Wine a bit. . . . you'll feel better

Wii & Wine: Truth in numbers. Two months down and feeling good.

2012-03-01T13:56:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe only two short months ago I decided to get real about my weight gain. Only two short months ago, I realized my eating habits were not being kind to my hips. Only two short months ago, did I realize my wine consumption was a little out of control. Only two short months ago did I fully grasp what I did to myself, and fully understand it was not a healthy way to live. Only two short months ago I weighed in at 154, with a bad attitude about myself, food, and wine.

Today I can say some of those issues and demons are behind me now. Do they still try to creep back into my life, of coarse, but now I have the common sense to identify them and toss them. I can not stop the thoughts from entering my brain and whisper lies like, go ahead, tell yourself you are a fat ass, and since you are a fat ass, drink that extra glass of wine and stuff your face. And yes, that is a real conservation I have with myself more often than I want to admit.

The difference between two months ago and today is simple however. I don't dwell on those thoughts and let them permeate every essence of my being. I choose not to get emotional every time I look in the mirror or try on a pair of clothes. I can't stop the thoughts, but I can stop dwelling on them and acting upon them as if they are truth. Once again, I know the Truth, and the Truth is not in the mirror, the mirror that I see. My mirror will always be distorted, and at times look like a circus funny mirror, but I know that is not who I am. No matter how hard I try, I cannot go back to that girl, she is dead. I can try to resurrect her, stand her up, move her month, but in the end, she is dead and gone. I choose to firmly and lovingly believe who I really am, regardless of what the scale or mirror tells me.

Two short months ago I don't think I could have written this blog post with any sort of conviction and honesty. I would lie and tell you everything was fine and good but inside I was hurting and hiding from the real me. The real me is happy to not use food or wine, or even exercise as my escape from the world and escape from myself. Do I still fall into that old line of thinking at times? Sure, I am not perfect. The difference between two months ago and now is, I believe regardless of what the world tells me. I believe the Truth, and not the lies. Wine, food, exercise cannot save me from myself or from problems. They only add to the problems, especially since I have body image issues already, then to pile on pounds does not help. We need food to live, not to cope. We can sip wine as an enjoyment, in moderation, not to cope. We need to move and exercise to stay healthy, not to cope. I can't tell you enough how wonderful it feels to be free of the chains and bondage I put myself under.

This weight loss journey so far has been so unique and different than any other time in my life that I battled it. The overall stress and angst over what to eat and what not to eat is gone, and replaced with just eating normally. Am I hungry, well yes, grab an apple and a yogurt. Easy stuff. Before it was, I am sooo hungry and all I want is everything, and I can't find anything to eat that fits in my diet. Gone is that way of living. Yuck! Who wants to live as a slave to a diet. Not me, not anymore. Yes, I still journal my calories, make the best choices I can, but I am allowing myself to live. I want to live, and not be a slave to food. Been there, done that, done! I am looking forward to the next couple months and I love writing about this and sharing my stories with you. Thank you for all your kind and encouraging words.

Now on to the number revel. Drum roll please. . . . . .

Newest numbers and pictures:

BMI: 24.54
Weight: 147.3
down 1.1 and overall down almost 7 pounds!

Please forgive the weird, slightly creepy face I am making in these new pictures. That's what happens when you try to take pictures by yourself with a timer! And the angles I realize are slightly different, but I can still see a difference in my gut size with the side shot. And the great news, I am almost at my goal of 146, a weight I feel confident I can maintain. And now I fit into all my clothes no need to go crazy and try to lose a ton more weight. This journey is about being healthy in the mind and body, not about being skinny.

Weigh in #8

Weigh in #1

Weight in #1

Weigh in #8

Wii & Wine : The video blog post: Weight loss success is more than a number.

2012-02-29T13:50:00.002-07:00

Welcome to my first video blog post or my Wii & Wine series!

As you know I love to write and find it very therapeutic, however to mix things up a bit I decided to record a video post. I figured some subjects need a little visual representation to fully get my point across. So, every now and then to spice thing up, I will throw in a video post for your enjoyment and education. Thank you and enjoy!

Wow that is a great face! Sure glad they used that one. Kinda like whenever you pause a movie, the actor are always making the most stunning gorgeous faces. Anyways, please share your comments below, on pintrest, twitter, Google +, or facebook. Yes, be quite, I really do have that many social profile sites! But it is mostly for the blog:) Cheers!

Wii & Wine: The Food

2012-02-28T13:24:00.002-07:00

I have decided to cut this post in half. I realized it was a bit too long, and you may or may not have gotten bored before getting to the good stuff. So from here on out, that is until I make another change, I will post my weekly menus and my commentary as two separate posts. Double the fun! Thanks and enjoy.

Day: 50
Roasted Veggie Soup with a grilled cheese sandwich. You can serve this soup hot or cold, and it is perfect for a light lunch. I loved it! A great way to use a bumper crop of veggies. Bonus for me, my hubby cooked it.
Exercise: 85 minutes of Cardio Box at YMCA

Day 51:
Pork Chop Oreganata with a barley salad
Exercise: 40 min Wii NFL Training Camp

Total Wine for $12.99

Day: 52
Chicken Francais with asparagus, rice and a glass of Martin Codax Albarino. Pure lemon acid queen wine, but delicious! Funny story, I bit into a lemon and then took a sip of this wine, so good! The lemon tempered the crazy acid of the wine. Try it.
Exercise: 40 min Wii NFL Training Camp

Day: 53
Exchange meal with my sister, tomato sauced chicken with mashed potatoes and a simple salad
Exercise: 45 min Wii Gold's Gym Cardio

Day: 54

Lemon Dill Salmon Croquettes with Horseradish Sauce, wild rice, and roasted asparagus. Served with a glass of the Pinot Grigio pictured below. This was a blah wine, need more peep to really go with the dish. I would recommend the Albarino from day 52.
Exercise: OK I went a little crazy this day but my son had been sick and I was losing my mind from being stuck at home for three days. 120 minutes of Wii NFL Training Camp and Gold's Gym Cardio.

Day: 55

Trader Joe's $12.99

Leftover day. Placed the salmon croquette on a bed of mixed greens with a fresh quartered tomato. Then drizzled on a small amount of grape-seed oil and champagne vinegar, with a squirt of fresh lemon juice. Very good.
Exercise: none, my muscles were very tired from my two hour workout on Friday.

Day: 56
Pierogies day in honor of my late dad's birthday at my mom's house.
Exercise: walked the dog.

Please share if you have tried any of the recipes or wines I have included in my weekly menus in the comments section below or on facebook. Or share any recipes you love, and would like to see me try. Sharing is caring. Thank you!

Wii & Wine : Weekly Results Time for Week 7

2012-02-24T05:30:00.000-07:00

Happy news! Even after a challenging week, I was able to stay the course and still drop a pound. Here are my new numbers!

BMI: 24.72
Weight: 148.4
down about 1 pound:)

Next week marks the two month milestone, and I will be happy to take a couple new pictures to post my progress. Time to keep tracking with my handy dandy caloriecounter.com app and keep this train rolling. No more excuses. And I may just have a little video dairy surprise up my shelve to unveil in the next week or so. Cheers!

Wii & Wine: 10 Reasons Why I Hate Losing Weight.

2012-02-23T05:30:00.000-07:00

Order up! It was a tough eating week, with Valentine's day, a lunch date, and date night, but I survived and once again exercised my butt off, with the wonderful Wii. Actually, most of my butt is still there, but at least it is slimming down. Here is my weekly dinner list, followed by my great commentary. Enjoy.

Day: 43
Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich with a big glass of milk.
Exercise: 1 hour 15 min Cardio Box class with Vicki at the YMCA

Day: 44
Valentines Day Menu
Exercise: 40 min Wii NFL Training Camp and 20 min Wii Fit

Day: 45
Chilies Rellenos Casserole with a simple salad. This is a odd mix of ingredients in this recipe, but it really works, a perfectly healthy way to fix a Mexican food craving.
Exercise: 40 min Wii NFL Training Camp

Day: 46
Creamy Shrimp Linguine exchange meal from my sister. She used these fabulous noodles, DeCio Pasta, made locally in Tempe.
Exercise: 40 min Wii Gold's Gym Cardio and 1 hour walk on the treadmill at 3.5 mpr

Day: 47
Triple red pork stew with a wonderful glass of Arizona Stronghold Site Archive Syrah. I will include a separate post on this meal, because the wine was amazing with the dish.
Exercise: 30 min Wii NFL Training Camp

Day: 48
Going on a date! Irish pub grub with two glasses of beer. Kept the dinner pretty light however, eating out is always tricky.
Exercise: 1 hour Wii NFL Training Camp

Day: 49
Blue Agave Frozen Yogurt.
Exercise: none

What was going on in my brain last week?

Now that I have your attention with my post title here it goes. This is my list of 10 reasons I often use myself or hear about when trying to lose those unwanted pounds. And these are in no particular order. Watch out for the dose of sarcasm.

1. I can no longer eat whatever I want when ever I want and that's no fun!
2. It's hard.
3. You mean I can't drink all the wine I want and still be skinny. That's what the Real Housewives do!
4. But candy tastes so darn good!
5. Exercise takes too much effort, and I hate to sweat.
6. I don't have the time to think about it.
7. But I always fail so I might as well give up now.
8. Tracking my food sucks.
9. I don't want to think, I wish I had an easy button, I just wish I was already skinny.
10. I hate being hungry!

Now, I don't really hate trying to lose weight, it was just my clever way to get you to read my blog. Hey, you are here so it worked. Wink, Wink. Being serious now, don't love the fact that I need to drop a few pounds either, but this week I did think about all the excuses I run through my brain, on an almost daily basis since I have tackled this issue. All those reason are legitimate reasons for not losing weight or even maintaining a current weight, however, they are really worthless excuses. And excuses make me fat, fat in the head and fat in the thighs.

Every time I bring out one of those excuses and use them, it gives me a license to gain weight, weight I really don't want to gain, but do anyways. I mean really #2, it's hard. Jee weez genius if it was easy, there would be no need for the endless weight loss products in the market that claim you can lose weight and still eat whatever you want. If it was easy, there would be no need for a billion dollar weight loss industry. If it was easy, no one would be obese, everyone would be at their perfect size and stay at that size until the end of time! It is hard to imagine that we would ever use that excuse. What is more hard, losing those few extra pounds or buying a whole new wardrobe every couple months to keep indulging my current bad attitude. Honestly, whenever I come across any excuse, the best thing to do is think it through, and 99% of the time, you realize the excuse is a worthless piece of crap.

Let's look at #3 now. I know I am going out of order, but oh well. Yes, in every single one of those reality shows the women are as skinny as a stick and all they do is show them drinking wine or some fancy cocktail. Cut to real reality, most likely a very small amount of liqueur is consumed during the entire time the show is taping. The people behind these shows know what works and are very clever in how to edit the final product. Would you watch a show where the women sat around, drank diet Coke and talked about their kids? No. I know I wouldn't. Wine brings out the drama and drama sells air space. Plus, they don't eat. And quite frankly I really enjoy food, and you couldn't pay me enough money to give up food. About the only weight loss program I have not tried is starving myself, because I know it would only work for about 10 seconds, then I would be hungry, and eat.

And finally let's tackle number one, my personal favorite and one I use often. There are the super lucky people in the world that can get away with eating all the time, and eating pretty much whatever they want. I have a brother-in-law like that, and yes it really is a super hero power. However, for the majority of society, we were not gifted with that power, we are mere food mortals. And you know what, that is ok. It used to drive me nuts to see thin women down a bottle of wine, followed by a chaser of cookies, but not so much anymore. While I still to burn with a slight bit of envy to be honest, now at least I don't want to kill them and steal their DNA. I know what I was born with, and that's okay with me. I do have to watch my calorie intake, always have, nothing new, now I just need to fully embrace it.

If you are trying to lose a few pounds, or again maintain a certain weight it is okay to say no to food you don't need. It is okay to make sacrifices. It is the hardest thing in the world not to pour that extra glass of wine. But you know what, it feels really good later when I didn't go over my calorie limit, when I don't feel that since of dread that I had too much. And it feels really good not to give power to the wine or food. And really that's what it's all about, you are giving a lifeless object power over your life, and how silly is that. That is like a sci-fy show, the wine bottle has suddenly come to life and now has me as a slave to it's evil desires of making me fat and miserable. Seriously, why do we do that to ourselves? Stupid. Nothing has power over you unless you give it power. Wine, and food are just that, wine and food, not a powerful demon or savior.

I struggled with many excuses last week. And looking at the list now, I laugh. It is a silly and self-centered list. While all those excuses are valid feelings, none of them can really hold water, none of them are really truth. Time to give up the excuses and move forward. Nothing wrong with making excuses, it is human nature after all, but to hold on to them, that's when problems arise. So bag up your excuses and throw them away with me and lets move on. I am ready. Like I said last week, I know who I am and my weight has nothing to do with it. The only time it matters is if I let it get in the way of who I am, and give it power.

Oh, I almost forgot, big excitement last week! I wore real clothes when I treated myself and went out for lunch. Not leggings and a large shirt, but my skinny jeans and rocked them with my boots tucked in! Oh yes, I felt like a real person again, back my fashionable self. So I took a picture, because I was that freaking happy. Those jeans had been in my closet for over a year now, as I was unable to fit into them comfortably until last week when I was brave enough to try them on again. I may just be getting a hang of this weight loss thing after all. Cheers!

A Chocolate Lover's Wine, Valentine's Day, and a Twitter Tasting

2012-02-21T13:52:00.002-07:00

Valentine's day, an annual rush to show people that you love them, but only if you shower them with over priced gifts. Gotta love modern society, only if you buy your loved ones an expensive gift do you reveal your true feelings and love.

Since I have been married for almost 14 years now, and have a child, Valentine's day has long lost its allure for both me and the hubby. We have mutually decided, without really saying so, that we both really don't care about Valentine's day anymore, gift wise. I can't think of the last time we exchanged gifts, yet, we always create a nice meal together to show our love and commitment. And now it includes our little guy.

Last Tuesday, was a family cooking affair. My son and I mixed and baked the cheesecake cupcakes in the afternoon. He loves to bake, and for the same reason we all do, the lovely treat of licking the spoon once you are done. But actually he is good help. For the main coarse, the husband and I worked together while sipping on some of the Chocolate Shop wine I received as a media sample. Dinner was simple, hassle free, healthy, and delicious. A perfect way to celebrate Valentine's day in my book.

And speaking of the wine, I received two bottles of Chocolate Shop Red Wine, from Thirsty Girl, as part of a live twitter tasting I participated in Wednesday the 15th. Yes, you know I am a thirsty girl. I am not a novelty wine drinker however. I would rather spend my money on real wine, but since I was asked to participate, and received the wine for free, I figured I had nothing to lose.

Chocolate Shop is not a serious wine, by any stretch of the imagination yet, it is a simple treat to sip. The blend is based on red wine grapes such as Merlot, Syrah etc, yet the exact blend is still unknown since they did not revel the exact grapes during the tasting event, it is a proprietary secret. They blend in natural dark chocolate prior to bottling the wine to maintain the freshest chocolate flavor. An interesting concept for sure. I had never tasted a chocolate wine before, the whole idea really scares me. If I want chocolate and wine, then I usually grab a bar of dark chocolate and wash it down with a glass of Port. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this wine, because it was drinkable and not total crap like I figured it would be.

The wine actually paired very well with our meal, and was an excellent sweet balance with the dessert as well. I also had a glass after dinner, and it was a great way to cap off the night. During the twitter tasting, many skeptics (like me) were also pleased that the wine was tasty and drinkable, and not a sticky sweet, syrupy mess. Many tasters liked the idea of pairing the wine with savory dishes, because it would help to taper the sweetness in the wine and provide a nice counterbalance. Below I will include some of my tweets along with some from others who I believe had really great ideas. All in all, this wine is a good quaff, nothing amazing, nothing disgusting. Any sweet wine lover, would really dig this wine, and I could also see it as a great party wine, or as someone suggested, it would make a killer sangria.

Here are the tweets, followed by the menu I served on Valentine's day. Enjoy!

Tweets

*Wine Harlots Ok. The Harlot was a little afraid of the red chocolate wineas a concept. But in reality, it's tasty, a perfect book-club wine

*Great idea! @ChocShopWine would taste great if added to a chili orbeef stew for depth of flavor

*Great WITH ice cream....just a drizzle on it.

@DirtCheapWine: its like a tootsie pop in a bottle.<adult tootsie pops....like it

*This wouldbe wonderful with a fresh summer berry tart.

*@ChocShopWine pairs well with mushroom brie & sourdoughbread: the smooth savory cheese nice counter to the sweetness of the #wine.

* @ChocShopWinelike pouring a nice red wine on top of a bowl of Cherry Garcia ice cream.

*Yes, it also works wonderfully with driedcranberries & cherries.

* A sweet cherry nose for sure, kinda like those chocolate coveredcherries they sell like crazy at Christmas time and works GREAT with strawberries!

*The aroma is very Hershey's bar, very inviting

Menu:

Bread Salad with cranberries, spinach, and chicken

Cherry Cheesecake Cupcakes

Thank you and enjoy!

Happy 100th Birthday Arizona! Or how I stopped hating and learned to love this state

2012-02-18T09:35:00.001-07:00

Thank you Dr. Strangelove for the inspiration behind my title. And yes, I really did have to learn to love this state. It sounds weird, perhaps because millions of people move to and visit the Grand Canyon State every year. But for me me it has been a 33 year long journey to discover the magic of Arizona, and it took some good bottles of wine to make it happen.

Growing up, well more in high school and college, I wanted nothing more than to move and get out of what I thought was a crummy state. I pretty much hated everything about Arizona. I could not understand how anyone could actually think a cactus or the desert could be beautiful. To me they were dead and ugly things. Relatives would come to visit and actually take pictures of Saguaros, and I thought they were crazy. Seriously a cactus is ugly, why take a picture?

But, it's a dry heat....

Yes, AZ is green, and that's my hubby.

I did not get a chance to see much more than Maricopa County as a girl, and I hated Maricopa County. My dad was a Navy guy, and had already seen the world, and when he moved here with my mom they traveled the state together. Once he had us, he was done traveling, ready to settle down and raise his family. I resented that growing up, but now that I have a child of my own, I understand, traveling with kids is not the funnest thing is the world, especially when you have already seen it. I never really got to see what was so special about my native state until recently, which turns out to be a good thing. Because back then, with my bratty attitude, I probably would not have enjoyed and appreciated it anyway.

Being a native I think we all carry a bit of a chip on our shoulders for various reasons. The first is obvious, we are natives, and I think only about ten percent of the people in the entire state can claim that. And, I am a native from the west valley, and only about five people can say that. For most of my life I resented the fact that I was a native, mainly because of a certain group of people who move here, the second reason for the chip. So many people, and yes I am stereotyping here I know, move here for the weather, which naturally seems very strange to me. Have you lived through a Phoenix summer? It's not the most pleasant experience in the world. I mean really, you moved here so you could sweat your ass off by just standing. You moved here to enjoy a wonderful 115 degree day?

But now I realize everyone needs a change, and Arizona can provide just that change, a fresh start, a new environment to explore, a chance to discover and lay down roots. Even if the roots come from a desert Saguaro. Plus, I learned what cold really feels like in college, and since a very large group of people who move here, are here to escape harsh winters, I finally understood their desire for heat.

When I left my home town of Goodyear to go to college in Flagstaff, in the northern mountainous area of the state, I understood real cold weather and what it can do to your soul. Holy crap, I hated it! Freezing wind, 10 degree highs, and snow are not all they are cracked up to be! I still love the snow, but not to live with it everyday, and I still do not enjoy Phoenix summers by any stretch of the imagination, but I would take 115 over 10 degrees any day of the week. So yes, when college was done I was so happy to come back down the mountain and into the valley.

Pink boxes and silver foxes
I got over my issue with the heat, but I still resented retirement communities, snow birds, and big ugly box homes for the longest time. They were building homes where I once played, and had an unobstructed view of my favorite mountains, which really ticked me off. And the constant complaints about what Arizona was doing wrong and how it needed to be more like California, Chicago etc... was wearing thin. I am still not a fan of the box communities and the large amount of people they fill, but I have come to terms with them. I understand why people want to move here and get out of the snow, or the outrageously expensive property they once called home. For so long all I could see was the mistreatment of my homeland and my state and that set fire to my rage.

But here is the flip side, that I have opened my eyes to. My husband, and my parents are both transplants. My dad was from Buffalo New York, mom from Minnesota, and my husband from Idaho, all cold weather states. My parents were so excited to live here that on their car they had a sign that read, Phoenix or bust. Cute huh. They were sick of the cold and wanted a change in scenery, plus the job market was excellent here in the 1970's.

How wine saved Arizona, well to me at least
In the last year I finally got passed all my snobbishness including the people and box homes. Now yes, there is still a list of grievances with my home state, and I could make a really long list (starting with our horrible education system), but now at least the list is just as long on the positive side. And in a funny way it all started about a year ago when I started blogging about the Arizona wine industry.

I have traveled down some crazy dirt roads to find some of these wineries, located in little pockets of the state, just waiting to be tasted and explored. And the dirt roads are just half the adventure. Most of the winemakers are from somewhere else, yet, they share a passion for the state and it's booming industry that can only make a native like me proud. Most of the vintners really want to give back to the community and the state they call home. And wine is just part of the equation. The stories I have heard over a wonderful glass of Arizona wine, have really been inspiring, and assisted me in shedding that natives-only snobbery I had carried with me for so long. I never thought that by exploring the Arizona wine industry I would gain a new found love and appreciation for something I had tried so hard to hate and leave behind for most of my life. A big thank you to all the wonderful people who have invited me into their tasting rooms and homes, and shared a glass of their wine while telling me their stories, and love for what they are doing.

photo by Ben Ely Photo

Everyone is from somewhere, and I just happen to be from Arizona and still choose to call her home. This state is filled with people who truly are passionate about where they live and know the up and downsides of living here. As much as I have wanted to move away and find a new address, everything I love is right where I am now, and until that changes, Arizona is my home. She is a great place to live and thanks to my new found love of Arizona wine, I will continue to explore all the great hidden areas, taste some great local products, and share in the wonderful stories behind the glass.

So thank you Arizona wine, and thank you Arizona, happy birthday and here's to another 100 great years. Cheers!

Wii & Wine: Week 6: Time for the results.

2012-02-16T10:07:00.004-07:00

I must say I am pleased with this weeks results. I was up a little bit, but not in an alarming way, no reason to hit the panic button yet.

Here are the new numbers:

BMI 24.70
Weight 149.5
up 0.7 lbs from last week

I am giving this a thumbs up and down. Why? Well I think the slight weight gain is do to my extra water weight I carry this time of the month, but we will see for sure at next weeks weight in. But I never like a gain no matter what the circumstances, obviously. However, I was able to fit into a pair of size 8 jeans very easily. I did not have to do any wiggling, or extreme gut sucking in to button them. Huge deal, and I am very pleased with that. Hence the mixed reviews on the weight gain. Either way, here's to keeping a good attitude and moving forward. Cheers!

Wii & Wine : When did being curvy become a nice way to tell someone they are fat?

2012-02-15T10:10:00.001-07:00

Hard to believe it's been six weeks! Here we go, my weeks worth of meals and wine pairings along with an inside look at what is going on in that brain of mine! Enjoy.

Day: 36
Tuscan White Bean soup with a simple salad. This soup was even better the second day for lunch!
Exercise: 1 hr 15 min Cardio Box Class at YMCA

Day: 37
Chipotle Burger with Slaw, this burger has a great kick in the pants with the chipolte! I served the meal with extra slaw on the side and with veggies straws not chips.
Exercise: 45 min Wii NFL Training Camp and 15 min Wii Fit Plus

Day: 38

Dijon mustard chicken fricassee with a glass of Gumdale Chardonnay from Australia (pictured here). This was an excellent pairing and an excellent fruit forward clean Chardonnay. I found it at Total Wine
Exercise: 20 min Wii Fit Plus as warm-up and 25 min Gold's Gym Cardio Box

Day: 39
Barbecue pork sandwich with steamed broccoli, exchange meal with my sister
Exercise: 1 hour 3.5 speed walk on treadmill and 20 min yoga DVD

Day: 40
Herb rubbed steak with a parsnip puree. Pair with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon
Exercise: 40 min Wii NFL Training Camp

Day: 41
Kid's birthday party, so pizza, veggies, and fruit with a dip.
Exercise: 20 min Wii Gold's Gym Cardio and 40 min NFL Training Camp

Day: 42
Skinny Rubens and beets at mom's house. We paired it with Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling from Washington, a lovely pairing. The hint of sweetness in the wine played perfectly with the sauerkraut in the sandwich.
Exercise: none

Here's what I been thinking about.

My mom told me recently I am a deep thinker, a little scary if you ask me. Ha! But seriously, it did get me thinking about a ton of stuff the last couple of days, and yes, most of it did have to do with weight issues, but also just being honest about who I am and what this weight loss journey really means. Time to be real, like one of my new favorite artists Mandisa would say in her song, no more temporary fills, no more hidin'. Time to be brave.

Funny thing about losing weight, you never really arrive. It is very similar to becoming a Christian and giving your life to Christ. You think, once you do that, you have arrived and their is nothing else left to do. Or just the opposite, you believe once again it is all up to you to keep your salvation. Same thing with weight loss, once you arrive to your goal you either believe all your weight problems are a thing of the past or set a new goal, because now you need to be skinnier.

How funny is that! Believe me, I have reached my goals in the past and have done both things. But truth is, I am still alive, which means I will still have issues with food or my weight, the choice is now how do I deal with them once I reach my goal. Not striving so much for the perfect body, and accept a healthy but perfectly imperfect body.

In the past I have always had the feeling of being on a quest and I would conquer my weight, and slaughter off those pounds never to see them again. Once I finished my quest, I would rest on my throne of victory with the scale comfortably under my sword. I would never fear that scale or it's number again because I was the queen and it was my slave who would always listen to me regardless of what I put in my mouth. The numbers would always be favorable, who cares if I just ate an entire carton of ice cream, followed with a chaser of Port. The scale was my slave now.

That was my mind set. And with that mindset I allowed food and wine to once again be the victors, not right away, but slowly.

The problem is, you cannot see losing weight as a one time, done deal. If you are losing weight, that means you have a issue with food, and calorie beverages, and the problem is not what you eat, but why you are eating/drinking it. Once you reach your goal that is just the first hurdle. Ask yourself, during the losing process did you lose it the right way or was it a game you were playing with yourself, or a battle you were trying to win on your own? I have lost weight in the past, only to later realize I did not even begin to ask myself, why I was overweight in the first place. I did not like the way I looked, therefor I was fat, and I needed to trim down. I cut back on calories, but never examined my demons any further until now.

I have been "trying" drop pounds for over a year now, only to be always frustrated and fail at every corner. Lose a few and then gain them all right back. Why? I would ask, why do I always fail, why do I always give up, why can't I just be skinny? Am I fat? How do I look today? Am I losing weight? Does my butt look humongous? These would be the questions I would ask myself and my husband almost daily. Sickening yes, but very important to realize why I was asking those questions and then figure out the answer. And what is the answer you ask? Easy, weight, body image, good food, and wine, are not the answer. All these things will not make me happy, they have never made me happy, I will never be the perfect ideal body that I see I should be, no matter what.

And I don't want that perfect body, that is not who I am anymore. I am not the girl who looks in the mirror and always has something so grossly disgusting to say about how I look. How I look is not who I am. If I let that define me, I am nothing, nothing more than a pathetic girl looking for love in all the wrong places. I am loved by the One person who loves me no matter what my size. He also loves me, and does not want me to be a slave to my looks anymore, and for the first time since age 14, I am ready to listen. More importantly, I am ready to believe it.

I have been fighting with myself more this week. I believe because I want it all to be over, to lose the weight, get to my goals, and just rest. But that is not what this is about. Plus, I got a complement from a complete stranger this weekend, which makes me once again want to rebel, stupid I know, but that is what my mind does, hence the reason I need to nip it in the bud, and get back to the Truth.

And the Truth is, I cannot make my own salvation through food, booze, or a perfect body. My salvation is locked with Christ, and He just wants me to be free, and I just need to believe. I need to toss out the garbage where is belongs. The world is filled with body images of women whom we deem as perfect, bullshit. I mean really, I love Pintrest, but under the motivation boards are pictures of skinny, ass-less women, who look more like men with boobs then women. Women are supposed to be soft, we are supposed to have fat, a little pooch belly, maybe even dare I say it, some cellulite! If only we would get over the super muscular nonsense. Seriously, I do not want to look like a female version of Captain America, or a teenage boy. And since I have a man who is madly in love with me, regardless of my jeans size, I should thank my lucky stars and just take care of myself, both mind and body! I have curves damn it, and that does not mean I am fat. It just means I am exactly the way God meant for me to be. Period!

What wine pairs well with a grilled rib-eye? Well not this one.

2012-02-13T12:43:00.003-07:00

For those of us who live in the southwest, and more specially the desert region, this is the perfect time of year to grill. The weather is in the high 60's and 70's, and the grill just begs to be used. While most of the country is holed up in their houses using the oven all winter long, us Arizonans head outdoors and fire up the grill. Now don't get too jealous, come May through September, we head indoors and want nothing to do with being outside, that is unless we want to suffer from heat stroke while trying to grill a steak.

Last Friday, I made a yummy steak dinner. Now the steaks did not come out like I wanted, the meat itself was not of excellent quality however, everything else was really good. Well, everything but the wine too, but we will get to that later.

If you have not had the pleasure of eating parsnip puree, than I highly suggest you head out the store buy a bunch and whip yourself up this delicious treat. This puree could easily serve as a bed for any protein including fish, it is just that tasty. I like to use at least one Yukon gold potato, mainly because the starch in the potato serves as the glue to keep the parsnips together. Without the potato the puree can be running, not a texture you want. It is a great substitute, and a healthy substitute for the same old mashed potato routine. As you will see in the recipe, hardly any fat was added, and I have made it in the past without the small amount of butter and it tasted just fine, but the butter does add a great creamy component to the dish. I recommend the butter.

The herb rub on the steaks was my own making, and all the herbs came from my garden. I use fresh, but if you dry your own herbs, feel free to use dried herbs. You could also add a bit of oregano as well, as that is a terrific herb to marry with a great Cabernet Sauvignon.

Now about the wine. The one we drank (pictured to the left) was not really a Cab, more like a cheap but mildly tasty Merlot. The tannins were a no show, something we despertly needed with our rib-eye steaks. This was a in and out wine, some berry and plums character going on, but no finish and no complexity. Really this wine would be great as a party wine, something you know you could drink without thinking about it, and it would please just about any palate. Or this would be a cocktail wine, again something you would serve to drink before the meal, or after you get home from work, and just want a glass of wine to chill out with. However, with all that being said, I cannot recommend this wine if you are a Cab lover. To me it was a massive dissapointment, especially with the meal. But that's what you get when you go to BevMo! during the 5 cent sale and don't do you homework first. So look for a real Cab, one with nice juicy tannins that grip your tongue and don't let go. Click here for a great recommendation or search my blog under Cabernet Sauvignon,

Here are the recipes. Get your grill on and enjoy.

Parsnip and Potato Puree
serves 4-6
1 large Yukon gold potato or 2 small
4 parsnips
2 gloves garlic
16 oz chicken broth
water
salt and pepper to taste
a small pat of light butter (I use Land o' lakes)

Directions
1. Peel, and cut the potato and parsnips into 2 inch pieces, set aside. In a large saucepan, add the chicken broth, add the potato and parsnip, fill the rest of pan with water until everything is covered.
2. Bring pan to med-high heat until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer until all are soft or about 30 minutes. Reserve about 1 cup of the liquid. Add the hot potato and parsnip to a food processor, with the salt, pepper, garlic, and butter. Pulse 10 times, then slowly add the water until you get the consistency you desire. Serve as a bed to the steak, and enjoy!

Herb rubbed grilled steaks
serves 4
herb rub
4 fat leaves of basil minced
1 steam of rosemary minced
1 TBS parsley minced
3 gloves garlic minced
smoked salt and pepper to taste
1 TBS quality oil

1. Combine all ingredient in a bowl and set aside to rub on the steaks

For the steaks
4 rib-eyes or any other quality fat steak
herb rub

Directions:
1. Pre-heat grill on high for at least 5 minutes. Rub both sides of the steak with equal amounts of the herb rub. Set aside.
2. Place the steak on the grill, and close the cover. Grill on one side for about 5 minutes or until desired doneness. Open grill and flip the steaks. Close cover and grill for another 5 minutes. If you desire the cross hatch grill marks, flip steaks an addition time on each side on high heat for about one minute.
3. Take steaks off the grill and let rest for at least 5 minutes before cutting into. Place steak on a bed of parsnip puree, sprinkle a few mushrooms on top and enjoy!

Oven roasted broccoli
Wine glazed mushrooms

Thank you and enjoy.

10 Surprising Facts about Calories and Wine.

2012-02-10T07:59:00.001-07:00

I recently read these two articles and thought they would both be great to share with my fellow foodies, winos and weight loss champions. They should both help to clear up the confusion and noise that is out in the media about calories.

This first article is fabulous, something I have know to be true for a long time, but the newest diet plans are trying to get you to believe the opposite. The second article I found on twitter, from the blog Wine Folly. I added her blog to my blog list, so be sure to check it out. She is very honest and witty, which makes for a great read.

10 Surprising Facts about Calories | Yahoo! Health

What are the average calories in wine?

Thank you and enjoy!

Wii & Wine: Week 5- Results Time!

2012-02-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

This is going to be short and sweet because I am thrilled with my results and don't want to jinx them!

BMI: 24.79, back in the healthy zone!
Weight: 148.8, oh yea!
down 3.1 from last week!

Hard work, and getting back to basics really does pay off. I am so happy to have gotten below 150 again. I am also glad I did not throw in the towel last week after a bad weight in. Like I said last week and it is so true, it is not how many times you fall down that count, but how many you get back up. Weight loss can be hard, but it does not have to be difficult. It really comes down to your attitude and willingness to change. You can't have it all, no one can. Even the people whom you think can eat and drink whatever they want and not gain weight, really can't. It is all an illusion in you head, an illusion that keeps you down, and prevents you from moving forward. If you want to lose wight and keep it off, make the plan, get your head on straight and go for it. I know once I changed my attitude, everything else became easier, including losing those nasty pounds!

Thank you, and I look forward to next week!

Wii & Wine : A super week followed by a Super Sunday

2012-02-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

Here is my weekly dinner menu followed by my weekly thoughts. I enjoyed wine more this week, and had some incredible pairings! Enjoy!

Day 29

Photo by Ben Ely Photography

Pan Seared Tilapia with a citrus vinaigrette with a couscous salad and steamed broccoli served with Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand
Exercise: 1 hour 15 min cardio box class at the YMCA

Day 30

Ranch Steak Bruschetta salad. A very good salad for steak lovers.
Exercise: 40 min Wii NFL Training Camp

Day 31

Chili Pasta and Beans with a simple salad. Cut down on the spice if serving to kids, and add more once the kid portion is served.
Exercise: 40 min Wii NFL Training Camp and 20 min Gold's Gym Cardio

Day 32

Grilled adobo pork chops with rice and steamed broccoli. Exchange meal with my sister, the pork was really yummy!
Exercise: 40 min Gold's Gym Cardio Box

Day 33
Singapore Mai Fun with roasted asparagus served 2009 Adler Fels Gewurztraminer from Anderson Valley California. A perfectly balanced pairing! Magic pairing, so I will do a separate post on the recipe and the wine.
Exercise: 40 min Wii NFL Training Camp with 14 min Wii Fit as a warm-up

Day 34

Fajita Beef salad served with 2009 Garnacha de Fuego old vine Granache from Spain, (pictured above). This is one of my husband's favorite salad's, I have been making this for years. The wine is a nice, easy sipper for about $8.

Exercise: none

Day 35

Super Bowl Sunday! Not a fan of either team but a fan of football so of course I watched it. I made our football favorite, Super Nacho and served it with Segura Viudas Aria estate Brut cava from Spain. Another winner! Again I wrote a separate post with the recipe, click on the super nacho link above.
Exercise: 30 min Wii NFL Training Camp and 10 min Gold's Gym Cardio Box

So how did I do?

I titled this post super because it really was a great week. Everything, both eating and emotionally was on track and back to normal. I am not sure what the scale will say yet, as it is also my monthly gift week, but regardless, I will not let it get me down or distract me from my goal.

I did have to do a little repair work after my weigh in last week, but again nothing horrible. With tons of positive talking to myself, that I am more than a number on a scale, and that one or even two bad weeks does not define my life, or even my weight loss journey I fixed any negative feelings. The great thing about my little journal app is that right by the area where you record your weight, it has a little tab stating your weight trend. Well mine said, losing, even after a slight gain last week, so it was a great reminder every time I logged in, that I am overall losing weight. I needed that little boost to keep going.

I could have let the super bowl on Sunday drag me down or worse yet, given myself a license to pig out, but I didn't. And why? Because it is just a day, and even though our culture currently celebrates it as if it is an actual holiday on par with Christmas, I do not. I love football as you now know, and have been watching the super bowl with my dad since 5th grade. Actually, it was the Super Bowl winner, the 49ers, who beat the Denver Broncos that year, that spurred on my fan-ship and love for the 49ers. So yes, I have a long history of watching the Super Bowl, and don't see the need to be a hog or put the day on a pedestal either. It is one day, one game. No need to either worship the game, or the food, just because everything else out in the media is telling you too. That was my attitude, and I know it helped to keep my eating in check both on that day, and for the week. I ate only the serving size of chips, and smartly filled up on a salad before the nacho came out.

I did also enjoy more wine during the week. But again I kept it all in line with my calorie count. Many times during any week, I find myself wanting a treat of some sort. So I go searching the house for one, only to never find one, because I don't like keeping tempting stuff around for that very reason. But I realized, since I had a glass of wine on Monday with my meal, and I knew I would have wine Friday, it did level off that feeling for a treat later in the week. I will have to keep that in mind for the months to come. Plus, glory, glory, hallelujah, I was able to go to Sprouts and completely bypass the devil bins!

Yes, folks for the first time since I started this series, I actually met my goal of staying away from the Sprouts bins. And my oh my was it was a challenge. I did not realize the gravitational pull those bins have over me. I think I walked over and around those damn bins at least half a dozen times, trying to think of a reason to buy something, but a good valid reason failed to come into my brain. I even tried the whole, "Oh I will just buy these as a treat for my son," ploy, but I had to firmly tell myself no. I am surprised an employee did not call security on me for bin stalking. But once I walked out of the store with no bin treats in my bag, it felt so amazing. And you know, sometimes to first times you find victory in a behavior you have been working on changing, and every time thereafter you are challenged to return to the old habit, it becomes easier to say no. Sometimes you just have to prove to yourself that you can say no, and then it releases that weird hold that it has over you.

I am looking forward to another great week, staying on track both with a great attitude and outlook on food and wine. My challenge to you and I, tackle that one issue, like Sprouts bins, find victory, and then move forward knowing you can do it. Thank you and good luck!

Rocker, winemaker Maynard James Keenan sets AZ roots

2012-02-07T09:52:00.003-07:00

2/11: Rocker, winemaker Maynard James Keenan sets AZ roots

Arizona, rock star, and wine fans all collide this Saturday to hear one of the most famous Arizona winemakers speak. Check out the link above for more information. Cheers!

What wine can you serve with nachos? Well a cava of course.

2012-02-06T18:04:00.001-07:00

Interesting question, what do you serve with a simple yet, delicious food such as nachos or as in my case, super nacho. Well most men would say beer, and while that would be a good choice a nice pale ale, as a wine drinker I was curious. I love nothing more than a good wine and food match challenge.

I thought about it, what makes beer such a good pairing for all those flavors in the nachos? Well first, the beer serves as a great palate cleanser, and the carbonation helps with that. Then, the crispness of the beer, acts to balance with the spice of the dish, as well as the crunch from the chips. And finally, the saltiness of the chips and creaminess of the cheese act as a mirror to the flavors in most beers. Beer can be full bodied and it loves salt.

What did I come up with after mulling all these factors over? A beautiful, elegant, and very cheap ($8) Spanish cava from my favorite producer, Segura Viudas.

And you know what, the pairing was perfect. The wine did everything I wanted it to do and more because it is so yummy just on it's own. The bubbles played wonderfully with the saltiness and cava is the perfect palate cleanser. And again the creaminess of the wine mirror perfectly with the cheese and sour cream in the nacho dish. Plus, it is just so darn fun to drink sparkling wine. As most wine lover's know, sparkling wine is not just for celebrations, but is a terrific food wine. Most food's that pair well with beer will also go very well with any kind of quality sparkling wine.

Mom and I were happy campers eating nachos, drinking cava, and watching football. The men did indeed drink and enjoy their beer.

So here is the deliciously lighten up version of our favorite football food. This is my mom's recipe that I have made times, and found a way to lighten it up a bit, while this dish is still not health food, if you take it easy on the chips you can still eat a serving an not gain a million pounds.

And the wine is terrific just to have on hand, as it is readily available at most wine stores, and the price is killer, only eight bucks. I found my bottle at Total Wine. The cava was fermented in the bottle, as it says on the label, which always mean a quality wine, because they actually care to make the wine in the traditional method which is labor intensive but the quality is unmatched.

Super Nacho
serves 6-8

Ingredients:
3/4 lb of either pork or beef chorizo
3/4 lb of 99% lean ground turkey
1 onion diced
3 garlic gloves minced
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
salt to taste
1 16 oz can of fat free refried beans
4 roasted chilies minced seeds removed or 1 4 oz can of green chilies
3 cups reduced fat Monterrey jack cheese shredded
1 cup salsa
black olives, sliced
green onion,s sliced
1 cup reduced fat sour cream
1 large bag of tortilla chips

Directions: Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
1. Heat a large pan on medium high, add the onions and garlic, cook until browned. Add the two meats and the Worcestershire sauce, cook until golden brown. Salt to taste, set aside.
2. Spread out the refried beans on a large oven proof pan to form the base of the nachos. Next with a slotted spoon, add the meat on top of beans, spread out evenly. Put on the green chilies, sprinkle the cheese all over and then drizzle with the salsa.
3. Place the pan in the oven and cook for about 20-25 minutes or until all the cheese is melted. You could also serve this cold, just skip this step.
4. Remove from oven, spread the sour cream in the middle, and sprinkle with the green onions and olives. Place some the chips around the outside of the nachos pan, and serve the rest of the chips in a bowl. Serve and enjoy!

Thank you and enjoy. Remember sparkling wine is not just for toasting, it is the perfect everyday wine.

Jumping on the bandwagon with Apothic Red

2012-02-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

Typically, mom and I stay away from wines that the masses are drinking, not because we are wine snobs, but usually the masses like cheap, gulp-able wine that has no real wine quality. Case in point, Two Buck Chuck, a hugely popular wine that everyone was talking about and is really not wine at all, but people still buy it by the caseload.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with drinking cheap wine, or popular wine, if that is truly what you enjoy, but to jump on the bandwagon just because the everyone else is, in lies the problem. Drink what you like, not what everyone tells you to drink. Hence, we have both stayed away from Apothic Red, a great wine we found out, but everyone has been and is still drinking it.

I have been curious about the wine for some time, only because it is in every store that sells wine, and it is always under $10, a great bargain. Plus, many wine blogs that I respect have written about this wine and reviewed it favorably. And, the label is just so darn cool.

Mom finally picked up a bottle and served it up a couple weeks ago. And dare I say it hit the spot and was a magic pairing with the chili and cornbread. And the bonus, it was also a great after dinner sipper while watching some great playoff football action. The only bad part, my team lost, to the Giants. Oh well, at least the wine was not a heart-breaker. San Francisco 49ers, Super Bowl 2013!

For more on this wine and a great review please check out Bill Eyer of cuvee-corner and his review. He basically says everything I would, so why reinvent the wheel, plus his commentary is a fun read. However, below I have included my mom's chili recipe along with the corn bread recipe. Again, this was an awesome pairing, perfect for your Super Bowl Sunday Party (even if you are cheering for the Giants) or to warm you up during a cold winter's day.

Mom's Homemade Chili
(my mom's recipe plus a couple of additions I made)
1 lb ground turkey or lean beef
1/2 yellow onion chopped
4 garlic cloves minced
2 green bell peppers chopped
14 oz can of chopped fire roasted tomatoes in their juice
14 oz can of dark kidney bean rinsed and drained
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
1 14 oz can of Ranch Style beans do not rinse
3 tsp chili powder
20 leaves of fresh basil
1/4 fresh pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp Hungarian paprika

Directions:
1. In a large dutch oven put the chopped onions with small amount of oil and sprinkle some table sugar on top and caramelize for 10 minutes on low heat. stir occasionally
2. if using ground turkey add it with about 10 dashes of Worcestershire sauce. add bell pepper, garlic and meat return heat to medium and cook until meat is browned
3. If there is a lot of fat drain. add canned tomatoes through paprika. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and simmer for 20-30 minutes covered.

Mom's Homemade Cornbread
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 TBS baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup skim or 1% milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1 egg beaten

Directions;
Preheat oven to 400*
1. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and all wet ingredients in a small bowl
2. Add wet mixture to the dry and mix until just blended, do not over mix!
3. Pour into a greased 8 inch square pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until it comes out clean after inserting a toothpick in the middle.

Thank you and enjoy!

Wii & Wine: Results Time for Week 4

2012-02-01T09:39:00.000-07:00

Once I weighed myself I was really considering lying, but what purpose would that serve, besides I am working on changing how I view myself, and lying would not help that! This is my first thumbs down weigh in. Oh well, time to move on and get back to a thumbs up next week. Here are my new numbers.

BMI: 25.12
Weight : 150.8
up 1.5 pounds since last week.

Well they say the scale does not lie! And yes, I know that to be true. Yes, I could choose to lie to myself like I have so many times in a the past and say, it is just muscle Renee, so don't worry about anything. The problem with that thought process is, it gives me permission to not change my eating habits or any destructive behaviors, which then leads to more weight gain, and I get further and further from my goal. Yes, I could be getting more muscles and the muscle mass is replacing fat mass, but my goal is not become a muscle queen. I still have too much weight on my body for my frame, therefor, pounds still need to come off.

I could say a million different things to rationalize the weight gain, but it all comes down to a choice. Do I choose to recognize what I did as far as my eating patterns not being so great, and therefor get back to what I know I need to do, or again throw a pity party. Well as you read in my previous post, I have been there done that, and not going back. I already made my mistakes last week, and now the scale is letting me know, hey you got caught so cut it out if you want to reach your goal weight. Yesterday and Monday I got back to basics and I did not let the previous weeks attitude trickle into this week. And besides, now I can celebrate getting below 150 twice! It is all how you look at things, and I am choosing not to dwell on the negative but move forward and regain that momentum!

Thank you and good luck!

Wii & Wine: McDonald's, a Birthday Party, and a Pity Party

2012-01-31T08:38:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can hardly believe it has already been almost a month of Wii &Wine! Here is my latest list of dinner menus and my usual wise and whity commentary. Enjoy!

Day: 22

Meet my in-laws at McDonald's for my son's birthday. I hate this fast food chain so I brought along a mixed greens salad with one can of tuna and my favoirte honey mustard dressing to eat instead.
Exercise: Wii NFL Training Camp 30 min and Wii Gold's Gym 20 min

Day: 23

Simple Clam Chowder with a mixed greens salad. I used my own crab stock which really ampted up the yummy factor, and I would also use 2% milk not skim.
Exercise: Wii Gold's Gym Cardio 30 min and Wii Fit Plus as a warm up for 15 min.

Day: 24

Sweet Potato and Pecan Burger with roasted beets and potatoe wedges. Very good veggie burger, but caramelize the onions with a bit more sugar and on a low heat for at least 30 minutes.
Exercise: Wii Sports Boxing and Tennis for 50 minutes

Day: 25

Exchange meal: Tofu Veggie Stir-fry with rice. My five year old, really liked the tofu in this dish!
Exercise: Wii NFL Training Camp for 1 hour

Day: 26

Walnut Breadcrumb Pasta with a soft egg and Chandon Blanc de Nior Sparkling wine
Exercise: 1 Hour Cardio Box class at the YMCA with Vicki (love her and her class!)

Day: 27

Birthday Party! Homemade pizza with a salad and Captian American Cake washed down with Sangria
Exercise: 1 hour Wii NFL Training Camp

Day: 28

Don't laugh now, air-popped popcorn and more Sangria.
Exercise: walk the dog

So how did I do?

I would like nothing more than to tell you I did fantastic, never felt better in my life, I have this whole weight loss thing in the bag now after only a month. Now, that would not only be a lie but unrealistic. And here is why.

I did struggle with some old demons this week. It started off dealing with a problem I am sure most of us have encountered in our life, bonus family members, and birthday parties. To keep things on the down low I will refer to the stress as the "event". As we all know dealing with an "event" can be stressful and what do I want to do when stressed? Eat and drink. Luckily, I did not open any wine after getting home from the "event", and believe me it would have been at least a two bottle night. However, I did slip back into bad habits during the week, until I properly dealt with my stressed feelings. I am not sure if the habits will show up on the scale yet, however I know how they made me feel and react to food, and that is the problem.

I slip back into this bad habit when either I want to commit diet suicide or when I have some underlying stressors, which is snacking around on anything and everything. I have a pretty set schedule of when I eat, to keep this bad habit at bay, including snacks, now my son however is all over the map. He is the snacking king, as he often does not eat full meals because he cannot sit still for long enough. So I either leave out his food so he can go back to it later, or he asks for snacks all day long. Why am I telling you this, well because I will sneak his snacks or am tempted to eat every time he does regardless of my hunger level when stressed. And that makes me feel like crap, how do I add up a bit of this, and a taste of that, in my food diary. Well I don't, and then I am not accurate with my food intake which makes the scale and belly bulge slip upward. The issue with not knowing how to record my sneaky snacks is simple, I don't really think I have eaten that much, because overall I haven't, but in reality all those little samples add up and they add up fast on my hips.

Now I know I cannot be the only person in the world who does this. I know this is an easy bad habit that most mom's can fall into. I laugh at myself sometimes, because it is kinda like I am the official taste tester, you know to see if the food if okay for human consumption, or to taste for any poison like in the movie, The Princess Bride. Anyways, this is not a healthy behavior and one that needs to be nipped in the bud before it gets out of control.

By Thursday, after a big argument with my husband, I figured out what I was stressed about and how to get a handle on the snacking before any permanent damage was done. However, I still had some mental damage to attend to. And that was don't feel sorry for myself just because am not perfect, just because I slip into old bad habits. And yes, I, like so many dieters out there, strive for perfection without taking into account the real world and all the temptations and pitfalls daily life throws in your face.

Everyone, (well everyone I know) has weight issues to deal with and traps they frequently fall into, that is just life. The difference between falling on your face and staying down, and picking yourself back up is rather easy. Stop throwing yourself a pity party, nobody wants to come but you anyways. Believe me, I have tried and tried to get my poor husband to all my pity parties, but he just refuses to RSVP. The longer you stay down the longer it takes to get back to good habits. Realize you will fall and that is okay. It is not about how many times you fall but how many times you pick yourself back up, adjust your attitude and move forward. Nothing good ever comes out of a negative attitude, nothing. And you make everyone around you miserable, and they then all wish your were fat again and because then at least you were pleasantly plump and where more fun to be around. The people who love you and have supported you through your weight loss suddenly and unknowingly try to sabotage you, because you are making them so miserable with your loser attitude.

So my challenge to you and myself this week is, get back to a good and healthy attitude on weight loss. And remember if you fall, who cares, get back up and everything will be okay. Remember, only One person was born perfect, and it wasn't you.

Wine Lover's Approved Sangria

2012-01-30T13:37:00.004-07:00

Wikipedia photo

Sangria gets a bad rap among wine lover's. I am not sure why, except if you buy the store bought stuff, which is nasty and just a step above kool-aid. The homemade wine punch can be quite delicious and very refreshing.

I love my mom's sangria and always have. It was the drink of choice at my wedding, and every Forth of July celebration I look forward to gulping it down while playing pool volleyball. Plus, if you are every gifted Merlot or cheap wine, the best solution besides getting a new friend, is make some sangria.

I have made a handful of other recipes, but I always come back to my mom's. Living in the Valley of the Sun, sangria can be pretty much enjoyed year round. Hence, I just whipped together a batch this past weekend to serve to my family at my son's birthday party. And the best part, I put to use those lemons and oranges on my tree and my huge lavender bush to good use.

And the lavender lemonade is amazing! That was a happy accidental addition to my mom's recipe. My husband was making the lemonade for the nonalcoholic drink and had about a cup left that would not fit in the pitcher. I tasted it, then added a shot to my the sangria I had in my cup, and ohhh it was good! You can eliminate that ingredient if you want, just add an extra lemon and a bit more sugar. But I highly recommend you add the lemonade!

Hey, being a parent for five years, is worth a celebration. And a celebration calls for great company and good booze. Well here is the recipe, please enjoy and cheers!

Sangria

3 Liters of cheap red wine (I use Merlot, and by cheap I mean the stuff you would be embarrassed to be seen with).
1 cup Triple Sec
16 oranges
8 lemons
1 green apple
1 cup sugar
1 cup lavender lemonade

Directions:
1. Cut half of the oranges and all the lemons and green apple into thick slices then quarter them. Add the fruit to a very large ice tea pitcher. Add the sugar and gently mash until all the sugar is mixed in.
2. Pour the wine, and triple sec on top, stir gently. Next juice the remaining oranges and add to the pitcher, along with the lavender lemonade. Stir and set aside overnight or at least 8 hours in the fridge. Stir again before serving and pour over ice and enjoy!

Thank you and enjoy!

Three Hoots for California Cabernet Sauvignon and Steak

2012-01-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

High end California Cabernet Sauvignon is typically out of my price range. I love the stuff, and will buy a bottle as a treat every now and again, but as you know by now I am the bargain hunter wino.

As a thank you for being interviewed last year with Three Hoots winery, they sent me a bottle of their reserve Cabernet. I held on to the bottle for a while waiting (like I do all too often) for the perfect occasion and meal to pair it with. My husband looked in our wine fridge one day and said, "Hey we have that Cab in here, and you just bought some nice steak, let's have steak and this wine tonight." And this was on a Wednesday. My thought was, no way! I will not open a $50+ bottle of wine in the middle of the week. I have all sorts of weird ideas on how and when a bottle of wine should or should not be drank, and mostly due to cost. However, this wine cost me nothing, so I finally reconsidered.

By the way here is my interview:

I flipped open a fabulous cookbook, Food and Wine magazines 2008 Annual and found the perfect recipe. And the pairing was perfect, magic indeed. I mean you basically cannot go wrong with steak and California Cab, the two were made for each other on so many levels. The rich char you can get on a grilled steak, matched with the juicy tannins in Cali Cab are just divine. Needless to say, this pairing made a boring middle of the week day into a yummy restaurant experience. If you would like to know more about this terrific winery please click on this link. Also, a fellow blogger, Bill Eyer of Cuvee-Corner, whom I respect also did a review on this wine and you can read it here.

Next are my wine notes and the excellent menu:

Photo by Ben Ely Photography

Three Hoots Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2008 Napa Valley California
$65 but again I received the wine as a gift.

The nose on this wine was very inviting and tons of stuff going on. Everything you would want to smell in a great Cab is on this nose. Tobacco, currant, plum, soft pepper mixed in with some good herbal and vanilla notes. With the steak the wine really took off and all the gorgeous vanilla flavors really shined. This wine will dry out your tongue like a good Cab should, so it is not a cocktail wine, unless of coarse you like the parched tongue action. The finish was very elegant and really softened up into some nice juicy plums and blackberries. The sweet potato hash was also excellent with the wine. The bacon added to the richness of the wine and the sweetness of the onions and potatoes again brought out that beautiful vanilla tone in the wine. This wine is pricey, not something I would normally pick up, but if this is your price range, go for it. This is a well made wine, and would love nothing more than to be served with this menu.

Menu

Grilled Strip Steaks with Sweet Potato Hash Browns

Grilled Zucchini

Thank you and enjoy!

Wii & Wine: Results Time for Week 3.

2012-01-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

This week I started to lack the zeal and enthusiasm for recording all my calories on my fun little app, caloriecounter.com. However, I am pleased to say I still recorded two weekends, Friday and Sunday and did not throw in the towel for the whole week. I had to force myself to sit down and get everything punched in, but I did it! And I am so thankful I did not give up because I hit a huge milestone!

Here are my latest numbers:

BMI: 24.87 (I am finally in the healthy range!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Weight: 149.2 (I am under 150!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
I lost 1.3 since last week:)

A humongous thumbs up to me this week. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but afterall this is my blog. For one, I did not sabotage myself, even though I wanted to more than once a day everyday! Secondly, I hit the healthy zone for my BMI and my avatar on the Wii Fit is now smaller and I got a congratulations for hitting that goal. And thirdly, it is nice to know that I can keep going and not give in when things started to get difficult.

Finally and most importantly, I wore a pair of jeans this weekend, again a huge accomplishment. I have not been able to fit comfortably in any of my jeans in over a year. I refused to buy a larger pair, so basically I have been living in leggings and tunics for the last year. It felt absolutely terrific to slip on those jeans, button them without the feeling of dread, and walk out the door looking like a normal member of society, not someone hiding her figure. Plus, when I put on my outfit, my husband had the biggest smile on his face. He told me how proud he was of me, he knows what a big deal jeans are to a women, and told me how good I looked. That was huge, not only did I believe him, it did just feel amazing to get those damn things out of the drawer and on my butt! So yes, yea me!

Looking forward to next week, and thank you once again!

Wii & Wine: Week 3: Exercise does not always equal weight loss

2012-01-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

This week I have decided to only include my meals and wines without reviews. I figured this post was already long, so I will be writing up a separate post about any fantastic wine and food pairings I had during the week. Again, I am still playing with the overall format of this series, thanks for your patience. So please read and enjoy!

Day : 15

Broccoli, Cheese, and Chicken Casserole with a salad. This is the lighten-up version of my mom's recipe which is our family favorite comfort food.
Exercise: 1 hour 15 min Cardio Box Class at the YMCA

Day : 16

Dijon Croque Monsieur with green beans. Only make this recipe if you have a non-stick pan, otherwise this sandwich will become a horror story.
Exercise: 35 min Wii NFL Training Camp and 30 min Wii Fit as a warm-up

Day: 17

Soft Serve Frozen Yogurt from a local place Blue Agave. They use blue agave as a sweeter in the plain flavor, a great healthy touch.
Exercise: 35 min NFL Training Camp with 20 min Wii Fit as a warm-up

Day: 18

Meal exchange with my sister Chicken with capers and a potato and brussel sprout salad
Exercise: 20 min Gold's Gym Cardio and 30 min Wii Fit

Day: 19

Risotto with porcini mushrooms and mascarpone and a poached egg on a bed of mixed greens. Wine: Sand-Reckoner Rose and Lulu B. Chardonnay
Exercise: 35 min NFL Training Camp

Day: 20

Homemade hummus and cheese crisp and raw veggies with hummus (this hummus is so freakin' good)
Exercise 40 min Wii Biggest Loser Challenge

Day: 21

Mom's Chili with cornbread Wine: Apothic Red
Exercise: walk to dog before football time.

So how did I do?

Well this week I have decided to talk about exercise and my Wii program. I could talk about food stuff and self sabotage, but maybe I will delve into that next week.

I am the girl who used to hate the word exercise and saw it as a form of self torture and brutal work. I hated to sweat, it just felt so gross and disturbed me to have something drip down my nose. And worst yet, I hated to exercise with people around, because I don't sweat enough, my face turns the color of the Sedona red rocks and stupid people would always ask me why I was so red. It irritated me so much, that I confined myself to I only working out at home or in a swimming pool. Plus, exercise was so boring, and I asked myself, why I am doing this much work and not training for anything? I was an athlete throughout high school, so once that part of my life was over, exercise seemed silly and pointless. Why sweat if you are not working on getting better times or faster on the court?

Enter college and marriage, and I soon realized I need to do something or as a budding physical education teacher I was going to be a laughing stock. How could I teach about exercise and being healthy if I was a couch potato and looked like one?! I discovered Tae-Bo, and never looked back! I loved that stuff! It fed my inner athlete and competitive spirit. I could kick, and punch with the best of them, even if I still looked like a girl doing it. I have a very mean competitive drive and always want to win or be the best at any athletic activity, so working out at home punching and kicking my butt into shape just made sense to me. Plus, no one could see me, and ask why my face was so red.

Enter modern day. I love the stupid Wii workouts for the same reason I fell in love with Tae-Bo. Actually, they are not stupid, I just feel like a nerd working out with a video game system. The best part of these games, you earn points to "buy" stuff! And you earn a score based on your performance during the workouts! The Gold's Gym Cardio and the NFL Training Camp are my favorites right now. My husband laughs at me after the workout, because I buy new outfits for my avatar and dress her up every time. It is a girly touch for sure and I love it!

Plus, the Gold's Gym is basically boxing, I can beat someone up and feel good about it. The NFL Training Camp is great because as a football fan since 5th grade, I can choose my team, hello 49ers and dress in all 49ers gear! And I just like the type of workout is gives, feels like you are training for something because they are all sports related drills, so once again I can tap into my inner athlete. My husband likes the NFL one too, so we can workout together, a big bonus for me. If you are looking for two great Wii workouts, I highly recommend these two. Each workout is fun, plus it kicks your butt in all the right ways. And yes, ladies you can buy and wear a new outfit every time, including shoes.

So what is with my title? Well, since I have become a recent exercise queen and could be called an addict at times, I have realized you cannot exercise your butt off. Television shows like the Biggest Loser, lead the average person to believe that through producing enough sweat to fill a small lake, you can lose all the weight you want. What they do not show, because I am sure it would be super boring and not as dramatic as watching obese people cry and fall off treadmills, is the diet. The contestants are on a diet of only about 1,200 calories a day and literally workout all day. What else do they have to do without jobs or kids around. So even though you may know this, like I do, you can still easily fall into the trap that you can exercise off any excess calories. Which is totally untrue. Only the super lucky, which is a super small percentage of people, can eat as they wish, exercise, and still maintain a healthy weight. If you notice, many aerobics instructors are not the skinniest women in the room and they workout for a living.

It takes burning and cutting 500 calories a day to lose about one pound of fat a week. Now you can combo that with exercise, but just remember it is more about what you put in your mouth than what you can burn off. Case in point, the other day I worked out for about 40 minutes at a really hard pace, how many calories did I burn, about 200. My snack, which took me less than five minutes to eat was 140 calories. Yes, you can let that defeat you. But you know what, if you like to exercise and you find it fun and enjoyable, than go for it, you will reap tons of benefits. I exercise now because I like the way it makes me feel, and it is a solid 40 minutes a day that I spend on just myself.

But every dieter has to keep this in mind, you cannot exercise your butt off no matter how hard you try, unless you go on one of those weight loss shows and you are transported out of the real world. But since most of us live in the real world, if you want to lose a few pounds, eat right, count your calories, and fit in some exercise. My butt has not gone away yet, even after completing both P90X and the Insanity workouts! My butt actually got bigger because I believed the lie that I could eat more since I was working out so much! Lesson learned the hard way.

So good luck and here's to working hard with a great attitude and getting great results!

Sunset Wine & Spirits Grand Tasting Event

2012-01-20T09:06:00.001-07:00

I had an unique opportunity to be part of a wine tasting with a new and upcoming wine distributing company. And how I was invited is a great example of the importance of talking to people, and not just your phone, about what you love.

The executive wine buyer, Dennis Brosseau, a former Total Wine employee, called me up and asked if I was available to taste some new wines that his company is considering distributing. I had only known Dennis for a couple of months, but we soon became wine friends through our mutual love for the stuff.

Dennis was always the guy behind the tasting bar, at Total Wine, pouring the wines and greeting people with a smile. After several visits, he found out I love wine and was writing about Arizona wine (he has a small vineyard in Northern Arizona), soon a wine friendship developed. Sadly, too many people in the West Valley adore only the sweet overly sticky wines, so often I stand out due solely to the fact that I am the only one tasting the dry wines. From there on every time I went into the store, he would tell me about a new wine he discovered, or we would discuss the crazy Arizona weather we had and its effects on the vines.

He was taking a trip down to southern Arizona one weekend and asked my advice on who to taste and who to steer clear of. I was thrilled when he returned and told me how much he loved one of my favorites, Lightening Ridge Cellars down in Elgin. Then he let me in on a little secret, he was going to open his own distribution company, something he had been working on for a number of months. He asked if I would like to be part of his wine tasting panel. Oh jeez, twist my arm a little more please. Sure I said, and low and behold I was called up a few weeks later for the first event.

The offices are located in Scottsdale, at least an hour's drive from Goodyear, so not the best location for a girl who hates to drive, but hey I have driven a lot further for less than free wine. The overall experience was great and Dennis is a terrific host and very knowledgeable about wine. I sat at a table with Dennis' daughter and husband, which was great. They were a fun couple, great to talk to, and total regular people, not the wine snobs you sometimes get suck sitting with at tastings.

We tasted eight different wine, mostly from the Pacific Northwest from little boutique wineries. I highly enjoyed three of the eight and took home two of the bottles, both of which my husband also quickly consumed. After the wine tasting portion was over, they then whipped out some new tequila, and by new, I mean new to the market. Not so sure it was the best idea to taste tequila after wine, but other people did sure seem to enjoy themselves. Me, I took a tiny sip of one sample, and only smelled the rest. I am not crazy enough to think I could handle both wine and tequila in one night, that ship has sailed. However, from the mood of everyone else, I could tell the stuff was quite good. It always amuses me how wine "tastings" can quickly turn into wine guzzling. I always find the comedy in the fact that wine drinkers have this quasi sophisticated air about them, yet at their first opportunity, they drink wine just as fast, if not faster than any other non-fancy alcohol drinker. Hence the term wino.

So here are the two wines I enjoyed the most, and if you see them in a wine store be sure to pick them up and give them a try. Both wines are in the $20-$25 range.

Villa Toscano estate bottled Viognier from Sheandoah Valley California 2009
I am very picky about Viognier, because I was spoiled with my first introduction to the grape. The wine's origins hail once again from France where it is crafted to perfection. The wine is so gorgeous and intoxicating with a honey like core and texture. It is the Marilyn Monroe of the wine world in my opinion, absolutely stunning in every curve, sexy, and full bodied. My first taste was from the master's of this grape and I have not been happy with anything since that first sip. Most stateside offerings just lack that all important texture. Of coarse, if I am willing to shell out another $30 or more I can recreate that lovely experience, but that is not in my current budgetary plans. That being said, I was pleased with this California offering. It had that sexy honey core, with the great texture that I so enjoy, like whipped butter. The acid was nicely balanced, and the finish was terrific, long and vibrant. An excellent choice for Viognier fans or for those looking for a new varietal.

Hard Core 2005 Santa Barbara County red wine blend, 60% mourvedre, 25% grenache, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Hard to image why I would like this wine! A Rhone blend with outstanding structure and sweet berry undertones. Mourvedre is quickly becoming a star grape on my list, Arizona winemakers are doing outstanding things with the grape so I am learning more and more about it. This heavy Mourvedre blend had tons of tannins but they were soft not overwhelming, and will stain your teeth a gorgeous shade of purple. I, of coarse also enjoyed the wonderful wet dirt taste on the finish, yes I love a dirty wine! Again if you see this wine on the store shelves be sure to pick it up, along with a nice steak.

I look forward to another invite to swirl and taste some new wines. And best of luck to Dennis and his new company!

Thank you and enjoy!

Week 2 : The results are in - The weekly weigh in

2012-01-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

The results are in again! I was a little nervous I must say about this weigh in, not because I felt like I was awful or gained weight, but week two has always made me nervous. It is the week when, if I have been on track and doing well, I have a sadistic urge to sabotage myself. Plus, I as women I am blessed with a lovely monthly gift that just completely messes with my state of mind.

So what are the numbers? Here ya go, and I must say I am pleased once again!

Weight: 150.6
BMI: 25.09
Lost just under one pound:)

Now comes the hard part, not sabotaging my good work and attitude. In recent history, every time I get near to breaking the 150 pound barrier, the first thing my mind says is, "good now you can relax and celebrate a little bit." And what happens next, weight gain, followed by a loser attitude and thoughts of failure and despair. Well not this time, I have decided! I do not need to define my successes and failures by what I have done in the past or think I will do in the future. Besides, I have always lost weight for the wrong reasons, as my mom so nicely pointed out to me last week. And those reasons have been to be the hottest girl in the room, to be some sort of sexy wife/mother, or look like all those girls on the magazine covers. All totally stupid and self-centered reasons. I have changed the motivation for why I want to lose and maintain my weight, so I should also change how I have looked at week 2 historically. I am doing this to be healthy and to have a proper attitude both on how I look and how I handle food and wine. And so far I am doing pretty dang good at it, so why try or think I will try to sabotage myself. If my train in moving forward than why derail now just because I think I will or have to. Nope not this time!

I look forward to this week and to next weeks results.

Thank you!

Wii and Wine: Week 2: Review Time

2012-01-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

Weekly Diary
Month 1 Week 2

Day 8:

Buttermilk oven fried chicken with roasted potatoes and coleslaw

Exercise: 1 hour 15 min Cardio Box class at the YMCA

Day 9:

Southeast Asian Fried Rice (this was an excellent chioce for anyone who loves fried rice)

Exercise: 45 min NFL training camp and 15 min Wii Fit yoga

Day 10:

Caribbean shrimp salad (this was so good and would have loved an Albarino white wine to complement it)

Exercise: Wii Gold's Gym Cardio for 20 minutes

Day 11:

Thai beef salad (made by my sister, we do a weekly meal exchange every Wednesday)

Exercise: 30 min Wii NFL Training Camp and 20 min Wii Gold's Gym

Day 12:

Golden Winter Soup, side salad with mixed greens drizzled with champage vinegar and pumpkin seed oil topped with a TBS of pumpkin seeds. Served with 2009 Castle Rock Pinot Nior from California $9.99

This is one of the few Pinot Noir's under the $10 range that is always worth the money. Most of the time if you see a Pinot Noir under ten bucks, my advice is to walk on by, unless you can taste it first. This one always delivers great Pinot taste and satisfies even the pickiest Pinot lover. The wine was wonderful with the soup as it complemented the earthy quality of the cheese. The texture of the soup and wine were also sung a beautiful song together. Terrific pairing.

Exercise: 30 min Wii NFL Training Camp and 20 Wii Fit as a warm up

Day 13:

Mom's Spaghetti and meatballs with green beans and freshly baked bread, served with Page Springs Cellars and Vineyards 2010 SGMP ( I will be doing a separate post on this meal since the paring was outstanding)

Exercise: 45 Min Wii Gold's Gym Cardio Box

Day 14:

Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken with brown rice and snow peas served with the amazing Sand-Reckoner Rose'

This TJ's meal is really good, the only pre-made frozen food I ever eat. It is our to-go meal if we are too lazy to cook or have an empty fridge, we always keep this dish on hand.

No exercise, just walked the dog before football

So how did I do?
Last week my goal was to journal at least one full day over the weekend, and I am happy to say I meet that goal. I journaled all Friday and Saturday. It was not easy, I had to make myself do it just to prove that I could do it. And it was a good thing I did because, I found out that I need to save more calories for the weekends. Something I already knew, but like anything, without the hard evidence you can conveniently forget. And it seems like Saturday is my big food and wine day. So now I know and can plan accordingly.

That is the best part about tracking what you eat is, you can figure out any eating patterns and then formulate a plan to deal with any issues. Sometimes your plans are genius and work right away, and other times it takes tons of tweaking. I have not come up with a big grandiose plan yet, but I will be thinking about one in the next couple days and then see if it works or Saturday.

One big change I know I need to make is the Sprouts bin treats. I love those stupid bins, but they are not very helpful when you are trying to slim down. And Wednesday, for some reason has always been the day I want to give myself a little treat and it is also the day I go grocery shopping at Sprouts. The last row of bins are the most tasty and tempting, therefore I need to steer clear of that isle. In addition, since that is the day I like to treat myself I should add wine to my evening dinner. That way I have something to look forward to at the end of the day, and it can help me to stay clear of those devil bins.

I did struggle a bit in the middle of the week with munching around. Once again, I know it has to do with not really planning a big calorie day. Now that I know my big calorie day is going to be Saturday it should help with the munching during the week. Like I said last week, it is important to include your favorite foods/drinks into your life but, you need to be smart about how you go about that. I also noticed I saved all my wine drinking for the weekend, again not the best plan. I am usually better off if I space it out during the week, that way I am not tempted to overindulge once I open a bottle. I did not over do my wine intake, however I like to stay to one or two glasses a night, and a couple nights I had three. So not horrible, just not where I would like to be.

Overall, I feel so much better both physically and mentally. It is very refreshing to have food and wine back in it's approprate place on the priority list. My energy and mental well being are both up and in the healthy zone. I am not thinking about how fat I am, how I look compared to other women, and better yet, not always thinking about my next meal or treat. Next week's goals are to do the same, log at least one weekend day and keep my healthy attitude. And yes, find a solution for my big calorie day and make it worth the extra calories.

And the whole month of menu planning, I love it! I must say, it is a brilliant idea on my behalf. And I am still loving my Wii exercises. I will talk more about the Wii next week.

Thank you and enjoy!

Wineabit.net, my new home.

2012-01-16T13:44:00.002-07:00

Big news for my blog today. I finally purchased my very own domain name. Now I am fancy-schmansy and oh-so special.

All my blogger stuff is still found on blogger.com, but can also be found on wineabit.net. Let me know if you have any issues. Everything should smoothly transition.

Stay tuned for more Wii & Wine, current Arizona wine industry news, and of course all new delicious food and wine pairings. All this and more at my new home on the world wide web. Don't forget to wine a bit...

Faux Food vs. Real Food

2012-01-13T08:58:00.002-07:00

I found this great article in an email newsletter I receive from caloriecounter.com. Something my mom has been stressing to my sisters and I for a long time now. Eat real food! Even real sugar over the fake stuff, you will feel more satisfied and still attain your weight related goals!

Faux Food vs. Real Food

Thank you and enjoy!

Wii and Wine: Week 1 Review

2012-01-11T04:30:00.000-07:00

Weekly Diary
Week 1 Month 1

At first I thought about typing in all my foods here on the blog, however that idea was quickly nixed. Namely because I thought it would be incredibly boring to read, and I don't want to bore or waste your time. I decided instead to write down my weekly dinners and any wine parings. I linked all the dinners to the Cooking Light website so you can recreate any of the meals at home. I also have included my daily workouts, just to help myself keep track of what I am doing. At the end of each post I will reflect on the week and share my thoughts and feeling on how I am doing so far. Bear with me please if this is too long or whatever. I am still trying to figure out the best way to present this information. So here we go, the first week!

Day 1:

Guadalajara burger* with 10 wheat thins and salsa, washed down with a glass of skim milk

1 dried papaya spear

*used some incredibly delicious free range organic beef from a local ranch Mesquite Bean Beef.

Exercise: 1 hr 15 min cardio box class with Vickie at the YMCA and 30 min on Wii Fit

Day 2:

Fettuccine Alfredo with bacon and a simple side salad with reduced fat honey mustard dressing (my favorite is Ken's Light options) finished with a glass of skim milk

Exercise: 56 minutes on the Wii Fit and 30 minutes on the Gold's Gym Cardio Box

Day 3:

Mexican Casserole with roasted broccoli and a glass of skim milk

Exercise: 30 min on the Wii Gold's Gym Cardio Box and 30 min on Wii Fit

Day 4:

Thai Style Chicken with noddles with a glass of Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

(this was a good pairing, at first I was not impressed as I served the wine too warm. However, after I chilled it a little longer the acid in the wine was an excellent palate cleanser, and brought out the brightness of the dish. Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand is my husband's favorite white wine. This one always delivers and is widely available for around $12)

Exercise: 20 min Wii tennis and 30 min Cardio Box

Day 5:

Lemony Chicken Saltimbocca with polenta and steamed green beans dressed with a drizzle of olive oil. I served this with i vegneti di Albino Armani Pinot Grigio from Venezie Italy, 2 glasses

(This was a great pairing! I am not a Pinot Grigio fan at all, and usually avoid the stuff like a plague. Grigio was a wine I drank lots of when I was first getting into wine, and drank enough crap to fill a small cellar. Typically if I need a Pinot Grigio, I usually veer towards a Pinot Gris. The flavors are always better and the wine is usually made by a winery that knows what it is doing, and not crafting cheap mass produced stuff. With that being said, I gave Grigio another shot and my mom pick up a lovely one from Total Wine selected by one of the employees. Needless to say, it was terrific on it's own, and outstanding with the meal. The wine was crisp and bright with great depth, exploding with tropical and peach flavors. It mirrored very well with the lemon in the sauce and with the earthiness of the prosciutto, a real winner!

Exercise: Wii NFL Training camp 20 minutes and Wii Fit for 40 minutes

Day 6:

Fish and chips with one hush puppy, a 1/2 serving of Alexia's fries, and coleslaw, all washed down with 1 glass of Tap Room No. 21 Brewing Company Pale Ale beer.

(you have to have beer with fish and chips according to the husband, and this beer tasted great with the meal. Not a huge beer drinker, but I enjoyed this one with the meal. Crisp and refreshing and a nice balance with the crispness of the fish.)

Exercise: 30 min Wii Cardio Box

Day 7:

Mom's house: She made a roasted pork lion with caramelized carrots, red cabbage, a leek and onion confit, and roasted potatoes. She served it with one of our newest value Pinot Nior finds, Veramonte from Chili. I will be doing a post on this wine next week.

Exercise: none- body needs at least one day off.

So how did the first week work out?
I would say pretty good, overall I made much better food choices and really thought about what I was going to eat before it went into my mouth. I know you are wondering looking at my meals, how is she going to lose weight eating fried fish, hamburgers, and fettuccine alfredo? Simple I say, these are all food I love (except for the fried fish, that was a meal I owned to my husband after losing a bet), however I have found through Cooking Light, how to make them healthy. Every recipe was both nutritious and good for you if, you both followed the recipe and portion size.

The first week I was not going to write down points or calories on anything I ate, just writing the foods down was a huge first step. I have been rebelling from doing the whole journal thing for a while, namely because I was lazy and did not want to face the truth of what I was eating. I found a fantastic app for your iPhone or iPod, caloriecounter.com. I started using it on Sunday and love it! It gives you options to scan the food bar code, type in the calories, or speak to it to find the foods in the database. The reason I love it, the ease of use and huge food database. I have tried many other wight loss tracking apps and websites in the past and have always found them to be clunky, and overly complicated. So far, I have tracked my foods by either typing in the calories or using the talking method and both have been really great.

Another great idea I came up with is a new menu planning scheme. I actually do not mind planning my dinners for the week, it just makes life way more simple. So I took that idea a step further and planned for the entire month of January. I busted out my January issues of Cooking Light, printed out a calender and plotted out the entire month of dinners. That might sound overwhelming at first, but I watch football all day on Sunday anyways, so it just gives me something productive to do while being a couch potato.

I still struggled to write down everything on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I wrote about half of Friday, none from Saturday, and half from Sunday. I was a little mad at myself initially, but decided to cut myself a break. I am not striving for perfection here, just doing my best to make healthy and smart eating desisions. So my goal for this weekend is, write down one full weekend day's of foods.

And it may look like I am an exercise queen but, my husband was home on winter break, so I had allot more time on my hands to exercise and explore the workouts on the Wii. I do not see this week looking the same since he went back to work and my schedule is now back to being a little busier.

That's it! Let's keep this train rolling!

Thank you and have a great day.

Wii and Wine: Truth in Numbers: Weekly Weigh in #2

2012-01-10T11:57:00.003-07:00

Great news! Numbers went down! Which means I lost most of the weight I put on during the stressful holidays. I am now only 2 pounds away from being in the healthy BMI zone. So without further ado here are my new numbers:

BMI : 25.23
Weight : 151.4 :)

All this means that tracking your foods (with or without the calorie amount) and exercise along with keeping the stress levels down can lead to weight loss success. All things I already knew, but chose to forget about in the last last year or so. Silly me, but hey, it keeps life interesting always looking for the magic weight loss pill.

Also I did drink wine three days last week, however the key was to stick to only one or two glasses a day. And if you are a women, it is important to note, if you are going to drink wine with your meal make sure you are still getting in your dairy/calcium. The best way I have found to accomplish that goal is, to have a glass of milk with breakfast or lunch and yogurt as a snack.

Looking forward to next week!

Page Springs Cellars and Vineyards: More than just great Arizona wine

2012-01-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Wine and life can imitate each other very well. All the ingredients in life and in wine need to be balanced to create perfect harmony. Once you find that balance, that is where the creativity kicks in. That is why I love to do what I do."
- Eric Glomski, Page Springs Cellars and Vineyard winemaker and owner

A family friendly winery, seems like an oxymoron. But tucked-in by the Verde River you can find just that, a family friendly, warm, inviting, and award winning winery.

If you have been to Page Springs Cellars and Vineyard, then you know exactly what I am talking about. The outside space is huge, as it runs along the river with a deck overlooking it. The newly expanded indoor space has a living room feel, and a nice little toy box for the kiddos to play with, while mom and dad sip and savor some great wine.

This was the space where I sat down with Eric Glomski (vineyard owner, manager, and winemaker), for a brief yet informative interview. He was kind enough to give me 30 minutes of his time during his already packed schedule. He greeted me with a smile and firm handshake, and informed he is battling a cold that he is very anxious to get over, "not too good to have a cold in my line of work."

His line of work consists of not only making wine for his beloved winery, but has his hands in several projects across the state, one of which is in Kingman, "I am very excited to see what can be done in that part of the state, a new unexplored region." Part of what Glomski does is serve as the "Wine Whisper" for about a dozen different wineries across the state. Most of which are in the Verde Valley or Willcox.

He either serves as the winemaker/assistant winemaker or is the on call problem solver/wine doctor. Over the course of my twenty-plus Arizona wine country interviews, Eric's name is often mentioned. He is the man to call if you are have an issue with your wine, like stuck fermentation, or off-flavors that require tweaking. Both Gallifant Winery owners and Carlson Creek Vineyards owners sung his praises when I talked to them about their wine. Glomski serves as the winemaker for both wineries currently, just two of about a dozen he currently works with, in some capacity.

So I asked how he is able to juggle so many projects and not implode from the stress and demands. He grinned, " I am a high functioning ADD person."

Yeah no kidding! And this is just his job. He is also the father of four kids, all in that wonderful preteen and teenage category and husband. I can barley handle having one crazy preschooler and this guy has four and works as a businessman and winemaker! Seriously, they should bottle his energy and sell it!

Back to the wine. The main reason Glomski is so involved in other wineries is his love for helping other people and watching them succeed. "We are all in this together, to change people's perceptions of what Arizona wine is. If I can help other people succeed in that quest, then we all win. I just like to help people and my natural tendency is to help and I take pride in what I do. Building a winery from scratch is very fun. There is a different quality and pride in being part of the whole thing and a new industry (referring to the Arizona wine industry) and I find it inspiring to be the underdog." Glomski chose Arizona as opposed to California for just that reason, he loves the pioneering spirit of being part of something new and exciting.

So what is next for Page Springs and Glomski? Page Springs is Glomski's baby, his pride and joy, and because of that he is starting to really focus on what can make the whole experience of visiting his tasting room and vineyards the best possible experience. Part of that plan is to stop growing. "Page Springs is done growing, we have grown as much as I want it to. We currently have 40 acres near and around the tasting room that we own and manage, with 20 currently under vine. I want all our grapes to come from Arizona soil in the next year or so, and more specially from our vines up here in Page Springs. Arizona Stronghold (which he co-owns with James Keenan Maynard) is still growing and growing rapidly. They will very soon need all the grapes they can get their hands on, which means the entire vineyard down in Willcox will soon just have to be for Arizona Stronghold wines. Arizona Stronghold is taking off nationally and internationally , and Page Springs will soon become a local product." A local product? Yes, Glomski wants Page Springs to be the locals only type of experience, which means no longer distributing to other states. A real treat to us Zonas. So if your plans include a trip to Northern Arizona and you are one of our millions of annual tourist, I highly suggest to give Page Springs a visit and stock up if you enjoy the wine!

"Wine can be part of the building of a community and a cultural experience, and I want to take it to the next level here," says Glomski. Part of that experience is to bring in multiple cultural experiences and festivals to the winery to draw people in from across the state, and make it also a locals (Verde Valley residents) experience. A destination that people talk about and want to be participating in. He also wants to improve on the current food menu, and host a local farmer's market, but wine will always be the driving force behind everything he does.

As our interview concluded, I felt Glomski really relax and ease-up. I know it must be difficult to be asked for interviews as much as he is. In the last year, the Arizona wine scene has blown up, and he has had an integral role in it. Then after the partnership with Tool lead man, Maynard, everyone wanted a piece of him, in hopes of meeting someone famous. Not a role I would want to take on, but Glomski seems to handle it well, but with a bit of reservation at first with every interview, I am sure.

Plus, how many times can you answer the same questions over and over again and not get bored and slightly annoyed. We both left the interview feeling at ease and happy with the experience, so much so, I got a feeling Glomski was disappointed it was over even though he had another appointment. He kindly offered to make-up for the briefness of the interview and to have lunch with me in a couple of months so that we had more time to talk. Very cool, and I am looking forward to picking his brain more and just talking about wine and everything in between. We ended the interview not with a handshake, but a hug. There is just something about giving a hug to a stranger, that lets you know, you are both humans.

After the interview concluded, I was introduced to Luke Bernard behind the tasting bar, as he would be pouring my wines. I was given a very nice Riedel glass to sip from and given the full report on all the wines. Let the wine tasting begin!

Click here to see the next post with my tasting notes

Please support Arizona wine and pass this post around.

Thank you and enjoy!

My Top 10 Favorite wines from Page Springs Cellars and Vineyards

2012-01-08T21:08:00.001-07:00

After interviewing Paige Springs Owner/Vintner Eric Glomski, I happily moved on to tasting their wines.

Luke Bernard poured my wines, and acted as my attentive and informative guide. He did however, miss out on a game of pick up basketball that was happening just outside the tasting room window. They had a company staff meeting just before I arrived, so the place was crawling with employees, some of which killed time before their next task but shooting some hoops. I thought is was great! While Luke joshed them for being lazy, he also said with all sincerity, that everyone loved to work for Glomski because he harbors the type of work environment that allows for his employee to have fun. "We are all a big family," says Luke.

Page Springs currently produces 8500 cases of wine a year, which is just where they want to stay, as a boutique winery. They currently have a little over 1,300 people in their wine club, which serves a mostly Arizona clientele, but does have plenty of national fans. The wine tasting menu changes frequently, but is always served up in five different flights, white, red, combo, Arizona, and members only. I, being the lucky girl I am, got to taste all 25 offerings. Yes, that is allot of wine, but hey I am professional now, and yes I spit. You would have to be a moron not to.

Each flight is $10, and you have the option to buy your favorite wine by the glass or bottle. I am going to give you my notes from the wines I found to be the most impressive. To type in 25 different tasting notes would not only be boring to do, but boring to read. So here you go, my top 10 favorite wines from Page Springs Cellars and Vineyard. They are listed in no particular order.

1. 2010 Gimme some skin Malvasia 100% Malvasia from AZ $28
Malvasia is poised to be Arizona's signature white grape, namely because it loves our climate down in Southern Arizona, and produces some excellent wines. Since we have a climate that you could easily drink white white 12 months out of the year, Malvasia is an excellent pick. This one was left on the skins for three days before being pressed which led to some awesome flavor. The nose was amazing with jasmine flowers, very pretty and tropical as well. The taste was nice and round- kinda like a Pinot Gris, but very bright and fresh. The acid levels where balanced with a great kick of lemon/lime soda (minus the sweetness) on the finish. Lovely wine.

2.  2010 PSC Arizona Stronghold Vineyard Chardonnay, 100% Chardonnay all AZ $35
This is an unoaked Chardonnay which I was excited to taste. The Chardonnay I tasted at Arizona Stronghold was very nice, and I was not disappointed here. The clean fruit flavors come through and do a nice dance on the palate. "Let the fruit do the talking," says Luke about the philosophy behind the making of this wine. I loved the green apple rush at first, with an amazing round and cream brulee finish. A solid wine, but pricey for sure.

3. 2010 Mules Mistake Blend of 56% Barbera 11% Pinot Nior (CA) 10 % Grenache, 10% Cabernet Pffefer (CA), 10% Couniose, 3% Viognier. $18
This wine is served Beaujolais style, as in it is best slightly chilled below room temperature. This is a "story wine" as in, a wine made by mistake, but a mistake that ended up producing a great wine. And Luke will tell you a little story about the wine if you ask, something about a mule. It's on the third vintage now, and the wine has become quit popular, and worth repeating the mistake every year. I really enjoyed the freshness of the wine, a very pretty nose, with big berry fruit jumping out at you. This is a very approachable wine, great for picnics and the perfect BBQ sipper. The Barbara plays the biggest role and really shines in this wine.

4. 2010 Colibri Vineyard Grenache Late Pick 100% AZ Grenache from Southeaster Arizona $39
This wine packs a punch, and could even provide a knock out if allowed! The alcohol was over 15% due to the ripeness of the grapes at harvest. The nose had wonderful sweet black cherry, with a warm and inviting cozy sensation. I like this wine, but it is not your typical Grenache either. Loads of berries, and finished almost like a sweet cherry pie, very candied. Yummy, but it would love nothing more than a big juicy piece of meat as a sidekick.

5.  2009 MSGP 42% Mourvedre, 28% Syrah, 21% Grenache, 9% Petite Sirah (CA) $28
Loads of that yummy dirt and Arizona dust, wrapped in a blanket of cherries in this wine. Some of my favorite grape styles in this Arizona version of a Rhone red wine. The mourvedre plays a beautiful role in this wine, very tongue drying, yet nicely balanced. Yummy, wine for sure. Remember yummy is my code word for an outstanding wine experience.

6. 2010 SGMP 47% Syrah, 31% Grenache, 13% Mourvedre, 9% Peite Sirah (CA) $28
More vanilla on this blend than the previous wine with some oak, and Arizona dust again. This one was more complex than #5, with a every changing long, long finish. I was impressed with this wine. Very pretty, round with soft tannins. This wine is more feminine, and soft. I loved how the Syrah played around in this blend, very elegant and bold. And yes, yummy.

7. 2010 PSC Arizona Stronghold Vineyard 100% Arizona Syrah Clone 383 $30
A yummy Syrah and you know how much I adore Syrah! Arizona is doing such wonderful things with Syrah and Page Springs is no exception. The wine is made in the old world style with grace and elegance. Leather, tobacco, wrapped up in a blanket of plum fruit. Yummy.

8. 2010 PSC Arizona Stronghold Vineyard100% AZ Mourvedre Tablas Clone $38
Luke told me this guy had a chocolate cake type taste on the finish, and I know I looked at him funny. Mourvedre and chocolate cake are not two things I would put together, but you know what, he was right. If he did not say that, I would have picked up a familiar smell and taste but would have been unable to put my finger on what it was. So thanks Luke, because I loved that quality in this wine. It was also very round, with a sweet berry quality, and again some Arizona dust around the middle.

9. 2010 El Serrano 45% Mourvedre, 40% Syrah, 17% Petite Sirah all AZ $30
This is the winery's flagship wine, as it is in it's 8th vintage. Heavier on the Mourvedre this year, which adds to the spicy and earthy flavors. The nose is very perfumy, but nice. This one will dry out your mouth like an Arizona summer. It finishes with big, round stone fruit. The Petite adds a nice kick at the finish with some pepper.

10.  2010 Vino De La Familia 82% Petite Sirah (CA), 9% Syrah (CA), 5% Malbec (CA), 4% Roussanne $21
This is not really an Arizona wine, if you read the blend label most of the grapes come from California, but I did really like this wine, and it recently won a Jefferson's Cup award, so I thought it was fitting to include it. This wine drinks like a Pinot Nior, in that it is very silky and has a velvet like quality however, it is a big boy wine. Big tannins, giant flavors, with a nose that you could smell all day long, but that would be stupid because you should drink it. The finish was very smooth, and long with great spice and stone fruit. A yummy wine for sure and one of the few that are close to the $20 mark.

So that is it! Lots of good wine to try when you visit this winery. But keep in mind it is a busy, busy tourist stop. This winery fills to the brim on the weekends, and has a very steady flow of traffic on the weekdays. Best time to visit is during the week, and during the summers when all the snow birds have flown the coup. There is something for every palate, but you will find nothing sweet and sticky. Glomski makes high quality wine, and it is worth the trip to his gorgeous tasting room and vineyards. Check out the website for further information about the winery operation, and the events they are hosting.

If you would like to know more about my visit to Arizona Stronghold please click here
If you would like to know more about Carlson Creek please click here

Please support Arizona wine and pass this post around.

Thank you and enjoy!

Wii and Wine: Truth in the numbers - The weekly weigh in

2012-01-03T15:20:00.001-07:00

I have dreaded writing this post, yet knew it would be a must if I was going to keep myself honest, posting my weekly weight. Like most women, I either lie or avoid saying my scale number for various reasons. I have been always embarrassed to admit what the scale said, regardless of what the results were because I was never happy with the number. Even at my lowest weight, I was still not satisfied with the scale, as I always thought it should be lower. And it did not help that every graph and goal weight literature I read reinforced this sick notion. So, to help me get over my scale fears and maybe to inspire you to do the same, every week I am going to weigh in and post that number here.

Am I a little scared, yes, however at the same time relieved. As it is no longer a deep dark secret that only me and my moral enemy, the scale, knows about. After all, it is only a number and it does not define who I am and what I can and cannot do in life.

My weight loss goals are also very simple and realistic for once in my life. I am not looking to be a supermodel or a fitness model, or anything in between. I am looking at getting back into the clothes that I already have in my closet, but are currently in the "too tight, does not fit" pile. I am not looking for my jeans to say size 2 but to get back into the ones that say size 8. That's it. Should be simple, but with my history of hyper body dismorphia, it could be a challenge, but a challenge that for the first time I am ready to take head on and not hide from.

So here it goes my first set of stats! Every Tuesday I will be weighing in on the Wii Fit using the balance board which does everything for me, and cannot cheat!

My current weight is : 153.2
My current BMI is: 25.53 which for me at just under 5'5" means I am slightly overweight (really!)

I set a goal to get my BMI to 24.99 which is at the top end of the healthy zone, which is only a weight loss of 4 pounds. And my plan is to lose those pounds over the coarse of the next 30 days, a very reasonable goal. I am not following any crazy weight loss or fitness plan, just writing down everything I eat, and being active. There is no magic pill, even though I have been looking for one for my entire adult life, just eat less and more more! Exactly what I plan on doing! With a little wine and great food naturally:)

So wish me luck and join the fun!

Wii and Wine : The new wine and food series

2012-01-02T13:10:00.000-07:00

After a year of blogging about food and wine I have noticed something I am not too happy with, weight gain. Like most people in this world gaining and losing weight is a constant battle. I have been battling my bulge since I took my first steps into adulthood, entering college and living on my own.

Growing up, I had an overall healthy outlook about food, and was not too self conscience about my weight. My mom cooked healthy meals and always stressed the importance of eating our fruits and veggies. Enter high school, all the pretty and popular girls made me feel insecure and heavy. Being a girl with Polish and German blood running through my veins, I have always been heavier than my friends but never fat. However, when you are not a size 0 or 2 everything thing else is considered pudgy. Hence high school, is when I developed an unhealthy body image and issues with food. I have battled those issues ever since, and it was not until recently I got a better handle on it.

I lost 25 pounds after having my son, and was very happy and satisfied with my weight. However, in my opinion I was still not perfect even though everyone, and everything else pointed to the opposite. Slowing the weight crept back on since I never got to the root of my body image problem.

Enter in present day. Since I started the blog, I have dealt with many body image and food issues and overall have a better since of where it all belongs. Eating good is important, drinking good wine is fun, but not at the expense of my health. While I have only gained between 5-10 pounds over the coarse of the last year, those pounds are not good on my frame, and make me feel uncomfortable. Therefore, with all the holiday stress and business behind me now I have had a chance to really evaluate my weight and overall health. With that evaluation I have come up with an idea for a new series on the blog.

I received a Wii Nintendo system this Christmas, yes I know I am late to the whole Wii stage, but hey better late than never. Since it was given to us to use as a fitness system, we went out and purchased the Wii Fit Plus and a few other fitness video games. I am not a video game player, and believe they are a time sucking vortex that only wastes time and brain cells. However, the Wii can be a useful system to use as a fitness and health device. I have always been a home fitness fan, because you don't have to drive anywhere to workout and I can look like a complete idiot and no one can see it. So the Wii balance board and other fitness games play the perfect role to help me attain my new goals. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept the Wii Fit, it can calculate your weight, and track your progress for you with the handy dandy balance board. It can also help you set goals and work on other various aspects of you fitness and overall health, plus the games are just fun.

My goal with this post series is simple, to blog my progress with losing that initial 5-10 pounds and then how I keep that weight off while still enjoying great food and wine. I think it is so important to not give up the things we love, as long as they are not destructive, but figure out how to make them a part of our lives in a healthy way. After all, wine itself is not the devil and neither is chocolate cake. If you are using those things to cope with life, than yes they are destructive. Wine and whatever trigger food you have, was not made so that life can become easier, and nor were they made just to taunt you. They were made for enjoyment, not gluttony or enlightenment.

For the first month, I will chronicle my eating habits along with my progress with the Wii Fitness. I am planning on cooking out of Cooking Light magazine for the month of January. As I have written before, Cooking Light is a wonderful resource for great tasting, healthy meals, and I have a ton of magazines to draw from. I will note my progress with this plan, as well as how I incorporate wine into it. I do not believe on giving up on wine, however I am just not sure how I will fit the whole thing in yet. My goal is to find the right balance and finally get a grip on the whole weight, food, fitness, and wine thing, and chronicle that journey with you.

I am not quit sure how this series will look yet, but I know it will be fun to share, because I am not the only person in the world who enjoys good food and wine and is still looking to stay in shape. So please join me on this discovery, and if you are looking for the same thing, please share your journey with me here on the blog, on twitter, google+, or facebook.

Thank you and as always enjoy!

Reflections on blogging for a year. Part 3: The Food!

2011-12-27T15:22:00.004-07:00

Yum, Yum, give me some! I have compiled a list of the my top ten favorite meals from the last 12 months, my first year blogging.

It was a hard selection process, since I love food so much. I created and tasted so many wonderful meals. I actually broke it down into two lists, one of restaurant dishes (or meals not cooked by me) and one cooked my yours truly. The requirements were easy. The meals had to be remarkable with the wine, both in perfect unison. Second they had to be menus that any person can recreate at home with a little time and effort. The restaurant meals all had to have a special quality that made them unique and worth the price tag.

So without further ado here we go! Enjoy and please let me know in the comments section if you have tried any of these meals and how they turned out. I am always curious if my readers recreate any menu ideas, so please leave a comment if you have. A link is attached to each entry as well, so you can read the original post.

Renee's Home-cooked Delights Top Ten List:

Egg Topped Soda Noddles with Asparagus and Prosciutto

Pork Tenderloin with Garlic- Herb Rub and Apple Confit

Renee's Yum Burger

Spice Painted Salmon

Oatmeal Crusted Chicken with a White Wine Sauce

Havarti and Pear Sandwich

Penne with Sausage, Porcini and Portobello Mushrooms, and Syrah

Fried Egg Salad and Seared Scallop and Bacon Risotto

Fried Egg and Farm Fresh BLT

Dry Rub Grilled Bison Rib-Eye

And the Bonus because I just had to include this one: Simple Salad with Parmesan Wafers and an Organic Poached Egg

Restaurant Yummy Creations Top Ten List:

5th and Wine in Scottsdale's Argentina inspired menu

Tomo Japanese Cuisine in Goodyear's Sushi

Bluewater Grill in Phoenix's Wine Wednesday Chef's Meal

Velvet Elvis Healthy Pizza in Patagonia

La Piazza Al Forno in Glendale Authentic Italian Pizza

The House at the Secret Garden in Phoenix gorgeous patio dining

Canela Bistro in Soniota French and Southwest fusion dining at it's best

Jacques Pepin dinner at my middle sister's house

Tomo Japanese Cuisine x2

Jacques Pepin meal cooked by my little sister

This new year please get out and try something new. Whether it be a new restaurant or cooking technique/ingredient. Life is too short to eat boring food!

Thank you and as always enjoy!

52 Tastings : Week 52 - Bust out the bubbly!

2011-12-21T10:58:00.001-07:00

What do you drink when you have just blogged for a year, with 52 different food and wine combos under you belt? Well, a bubbly of coarse! And with whom do you celebrate? Mom.

Last Friday, my mom came over as always, but my husband was away at a wedding rehearsal. He was a lucky groomsman, and missed out on our little celebration. Actually, it was nice to just be with my mom, since her idea spurred this whole blog idea on. Plus, mom and I love bubbly, and more so with popcorn. Basically we had popcorn and bubbles last Friday.

I knew we needed a little more protein than just popcorn if the two of us were going to split a bottle of wine so I also made a shrimp dish. The funny thing about sparkling wine, is you can easily drink a whole bottle yourself (I would not recommend it), and hardly feel the affects of the alcohol. I blame it on those cute little bubbles, they just make you so happy, you forget you are drinking booze. Anyways back to the point. So, before our popcorn I wanted to make a shrimp dish, something easy yet delicious. My husband, as many of you know, hates shrimp unless it is deep fried, so this was the perfect time to do a shrimp dish, my way. And my way, is to let the shrimp be the star. I found a lovely recipe in my Cooking Light Annual, a ceviche.

And what a perfect way to end 52 Tastings! The ceviche was amazing and the wine was the perfect pairing, dare I say it, magic! The flavors sparkled in my mouth and the heat of the dish was tempered by the bubbles and the acid cut though nicely. The wine brought out the creaminess of the avocado and the slight earthly quality of the shrimp. Yum city. A perfect start to our evening. The the popcorn naturally was terrific. I have an air-popper, the only way to eat popcorn in my opinion. The microwave is good in a pinch, but if you are a true popcorn snob, like me, the air-popper is the only way to go. I sprinkle the popcorn with olive oil, salt, and Parmesan cheese, and viola a masterpiece of yummyness. Spectacular with the Cremant. Seriously nothing, is better than sparkling wine and popcorn. And I have to thank Andrea Robinson, (then Immer) for introducing me to this luxury when I was watching her show on Fine Living Network.

Here are my tasting notes on the wine and menu.

Jean Albrecht Cremant D' Alsace Reserve Brut Rose' NV
I purchase this bottle from Total Wine for $18.99 as a gift for my mom.

This gorgeous strawberry colored wine, has the tiniest bubbles. Small bubbles are the sign of a quality made sparkling wine. On first sip is a burst of fresh berries, with a hint of honeyed sweetness, followed by an elegant creaminess. Very soft and sexy wine, yet had some sass to it, enough to make it very interesting and intriguing. A very Marilyn Monroe wine. I love it! And Magic Pairing with the ceviche and popcorn. A wonderful example of my favorite wine.

Menu:

Shrimp Ceviche

Air-popped popcorn with Parmesan Cheese and Olive Oil

Is this my last 52 Tasting post you ask? Yes, it is. I am retiring this series now. That sounds so official. It was a ton of fun, but is did wear on me after a while. I did grow tired off writing the tasting notes every week and the pressure I put on myself to come up with a magic pairing every time. I naturally will still have mom over every Friday, and continue to cook a great meal with a bottle of wine. I am just not going to write about it every week here on the blog. Most likely, I will write out any new wine pairing lessons I may learn, or any outstanding pairings we have. So where does this leave me. Not sure. Not sure what the next series will be. I have heard from several people that they really like my Arizona wine posts, and my 1 bottle/2 meals series. I will continue to write about Arizona wine, and after the holidays I may revive the 1 bottle/2 meals idea. Either way, the 52 Tastings was great and served a purpose and I would not have changed a thing. Cheers to the new year and new ideas!

Thank you and enjoy!

Reflections on wine and food blogging for one year Part 2: The Top 10 List

2011-12-20T11:05:00.003-07:00

I could quite possibly come up with a post a day about what I have learned over the past year with food and wine blogging. So here is part two in the series and I have no idea how many parts will be in this glorious ground breaking series of posts.

I looked through my blog and according to all my tags, I tasted over 50 reds, 40 whites, 8 sparkling wines, 6 rose's. Now that does not include all the wines I tasted at wineries, wine events, and wines I was too lazy to take notes about. So I would assume I tasted well over 200 wines last year. Jeez, I feel like a wino for sure. I have never counted how many wines I have tasted, so that is an eye-opener. Thankfully, many of those were gifts, otherwise I would be in the poor house.

Now to today's topic at hand. I am going to write about the top 10 wines that I have had the pleasure to drink over the past year. Each one is highlighted to take you back to the original post, so you can check out my tasting notes and of coarse what I paired with the wine.

The wines were judged on five levels. It is so hard to narrow down over 200 wines to only 10, so I had to really think about how I wanted to judge this list. Here it the criteria I finally came up with after careful deliberation, and a using a very scientific method. Sarcasm.

First I judged how they paired with the food I prepared for it, the wine needed to transform the food into an amazing dinning experience. Since I am a wine and food blogger I felt it was essential that the wine was food friendly.

Second of coarse is the price/quality standpoint. Did the taste of the wine justify the price tag.

Third, if it was new to me, I did not include any wine I have had before unless it was a blend and the blend was new to the vintage.

Fourth was overall yum factor, which of coarse is 100% subjective to my tastes. I use the word yummy quite often, however I found it was only used if it described a truly remarkable wine.

And finally, if the wine sparked a new varietal exploration, something new and exciting for me to learn about.

So without further ado, here is the wonderful list. Please enjoy and hopefully you are thirsty. And this is in no particular order.

Padres 2008 from Callaghan Vineyards Arizona

Cline Zinfandel 2008 Sonoma County California

Bonaccorsi Larner Vineyards Santa Ynez Valley California 2006

Escudo Rojo Baron Phillip D. Rothschild Cab Blend Maipo Chili 2008

Santa Rita 120 Carmenere Di Valle Central Chile

Domane Wachau Gruner Veltliner Terrassen Federspiel 2006 Austria

Rex Hill Pinot Gris Willamette Valley Oregon 2006

Graham Beck Brut Rose South Africa 2005

Arizona Stronghold Tazi a white wine blend Arizona 2010

Sand-Reckoner Vineyards Rose' 2010 Arizona

So what were your top wines this year? What do you think of my list? Please share you thougths and reactions below.

Thank you and as always enjoy.

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Reflections on a my one year blogging anniversary

2011-12-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

Exactly one year ago today I typed my first blog post. Hard to believe I have been at this whole blogging thing for any entire year now. You can click here to read that first post, even though I am not sure I should encourage it, as I look back at it I was pretty raw, but I guess that is part of the fun huh?!

Anytime you hit a milestone no matter what it is, it usually is a good idea to look back at the road that took you there, and reflect on what you have learned along the way. I have learned to do that with parenting, you certainly don't dwell on the past, but it is nice to look back and see how far things have changed to appreciate what you have in the present. And blogging about wine and food, and the Arizona wine scene is no different. Alot has changed in my life, and all for the good, it has been a fun ride, one I almost abandoned several times, yet was pulled back in for reasons unknown. I am thankful for all the great opportunities that have come by way because of this blogging adventure, and all the people I have met during the last year.

When I started in this whole wine writing world, I had no idea where it would take me and really had no expectations at first. Then as I delved more and more into it, the expectations rose to a level that was both insane and unhealthy, hence the reasons behind almost throwing in the towel and waving the white flag.

However, with the help of my family I learned to pull back and realize why I started this whole blog in the first place. I have always loved to write, cook, and drink wine, so why not start a personal Internet dairy to share with my family, and then the entire Internet nation. It is a hobby that I love, and get some perks from like free wine, and trips to great places. Will it make me rich and famous, probably not, and that is not the purpose here anyways. I am just an average girl who likes to teach people about what I am passionate about. I'm not a super rich wine snob who can toss down $50 on a bottle of wine and not bat an eye. No, I am the girl who knows what a good bottle of wine tastes like, but is on a budget, and therefore has to be on the hunt for the bargain. It is the excitement of finding a super yummy wine with a small price tag that keeps me going with the occasional "splurge" sprinkled in.

I have also been reminded that wine is just wine, and not my salvation. My salvation is already taken care of, and it did not come from wine. Wine is just a beverage, an amazingly delicious beverage with unique qualities and the amazing ability to transform food, but it is just wine- people. It is not some mystical magical beverage that will transport you to the seventh gate of heaven and transform you into a better person. When you get down to the core of it, wine is only fermented grape juice. Winemaking, after all is just advanced farming, and not a life altering, idol worshiping, kinda job. Yes, it takes a certain skill set and knowledge base but so does welding, window cleaning, teaching, or any other job that is not worshiped. Now this is not to take away from what anyone does, but I have learned and been reminded to not worship the creation, but the Creator of it all. After all, Jesus made wine as his first miracle, and that is a winemaker worthy of our praises and everything in between. That's my story and I am sticking to it.

So where does this lead me with my blog. Not sure. All I know is I enjoy writing about wine in a personal manner, and am looking forward to wherever this takes me. I love to teach people new things, and introduce them to new tasting experiences, whether it be with food or wine. Would I like to get into the wine world? Who knows? It would be fun for sure, and I would love to continue to be an advocate for Arizona wine, and will keep exploring that avenue. I will also continue to write about different food and wine experiences, I'm just not sure about the format yet.

All I know is, life is too short to spend your life trying to be something, just be who you are today. The moment you start striving for something is the moment it becomes work, and is no longer fun. And I want to have a blast while blogging and learning new stuff about wine.

So a big huge thank you to everyone who has read my blog over the past year, and has commented on my posts and shared their thoughts and experiences. I enjoy writing for you and I hope you enjoyed coming along on my wine and food journey! Thanks again, and I look forward to year number two with Wine a Bit... You'll Feel Better.

Thank you again and enjoy!

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52 Tastings: Week 51 - Get ready to roll your R's

2011-12-15T09:13:00.001-07:00

If you are new to Spanish wine, then it is time to get on the boat. Spanish wine, and more specifically the Rioja region wines, are some of the best in the world. They are elegant, balanced, and sophisticated wines that will not rob your bank account. And the best part, is they are so widely available now.

We tasted a Tempranillo, a Spanish red wine that hails from the Rioja region. This wine is considered by most as Spain's equivalent to the France's Bordeaux. Which is pretty funny when you consider most of the winemakers who crafted such beautiful Rioja wines first came from France to start over after their vineyards had been ravaged by the vine killing diseases iodium and phylloxera. Many French winemakers planted vines in Roija and all over the regions of Spain after the French disease disaster. At first the immigrants had no plans to make Spain their permanent residence, but soon changed their minds and stayed in the country and in many ways transformed how Rioja wine was made. Namely, they introduced the small French oak barrel for wine aging. The former method was to use large barrels with a short aging time. And of coarse, they brought with them their meticulous and rigorous wine making methodology as well.

While many bodegas (Spanish term for the wine making house) still use small batch oak barreling, they have moved from French to American oak, namely due to the financial difficulties it endured during the world wars and it's own civil war. Most red wine made in Rioja is predominatly tempranillo, however like Bordeaux it is usually a blend of grapes. The other grapes used in the blend are garnacha (grenache) and mazuelo.

When drinking a Spanish Tempranillo you can expect a unique and tasty experience. Most of the wines are very earthy, elegant, with berries and spicy undertones. While they have been compared to Bordeaux in terms of style, they are more like a Spanish version of pinot nior, or even sangiovese. It is an easy to drink wine with great character, supple tannins and a smooth finish. I have enjoyed several Spanish Tempranillos and I highly recommend them. And like I said earlier, they are very easy on the wallet, many being in the under $10 category, but I would recommend spending a little more, around $15. At the $15 range you can get a world class wine, one that tastes double the price. And like sangiovese, this wine loves the earthy elements of foods like mushrooms and such, as well as tomatoes and anything with a bit of acid and spice. So the next time you have pizza check out a Tempranillo for something new and exciting.

Earthy, spicy, with a touch of acid is just what we went for with our meal pairing. I found a lovely recipe once again in Cooking Light. All my favorite comfort meal components came to the table once again, Italian inspired flavors. Instead of pasta I made polenta, my new favorite. I have always adored polenta since I discovered it several years ago, but for the last month, I have whipped up a batch at least once a week. Plus, my son loves it and devours whatever is on his plate just to get more, a nice bonus. So here is my tasting notes and menu.

Monte Clavijo Tempranillo 2010 Rioja Spain. found this wine at Total Wine and More for $8.99.

This was a young wine, as most Rioja's are aged for at least four years, so this one was made for the American market. Did not have the depth of flavors I look for however, it was very drinkable, almost gulpable. Had some nice sweet berry flavors, with a hint of spice, chocolate, and leather. Not the most complex wine, however it complement the meal wonderfully. The spice in the sausage did not overwhelm the wine however, was highlighted by the spice in the wine. The earthiness of the mushrooms and creamy polenta played nicely with the berry and chocolate of the wine. A very enjoyable experience, a gratifying comfort food and wine meal.

Menu:

Mushroom and Sausage Ragu with Polenta

Simple salad with fresh farmer's market greens, mixed veggies and a olive oil vinaigrette

Thank you and enjoy!

Source for the historical information on Rioja was found in Karen MacNeil's The Wine Bible

Sparkling Wine Primer – What To Look For When Shopping For Bubbly

2011-12-12T07:56:00.002-07:00

This is a guest post by a fellow blogger I follow, Martin Redmond. His blog is titled, ENOFYLZ. He writes about most things wine, but the series that I like and read the most is the TGIF one. He tries a new bubbly every week and shares his notes and reactions to the wine with a few food suggestions as well. So, I asked if he would write a bubbly post for me and here it is, perfect timing for the holiday season. Please enjoy and if like this please follow his blog, his twitter account, or on facebook.

Author: Martin D. Redmond

More than any other time of year, the holiday season isthe time for bubbly. The challenge is that the terminology aroundsparkling wine can be confusing. For example,a bubbly labeled “Extra Dry” is actually sweeter than one labeled “Brut," thestandard for dryness in sparkling wine. Notonly can the terms can be confusing, but also with retailers heavily promotingbubbly, the myriad of choices this time of year can be overwhelming. Howdo you know which one to pick? I'm here to help. I've been trying sparkling wines from aroundthe world and blogging about it in my "TGIF Champagne...and the like" onweekly basis for the last 10 months. Here’s a quick primer to help you navigate the sparkling wine landscapebefore you head out to the store this holiday season.

Typesof sparkling wines:

Champagne – Sparklingwines are produced all around the world, but due to a legal treaty, the term“champagne” is reserved exclusively for sparkling wines produced in theChampagne region of France (although thanks to being grandfathered in to atrade agreement between France and the US, Korbel refers to their sparklingwines as “California Champagne”) Champagne is widely regarded as the bestsparkling wine. Most champagne househave an entry level champagne that falls in the $35-$45 range.

Cava –Sparkling wine produced in Spain using the traditional method. Typically made from grapes indigenous toSpain. Good to very good Cava can befound in the $10-$20 range.

Prosecco –Sparkling wine produced in Italy typically using the Bulk Charmat method. Asti is another Italian sparkler produced inthe Asti region of Italy. Good to verygood Prosecco or Asti can be found in the $10-$20 range

Cremant –Sparkling wine produced in France outside of the Champagne region using thetraditional method. This is where you’llfind more budget-friendly bubbly from France. Look for Crémant from Loire, Rhone, and Burgundy for good value.

Methodsof producing sparkling wines

All sparkling wines begin life as still wines. Then they go through a secondaryfermentation. Unlike still wines, whichgo through one fermentation, sparkling wines go through two fermentations. When a wineundergoes secondary fermentation in tanks or vessels, that is known as the Bulk Charmat method (a.k.a. Metodo Italiano). When a wine undergoes secondary fermentationin the bottle, it is known as the TraditionalMethod. The Bulk Charmat method is aless expensive method of producing sparkling wines. However, the wine produced using thetraditional method can be more complex with smaller, longer lasting bubbles.

Stylesof sparkling wines:

Non-vintage(“NV”) - Mostsparkling wine is a blend of wine from multiple vintages. Most of the base forthe blend will be from a single vintage with typically anywhere from 10-15 %being from older vintages. If a producerdetermines the grape harvest from a particular year is exceptional, then theymay produce a “vintage” sparkler using grapes harvested in that year only. Most sparkling wine producers produce anon-vintage bubbly because blending enable production of a consistent tastefrom year to year.

Blancde Noirs - Sparkling wine produced exclusively fromblack grapes, such as Pinot Noir, or Pinot Meunier.

Blancde Blancs - Sparkling wine produced exclusively fromChardonnay grapes. If someone on yourlist is a fan of Chardonnay look for this style.

Rosé – Asparkling wine produced by either leaving the clear juice from black grapes tosoak in the own skins for a brief period of time, or by adding the juice addinga small amount of red wine to the blend thereby producing a pink bubbly. Rosés tend to be the most food friendly (andexpensive) style of sparkling wine, though you can find some good ones for lessthan $20.

PrestigeCuvée – In Champagne, a producer’s top of the linesparkler.

Sweetnessof Sparkling Wine:

The amount of residual sugar in sparkling wine determinesits sweetness. There arewell-established guidelines for this. Starting from the driest (least amount of sugar) they are:

Brutnature, or sans dosage - no sugar added

Extrabrut - very dry

Brut –Dry; the most popular style and probably the most food friendly

ExtraDry – Off dry; meaning sweeter than Brut, but not as sweetas “Sec”. These make very good aperitifs

Demi-sec –Sweet; pair with desserts or fruit

For specific suggestions of sparkling wines to try, checkout these posts:

Top 10 Sparkling Wines Under $20

Andthe winner is…

At home dinner date with Padres

2011-12-11T10:50:00.001-07:00

If you are a budget minded parent and foodie, then you know going out to eat is not always in the cards. Sometimes you have to get creative and think of new ways to spice up your date life. One of the solutions was is to purchase a couples cookbook, and after the kiddo goes to bed, have a dinner date at home. And this time of year it is really nice, because we can fire up the fireplace for added ambiance.

Since I love to cook, and my hubby is also handy in the kitchen we have discovered the joys of dinner dates at home. While it is quite the same as a night out, but with the right preparation it can be just as romantic and special.

I have enjoyed cooking for my husband since we were married almost 14 years ago, so to whip up a nice meal is no big deal. I also have a hard time parting with my money at a most restaurants, not just on the food but typically on the wine. Wine is always a budget killer when it comes to dining out, and I would rather spend my $30 on a real $30 wine, not one marked up to that price. So for the last couple years, we have created dinner dates at home. Sometimes we will cook the entire meal together, as we did on Saturday, and other times we will get take-out if I have a hankering for sushi. Either way, we are saving valuable money, and still enjoying each others company.

Saturday nights date was inspired by a nice cut of beef along with a fabulous bottle of Arizona wine. If you ever have a chance to taste Callaghan Vineyards please do, Kent (the winemaker and owner) has truly mastered the art of blending and crafting wine with Arizona grapes. When I visited him back in March, he donated a bottle of Padres, one of his signature wines. It is a special wine and a true representation of beautifully hand crafted wine. When you have a special bottle of wine to share with your meal, it just sets the whole meal into overdrive of deliciousness. Click here to check out my post on Callaghan Vineyards.

Now on to the menu and wine notes:

This is a super easy menu to create with your honey, even if you are both new to the kitchen. Also since the ingredient list is not long or crazy expensive I advise you spend your money on a nice cut of beef and on the wine. If you don't already have a nice bottle in the house I recommend Padres of coarse, or a nice California Cabernet Sauvignon, or French Bordeaux.

Starter:
Onion Soup

Main Course
Oak Plank Grilled Filet Mignon or Rib-eye (I had the Filet and hubby the rib-eye) with herb butter
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Steamed Farmer's Market Spinach
Sauteed Mushrooms

Dessert:
Marinated Blackberries
Dark Chocolate squares

The entire menu again came from cookbook titled Dinner Dates: A cookbook or couples cooking together by Martha Cotton. The only modifications were with the dessert (recipe is below), the beef (recipe is below), and I used almost half the butter in each recipe to lighten things up. Grilling the steaks on a plank gives the meat a nice smokey vanilla flavor which matched perfectly with the wine.

Marinated Blackberries
(since blackberries are not in season it is best to doctor them up to make them tasty)
Take one package of blackberries and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with pink sea salt, a healthy squirt of honey, and a dash of amaretto, and cinnamon. Mix together gently, cover, and place in refrigerator until ready to eat.

Red Oak Plank Grilled Filet or Rib-eye.
Soak the plank for at least three hours in water. Heat the grill to high and close cover to preheat the grill. Once pre-heated add the plank, close cover and heat plank for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, salt and pepper both sides of the steaks, and rub a small amount of olive oil on each side. After 10 minutes add the steaks to the grill to sear the meat on both sides to get the grill marks, about 1 minute each. Flip the plank over and add the steaks to the plank. Close the grill and cook for about 8 minutes depending on how hot your grill runs (ours runs very hot). Take the steak off the grill and let them rest under a foil tent for about 10 minutes. Serve with the rest of the dishes and enjoy!

Wine:

Sparkling wine was served with the onion soup and to sip on while cooking. I opened a bottle of Pongracz, a South African sparkler I did a post on a couple weeks ago. Click here to check it out. The bubbles were a nice counterbalance to the heavy, but yummy flavors of the soup. A perfect palate cleanser, that kept the soup tasting fresh and delicious.

Callaghan Vineyards Padres 2008, a blend of 35% Tempranillo, 23% Petite Verdot, 18% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 8% Cabernet Franc, was enjoyed with the main course. This is a heavy hitting bad boy of a wine, it will suck your toungue dry without mercy, yet you will cherish every minute of it. Tobacco, leather, and butterscotch were the main flavors and aromas along with nice juicy berries. This is a Mad Men type of wine, you want to stay away because you know you will be burned, yet that sexy manliness cannot be avoided. Which makes it the perfect wine for a big grilled steak meal. I decanted it for most of the day, which mellowed it a bit, and by the time dessert rolled around we still had a glass left. So we also paired it with the chocolate and berries, and yum city. A truly wonderful wine, and once you taste it you will know why it was Kent not these other new comers that put Arizona on the wine map.

Thank you and enjoy! What is you favorite local wine? Please share below.

52 Tastings: Week 50: There's a Bison in my stew

2011-12-06T09:21:00.001-07:00

If you are anything like me, once the weather dips into the 60's stew and soup recipes start to fill your kitchen. Winter is a very short time frame in good ole' Maricopa county Arizona, and I like to take every advantage of it, from busting out my "winter coat" to a steaming bowl of stew with a luscious red wine. And yes, my eastern seaboard friends, the 60's is cold if you are a born and raised desert dweller!

I have had this beautiful buffalo stew meat in my freezer since April when I did a feature post on Adam's Natural Meats in Buckeye. I have been saving it for colder days since then. Last Friday called out for a yummy, warm bowl of stew. Our temperatures had fallen from the 80's to the low 60's in only a couple days. If you ever have a chance to use buffalo meat in a stew I highly recommend it, absolutely delicious!

Thankfully, I live in an area where a buffalo farm is in my neck of the woods, that is the best bet to get the freshest meat. Adams Natural Meats, is a company out of Buckeye, Arizona that specializes in grass-fed local beef and buffalo. All the animals are treated humanly and with respect. They are allowed to range and eat freely, and it sounds kinda strange but you are allowed to see the buffalo. But if you like to know where you meat comes from, this is a big deal because then you can see that the animals are treated well and are in a safe comfortable environment. If you live in the Phoenix area, I highly recommend you give this company a taste run.

If you are on a budget however, my advice is to look for sales, and according to the website if you sign up for their newsletter they will send you coupons and inform you of any specials they are running. Buffalo meat, regardless of where you find it, is a little pricey. Which to me is kinda funny and sad, due to how many used to just roam freely on the plains and then greedy idiots almost killed them off. Now suddenly we have found out what the natives have always known, buffalo meat is both delicious and amazingly healthy. Plus, you can use every part of the animal, which is an added bonus. So what used to be plentiful, is now rare, and because of that fact the meat is expensive.

The wine I choose was from Bogle, a name I typically trust for good quality, value priced wine. I adore their Petite Sirah, and have for many years, it was actually my first introduction to the varietal. So my mom picked up the old vine Zinfandel. I wanted a Zin because typically a Zin has tons of flavor, very berry-like, with a spicy backbone, perfect for buffalo anything. I could have also gone with a Syrah or Primitivo, but decided to stick with the Zinfandel. Well that was a disappointment.

The stew tasted divine. However, the soggy wine acted like a wet blanket. It did nothing for the stew and barely passed for palatable on it's own. The tasteless wine shamed old vine Zinfandels everywhere. Typically, old vine means, old beautiful flavors, that are very rich and concentrated, everything that this bottle was not. If the Zinfandel was true to it's character this would have been an home-run meal. My recommendation is another old vine Zinfandel, or a nice tasty Syrah. Now on to my tasting notes and menu.

Bogle Vineyards Old Vine Zinfandel California 2009. found at Cost Plus/ World Market for $10.

The nose was the first bad sign as it was very weak, with small amounts of plum, black cherry, blackberry, with a burn of alcohol. The alcohol burn was tempered by my Vintri aerator, but without it, I'm not sure if the wine would have been drinkable. This was an in and out wine with nothing notable or memorable as I took very little notes. As I said above, it lacked the berry juiciness it needed to pair with the stew. The stew was excellent, and I recommend it to any stew lover just pick another wine. I also recommend a crock pot to make it, as it will slowly cook the meat, and therefor help it to retain all it's juicy, glorious flavor.

Menu:

Bison Stew

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs buffalo , cut into small pieces (like stew meat)
2 tablespoons flour
1 sweet potato cut into bit sized pieces

2 russett potatoes cut into bit sized pieces
2 cups large carrots, cut into bit sized pieces
2 medium onions diced
8 oz button mushrooms sliced into quarters

4 cloves garlic minced
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can of tomatoes
4 bay leaves
fresh oregano

fresh rosemary

1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup vegetable broth

1 cup beef broth

1/2 cup red wine

Directions:

1. Dredge buffalo meat in the flour until well coated, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Place a crock pot liner in your pot first, for ease of cleaning. If you don't have a liner, skip this step.

3. Place the potatoes on the bottom of the crock pot, next the onions, then the mushrooms, carrots, and garlic.

4. Next place the buffalo meat on the top of all the veggies, this is important so that the buffalo meat does not dry out. Since buffalo meat is low in fat it easily dries out and becomes tough, so keep it on top. Pour all the liquids including the tomatoes in the pot. Sprinkle with the thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper.

5. Close the lid and cook for about 6-8 hours on low heat. One hour before you are ready to serve stir the stew, but keep most of the meat on top. Sprinkle the fresh oregano and rosemary in, and turn on high heat for the finial hour. (Watch carefully during that last hour to make sure the meat is not getting overdone, if it is done early just turn off the heat, and let it rest.) Serve with a slice of crusty bread for a true healthy soul warming meal.

Thank you and enjoy! Slow down this holiday season and partake in a lovely crock-pot meal with your family.

52 Tastings: Week 49: Drink like the Romans

2011-12-01T09:15:00.001-07:00

"When in Rome drink like the Romans."
-Gretchen Roberts

Seems like a funny quote coming from a girl who lives in Arizona, but I think it fits with the theme of the meal. Actually, it was the quote that came with the dinner and wine suggestion from November's Cooking Light magazine.

I have been hitting the "easy button" lately with my wine choices for my 52 tastings segment by going with meals that have a specific wine suggested, mainly due to lack of brain energy. During the holiday season so much is going on, the last thing I want to stress and put a ton of effort into is my meals. Not because I don't believe the extra effort is always worth it, but sometimes, like for me right now, I just want everything already done for me. That has always been the nice aspect of Cooking Light, they have at least three or four dinner menus that they pair with a specific wine in each issue. And the price point is typically under $20 which is a nice bonus.

Karen MacNiel was the former wine consultant for the magazine which was a wonderful partnership, as her suggestions were always spot-on and amazing. But all good things must come to an end, and for a little over a year now, she has no longer been with the magazine. So for a while I did not trust the newbies, mainly because I was so disgruntled that Karen was gone, and the wine coverage of the magazine dipped tremendously. However, I have overcome my disappointment and prejudice due largely to the fact of what I mentioned above, the easy button. Plus, I tried a handful of the pairings and was pleased with the results. None of them have been mind blowing, however, very good, solid pairings that are also wallet friendly. I am still on the fence as to whether I will renew my magazine subscription, but that is a whole other story entirely.

I made this menu the Friday before our Thanksgiving, we celebrate on Saturday, as a healthy low carb meal to enjoy before the big eating day. I was a little unsure about it, but figured I would try it anyways. I get a thrill from trying new flavors and food combinations. It keeps things interesting and fresh in the kitchen, and luckily I have a husband who does not mind being experimented on. This recipe called for cauliflower as a replacement for noodles, interesting indeed, as I would have never used cauliflower to replace noodles. Italian cooking is just not the same without noodles or polenta! However, the results where very good, the nice texture and crunch the cauliflower gave to the dish was very fun and delicious. We all scooped out a small portion just in case it was gross, but by the first couple bits mom and I where already going back for more. It also helped that I used grass-fed organic beef, it just added a whole level of depth to the dish with it's juicy, earthy, and slightly sweet flavor. Not sure if the meal would have been as good with just regular beef. Since the ingredients in this meal are so cheap, please splurge for the grass-fed ground beef, it is so worth it. I found my at Sprouts, but it is becoming easier to find just about anywhere now, which is great.

If you are looking for a healthy, great tasting lower carb Italian meal than give this one a try. It will not bust your belt or your wallet. And the wine was great as well, and very easy to find anywhere. So here are my tasting notes and menu:

Castello Banfi's Col di Sasso 2008 Italy, blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon. Found at Total Wine for $8.

This is an easy to please red wine, as evidence at the store, I purchased the last one. Nothing off-putting about the wine, soft tannins,and a nice acid balance with a fruit forward approach. Easy to drink alone and wonderful with the meal. I could also see this wine pairing well with your favorite football Sunday pizza and burgers. The wine married perfectly with the cauliflower dish. The briny and saltiness of the olives were enhanced nicely by sangiovese in the blend. The slight earthy quality of the wine also played up the wonderful flavors of the beef and pulled the whole dish together. Anytime you have tomatoes in a dish, you need a red wine with acid, and sangiovese always fits the bill, and this one was no exception. A great comfort pairing.

Menu:

Baked Italian Style Cauliflower

Simple herb salad with a splash of olive oil, champagne vinegar, and finishing salt.

Thank you and enjoy! What is your "easy button" wine? Please share in the comment section below.

52 Tastings : Week 48 : Braising Merlot

2011-12-01T05:30:00.000-07:00

"What is the definition of a good wine? It should start and end with a smile."
~ William Sokolin

And so should a good meal! That is exactly what we had last week, a terrific meal, that paired perfectly with a nice glass of wine, and finished with very happy stomachs. That is what food and wine is all about, making your tummy happy with good company. Yes, you can have epic mind blowing food and wine experiences, however in the grand scheme of things a simple smile should be good enough.

I went with a suggested pairing for the dinner I choose, a Merlot, and a California Merlot at that. If I drink Merlot, as a rule I stay away from California, because much to my dismay most are overly done and down right nasty. And this is unfortunate, because Merlot can be and should be a great wine and it goes so well with a number of foods. Afterall, the famous Bordeaux region that everyone equates to world class Cabernet Sauvignon has Merlot in the blend and in the Pomeral and Saint-Emilion region is mostly Merlot not Cab. But, good old supply and demand busted open the Merlot market in California and too many producers started making cheap crap, but cheap crap that everyone was drinking. Well now that Merlot sales have dipped, because it is no longer the hip wine (Pinot Nior took that slot), it is a little safer to get a California Merlot.

With that being said, it still veer clear of Cali Merlot and if I go Merlot, it is almost always from Washington state. Their Merlots are still lush, with amazing blackberry and plum fruits, wrapped in a blanket of subtle earth. For more on Washington Merlot read this blog post from my fellow wine blogger Cuvee-Corner, it is a great piece.

So when the recipe suggested a Merlot from Blackstone in California I was hesitate, but with a price tag of $6 even if it was crap, not much was lost. The meal was so freaking delicious that even a bad wine could not have spoiled it. Luckily, it was not crap wine, therefor it was worth the price tag. If you have not braised anything in a while or new to the whole process, than this dish is a must. Be warned however, braising does take a couple hours, so it is a weekend meal. Enough talking and let's get straight to the menu and wine notes!

Blackstone Winemakers Select Merlot California 2009. Found this wine at Total Wine for $6.77

This was a pump Merlot with some nice blackberry and plum fruit notes. I was surprised to not be attacked by the heavy alcohol smell and taste that so many wines have at this price point. I did Vinturi the wine which I know helped to soften any harshness, and I would recommend anyone else to do the same. This basically means to aerate the wine with an device like an aerator, or pour yourself a glass about a hour before you want to drink it, and swirl the crap out of it a handful of times. This just helps to soften any harsh alcohol flavors and bring forward the fruit and earthly notes in the wine. As far as the pairing goes perfect. The wine was a nice mellow and wonderful backdrop for the meal, which allowed the main dish to shine and sparkle. It complemented the braised vegetables by bringing out the delicious earthly and dirty qualities. This is a great example of how a wine serves as a condiment for the dish and lets the main dish do the talking without interrupting. And the Merlot was not bad on it's own either, would be a nice wine to bring to a party, unless of coarse you are too cool now to drink Merlot.

Menu:

Braised Chicken with mushrooms and chard
(I used a package of braising vegetables I purchased at my local farmer's market, it contained chard, kale, and a handful of other yummy greens)

Baked Sweet Potato

Thank you and enjoy! Try a new cooking technique today and finish your day with a smile:)

52 Tastings: Week 47- A South African sparkler with farm fresh fare

2011-11-29T05:00:00.001-07:00

A pre-school trip to a local farm inspired this week's meal. My son's preschool visited Tolmachoff farms this past Friday, an urban farm that has been in business for 100 years, and is still a fully operational farm.

The little ones where taken on a tour of the farm and educated about the many fruits and vegetables in the fields. Then they were allowed to pick zucchinis, cucumbers, cilantro, collards greens, and carrots. This of course excited my son and me. I love fresh veggies, especially zucchini this time of year. We happily took home those veggies along with some fresh garlic I purchased, with a plan to make something that night.

Once home, I surveyed the kitchen. I had chicken in the fridge, some wonderful baby kale (from the Avondale's farmers market), and the delisous pasta from DeCio Pasta company in Tempe. I had the perfect wine for this casual farm inspired meal, a lovely sparkler from South Africa, that I purchased on clearance from Fresh and Easy. The meal came together perfectly, and the veggies were the star of the show. Nothing beats farm fresh vegetables, nothing! Even if you are not a veggie lover, eating the stuff freshly pulled from the ground will change your mind and turn you into a veggie fan. The flavors are so fresh, bright, and crisp, a true culinary delight.

If you are new to South African wine, then sparkling wine is a great introduction to the region. Wine making dates back to 1659 with most of the production around Cape Town. The founder of Cape Town, Jan van Riebeeck, a dutch immigrant, crafted the first bottle from his vineyard called Constantia. At one point in wine history, the Constantia had the title of the best in the world, a pretty nice label considering it was competeting with old world wine powerhouses sush as France, Italy, and Germany.

South Africa is just recently making a splash again on the world market. As most of South Africa and all their exports were boycotted during the horrible Apartheid system of the 1980's and 1990's. Now that, that disgusting governing system is over, the market has opened up and people, myself included, are rediscovering the region. They still make great quality wine, at all price points, but are known by the bargain hunters as world class wine at cheap prices.

I have been drinking South African sparklers for a couple of years now, and enjoy them very much. But you need to look for methode cap classique, on the label to be sure you are getting the highest quality sparkler, as it is done in the traditional french riddling technique. South Africa is also know for their chenin blanc (yummy look for it but sometimes labeled as steen), Chardonnay, Colombard, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Pinotage Merlot. While most South African wine is a little harder to get your hands on, it is well worth the search. Most quality wine stores know the value of these wines and stock them on the shelves, however you local grocery store most likely will not carry the wine.

Our wine was very refreshing and a lovely pairing with our meal. Nothing to knock your socks off with, however, a nice comfy pairing. It shined with the sauteed veggies, the nice earthy component of the wine, and natural brightness highlighted the veggie dish. The crispness of the wine also brightened the vegetables, and brought forward the salty, dirty, herbal, and fresh flavors of the vegetables. So with the veggies, magic pairing, with the rest, just comfy cozy.

Now on to my wine notes and menu:

Pongracz Methode cap classique Brut sparkling wine. Blend of chardonnay and pinot nior grapes. found at Fresh and Easy on clearance for $2.99 but can be found at Snooth.com

This wine has nice small bubbles (a hallmark for quality sparklers) and a great mouth feel. It had some nice green apple, as well as a hint of berry, and fresh baked bread. A simple wine, but simple in a nice way. Easy to drink and for the price I paid worth every penny! Actually this would be a worthwhile purchase even at the full price of around $10. A quality wine perfect for this time of year, and a great intruction to South Africia.

Menu:
(I just winged this menu so the measurements are not going to be exact at all, just a pure guess of how much I used!)

Sauteed farm fresh vegetables

serves 4

2 zuccinhis chopped into quarters

4 cloves garlic chopped

1 bag of baby kale

2 large carrots quartered

1 large onion sliced

1 red bell pepper sliced

salt, pepper and fresh herbs of your choice to taste

Directions

1. Heat a large saute pan on medium heat. Add a drizzle of grapeseed oil or olive oil, add the onion and garlic to pan and saute until onion is soft.
2. Add the zucchini, and carrots, saute for about 4 minutes or until the veggies are softened slightly. Next add the bell pepper, stir, then add the kale. Saute for about 5 minutes or until the kale is softened and a quarter of it's original size.
3. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and herbs, stir and serve immediately.

Butter sauteed Herb Chicken thighs

1 package of boneless, skinless, chicken thighs (about 1.5 lbs)

1 TBS light butter divided

1 onion minced

2 garlic cloves minced

chicken broth

same herbs you used with veggies, salt and pepper

Directions Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees

1. Heat a large oven proof skillet to medium heat, add 1/2 TBS of butter, onion, and garlic. saute for about 2 minutes or until onions are translucent. Nestle the chicken in the pan, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and herbs. Brown the chicken on both sides, about 5 minutes each.

3. Place the chicken in the oven to finish while you cook up the veggies, about 15 minutes, but check after 5 with a meat thermometer (170 degrees) to make sure you are not over cooking. Take chicken out of pan and let rest. Place the skillet back on the burner on medium high heat. Once heated add enough chicken broth to fill the bottom of the pan, and deglaze the skillet to make a nice sauce. Finish the sauce with the remaining butter and a sprinkle of salt and pepper if needed. Pour sauce on the chicken and enjoy!

Spinach DeCio Pasta (cook according to package directions)

Thank you and enjoy! Support your local farmer today and visit a farmers market!

52 Tastings: Week 46 - Are you a ball buster?

2011-11-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

I saw this wine on a recent trip to Costco with my mom. It jumped right off the shelf and into my cart, because of the wine name, The Ball Buster. Normally I do not buy wine purely based on the label, I leave that up to my sister who always picks great wine based on label art. But with a name like The Ball Buster I had to, and for the reason why I have to go back to my childhood.

First I had no idea anyone else in the world used that term, basically I grew up with my parents always saying it. They owned their own business, and during the busy seasons the term was thrown around every day. "That job was a ball buster, or we were ball busters today", and various other connotations of the term. My dad always had colorful descriptions for just about anything in life, and this one was no exception. So to see a wine with that term while shopping with my mom, during the busy season was perfect. And it did help that the wine blend was one that also sounded intriguing, Shiraz, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

I did not intend to open the wine with my Friday meal, but since I was being a ball buster at the state swim meet with my swimmers it was appropriate. Truth be told, my mom was also curious about the wine and opened it before I got home. Now I was pretty tired from a long drive home, but the wine hit the spot. Very approachable yet robust. And call me crazy but it went well with the spicy white chicken chili dish I had in the crock pot. Was it outstanding? No, however very enjoyable and perfect after a ball bustin' day at work. I look forward to picking up another bottle or two to have around for just the occasion of another ball busting day.

Now on to my tasting notes and menu

Tait Wines "The Ball Buster" 2009 Barossa Valley Australia. Blend of 73% Shiraz, 15% Merlot, and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon. Found at Costco for $14.99

This is a manly wine, yet has great fruit expression. This wine would be perfect with a grilled burger or anything grilled for that matter. Loads of black plum and blackberries, with nice spicy and slightly herbal finish. This wine will pack a punch and dry out your tongue, but the big juicy fruits with some slight acid from the Shiraz still make the wine nice for sipping. If you local Costco carries this wine, I highly suggest picking up a bottle. Australia is still doing a great job of making quality wines with an affordable price tag.

Menu:

White chicken chili
(I use a local spice packet however, this recipe is very close to what I use)

Thank you and enjoy!

Thanksgiving day wines that take a different and local approach

2011-11-22T12:05:00.001-07:00

I wanted to take a rather eclectic and slightly avaunt-guard approach to this years Thanksgiving wine choices. I threw caution to the wind and just went with my gut on this season's picks. So we will see how it goes. Either way I had fun with it and that's is all the matters, because the best aspect of the day is, I get to spend the holiday with the people I love and cherish the most.

1. Evodia: A 2008 vintage old vines garnacha from Spain, a super value wine at under $8. Found at Total Wine. I am bringing two bottles of this super excellent wine.

2. Kitchen Sink: An non-vintage white wine blend from California. Main grapes are Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, and Gewurztaminer. Again another value at under $10, never had it before but the blend sounds fun and perfect for our Turkey meal. Found at Total Wine

3. Arthur Metz: A 2008 Alsace France Gewurztraminer. I love Alsace wine and the wonders it does with food, look forward to sipping on this one. Found at Total Wine for $16.99

4. Mulderbosch: At 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Rose' from South Africa. This one I picked up on a whim, because I wanted another Rose for the meal, and it said herb roasted turkey is a great pairing on the back, perfect! Bonus, it was on sale for $5.48 at Cost Plus/ World Market.

5. Sand-Reckoner: A dry Rose' from Cochise County Arizona. Need I say more about this wine! My all time favorite Rose, so now we will see how it goes with Turkey day dishes. Found at Phoenix Public Market for $22.

I am looking forward to the paring with all these wines and will let you know the winners next week. Until then, enjoy your Thanksgiving and find something to be thankful for on this great American holiday!

Thank you and enjoy!

Winner, Winner Turkey Dinner:
Here is the update on which wine won the turkey day pairing.

Drum roll please . . . . . . . . . . Sand-Reckoner Rose' from Arizona!

Yes, the rose' was perfect with everything from the herb and butter stuffing to the silky roasted butternut squash. The wine complemented the meal, and helped bridge together the numerous components on the plate, wine pairing perfection. And really Thanksgiving wine parings are all about the sides, and rose' is the ultimate food wine, as it is a nice combination of both red and white wine. And in the great state of Arizona rose' is perfect year round.

Kitchen Sink was a close second as the chenin blanc in the blend really picked up the contrast of sweet and savory in all the sides. And the chardonnay was a wonderful complement to all the rich buttery dishes as well, giving them especially, the stuffing a delicious richness. This is a fun blend to also sip around the table after the meal is over, and relax and chat with your family.

So for once the most expensive wine won, but like I said, Kitchen Sink was a very close second and was just as happy with all the elements of the meal. Much to my dismay, the Spanish grenache was a little heavy. I remember it being softer, and more pinot nior in character, but no, it overwhelmed just about everything. Most Arizona grenaches are very soft and almost silky so next year, I am planning on trying a grenache again, but this time from one of my favoirte Arizona wineries.

I did not open the Gewurztraminer or the South African rose'. I felt it would have been glutenous to open them as I already had three glasses in front of me, and the Sand-Reckoner was already a clear winner. I also wanted to enjoy my meal with my family, and not sit and take notes the entire time. But I have a sneaking suspicion that the unopened wines may also have been very nice with the meal just based on the success of the rose' and white blend.

Thank you and enjoy! What where your Thanksgiving wines? Did they work or fall flat? Please share in the comments section below.

2011 Festival at the Farm: The best of what Arizona has to offer

2011-11-21T12:49:00.001-07:00

I had an amazing opportunity to partake in one of Arizona's best wine festivals this past Saturday. I attended the Festival at the Farm put on by the Arizona Wine Growers Association. It is in it's third year of existence, and held at the beautiful Farm at South Mountain. This is the biggest event the Association hosts, and most likely the best to represent what Arizona wine is all about.

According to the AWGA website, Arizona now has 45 licenced wineries ranging from Northern Arizona to deep Southeastern Arizona, with about 20 more in development. This is also the event where the wineries offer their best red, white, rose', and dessert wines to be judged and awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals. Participants at the event were also encouraged to vote on the peoples choice awards.

I received the chance to arrive about an hour before the event officially started, as a member of the media community (super cool). I tasted the various wine offerings and talked to all the winemakers before the crowds arrived.

This was my first year attending the event, and I was thrilled to be there and taste my way through the great wine state of Arizona. The event was very well run, and the location was perfect along with the weather.

Rant Alert: I only have one complaint, the awards. In my opinion, to have an event hosted by the AWGA, emphasis on the word wine growers, any wine that was made from outside fruit should not be qualified to compete. If the Arizona Winemakers Association co-hosted the event then yes, outside and in-state fruit could both count toward the awards. So needless to say, I was a little annoyed by some of the winners this year, and by some of the people who did not win. I firmly believe that if Arizona wants to be taken seriously as a wine making region we need to step away from the California labels. Or if you do make your wine from California (or anywhere else) please, please do not label it as Arizona wine or mislead saying you have Arizona wine when in fact you do not. There is no shame in using California or New Mexican or even Mexican fruit if you are honest about what you are doing. According to the website there are two categories for awards, Wine Grower's cup and winemakers Medal, the first being only AZ fruit and the second only made in AZ. I believe the second category should be null and void. When one of the best rose's I have ever tasted did not win gold, I personally felt a little robbed, but what are you going to do, after all, wine is highly subjective, and these awards once again proved that. One persons Don Perignon is another's Boones' Farm. Here is the link to the full list of winners and also a list of the judges and their personal favorites.

Now that my rant is over, on to the good stuff, the wine! Of the 22 different wineries represented I tasted all but five, namely because two made stuff with California fruit, and the other three I just ran out of time. I was very impressed with some of the newest wineries and those I have not yet visited. At one point, I sat next to a couple from California, and they were impressed with Arizona wine and trying to decide who they would like to buy from and how to get it all back to California. Very cool! Most Californians snub their noses at Arizona wine, so it was nice to finally hear the reverse.

Speaking of California, I had a very unique tasting experience at the Gallifant Cellars table. This is a new winery located in Willcox however, Eric Glomski makes the wine. My goal was to only taste wine made with local fruit, so if a table had a wine made with exclusively outside fruit I passed, except for at Gallifant. Irlyn, the winery owner, was pouring me the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and was gushing about how good it was, and how much more she, her husband, and Glomski enjoy it over the 2008. However, most of the customers prefer the 2008, which was made from Paso Robles grapes. So this had be curious. After tasting the 2009 made with AZ grapes, I decided to do a side by side comparison of the same varietal, but different region. And not surprisingly I also preferred the 2009. Now, you may say I am bias, however not true, Cab is after all my favorite red wine. No, I enjoyed the 2009 more because it was different, a unique terrior driven experience. I have tasted a million California Cabs at various price points, and while they for the most part have all been tasty, they are predicable. Now taste an Arizona Cab and it is a whole new experience with the same grape. It has that lovely smokey, granite like Arizona twist that I enjoy. While it may not be for everyone, I enjoy the uniqueness in wine, something out of the ordinary, something that wakes up your palate and screams hello, and that is what I so often experience with Arizona wine.

My first stop of the day was to Sand-Reckoner naturally, to let them know my extreme displeasure over them not winning the gold for their beautiful rose'. They are such a sweet couple, they laughed and said thank you a half a dozen times. Then I purchased a couple bottles of the wonderful juice and I plan on serving it at our family Thanksgiving table. And I am happy to report, they are not ripping up that special nebbiolo vines plot, thankfully! However, the next vintage will be slightly different, just a little more syrah, and sangiovese in the blend but still nebbiolo based.

Next table over was Lawrence Dunham Vineyards also down in Willcox, and let me say, they are now on my top five list of special Arizona wineries. They use neutral oak in all the Sky Island wines and French oak on the rest. They make the wines from all Arizona fruit and most from their vineyards. Really good freaking wine, lip smacking, in your face, drink me now, and I will stain your teeth purple kinda wines. The Sky Island wines are a little softer and more fruit forward, ie: more palate friendly. But I liked the big guns, the 2009 Grenache, and 2009 Petite Sirah, both amazing and heavy hitters, singing all the right notes. I am planning on visiting this winery in the Spring, and am super excited. Curt Dunham the co-owner (along with Peggy Fiandeca, the current AWGA president) is the winemaker and doing an amazing job. Cool side note, Peggy was one of the first subscribers to my blog!

Next of course was my already top five favorites, Keeling-Schaefer, Callaghan, and Lightening Ridge. It was nice to talk and taste wine with each of them again. And Cecilia Keeling, Rod Keeling's daughter, I have been following her on twitter for a while now, she was at her dads table. It was wonderful to meet and talk with her. It was like we were old friends, we just hit it off and talked for a long time about Arizona wine and various random topics. I also enjoyed walking around and tasting the newest wines at the wineries I have already visited. I happily tasted some the wineries that are still on my list such as Pillsbury, and Page Springs Cellars as well.

So who are my favorites you might be asking. That is so hard for me to narrow down, as I was surprised how many wineries are making some really excellent juice, and each table had something I enjoyed. So I will go with the new surprises, from wineries I have not yet visited, followed by my top five from already visited wineries. And these will be in no particular order:

1. Lawrence Dunham 2009 Petite Sirah
2. Burning Tree 2009 Lotus
3. Pillsbury Wine Co., Shiraz Private Reserve, 2010
4. Sierra Bonita 2009 Syrah
5. Lawrence Dunham 2009 Grenache

1. Sand-Reckoner 2010 Rose'
2. Keeling-Schaefer Vineyards 2008 Shafer Boys Mourvedre
3. Arizona Stronghold 2010 Tazi
4. Callaghan Vineyards 2009 Padres
5. Lightning Ridge Cellars 2009 Estate Mourvedre

So there you have it folks. I am once again very impressed with how far Arizona wine has come since my first visit in the early 2000's. This wine industry will only continue to get better as the winemakers are learning more and more about how to thrive in this unique environment and produce some truly world-class wine. I am so happy to be a small part of it. The future is a little uncertain, as this year's harvest was once again affected by the dreaded weather, however the old pros's at this will no doubt rebound and find a way to as Tim Gunn of Project Runways says, "Make it Work." I look forward to next year's event to once again taste my way through the state.

Thank you and enjoy. Drink Local.

Beaujolais Nouveau Day - A Global Tradition and Celebration

2011-11-17T12:34:00.001-07:00

What's the deal with this wine?

The story on Beaujolais.
Beaujolais Nouveau is made in France from Gamay grapes and bottled just six weeks after harvest. French law mandates that it can only be uncorked after midnight on the third Thursday in November. Retailers are forbidden from selling it until the clock strikes 12, at which point it can be announced, "Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!" What began as a local tradition has turned into a global festival, celebrating the Beaujolais harvest. Over 65 million bottles (nearly half of the region's total annual production) will be consumed around the world!

Georges Duboeuf's Beaujolais Nouveau is the perfect wine to celebrate with stateside, because it's so easy and versatile. Complementing everything from cured meats and seafood to cheeses and chocolates, Beaujolais Nouveau stands up to it all. Be sure to call your local wine store today (you may have to call more than one store) to reserve your 2011 Georges Duboeuf Beaojolais Nouveau for pickup tomorrow. Don't forget or you'll miss out in this great virtual tasting experience.

How to prepare for Nouveau Day:

Invite your guests — make sure everyone's got your party date on their calendar.
Start tweeting — Using hashtag #NouveauDay, join the masses getting excited for the 2011 wine launch of the year.
Party day — On November 17th, pick up your bottles of Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau from your local wine retailer and set the mood (you may want to call this week and reserve your bottles); think good music, easy, delicious food, and great company — that's all you need! Again, call your wine store today and locate and reserve your bottles for pickup.

The awesome thing about Beaujolais Nouveau is that it's such a balanced wine that works well with so many dishes. Here are some menu ideas that are great for a group:

Channel classic French style with a traditional charcuterie platter that includes sausages, olives, cornichons and baguette together with a cheese board that offers mellow, aged and pungent options.

Go bistro with steak au poivre bites, rosemary French fries, and mussels. Keep it simple and serve it buffet style.

Easy does it with simple grilled fare: paninis and grilled veggies work so well with Beaujolais Nouveau.

-This article was provided by WineTwits

Look for a short post on my notes and pairing during my Nouveau Day celebration.

Here are my notes and impressions from yesterday:

There are much better wines to spend $10 on than a Beaujolais Nouveau for sure. I generally stay away from the stuff and have not had a bottle in a couple years once my wine tastebuds changed.

It is often considered the White Zinfandel of Old World wine regions. People either love it and drink it by the gallon, or hate it with an endless passion. Me, I am on the neutral side.

Nouveau is a great starter wine for anyone new to red wines, or the ultimate party wine. It is also a great wine to drink this time of year, after all the holiday hustle and bustle of season, it is a wonderful relaxing TV wine. Sometimes you just want a wine that you do not have to think about and just gulp, and the Nouveau hits the target on that one. Do I think it is a great wine, no, are there better versions of the wine than the ones that are shipped to the States, yes. Nouveau is a French celebration wine that is made to celebrate the end of harvest in Beaujolais and every village makes their own. Just like here, anything made locally and right around the corner, is always better than the mass produced stuff.

With all the being said, it is a fun wine that kicks off the holiday season, a once a year wine. It needs to be drunk young, and with people, so perfect for holiday parties. So have fun, don't be too much of a wine snob, open and enjoy a bottle of Nouveau today.

Here are my tweets from the event last night:

*fun and fruity just like I remember! Have not had one in a few years.

*I do have to say that there is plenty of enjoyment in trying this wine every year, that I don't have to LOVE IT!

*Georges Dubeouf #nouveau is just what I remember plump fruit a good starter wine or celebration
wine for sure #nouveauday

Thank you and enjoy!

52 Tastings : Week 44 - Atwater Riesling and sandwich magic

2011-11-08T08:54:00.000-07:00

We have been on a bit of a dry spell once again with our Friday night pairings, that streak was finally broken a couple Fridays ago. Thanks to a wonderful Finger Lakes Riesling and a delicious Cooking Light recipe, magic was on the table again.

The moment I flipped through the October issue of Cooking Light I knew I wanted to make the featured sandwich. It just screamed Riesling, and I had the perfect one in the wine fridge. However, I was long delayed from making my coveted sandwich due to time constraints. Between coaching my high school swim team, and ever continuing heat, it had just not been in the cards. Well, finally the heat had let up a little, and I had a day off from coaching. Thus, the sandwich was soon to be scratch off my bucket list.

The wine I picked was a lovely Finger Lakes Riesling I received in September from my media pack provided by the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance. From the information included with the wine, I knew this would be a tasty, quality Riesling that would represent what the Finger Lakes region in upstate New York can produce. And I was not wrong, this was a terrific wine, with all the qualities I love and look for in a Riesling. Nice and crisp with great acid balance, aromatic, with the lovely river rock quality that makes the wine unique and special wrapped up in a green apple core. And the pairing with the sandwich was divine, sandwich heaven.

But before I get to the pairing here are a few details on the wine for the wine geeks. The appellation is Seneca Lake, and the vineyard was planted in 1988. This is an estate wine, made from 100% Riesling grapes. The wine was fermented in stainless steal with 9.7 g/L acidity level and the residual sugar level is .8 g/L which means this is an Arizona desert dry wine. The wine also received a 87 point rating from Wine Spectator. For more information on this great winery please check out the website.

Now on the the exciting part, the pairing! Everything about the pairing was magical, from the sandwich to the salad. The acid of the wine brightened up the sandwich and sparkled with the prosciutto. The apple in both the wine and the sandwich married very nicely and was the perfect bridge to the whole pairing. The sandwich was super easy to make, and this is the perfect time of year for it, as apples are in season and their most tasty. The wine made the sandwich even better, and the sandwich let the wine shine. Like I said this was a magic pairing! Now on to my wine notes and recipe.

Atwater estate vineyards Dry Riesling Finger Lakes New York 2010

I received this wine as a sample for the purpose of this blog however, from the website it costs $9.99 which is a great bargain! It can be found online at marketviewliquor.com

If you need a great wine to just sip or to serve with a special meal this is it! A great price for an outstanding wine, and remember Riesling is the most food friendly white wine out there. With Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner, this wine will fit perfectly on your table. It has a lovely river rock quality (mineral), with lime and green apple, and hints of floral, a very pretty wine. The acid was perfectly balanced and did a nice dance on my tongue, and was a great palate cleanser. As I said above, it was excellent with our sandwich and salad, and would pair well with just about anything.

Menu:

Prosciutto, Manchego and Apple Sandwich

Walnut and Pear salad with mixed greens and a walnut oil and champagne vinegar vinaigrette

Thank you and enjoy!

Breakfast of Champions: Squash and Eggs

2011-11-08T08:25:00.003-07:00

As the weather has finally cooled down, and is darn right cold for us Phoenicians, it is time to fire up the oven once again. And with the cooler weather, I get to indulge in my favorite activity, roasting veggies!

I love squash and have since I can remember, the butternut squash is often my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal. To me, it is the ultimate comfort food/vegetable. And there are so many varieties of squash that if you don't like one, then you can check out another and there is bound to be a squash for you. Plus, they can be prepared as a savory dish or sweet, perfect for any mood you are in. Check out this great link for all the types of yummy squash and a bit of information on each.

Now on to the reason for my breakfast post. I picked up an acorn squash last week, not sure what I was going to do with it, but knew I would somehow be inspired to bake it. Well the inspiration came last night.

I roasted the funky looking guy with the thought process of using it in a winter salad I was making for dinner. Well the squash got a little too gooey to use in the salad, I ended up only using about an eighth of it and decided to mash the remainder. I added a little salt and pepper, mashed the squash with a fork, and put it in the fridge for another use.

This morning I decided to use the squash as a patty for my eggs. We had just purchased some wonderful farm fresh eggs from a farmer's market, plus I still had Crow's Dairy fresh goat cheese in the fridge and viola, the breakfast of champions was born! If you like eggs, cheese, and squash then I guarantee you will love this as much as I did! It is the easiest way to sneak in some veggies to your breakfast and enjoy a nice warm meal first thing in the morning. The wonderful gooeyness of the yoke, combine with the salty cheese and sweetness of the squash was just terrific! Nothing is better than fresh egg breakfast on a crisp autumn morning.

I often do not measure when I cook, especially breakfast items, so all the measurements below are approximate, sorry. Here is the recipe, please enjoy!

Acorn Squash patties with a sunny side up egg
serves 2

Ingredients:
2 eggs
leftover roasted acorn squash, mashed
salt and pepper to taste
panko crumbs
canola oil
goat cheese

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a non-stick pan, just enough oil to coat the pan. Add about 2TBS of the panko to about 1 cup of the squash. Form into a thin patty, and place into the hot pan. Cook until both sides are golden and crisp, about 3 minutes per side. Sprinkle some of the goat cheese on one side of the patty. Remove from pan and keep warm.
2. Add a little more oil if needed to the pan. Add the eggs to the hot pan. Cook on one side for about 3 minutes or until eggs whites are cooked but yoke is not. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Add the eggs to the top of the squash patties, serve and enjoy!

Thank you and enjoy! What is your favorite squash recipe?

TGTaste Event Number Two: A Chocolate Lovers Dream

2011-11-04T09:01:00.001-07:00

About a month ago, I received my Thirsty Girl chocolate tasting package in the mail. I found four bars of Ghirardelli dark chocolate. My husband and I love dark chocolate, and visited the Ghirardelli site in San Fransisco some years ago, so this turned into the perfect tasting for us.

I already know that chocolate goes well with port, sherry, and various other dessert wine drinks, so I wanted to try something new and different for the Twitter Tasting. We were at my mom's one evening discussing this, and my husband thought, what about Brandy Alexander's? They are just sweet enough, and nice and creamy to balance the bitter sweetness of the chocolate. But we needed a recipe, an old school recipe.

My mom dug into her archives and found this fabulous book from the 1970's. But not a recipe book, an old liquor catalog from a liqueur store in Lackawana New York. Lackawana is my dad's birthplace, and he and my mom lived there for a time when they were first married. Needless to say Cavalier Liquors is still up and running today! I Google'd them, and found them. I will be writing a post on this fabulous find soon, because I enjoyed looking back in the past, as it is chocked full of great information, tips, and recipes, all with a 1970's groove.
We found a terrific recipe for Brandy Alexanders which I will share below, and they were excellent with the chocolate. If you have never had a Brandy Alexander, do yourself a favor and whip one up this holiday season, it is a yummy old-school treat! Again the Twitter tasting proved fun, and fast, and ThristyGirl was an excellent host. And a big thank you to Ghirardelli for providing the chocolates.

These are relatively new line of chocolate by Ghirardelli, labeled Intense Dark, which you can easily find at your local super market, which is a great bonus. All the Intense Dark chocolates are made with 100% all natural ingredients and made with increasing levels of cocoa. The richest being made with 86% and the "lightest" being 60%, so these are dark chocolates to the extreme. A few of them are flavored, we received the toffee one, which seemed to be the overall favorite chocolate of the event. We deemed it our favorite, and my family, as they came over later in the evening and were able to nibble on the leftovers! The darker chocolates were a little harder to just sit and eat, as the 86% radiated bitterness. However, it would be perfect to bake or cook with.

Finally here are my Twitter notes from the evening followed by a few recipes.

*coffee and brandy Alexander perfect with the 86%

*My husband loves chocolate and is digging the twilightdelight and toffee interlude, and digging being a taster!

*Brandy Alexander is a hit with all the chocolate!

*Brandy Alexander is terrific balance of sweet and creamywith the evening dream and twilight delight

*Husband is in love with the 72%, currently eating more and more!

*Fresh mint with midnight reverie is super yummy!

*Coffee with vanilla honey n' steamed milk, great withGhirardelli Toffee Interlude!

*Coffee courtesy of Ground Control. Fresh locally roasted"afterburner" blend.

*Mmm... Toffe-late n' coffee. Like pb n' j.

Recipes:

Toffe-late
Directions: Brew a fresh batch of coffee. Pour 1 cup of milk, with a touch of honey, into a microwave safe cup. Zap in the microwave for about 1 1/2 minute, or until very hot. Add 1 tsp of high quality vanilla. Whip with a whisk. Pour 1/2 cup of steamed milk, and fill with coffee. Serve and enjoy with a square of Ghirardelli Toffee Interlude.

Brandy Alexander
Directions: 1 oz brandy, 1 oz creme de cacao, 1 oz heavy cream. Pour into a shaker filled with ice. Shake well and pour into a martini glass rimmed with chocolate or sugar. makes one drink.

Beef and Chocolate stew (use the 86% Midnight Reverie)

Hot chocolate (use the 72% Twilight Delight shavings on top and a whole square on the bottom of you glass for a chocolate overload treat)

Mole Sauce (use either the 86% or the 72%)

This time of year is perfect for dark chocolate both as a nice treat, but also great to cook with in a comforting stew or delicious sauce. Since the holidays are also cocktail season, share something new to your quests with a retro Brandy Alexander, and cap off the chilly fall evening with a delicious latte'.

Thank you and enjoy!

52 Tastings : Week 45 - Keuka Springs Riesling hits the spot

2011-11-03T09:35:00.001-07:00

We hit it off again with another lovely Finger Lakes Riesling. I am down to my last one, and very sad about it, so it looks like I will be on the hunt to find and purchase some more of this great wine from an outstanding region.

I am normally not a fan of off-dry Rieslings, unless paired with the right foods. I am a big fan of the completely dry, mineral driven Rieslings of the old world, both to sip on and have with my meals. With that being said, I highly enjoyed the off-dry Riesling I received from Keuka Spring Vineyards, and the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance.

This is a nicely balanced wine, hitting all the right notes without overdoing any one element. Sometimes the wines labeled off-dry can still be too sweet for my taste and veer more towards the sweet category. They are usually one dimensional and the one dimension is overly sweetened fruit and nothing more. However, this wine is an excellent example of what an off-dry Riesling should taste like, but I will leave the detail for my wine notes section.

If you have not discovered the wonders of Finger Lakes Riesling than this is the year to do so. 2010 was a great year for the region with a warm season and plenty of rain, but not too much rain that the grapes became fat and flavorless, but the perfect balance. Thus, all the wines from the 2010 vintage are fruit driven, with lower acid, and nice ripe flavors. This equates to a very palate friendly wine, that can pair well with a large range of foods. And speaking of a large arrange of foods, this wine or any Riesling for that matter would be right at home on your Thanksgiving table. I know I will be serving a nice Riesling, hopefully from the Finger Lakes on my holiday table this year!

Once again here are a few wine geek notes. The vineyards are located on the Keuka Lake appalation and were first planted by the Wiltbergers (who still own the vineyard) in 1985. This Riesling was released in May of this year and is 100% Riesling grapes. The acid level is 7 g/L and the residual sugar is 1.25%. This wine has received a number of awards both in national and international competitions. For more on this winery please check out the website.

We had another magic pairing! The wine was a perfect partner with the stuffed pork with pears recipe I once again found in Cooking Light. And the side dish was also lovely with the wine, actually the side dish is what inspired the whole pairing. All the elements of the dish married perfectly with the mineral, slight sweetness, and apple flavors of the wine. The pear in both the pork and the side dish, along with the walnuts were highlighted by the wine, and brought out a beautiful freshness, and brightness. I love roasting vegetables, and this was a winner, the roasted endive. Roasting veggies brings out their natural sweetness, which was perfectly mirrored in the wine, yum city!

Now on to my wine notes and recipes.

Keuka Spring Vineyards 2010 Riesling Finger Lakes New York

I received this wine curiosity of the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance, however the wine is listed as $13.99 on the winery website.

This was a nicely balanced wine with great spice, apple cider, apricot, and floral flavors. The wine is dry upfront then finishes with a slight sweetness (that's when the apricot and floral flavors kick in). Clean flavors with a nice finish, very enjoyable wine. I used my new Riesling Riedel wine glasses , and I could tell it made a difference in how the wine hit my palate. As I said earlier, this was a magic pairing!

Menu:

Blue Cheese-Stuffed Pork Chops with Pears

Whole Roasted Endives with Pear, Arugula, and Walnut Salad

Thank you and enjoy!