Couldn’t have asked for a better day for this – sunny and almost 70! I do wish that there was one more day in the weekend however, I’m not ready for another full week starting tomorrow.
We hit up three new-to-us vineyards: Piedmont, Three Fox Vineyard and the Winery at La Grange.
Piedmont
Three Fox Vineyard
Winery at La Grange
I will have to add longer blurbs later on….
Wow, has it really only been a week since we got back from Vermont? Nick checked out the blog the other day and was insinuating that I hadn’t updated it in a long time, when I pointed out that Vermont was actually only 5 days ago. Well, 7 now. But still. It’s crazy how time flies.
This weekend was no exception. We both got home on Friday at about 3:15 - Nick after attending AT’s proposal (pass!) and the CS picnic and me after a longer day at work (for a Friday). Power napped, and headed down to Mount Vernon for the Spring Wine Festival. This is our 3rd time going over the past 4 years – we had to miss it last year for my moms surprise birthday party. We got there a bit late, but still had plenty of time for the best part of the night – a picnic on George & Martha’s lawn overlooking the Potomac.
Saturday we were up early, running a 5k down in Springfield VA. Pinot got to run it too, 
which was really cool – not too many races let you bring your dog! Pinot was really funny – the pack started, and we started towards the back, having a dog and all. She wouldn’t have any of that and wanted to be in the lead, so the first mile or so we were essentially sprinting with Pinot to get to the front of the pack. Another 1.4 miles at normal pace, and then Pinot realized – wow – I’ve just gone all out for 2.4 miles. I’m pooped! Nick ran ahead to the finish line, while Pinot and I walked for a few minutes, and then jogged at the end. She was definitely the top finisher in the doggie division, and Nick and I were pretty happy with our times too. Pinot was pretty tired for the rest of the day!
On the way back to home from the race, we stopped in Bethesda for the 2009 Strut Your Mutt doggie festival. At first, was pretty psyched that they had a big blow up cat too. And then we saw a dude that brought his (Cashew + 15 pounds) colored kitty on a leash. It was awesome. Pinot was tired after her run of runs, but still enjoyed socializing while we enjoyed brunch from Cosi.
Saturday night, we mixed up our plans a bit. After running some errands, we found an 
awesome Greek restaurant that is maybe 2.5 miles from our house called Athens Grill. It’s amazing how we’ve lived there for almost 5 years and had never discovered this place before. The food was excellent – so good in fact, that we’re planning another trip this week with Louie & Derrek in tow!
Sunday – we went for a nice 8 mile bike ride around the Montgomery Village, and in the words of Nick, the Keebler elves exploded around our kitchen. Post on that to come…..
This Monday, I’m excited about a short week. Working Mon/Tues/Weds, with Bocce Wednesday night, and then touring DC with Derrek and Louie for the extra long weekend! What are you excited about for this week?
Some favorites from 2008 – a bit late, but fun nonetheless. Here’s to a wonderful 2009!
(Updated – I don’t recommend rock you slideshows – this one wasn’t working properly, so it has been deleted and replaced with a picasa slideshow in another post!)
Oct 2008 Wine Tasting 005, originally uploaded by cdraley.
We set out yesterday for the third annual wine tour in virginia – it was a gorgeous day with beautiful fall colors and tasty wines.
Coming off of Monday night book club (the August book was Water for Elephants, which we both really enjoyed) and bocce last night (a maddening 16-13 loss, after we came back from being down 12-1), I think I’m about ready for a nap. That’s not to mention the plethora of work stuff going on for both of us lately. For me, the new hardware is in and we are in full test mode, but I’m meeting some of my engineers that work in PA for the first time today which is somehow ‘nerve racking’ despite the phone relationship we’ve had for the past few months. For Nick, an upcoming thesis proposal means lots of getting organized, finalizing papers, scrutinizing reading lists, preparing slides, prep & practice talks. I’m glad we’ve got nothing going on tonight other than getting home from work and vegging, because we’re both really looking forward to CYOAB tomorrow night, and outlet shopping on Friday since I get out of work early, and of course the start of Husker season on Saturday!
(I’m a bit bummed we don’t have direct tv and have to go to the bar for the game, so we won’t be able to have Pinot & Cashew in full NE gear with us for the game this weekend.)
Oh – and on a happy note – the wine that we made from the kit that Nick gave me last Christmas – well, it turned out less than stellar on it’s own. (One of our friends who will remain nameless referred to the taste as rubbing alcohol.) Despite many looks to the effect of me being crazy, I managed to turn it into a decent drinkable punch with the following formula – one bottle ‘less than awesome’ red wine combined with an equal portion of mango juice and an equal portion of diet sprite. Who would have thought? Mmmmm, tasty. 
Long weekend, I can’t wait for you to get here!! Oh okay, I’ll settle for Friday
Aaaaah, relaxing…
Usually, when hopping around Virginia vineyards, we have to get in a car or a bus between stops and drive at least 5 minutes before trying out the selections from a new winery. But the VA Wine Expo this weekend at the Dullus Expo Center eliminated that lag time, allowing us to hop from one booth to another, spanning the entire region of Virginia vineyards, and taste to our hearts desire. And we did. We arrived at about 11AM, left at 5PM, and tasted what Nick estimated to be about a bottle of wine each in the middle of that time – no small feat considering that some of these were very small pours! Our group of 8+ managed to find and lose each other many times throughout the day, but a good time was had by all.
We were good and only walked away with 2 bottles of wine, both from Cooper vineyards – one being the Noche – a chocolate red dessert wine. I still like the Solomon’s Island Meritage Sauce more, but we’re just not in that part of MD to visit the vineyard and get more, and well, I have no doubts that this will do in a pinch!
I think we may be wined out for awhile. Well, until Friday’s 3+ course dinner at least.
well, not really. We’re just busy getting back into the swing of things. January seems to be flying by.
I finally have been getting motivated to scan in the old Przybyla pictures due to my cool new geneology software for the Mac….which I’ve been playing with to no end. I’ve got all the people that I know entered into the software and am working on more dates and photos/documents, which is where the scanning comes in. So far I’ve got 1900-1939 scanned in as well as 1980-2008 and the special occasion photos (portraits, weddings, communions). Only 40 more years to go. As Nick says, I’m a crazy scanning chick. If you are interested to see how it’s coming, let me know.
The other thing that we’ve been occupied with is our awesome new treadmill, which we are both loving. Finally took the plunge to get something quality at home and to stop paying for the gym membership, and I have to say I love it.
Big plans next month to work on the 100 grape varieties project – I think we can get about another 18 varietals and have some fun too while we explore VA wines a bit more. I’m sure we’ll post about that next month.
New Years resolution that we’ve both been enjoying so far is my whole ‘one night a week i’m going to make a 3+ course dinner for us to enjoy at home’. I think we’re both starting to really look forward to it every week. Cooking page has more details on the menus, but of course you already knew that.
I made 3 things for appetizer wine club this month: Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing, Pumpkin Dip (with apple slices) and a Turkey Roll with Jarlsberg & Cranberry Mayo. Preliminary taste tests approve of all 3…
Carrot Cupcakes with Mascarpone Icing
Nutritionists have long known that yellow and orange fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of the antioxidant beta-carotene, which the body converts into essential vitamin A, but only recently have the full benefits of this color group of produce come to light. Orange fruits and vegetables taste bright and zesty, and they help keep us healthy in many ways throughout the year. In this recipe, carrots help make these cupcakes moist and sweet.
I used the bundt brownie pan so that they’d look more appetizer-y.
Ingredients
⅓ cup butter, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
2 eggs
1 cup grated carrot
1 cup AP flour
2 tablespoons AP flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons orange juice, warmed
1 teaspoon baking soda
FOR ICING
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1.5 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
4 ounces cold mascarpone or low fat cream cheese
strips dried mango, for garnish – optional
Method
Preheat an oven to 350°F. Line 10 standard muffin cups with paper liners.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter, granulated sugar, maple syrup and orange zest until pale and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the carrot.
In a bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. In another small bowl, stir together the orange juice and baking soda. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture in two additions, alternating with the orange juice mixture in two additions until smooth. Do not overbeat or the cupcakes will be tough.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake until the cupcakes are risen and lightly golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cupcakes cool for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a baking sheet and let cool completely, about 1 hour.
To make the mascarpone icing, in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and confectioners sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the lemon zest and mascarpone until blended.
When the cupcakes are cool, frost them and garnish with strips of dried mango.
Cupcakes may be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Makes 10 cupcakes.
Source: Williams Sonoma | (Servings: –)
Pumpkin Dip
I used 1/3 cup brown sugar…
Ingredients
¾ cup 1/3 less fat cream cheese, 6 ounces
¼-½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup canned pumpkin
2 teaspoons maple syrup
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
24 apple slices
Method
Place first 3 ingredients in a medium bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add syrup and cinnamon, and beat until smooth. Cover and chill 30 minutes. Serve with apple.
Source: Cooking Light, October 2003 | (Servings: 12)
Turkey Roller with Jarlsberg, Arugula and Cranberry Mayo
I haven’t actually put these together yet, I just made my own cranberry sauce…
Ingredients
4 ounces sliced turkey
1.5 ounces arugula
2 ounces Jarlsberg cheese
1 12″ flour tortilla
3 ounces cranberry mayo
CRANBERRY MAYO
2 ounces mayonnaise
1 ounce whole berry cranberry sauce
Method
Spread mayonnaise over the entire surface of the tortilla. Lay arugula leaves over the bottom third of the tortilla (the section of the tortilla closest to you on the work surface). Cover the arugula with the sliced turkey and the cheese. Roll the tortilla tightly to form a roulade. Slice into 6 to 8 pieces and serve.
For Mayo: Mix together until incorporated.
Source: Washington Post | (Servings: 
