Camembert, Pork, Salad, and Wine. GNI

We had another Girls Night In. A monthly "catch up" with neighbor moms. We cook, we drink, we eat and chat. It's a relaxing evening with no children and no driving. Here's what we had...


The wine. Okay. That's just a pic of the wine I brought. The others were drinking 3 buck Chuck. A Pinot Grigio and a White Zin. I chose this Cabernet and loved the peppery, dark berry
and chocolate flavors. It complimented the food nicely and was also great as an after dinner beverage to relax and sip on. Medium bodied with a very smooth finish.


The appetizer. Camembert cheese topped with an apricot glaze and butter toffee almonds. The picture doesn't do it justice. The apricot glaze was on top when I left the house but had melted in by the time I travelled to my neighbors house. It was delicious, regardless, and we had Wheat Thins to dip in it.


The meal. Pork medallions in a onion/mushroom gravy served over brown rice, accompanied with a salad comprised of romaine, craisins, red onion, butter toffee almonds and bleu cheese crumbles tossed in a light balsamic vinaigrette.

My mouth is watering as I type this.

How do you spend your evenings with friends?



We do a monthly GNI and very much enjoy trying new recipes. I was sent the Camembert cheese from Ile de France to try and review. I was not compensated in any other way.

Theme Hijacking, Parties and Pre School

Tuesdays are for Random. My weekly therapeutic rant about everything. Little tidbits of stuff going on and thoughts in my head. Everyone does it. Some of us save it for Tuesdays. If you want to join us, or just take a peek at who else is playing...head over to The Un Mom. She's the Queen of Random and the rest of us just try to be as random.

I had my theme hijacked. You probably noticed. Someone sent me an e-mail message and when I took a look the entire thing was covered with "photobucket image no longer available." I guess the free theme was no longer desirable to the designer and they deleted the whole thing. I quickly grabbed a free one from blogger and put it back together as best I could. Still need to do some work, though.

We've had parties the past two Saturdays for the kids and their friends. First we had a HexBug Nano party. All the kids received nano bugs and spent hours building tracks to run them on. I think the dads had more fun building the tracks, but it might just be me. The second was a Star Wars: The Clone Wars party. Action Figures for all and the Season 3 Premiere. Popcorn, licorice, cookies and Yoda Soda. Lots of running around and light saber battles. This Saturday I'm going to chill. I've earned it.

I was invited to a Bloggers Virtual Wine Tasting in October. It's a two hour event presented by a Master Sommelier and 8 winemakers from Chile. I'm excited to participate and even more excited to be receiving recipes to pair with the wines. It should be a good time of food and wine.

I posted on FB that my boss never works on Sundays and we just slack and goof off in his absence. First off, it was a joke. I was responding to a comment his wife made, we're friends. I never goof off. Just wanted to clarify that for any future employers. As it turned out, the boss was there creating a massive project for me when I arrived. I laughed and asked if he had seen my post. He hadn't. He's rarely on FB. I told him what I had written and he said "then this should make the blog." It did.

Just a couple more weeks and Puddin Pop will be in preschool. 5 days a week. Every morning free. I'm getting excited with all the things I want to do. How much will I actually get done? We'll have to wait and see.

That's it for me. Now go and read some more random.

PlayStation MOVE ~ A Gamers Dream

This post brought to you by PlayStation(R) Move. All opinions are 100% mine.

 

With all this talk of wine and food there has to be moderation and exercise.  I do love to eat.  While I try to eat healthy, I do get cravings.  I have found that giving in is better than eating everything else in the hope that the craving will go away.  It never does.  Thankfully, technology offers me the ability to exercise and burn the indulgent calories without ever leaving the house.

PlayStation(R)MOVE, set to launch on September 17, is the latest arrival in the get-up-and-game movement.  We have a Play Station, unfortunately the wrong one (PS2).  The PlayStation MOVE will only be available with the PS3.  If you already have one, you're in luck, you can add the MOVE bundle package for only $99.  With several games already developed and more on the way, this is going to be a hot ticket item this holiday season.

I'm into the workout videos so "Get Fit with Mel B" would be on my list of must haves.  EyePet would be my first choice for the kids.  With the ability to take care of, play games with and interact with their pet, this game would provide hours of entertainment for the whoe family.  Once Hubster sees Socom4 available, I'm betting he'll cross the Lego kits off his Christmas wishlist and add a PS3 with MOVE.  Anyone want to bet?

PlayStation has incredible graphics and real life animation making it one of the leaders in the industry.  Each year, grown men (and their kids) are waiting in anticipation to see what they will come out with next.  We are no different.  We are a family of gamers.  PC, console and handhelds are always being used.  We enjoy family game nights and love exploring new games together.  Check out the Move site to see how far technology has come.  I'll be here re-working my Christmas budget.

 

Vacation Food

We ate fabulously while on vacation. The food was so good, in fact, that I totally forgot to take pictures. I know. What kind of blogger am I who can;t even remember to take pics? I can tell you about it though.


First night. We had made NC style BBQ and carried it with us. Something easy to heat up after driving and unpacking a weeks worth of supplies. It was very tasty and we had enough for people to snack on all week.


Night Two. Fondue. We did it up right too. Cheese fondue with garlic ciabatta cubed, apple slices, carrots and broccoli. A traditional oil fondue to cook steak, chicken and shrimp accompanied by cocktail, ginger peanut, and sour cream horseradish sauces. We ended with peanut butter chocolate fondue and everything you can think of to dip in it. We bought the pound cake, strawberries and bananas and then raided the cabinets for the rest (pretzels, pears,vanilla wafers and pineapple.) This is the one picture I remembered to take.

We poured the dip into the cups me brought for jello shots and enjoyed dessert out on the balcony. It was SOOO good.

Night three. We ate at a little restaurant that mostly does burgers and sandwiches. I had the best Reuben I've ever had. The corned beef was tender and juicy with the perfect amount of 1000 Island and Swiss. It melted in my mouth.

Night four. Taco night. This is where I concocted my Avocado and Shrimp Tacos and they were yummy.

Night five. Definitely picture worthy. We had a table heaping with seafood. Steamed shrimp, crab legs, clams and mussels. We ate until thoroughly stuffed... and then ate some more.

Day six. Date Night. We enjoyed adult beverages and a wonderful meal. I had a NY Strip with a loaded baked potato. I did remember to get a picture of the drinks though...Can you guess which is mine?

Night seven, Leftover night. This is the night everyone is supposed to do their best to clan out the fridge so as not to have a bunch of opened containers to take home. FAIL. We did not do a very good job. I ate my leftovers from the night before. We barely put a dent on all the food in the fridge.

Lost Vineyards~ The Italian Collection

I was recently sent the entire Italian collection of wines being offered by Lost Vineyards of the World. They are a company that makes affordable wine available at rockin' prices due to their massive amounts of transports and the shipping deals this creates.

I wrote already about Pink Lady and how fun and enjoyable it was. I now wanted to tell you about the rest of the bunch.

Lambrusco
See. I'm an old fashioned kind of gal. I like my Reds at room temperature. When I see things like "Best served chilled" I automatically think less of a red. It's mental on my part.

I chilled this Lambrusco as directed and then sipped it one evening after everyone went to bed. Once I got past the mental thought that chilling takes away from the flavor profile...and after it warmed a little...this was an acceptable varietal. Not great, by my palate, it's definitely worth a try. Especially if you like your wines chilled.

Suggested Pairings: Spicy food, barbecue and anything chocolate.





Spumante Italiano: Dolce

A blend of Moscato and Malvasia, this sparkler was crisp and fruity without being too sweet. This could be used to celebrate a special occasion or just to add a little fun to your next gathering. Subtle enough for everyone to enjoy.
It has won awards in such competitions as World Wine Value Championship (silver) and the Dallas Morning News 2010 Competition (silver).





Sangiovese
This one I didn't enjoy at all. It's not like me to not enjoy a wine. I like everything. I try not to read press releases or tasting notes before tasting a wine. I want to come up with my own conclusions and flavor profiles before I peek. Totally not digging this wine, I was curious to see what the notes revealed. Here's what I got...

"This is one of our love-it-or-hate-it wines. At Lost Vineyards, we do not Americanize our wines to make European vinos taste like Californian wines. Our Argentine winery has a definite new-world style, while our Italian winery produces old-world styles. At public tastings, millennials lean toward new-world styles, while boomers tend to like the European wines.

Sangiovese is the main grape varietal used in Chianti. Ours is a light to medium bodied, bone dry red. It is rustic, earthy, and high in acid. This makes it much more of a food wine than a quaffer. Try it with cheeses like parmesan, manchego, or gorgonzola. It pairs well with tomato sauces, especially sun-dried tomatoes."

I find all that very insightful and would almost try it again with the suggested pairings just to see if my opinion changed.




Bianco

I'm not, by nature, a white wine drinker. I always enjoy trying new things but in general lean towards Reds when purchasing wine. That being said, this Bianco from Lost Vineyards was pleasantly crisp and moderately sweet. Not syrupy or overly done. I enjoyed this blend very much and with a price point under $10 ($5 if purchased by the case), would definitely purchase some more. Lost Vineyards refers to it as a "porch wine" (I'm so stealing that phrase) as it is light enough to enjoy without food. It also pairs well with mild seafood dishes like shrimp or scallops.



I found this collection to be a lesson in all I don't know about wine. The whites definitely impressed me more than the reds and this is very uncommon for me. I like having a couple more whites to add to my minimal collection.




***Thank you to Lost Vineyards of the World for sharing this collection with me. While I was sent the wine to review I was not compensated in any other way and the opinions are 100% mine.