Blackburn & James, Paso Robles, Red Blend – 2009

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Ok this Paso Robles rocks, and I wish I had saved it for Turkey Day. Nonetheless, I am enjoying it right now. It is lighter and dare I say fruiter than I remember when they were passing out samples at our Trader Joe’s. Yet I like it, even though it is not the usually heavy wine I typically like this time of year.

The bottle doesn’t brag about what grapes that make up the blend. But I recall the Sampler saying Zinfandel was one of the grapes, probably how it made it in the cart.  The wine offers strong blackberry flavor through and though, there is a spice but it is more of a finisher than a distracter. There is a nice wood, maybe oak, scent that brightens the whole experience. The finish is dryer but the whole experience rest easy on the tongue.

The bottle boasts that it would pair nicely with a wide range of dishes from Asian spiced to pasta to chocolate mousse. I paired it with Pizza and it was great. More importantly, I feel this wine would also pair nicely with a turkey and some mashed potatoes.

Cheers,

Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes

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We have been receiving a LOT of emails (thanks everyone! ) from readers who are interested in some vegan Thanksgiving recipes that they can add to their collection. Now while neither of us are vegans or full time vegetarians for that matter, we did find some really nice websites that are full of delicious sounding and great looking vegan recipes that you can add to your menu for Thanksgiving or any meal really.

Vegan Dad     http://vegandad.blogspot.com/

VegWeb    http://vegweb.com/

The V Word  http://theveeword.blogspot.com/

MouthwateringVegan  http://mouthwateringvegan.com/

Don’t you just LOVE the look of this blog? Great header!!

Like I said we are not vegans or even full time vegetarians for that matter, but we are heading in that direction… we are eating less and less meat and enjoying more salads, cooked and raw vegetables, nuts  and lovely fresh fruits (right now we are just enjoying those Honey Crisp apples- what about you?) I am glad that we checked out what was out on the internet for Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes as I am very happy with what we saw and I am planning to try many of them soon!

Are you planning a Vegan Thanksgiving? What are you making/ serving? Share below or on Facebook~ Thanks!

 

 

Thanksgiving 2011: Going Easy!

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Thanksgiving 2011 will be a little different for us this year. Why you ask?

Because this is the year of Easy!

As in lets keep it easy and simple and just enjoy the day, visiting and catching up with family and friends and just not making the food the focus of the day and being so tired from cooking that we can’t enjoy it. So we are saying so long & adios! to a lot of our “must haves” from previous years and trying some new items and maybe we are going to start some new traditions as well (hey hey you never know….)

We are thinking about this meal as  a “Nice Family Dinner” (a bit more than the average Tuesday Night din-din but still manageable ), instead of this crazy Eat-A-Thon where you have so much food that you have trouble cooking it all, eating it all,  and storing all the leftovers ? forget it …Arggg….

So here is what we are planning right now. There are some of the usual suspects that are Thanksgiving regulars, some new items and we are also planning and buying less, so we don’t have food to last until December 1st.

Our Menu Thus Far:

  • Trader Joe’s 1/2 Cooked Turkey (yep, only a half a bird AND  just heat and eat…sweet!)
  • roasted veggies (diced sweet potatoes, turnips and parsnips)
  • stuffing (OK yes homemade here, recipe to follow )
  • steamed green beans
  • mashed  potatoes
  • Cranberry Sauce (OK trying a new, raw recipe here… I will let you know how it turns out)

Easy Appetizers:

  • Cheese & Crackers
  • Veggies
  • Nuts

Easy Dessert:

  • Apple Blossoms
  • Sweet Potato  Bites

Right… No Sweet Potato Casserole and no pies either!

So while we will not have LOTS of leftovers to eat from for the rest of the weekend, we will have the peace of mind that we did not have a stressed- out cooking day to recover from.

Instead we can make gingerbread houses (our big family tradition), and just relax and enjoy the day with one another.

What about you?  Are you going all-out this year, or are you scaling back like we are?

Share your  Thanksgiving menu with us below or on Facebook!

Thanks!

 

How To Use A French Press

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Are you curious about the French press? We got a lot of emails this week on what exactly is a French Press Coffee Maker and how/ why would you use such a thing.

We have used a French Press Coffee maker on and off for a number of years now.  We seem to go through times when we drink more tea than coffee and vice- versa.  Right now (November) is one of those time when we are  going through a “heavy drinking” cycle.

There are many reason why you might like to try a French Press Coffee maker.

  • Washable/ Reusable Filter
  • Small and convenient size
  • Coffee does not get “old” tasting

There are many more reasons why you might like a French Press, but these are the biggest ones for us.

Oh yeah…. for best results, use coffee that has a course grind to it…. We use the notch one before the last one, all the way on the left side when we grind coffee at Trader Joe’s . It says something like “course” or “Percolator” I think …. Anyway almost all the way to the end….

How to Use a French Press:

1. Scoop the desired amount of coarsely ground coffee into the French Press.  You may have to adjust the amount to your tastes but a good rule is to try 1 scoop (or Tablespoon) for every cup of coffee.  Too weak? Add more coffee… Too Strong? Add less.

2. Pour in freshly boiled water. We use an electric kettle that sits on the counter. You can use that or also good is a whistling tea kettle that goes on the stove. Now place on the cover – but don’t hit the plunger just yet.

3. Wait 4 minutes (for the coffee to brew).  Now, slowly press the plunger down to the bottom of the pot. Again, do this slowly….  This is the “Press” part…

4. Pour and enjoy….

We just love the “fresh” tasting coffee that is created by the French Press and also LOVE the fact that you are not running around early on a Saturday morning because you forgot to buy any coffee filters last week…. ugh!

Click below to see French Press Coffee makers at Amazon:

Snazzy colors too…

Here is the kind of Tea Kettle that we use and Like… heats water up FAST!

What do you think? Do you like to use a French Press? Share your comments below or on Facebook! ~Thanks!