of the other courses, but we finished off with a fried walleye. I've never had this before...again...expecting something totally fishy tasting but it was incredibly light! It might as well have been tilapia! I couldn't believe it. This fish was breaded and served with a sweet, light sauce and I definitely overdid it on this course.

I am hoping to recover in time for next month!

Provisions Wine and Food pairing #2 9/1/2009

Being the loyal friend and customer that I am, I immediately signed up for my second Provisions class which was just a couple of weeks after the last one. I did NOT want to miss out!

Word had definitely spread about Angie's classes as this class filled up a lot quicker and was much more crowded. This time the tables were in a U-shape and that helped a LITTLE bit with the acoustics, but it was still difficult to hear with Provisions' high ceilings. If nothing else, it definitely forces you to talk to those around you. I ended up making friends with the same couple I sat next to the week before.

Anyway, on to the important information...the courses! This evening's theme was "The American Melting Pot" pulling meals from specific cities, although most of the foods and wines were borrowed from their original European styles, although made into their own Americanized version.

Appetizer starter was Baltimore - Crab Cake paired with an Oregon Pinot Gris. Normally I tell folks that Oregon is known for their Pinot Noir but really, it's any Pinot grape. I really liked it this white wine because it had a sharp finish to it.

I was really looking forward to the next course, from New Orleans, having just been there, but the Shrimp Etouffee was a little disappointing because I only got one little baby shrimp on my plate. I mostly had brown goo. And the Chenin-Blanc paired with it was too dry (although Angie kept saying overly sweet).

Next from San Francisco was Cioppino which came from the early 1900s when the fishermen would come in and chop up all the leftover fish and put it into a tomato rother soup. Typically it comes with lots of shrimp and shellfish so everyone got two clams. Not too bad. The wine was actually a little bit better here...a Monte Volpe Primo Rosso....real smooth finish. That's the only way I can handle red wines....low on tannins.

From Miami, we had Cubano Beans and Rice but when I think Cuban, I think spicy chicken and rice...but noooo...Angie insisted that Cubans liked pork. So I tried the piggy and it was full of flavor but finished with a greasy aftertaste. Luckily it was paried with a Grenache but the wine was too strong, so you could wash down the grease but it totally overpowered the pork.

Last was cheesecake from New York and it was only a tiny bite. Chef Scott from Provisions is EXCELLENT in his desserts. THis was fantastic even though I could only roll so much chocolate onto the cheesecake instead of smothering it like normal. This was paired with the super sweet wine, a Moscato...which is one I could actually drink...well a little it...almost too sweet for me! hehehe

The best part of the class is all the things I learned. Dessert wines should be stronger than the actual dessert.

More importantly....buy a half bottle of wine...they look like baby wine bottles...and save the bottle when you finish. THEN you have a better sized container to keep your excess wine from any full bottles you don't finish. This is better because there is less air in the bottle since oxygen is what is the enemy when trying to keep wines.

OH...and the most fun thing I learned is "seasoning my glass". We were enouraged to heavily swirl our wines to get the sides of the glass coated in the wine to improve taste.

Unfortunately, I'm going to miss the next Provisions class (when there won't be any piggy) for a "fall food theme". I'm a little bummed I'm going to miss but it's because it's the same night as cheese class and you better believe I won't be missing cheese class!!!