One Sunday Morning

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Coffee, laundry, quiet this is what I am doing this morning.  Looking forward to catching up with Mudpie tonight over a bottle of wine.  Wonder what we will chose.  Tune in.

For now I leave you with this picture I took while riding back from Virginia after Christmas. And a song off Wilco’s new album Whole Love: One Sunday Morning. It is a gorgeous song but on the depressing side. I promise I am not depressed but rather I am winterized. :)  Enjoy your Sunday!

 

Government Liquor

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Last Fall I took Mr. Trap home to Virginia to celebrate my Father’s 60th birthday and to meet the family.  We celebrated with many types of liquor.  The next day we were not our freshest.  We were dragging slightly.  We went to visit with my grandparents.  Papa (my grandfather) is quite the character.  My sister described his accent as almost Cajun.  It is sing-songy, muddled, and fast.  Mr. Trap had a hard time adjusting and understanding what he was saying.  At one point he asked if Mr. Trap wanted something to drink.  And he responded by saying no and moonshine was rough.  Papa answered “I don’t have any moonshine, all I’ve got is that gov’t liquor.”  I thought nothing of this but Mr. Trap couldn’t believe that is how he described store bought liquor.  In Virginia the state government runs the ABC stores that sell liquor. Papa has many stories from his youth of running from the “federal men” while trying to sell his shine.  Our neighboring county is the birthplace of hooch!  

Fast forward to Christmas.  Daddy thought it would be fun to give Mr. Trap his very own bottle of government liquor.  Enter the Virginia Lightening.  Corn whiskey that is 100 proof and approved by the government. It is meant to resemble white lightening aka moonshine.

Word is still out if Mr. Trap will like it! Thanks Daddy… I think.

Gran Sasso is Sassy

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Mr. Trap and I spent the end of 2011 having a lovely dinner at this blog’s favorite restaurant Hungry Mother.  I hadn’t been there in over a year!  How did that happen?  Time really is flying by. We have written about the restaurant several times like here for example.  I wish they would just go ahead and sponsor this blog already.  At least feed us once a season. That is fair right. No? Fine.  We will still keep going.

Mr. Trap being the kind gentleman that he is let me pick the wine.  I narrowed it down to two choices: big California or Italian without giving him any details.  He chose Italian!  I am glad he did because this wine went with every single one of our food choices.  We ordered a bottle of Gran Sasso 2009 Montepuliciano de Abruzzo. This wine was bright and juicy.  Medium bodied with light tannins. Just a joy in the mouth by being big enough to entertain your mouth alone and pairing well enough with all the food to let the food shine without the wine getting in the way.

What did we order?  (What didn’t we order is an easier question.)

  • Boiled peanuts – a must
  • French gnocchi with ‘canadian’ bacon, mushrooms, purée blanche, swiss chard, sarvecchio
  • Charcuterie board with pate, deviled ham, cold cuts preserves & pickles, hm stout mustard, french baguette toast
  • Berkshire pork and grits with smoked ham hock, bbq rib, dixie sausage, red-eye gravy
  • Scallops with grapefruit and potatoes
  • Salted Butterscotch pot de creme black pepper chantilly, popcorn brittle

In our defense they serve very reasonable portion sizes.  However, this was a huge splurge and our reward for Christmas and the New Year.

What did you do for your New Year’s celebration?

Heading into Port

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It was 12 degrees yesterday morning.  The “feel temp” was like zero or subarctic.  I don’t care really since it isn’t snowing.  That is my favorite weather forecast.  All I would need to do is turn on the weather channel and they would say “hey there, no frozen water from the sky today” and I am a happy girl.  But it is cold.  I am not complaining and I am just saying this to say that I shouldn’t be finding more ways to walk around in the cold chills that come off of that Charles “Windy” River.  However, my work buddy was all about a Port tasting downtown.  Ugh.  I have to go.  I love Port. Port will keep me warm. So off I went.

What I learned:

  • Port gets it’s name from Oporto Portugal
  • Port can get confusing: Tawny Port, Red Port, White Port, Vintage Port
  • I love Taylor 20 Year Tawny Port which is from an English House producer.  It was thick, amber, butterscotch, and finished like a pecan pie.  Amazing.  Oddly though the nose reminded me of the pool at Myrtle Beach of my youth.  Combined with the rubber floats we used in the pool.  Very odd. Maybe a chemical nose.  Also, I found there was alcohol on the finish.
  • Vintage Port can be opened and enjoyed for months.  However, white vintage port should be tightly sealed and refrigerated.

Among the other ports I tasted:

Ramos Pinto Collector
2005 Taylor LBV
2005 Ramos Pinto LBV
Fonseca 10 Year Tawny Port
Ramos Pinto 20 Year Tawny Bom Retiro

Do you love Port?  What Port should I try next?

A week for the soul

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I am not having a great week.  Boo to the cold inside my head.  I was starting to feel sorry for myself when I remembered the incredible week I had last week. (See also why I haven’t posted in two weeks).

Last week started in Virginia celebrating my Father’s 60th birthday!  Happy Birthday Daddy!  We had a great time drinking scotch, smoking cigars, and eating steak.  Basically sounds like we were trying to outsmart death.

60th Cigar and Scotch

Continue reading »

Get on the plane edition

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I used to be terrified to fly.  Like drug-taking, listening to the pilot radio channel, constant watch on the flight attendants, horoscope reading, arm rest clinching, heart racing, talking to my Mama on the phone until boarding terrified.  TERR.A.FIED.  But something changed.  It had nothing to do with the amount of flights I took but rather my attitude towards flying.  Disclaimer Alert!  I am about to wax poetic and talk a little crazy.  Continue at your own risk…. Continue reading »

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