The seduction of the Spanish wines!

hi Everyone,
It’s Thursday night the beginning of the weekend, let’s go to a wine tasting and discover that Spain  is more than just dessert wine.
Let me start by saying I was very surprise to found out Spain produce a lot of the world boutique wines and it’s not always dessert wine.
Did you know they make a brut methode champenoise? no neither did I.
A little bit of history of Spain wine making.
Rioja grapes
Aging Requirements
Sin Crianza: Wine with little or no aging in oak casks. Often referred to as Vino Joven:. Must be comprised of 100% Rioja grapes, as with all Rioja guaranteed origin wines.
Crianza: Wine in its 3rd year, matured for at least 1 year in oak cask, at least 1 year in bottle.
Reserva: Carefully selected wines, aged for at least three years, of which at least one is in oak cask and the rest in the bottle.
Gran Reserva: Wines which have been aged at least two years in oak cask and at least three years in the bottle.

Today we are going to taste a total of seven wine including 2 methode champenoise. We gathered at the home of Foster for this evening festivities for a total of 20 guests.
Are you Ready???
We started with the dry wines the reason if you start with the sweet you will not be able to taste the dry.
We were provided with a belisi stem glass and two bottle of water to rinse out our glass and clean our palette.
In addition we had fromage from Spain, tomato bread, smoke salmon.



The reds are being aerated properly before the tasting.


Water bottle for palette cleansing

Our host the owner of Wine room in DrPhillips, he travels all over the world for his store and distributes wines to several restaurant in the area. Sigh I want his job :)









What more can a girl want? great wine, friends and food :)
Have a great weekend,
Maggie

The seduction of the Spanish wines!

Making a mistake

 

 

hi Everyone,

Sometimes we waffle around making a decision, but I’ve learned that sometimes you do need to waffle to make sure you are making the right decision.

 

 

Have a great day!

Maggie

Making a mistake

Cooking, eating, classes at William Sonoma!

 

Hi Everyone,

Today I want to share with you my adventure at William Sonoma cooking classes. first let’s learn more about Sonoma.

For more than fifty years, people who love cooking and good food have gathered at Williams-Sonoma stores.

Each month brings a new lineup of cooking classes to your local Williams-Sonoma store. Learn about cuisines from around the world – and close to home – from our talented chefs and culinary experts.

• Each 1½ - to 2-hour class includes a cooking demonstration, generous samples of featured dishes and printed recipes to take home.
• Class fees vary by store location.
• Participants receive a 10% discount on store purchases the day of the class.
• Available at select stores; class dates and times vary by store location.
• Space is limited and reservations are required. Call a participating store to register.

When my friend Deb and I received complimentary classes a value of $50.00 each class we were not sure what to expect being that is it is a demo.

Here’s our first impression as we got in, we were greeted by the store mgr.  explained the activities for the evening. It’s cooking for friends, but it’s more like cooking for me :)

The table was setup beautifully, my friend Deb :)

 

 

He explained the recipes are from this book below! I have to tell you the recipes are very very sumptuous.

 

We started with Fennel, Parmesan,dates and blood orange salad.

 

 

 

Entrée

Parpadelle, shiitake mushroom, roasted pork tenderloin.

 

 

 

Drink

Blueberry, raspberry, strawberry with lavender syrup spritzer!

 

 

 

 

Dessert!

Chocolate ganache  caramel salt tort!

 

 

 

 

 

Our experience was first class, the meal was sumptuous and rich. If you are on a diet or strict caloric intakes, you will need to substitute the creams and cheeses etc.

Was this meal and class worth $50.00, I would have happily paid $99.00 for all the tips and tricks we learned.

I hope you try a class in your area.

Have a fabulous day :)

Maggie

Cooking, eating, classes at William Sonoma!

Mother’s day luncheon

 

Happy Mother’s day to all the great women who selflessly give of themselves every day.

The Catholic Christian Women put together a fabulous sweet for mom including Champagne that was fabulous, talk about sugar overload :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great day,

Maggie

Mother’s day luncheon

Let’s go to Daytona!

 

hi Everyone,

It’s been a while since after the Hurricane I have not been to Daytona, so yesterday my friend Daphne and Heidi got together for a wonderful day at the beach.

I’m very shock to see all the gaudy vendors are gone, the beach is now lined with rental chairs and umbrella, you no longer need to schlep all those anymore.

Are you ready?

 

 

The tourists enjoying the sun :)

 

Have a great day :)

Maggie

Let’s go to Daytona!