Road trip! Part 2

Today has been such an awesome day. And it started at 5 a.m.! My cousin Matthew rows, and so I got up at 5:00 this morning to go with him. We warmed up on the ergs at 5:30, then carried boats and oars down to the dock, and were in the water by 6. Pretty flippin sweet. I really enjoyed warming up on the erg since I haven't done it in a while. What is an erg?, you may ask. Well I'll tell you. An ergometer is a rowing simulator. It was on an ergometer that I first learned the basics of rowing at the University of Tennessee. That was many moons ago, and my stint on the rowing team was incredibly short-lived due to my wide noncompetitive streak as well as being thin-skinned. But I digress! We rowed on the lake for about an hour, and at no point during that time did I flip the boat. Success! I definitely had a good run of it, despite a few bumps along the way. The few glances that I got of the surroundings were beautiful, too. And now I can feel each and every one of my abdominal muscles in a new way. Oh yeah.

After the morning rowing, Matthew & I grabbed something hot to drink at a local Los Gatos coffee shop and then headed back to his place to get ready for a day of wine tasting.

Around 10:15 we set out for Alexander Valley, a wine-growing region in Sonoma County. Alicia, a friend of mine from the farm, used to live in San Francisco and suggested we forego a tour of Napa in favor of Alexander Valley. And so that's where we ended up after battling through city traffic and then driving north about 70 miles.

The first winery we visited was Rodney Strong, touted as the most dramatic of the A.V. wineries. After tasting their wines, I would have to agree. I wasn't a fan: they were too big and bold for me. I once favored incredibly strong red wines that would knock you over, but tastes change, and mine have. Their sauvignon blanc has an amazing fruity, crisp, floral bouquet that doesn't match the taste of the wine. The vibe in the tasting room was less than stellar, so we were glad to move on to the next site...

 which was Everett Ridge! Alicia had also recommended this winery very highly, and we went to explore. Jill, who makes Tuesdays amazing, greeted us warmly as we approached- she was super personable and doesn't have a pretentious bone in her body. Yes, this is a place we could stay a while, and stay we did! They have many wines, all of which are quite tasty. There was no rush at all. We chatted and tasted and munched on cheesy poofs (yeah!) and brie and fruit and just hung out. We bought our wine and then made a picnic on their patio, slugging the wine straight from the bottle, farm style. (holla!) It was quite the spread, and Matthew finished it off with a Bolivar Cuban cigar that my dad sent him. (My dad has taken to giving people cigars. It's his new thing. It's cute.) It was an awesome afternoon. They even let me pick some Meyer lemons!

We were all lolling about enjoying ourselves- especially me, I'm very good at lolling about- when they told me it was 4:00. Gasp! Shock! There was more wine to be drunk, and most wineries around those parts close at 5! I was thrown into action. Upon my insistence that we visit more wineries and drink more wine before we called it a day, we gathered up our things and scurried to the next spot.

Hello Lambert Bridge winery, complete with large dog and larger fireplace. These guys had the best wine of the day. Consistently, everything he poured Matthew & I was outstanding. Especially the viognier. Which I did not buy because it was $32 and the tasting fee wouldn't be refunded: drinking sometimes brings out my stubborn side. But we totally enjoyed the tastes and the super chill and beautiful dog that wandered around. If only the man behind the counter had had a little more personality...

Suddenly things were looking bleak. I was bound and determined to buy a viognier before the day was through, but it was 4:35. We had less than 25 minutes to get all the way to Field Stone winery in order to taste and purchase. The race was on! And Matthew was our driver. Ripping through back country roads, past vineyard after vineyard, screeching around curves, he got us there with 6 minutes to spare. Aunt Judy didn't even toss her cookies. I was delighted! We pulled up, and I raced out and into the shop. The lady behind the counter, holding a bottle of wine that was being deoxygenated, announced that we were too late. They were closed. I told her it was 4:54. She showed me her clock that read 5:00. Cheater! Cell phones always win! Except this time. She wouldn't let me taste the wine, but she would let me buy it. And so I have a bottle of Field Stone Viognier that shall travel to Kingsport, Tennessee as a gift for my mother. I win! I hope it's good.

And that was Tuesday. Matthew drove back; I was pretty solidly schnockered, so I sacked out in the back seat of the minivan. The next thing I knew we were going out to eat in downtown Campbell at the Sonoma Chicken Coop. Luckily there were chicken wings involved. And no alcohol. No more alcohol for me... today.

Geeky food post

Alright, so here it is: I'm a food geek. It's the main vocation I've been pursuing after quitting my job. Tonight I threw a birthday dinner for a friend of mine, and I must post the menu. I haven't put this much thought and care into a menu in a long time. She's vegetarian, so that's the reason for the absence of meat.

We started with a drink called a Fresh Prince. My friend Christine Murphy shared it with me about a year ago, and I really dig it. You muddle the hell out of cucumber and fresh mint, then mix it with lime juice, simple, and lime-flavored bubbly water. Yummy, refreshing, an awesome aperitif!

Then we moved on to the first course, which consisted of a cheese platter with grapes and Blue Diamond nut thins. There was a variety of cheeses, among them gruyere, goat cheese, Gjetost, and a local sheep's milk cheese from Locust Grove Farms (the Galloway variety). I was quite pleased with all of them, especially the Galloway and the goat cheese.

Along with the cheese course, we had some deviled eggs. I planned on making this a separate course, but it just didn't seem practical at the time. These aren't just any deviled eggs, either - these deviled eggs made me remember how great deviled eggs can be, made me wonder why I don't make them more often. They're a mustard-curry concoction with other yummy things, and I love them.

Next on the menu was a Mexican-inspired bean salad. The different thing about this food foray was that I was super excited about plating things. So for starters, I took a salad plate and put on it two round slices of jicama, several long slices of red pepper, and chili-lime chips. Then, in the middle of the all of it, I put a mango-black bean salad with cilantro, scallions, and spices. Yummy! The mango was actually ripe and happy, which totally made it, and the spices from the salad went really well with the jicama (such an awesome veggie!).

Here we took another booze break - it was, after all, a celebration of Davenne's 21st birthday. I found a recipe for a Rum Swizzle and modified it. What we ended up with was fresh-squeezed Minneola tanglo juice, raspberry wine liqueur, fresh mint, lime juice, lime-flavored bubbly water, and some homemade vanilla. I experimented with adding some of the red wine from dinner, which totally made it pop, and we all enjoyed that.

The end of the savory portion of dinner came with a green salad tossed with olive oil & red wine vinegar that had been hanging out with 2 smashed cloves of garlic for several hours. I also mixed avocado and grapefruit with lemon juice and topped it all off with walnuts. A great combination, definitely one of my favorites.

Ah, dessert. This was the part Davenne had been skeptical about. The first time I read the recipe for Strawberries Balsamic, I was definitely a bit wary. I thought it would be really gross... and then I made it and didn't want to stop eating it ever. You just quarter strawberries and macerate them (add sugar) like normal, but you also add balsamic vinegar (maybe 2 Tbsp.) and some freshly cracked pepper, coarse grind. Let that sit for at least 30 minutes, then put it in a bowl and top it with whipped cream. You're done, and your tastebuds will be so happy. :) To serve it, I chose a big martini glass and alternated one layer of strawberries with one layer of whipped cream; I ended up with two layers of each. I topped it off with a small leaf of basil, and then we finished off the red wine with it.

The one thing I forgot to mention was the champagne. I found a bottle of yellow label Veuve Clicquot on sale and had to buy it back in the fall. I had no idea what to do with it. I thought of using it for New Year's, but champagne was already provided there, so I didn't want to waste this amazing bottle of champagne. Then Davenne, whose family visits France a lot, inspired me (just by being her amazing self) to throw a dinner party, and the perfect excuse came up! It's such great champagne.

This is what I love: to make a big huge fuss over someone by creating an awesome dinner and then spending time with a group of friends enjoying it all. It was a day well spent.