The stretch between Thanksgiving and Christmas is always filled with good food, and this year was no exception. Though during this busy period at times I wasn’t able to do much more than Annie’s mac & cheese, I did manage to create some good meals myself as well as enjoying the fruits of other’s labor….
Best Wines of 2006
Well, it looks like I didn’t have a single one of Wine Spectator’s Top wines for 2006, but did manage to have some good wine this year nonetheless. So I’m issuing my own Top 10 list. Reds, especially Pinot Noir, dominate my list this year. Most of them are from the U.S., though not all…
$1500 Wine Spending Spree
I couldn’t residet the challenge posed by New York Times wine columnist Eric Asimov in today’s post on The Pour, where he describes how he’d stock his cellar on a $1500 budget. Actually, it was a comment by Paul that really got my competitive dander up–he pointed out that Eric’s list would only generate 1…
Wine Blogging Wednesday Results
If you’re looking for some great holiday sparkler ideas, look no further then the Wine Blogging Wednesday results posted by Culinary Fool. This month’s theme was sparkling wine, just in time for the holidays! Read this WBW for links to dozens of sparkling wines that will delight you–or at least not embarass you. And if…
WBW: Westport Rivers 2002 Brut Cuvee RJR
I remember the dramatic POP of one of the first bottles of bubbly I opened (definitely not real champagne!)…great sound, until I realized the geyser was rapidly dousing our apartment walls. But now, for my first Wine Blogging Wednesday event, I’ve got the experience to open the sparkling wine to a gentle “poof” followed by…
A Birthday Tasting
My birthday fell in the midst of a very hectic stretch for Jodi and me, so we decided enjoying a home cooked meal would be the way to go. We decided to invest some of the money we would have paid for a restaurant meal on a good wine (or two) and headed to The…
Pairing Wine & Indian Food
I love Indian food, especially when paired with a good glass of wine. So when Mallika wrote on Quick Indian Cooking about matching wines and other beverages with Indian food, I had to add my 2 cents. Especially after finding an interesting match for last night’s takeout supper of Chicken Tikka Masala and Aloo Palak…
November: A Month of Meals & More
November was my first full month of blogging here on CookingChat, and I’ll mark that be introducing a new feauture that recaps some of the culinary highlights for the month. Memorable Meals: Thanksgiving is always a special meal, and I ate my share of mashed potatoes to celebrate my Irish heritage. Butternut Chicken Risotto was…
A Tale of Three Zins
What distinguishes a great wine from a good one? Of course, there are so many variables, volumes can and probably have been written on the subject. I felt I know some of the elements, but thought comparing two zinfandels from the same producer would be a good case study to learn more about what makes…
2004 Ayler Kupp Riesling
An $8 bottle of wine probably does not warrant a long review; yet I feel obliged to share such a good find! Some time ago I was turned off against Rieslings–I had a few that were too sweet for my taste, and I prematurely wrote off the varietal. But I have come back around to…