36 Hours to Prepare; 1 Hour to Devour!

Actually, the title is correct: 36 Hours to Prepare; 1 Hour to Devour, but therein lies the excitement and joy! And it was great to have Mac, Sophie and Marnie join us. And Mac, Thank-You for the Roast Beef and Oyster Stuffing. They were terrific!
The Turkey was good, the Shrimp was good, the dinner was good, the company was good, the weather was good and the BSU game on Friday should be good. What else could anyone ask for? (Maybe a turkey sandwich during the game?)
And whoever said that vegetables should be left for the rabbits, has never had Roasted Root Vegetables! Try taking some carrot, fennel, rutabaga, parsnip, Brussels sprouts (blanched), turnip and cutting thick slices, marinate in Olive Oil infused with fresh sage and thyme and oven roasted!



And then, there is always Robin's Ginger Snap and Orange Marmalade Cheese Cake, and layered at that! No, we definitely did not go hungry, and probably won't go hungry for about a week! And did I say anything about being thirsty? Probably not!

The Schramsburg that we ordered, never arrived - our supplier has fallen short on orders before. So we replaced it with a wine from Florida, San Sabastian Winery, St Augustine. A very good rose made from Muscadine grapes. This bottle was somewhat foxy, but it went very well with the cheese cake.

So there you have our Thanksgiving Dinner, 2008. Hope you enjoyed it - We did! Let us know how your Thanksgiving went. What did you have for dinner? Any family traditions?

12-0 ?

So the big question around here is, "Will BSU go to 12-0 again this year?" It should be a good game this Friday night. 4:00pm (Mountain Time) on ESPN2. Just think of watching the game, Stella Artois in one hand, turkey sandwich in the other and your feet up in your favorite lounge chair. That's where I'll be! See you there! Buddy is anxiously waiting with his BSU blanket and determination on his face. Look at those wolf eyes.

An Idaho Thanksgiving Dinner

First: Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!

OK, so it's almost here. The start of another "cooking" season. Seems as though from here to the end of the year, that's all we do!

Thanksgiving Dinner 2008

The Starters
Steamed Shrimp

Salad
Wilted Lettuce Salad

Entree
Wine Country Roasted Turkey

Roast Beef

Oyster Cornbread Stuffing

Vegetables
Dried Corn

Roasted Root Vegetables

Fresh Bread

Dessert
Ginger Snap/Orange Marmalade Cheese Cake

- And From Our Wine Cellar -
1988 Rose Creek (ID) Gewurtztraminer ($25.00)
1970 La Fleur Robin Pomerol ($164.00)
NV Schramsberg Brut Rose ($25.00)

So there you have it, at this point. Just fun! Wonder what the Christmas Dinner will be? Any guesses?

Wine to serve at Thanksgiving

Garry Scholz, Wine Writer for the Idaho Statesman and Vice-President of the Treasure Valley Wine Society, offers the following suggestions for wines to serve at Thanksgiving.

"Thanksgiving dinner presents the host with special considerations when selecting wine. First, of course, is the fact that most dinners involve many family members and relatives who have diverse palates.
Second, the range of food is a challenge for pairing with wine. You're serving turkey, or maybe baked ham, along with a range of traditional side dishes." (Idaho Statesman, Nov 12, 2008)

Click Here to read the rest of the article. It is really a good article and Garry has some great suggestions for some wines to serve at your Thanksgiving dinner.

Pendleton (OR) Underground

Part of our trip to the wine country in Walla Walla, WA., was a stay in Pendleton, OR. What fun this was! Seeing the "Pendleton Underground" and Hamley's Restaurant. Here are the photos. Enjoy!

Cold Springs Winery, Hammett, ID

What a nice trip we had on Saturday, 18 Oct. Robin and I and Geno and Debra Chantrill, all drove down to Hammett and to the Cold Springs Winery, where Robin's cousin, Jamie Martin, is the winemaker. It was good to see Jamie again. Here are some photos. Top Left: Cold Springs Winery Label. Top Right: Some old vine grapes

On the (Left) Robin and Jamie, with Geno Chantrill in the background and on the (Right) New Vines. Have you ever had a "new wine" (Syrah) that is about 3 days off the vine? We did and that is going to be a great wine, Jamie!


On the Left, Jamie's label for his "Hot Rod White". But I really must say that his Hot Rod Red is much better - along the lines of his Basque Red. On the Right, Riesling grapes ready to be converted to wine! Robin, Jamie, Debra and Geno - hiding!











On the Left, Caroline punching down the Syrah and on the Right, Robin, Geno and Debra tasting the Riesling grapes.






Left, another one of the Cold Springs labels and, on the Right, bottles of Riesling lees - still full of sugar and some yeast - that Jamie gave me. I have a special project that I am going to use some on. I will post the project and results at a later time. This should really be fun and interesting. Any suggestions for the use of the lees? Keep Tuned In and I will post updates. Cheers!

Early Snow!

Yes, the first of October is early for snow around here. We had measurable snow, less than 1/4". Whereas, there are places in the mountains that are going to get 12" of snow over night. The earliest snow was in 1998, but it was not measurable. Prior to this evening, the earliest measurable snow was in 1968. Here are some photos of this evenings snow.
Here is looking north from in front of our house. The large white spots are actually snow flakes.
This is looking south in front of our house. And yes, those are snow flakes. Buddy loves the snow!
Snow covered roses.
And of course, there are the Hollyhocks. So there you have "on the spot" photos of the First Snow In Boise for 2008. Now we just have to remind the Snow Gods that this "stuff" belongs in the mountains, not in the Banana Belt!

Homemade Jewish Rye

I have been looking for a good New York Style Jewish Rye bread and, now that Oktober Fest is just around the corner, I found a recipe, modified it and it is great! here is the Recipe for it. Try it and let me know what you think about it.
Here is a photo of the bread 30 minutes out of the oven and two sandwiches cut - ham and cheese, of course. A nice open crumb and the caraway is very visible. With this recipe, you get a very slight sourdough taste that really goes well with the caraway and rye.

New Doll - Old Method

We have some Hollyhocks growing along our side yard. So Robin thought she would make a new doll, using an old method. Here is what she did.


So there you have it. It's not hard to imagine the dolls in their flamenco outfits. Hear the guitar? The castanets? The rhythm of the feet? Imagine!

Good Fall Fruit in Idaho

The fall fruit - blueberries, huckleberries and peaches - have been really good this year. I tried to find some blueberries at the Saturday Market - open through October - but had no luck. There is a fruit/veggie stand not far from here that usually has good local produce. We found some blueberries, huckleberries, peaches and corn at the stand. So, I had to make some pies. Here they are!

The finished berry pie! I also found a good pie crust to try. Light, flaky and really good.

Fresh Blueberries, Huckleberries and Peaches make a great pie!

And the infamous Corn Pie. We had some really good sliced Heirloom tomatoes and everything was really good!

A good way to spend a Sunday afternoon in the fall. Cooler temperatures, then warm up, then cool down! Typical for this time of year in this part of Idaho.