She says: They’re in the Barrel Room!
Fall Harvest, Vineyard in Carneros – so cool! #Wine #Winemaking #HL12
She says: Amazing! Pinot Noir grapes as they are being processed. So cool!
Link to Live coverage of fall harvest 2012 in Napa Valley
Beautiful morning fog to make the fall harvest cooler! Recorded live in Carneros this morning! Dijon clone of chardonnay.
Click the picture, it will take you to the video – it takes a couple of seconds to start, but it’s so worth waiting 2 seconds. 
Which wine goes with BROCCOLI? – or “It’s National Women’s Health and Fitness Day!”
She said: I can’t believe I used to be a vegetarian and used to eat raw broccoli all the time. Now, I hate broccoli. In fact, I don’t know anyone who likes broccoli. But today is National Women’s Health and Fitness day, so what better way to celebrate than figure out which wine goes with broccoli and find a good broccoli recipe?
I have finally found a broccoli recipe that doesn’t make me barf. From the lovely Barefoot Contessa with a few variations by me because the only thing I hate more than broccoli is cooking.
I mean – is broccoli ugly, or what? But it tastes great. This is my rendition of Barefoot Contessa Broccoli. You can’t see it, but I really did do my first “lemon zest” and there are pine nuts in there and there are garlic slices and basil slices, I swear.
Barefoot Contessa’s Awesome Broccoli
Heat the oven to 325 degrees
What you’ll need:
1 head of broccoli
2 tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
6 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons of pine nuts
6 leaves of basil
zest of 1 lemon rind (or orange or lime if you don’t like lemon)
a mixing bowl
a cookie sheet
Rinse the broccoli
Cut into pieces
Be sure to dry the pieces thoroughly
Put them in a bowl
Drizzle the olive oil over the flowery portion of the heads.
mix w/your hands or a spatula.
Let sit for 20 mins so the broccoli absorbs the oil (that’s my note, not the Contessa’s)
Sprinkle salt and black pepper to taste ( I like a lot of salt & pepper)
Peel the garlic
Slice the garlic into long slices
Mix all that together, toss it around a few times
Put it on a cookie sheet (with sides to prevent the broccoli from escaping)
Separate all the broccoli pieces so they aren’t on top of each other
Bake in your 325 degree oven.
Check on it in 20 mins.
What you want is for the flowers of the broccoli to begin to brown. When they begin to brown, you’re almost done.
20 minutes later
Roast the pine nuts slightly (in a pan on a burner apparently)
Toss them in w/the broccoli
Slice the basil into thin strips – toss that in there, too.
Put it all in a serving dish (because you’re not tacky)
Zest 1 lemon, (or orange or lime if you don’t like lemon)
Sprinkle the zest from the lemon, lime or orange on top
Eat like a monster. It’s sooooo good.
Then take a nap (that was exhausting)
Options: you can add additional olive oil if you want. (doesn’t need it in my opinion)
Grated parmesan cheese – you can sprinkle on some parmesan cheese (doesn’t need it)
Seriously good broccoli.
He said: Now you have two things you know how to make! You’re a star chef!
She says: And now… what about the wine?
WELLL…
WELLL…
2005 Kenneth Crawford Grenache was great with it! Too strong you say? Well, broccoli is a strong vegetable, so it met it’s match with this red wine. (I’m sure more current years of Kenneth Crawford Grenache will be great, too — 2005 was just sitting nearby. Kenneth Crawford wines are an easy “win” for everyone.)
2011 Terre di Terrosa Pino Grigio from Italy also tasted great.
For purists, you’ll probably be happier tasting it with the white wine.
Did you choose a different wine? Tell me about it!
For purists, you’ll probably be happier tasting it with the white wine.
Did you choose a different wine? Tell me about it!
He says: A nice Sauvignon Blanc is also good. Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc is widely available and always a dependable, fruity, delicious sauvignon blanc. Fume blanc is a name coined by Robert Mondavi that usually is used to denote a sauvignon blanc that has been aged in oak for a little bit and has a rounder flavor. If you find many sauvignon blancs too grassy or vegetal (like broccoli!), then try this fume blanc as it’s closer in flavor to a chardonnay but still with some acid to make it very food friendly. It pairs well with the lemon in the dish.
A few other links for National Women’s Health & Fitness Day!
Healthy Lifestyle post from Holly Fulger & Speaking of Beauty TV
Healthy Lifestlyle post from Dr. Holly Thacker & Speaking of Women’s Health
Best of luck with your broccoli….lol… !!!
Be sure to make time just for you and your health today!
Off Topic post — Grandparents as Parents
CLICK and VOTE on Facebook. Thanks!
She says: This is so off topic – and yet so important. Did you know that over 1 million children in California are being raised by their grandparents for any number of different reasons, death, ill-health, drugs, etc. With a simple click of your mouse, you can assist the organization “Grandparents as Parents” in winning a new Toyota.
When I learned my friend Jennifer’s parents were raising her sister’s child, I was so surprised. And then embarrassed that I didn’t know there are thousands of granparents providing the primary care for their grandchildren. Learn about 10 “something new”s every day.
Please take 30 seconds to join us and CLICK and VOTE for Grandparents as Parents to win a new Toyota for their organization! Thank you.
On Facebook today, @Reidel asks “Does wine count as a serving of fruit?”
Why, yes, of course it does. Read the math—->
Does wine count as a serving of fruit?
She says: I totally have this one, honey!
He says: You realize of course that we are not doctors of anything, right? And we have no authority to speak on this subject?
She says: Yes.
She continues: Remember the day we wrote down the math? So to answer this question, I refer to my mostly sober notes:
Does wine count as a serving of fruit? Yes. Several servings actually. The almost accurate math:
1 bottle = approx. 2.4 pounds of grapes
1 bottle pours approx 4 glasses of wine
2.4 lbs of grapes divided by 4 glasses of wine = .6 lbs of grapes.
Ergo you are drinking .6 lbs of grapes and that is at least 2 servings of grapes in a respectable household
He says: And in the dis-respectable household?
She says: I’m not one to judge. They can eat as much as they want.
Sideways, the play? Yes! Sideways writer Rex Pickett transforms his story Sideways into a stage play!
Sidways the book and Sideways the movie become a stage play!
She says: I love movies… so convenient, so easy to watch over and over again. But I REALLY love a good play. Remember the book and movie Sideways, the tale of two friends for an “end of bachelorhood” wine weekend? Now there’s a stage play. 4 sure! Any trick I can find to get He to a live theater, I’m using it. 
Apparently they are serving very fine Pinot Noir each evening in the proper stem ware, too. So, check it out!
I have a feeling I’ll be seeing this more than once.
Show times and theater location for Sideways the play: http://www.ruskingrouptheatre.com/
Big thanks to our friends at The Daily Sip for this news! Click here and you can read their interview with writer Rex Pickett.
…and yet another contribution to Recycling Ideas for #Wine Corks
She says: Another recycling idea for wine corks: Use wine corks for graphics in your next PowerPoint presentation! Thanks to The Drinks Business for this hilarious and brilliant leadership.
Enliven your next PowerPoint and you can Recycle Wine Corks at the same time!
