Month: March 2013

Sauteed Swiss Chard

I have always struggled with eating vegetables.  They just aren’t my favorites.  But being a child of the ’60’s it is understandable.  When I was growing up, vegetables were either canned, yuck, or from the family garden.  Either way, they were cooked to death!  Green 

2010 Castle Rock Pinot Noir, Mendocino County

$10 2010 Castle Rock Pinot, Mendocino          This wine is from a wine tasting set I purchased.  The set contains three bottles of pinot, each from a different region in California; Mendocino, Sonoma, and Monterey along with tasting score sheets.  The total cost of the 

A little info about wine

I know I have been a little harsh on some of my wine reviews.  I just want to be as honest about my impressions on the wines I review as I can.  I have a deep appreciation for what winemakers go through to put something in the bottle that will be delicious when it is poured.  You see, I started making wine last May.  My husband gave me a winemaking kit for Mother’s Day.  Not sure exactly what he was trying to say with this gift, maybe that I was drinking too much wine and I had to start making my own if I was going to continue.  I don’t know.  Anyway, I made my first batch of wine, a cab, followed all the instructions, lovingly put it in bottles and set them to “age” in a carefully selected place in my basement.  This cab is supposed to age for 9 months before drinking but I couldn’t wait – I opened a bottle last week to see how it was doing.  Needless to say, vinegar tastes better!!  I’m not kidding, this wine made my hair curl, crossed my eyes, and gave me a permanent shudder all at once.  The cheapest wine in the world taste excellent beside the one I made.   I don’t think those people living in that valley in California have to worry about losing much money because of my winemaking.  To be fair, I did some research after tasting and found that 9 months is about the absolute earliest the wine would be ready.  Most cases it takes more like 12 to 18 months.  Whew, was I ever glad to read that!  I thought I had the worlds largest supply of cooking wine and I was going to be in the kitchen slaving over spaghetti sauce for the next several years.

I’ll let you know if it improves or if it is going to be Christmas gifts next year.  Don’t tell my neighbors!