This Weeks Wines (12/2/06)

Since starting my part-time marketing/graphics job @ Buster's this week (more on that later), we have been drinking considerably nicer wines than in the past...not that we drink shit & never Yellowtail (well, yeah, we have, but we soon learned they are a ton of cheap, good wines to be had).


First up Bourgogne Rouge from Domaine Arlaud. This was a fruity Burgundy (pinot noir, ya' know) from the swelteringly hot vintage of duece-double 0-tre-dizzle. Very nice red fruit & tannins that would cut a through a bloody steak better than a Ginsu.


Next up...a Pinot Noir from the Malborough region of New Zealand. Ima' call this one kiwi-spice the 6th & unknown Spice Girl...& by kiwi, I mean someone that hails from the NZ...not the brown fuzzy fruit. It is spicey & fruity, so maybe this 'unknown spice girl' is more of a tropical Liberace. Hmmm...now there is a distrubing mental image.


This Beaujolais Cru is from the village Moulin-a-Vent & is brawny for a Beaujolais. It is the only Beaujolais that is aged in oak. If you think Beaujolais' are fruity-girly wines, try this one from Beaujolais Baron Georges Duboeuf.


Chile...ah....Chile. So many great wines come from this country that it is unbelievable...& they are for the most part very affordable. This merlot bucks the stereotype of the fruity simple quaffer. It is complex...like a Rubix Cube with some of the stickers peeled off. Minty, herbal, oppulent, dark & brooding.


Another Pinot....for someone who hates the 'Sideways Effect', I sure do drink a lot of Pinot. This one is nice & spicy too in typical style of the Cailfornia Central Coast. All I can say is...Get a bottle!

So the job is working out & I am gonna try & do this once a week.

Meet The Mötley Crü

mot‧ley  [mot-lee] adjective, noun, plural -leys.
1. exhibiting great diversity of elements; heterogeneous: a motley crowd.

cru [kroo; Fr. kry] noun, plural crus [krooz; Fr. kry]
1. (in France) a vineyard producing wine of high quality, sometimes classified by the government as either a Great Growth (Grand Cru) or a First Growth (Premier Cru).


La & myself have been tossing around the idea of starting a wine club for the last year or so. We finally got motivated & sent out emails, MySpace messages & spread the word with our friends & this past Saturday we had our second meeting. Each month we decide on a theme, the first meeting was Bring Your Favorite Wine, this weekend's theme was Wine from the Southern Hemisphere & everyone that comes must bring one bottle that coincides with the theme. Next months theme is Old World Wines.

We are not your average group of stuffy wine geeks. In fact the only rule is no pretentious wine drinkers. We are a rough & tumble group who buck the typical stereotype of a wine drinker. We are tattooed, pierced, professionals, students, artists, etc.. The conversation usually drifts in all directions & I mean all directions. No topic is too taboo. There still is wine talk, with the occasional chit chat about who is enjoying whatever wine at the moment.

Our group has grown from seven people to eleven with friends & family in town for the holiday, we had people from New Jersey, Texas & of course Memphis.

The wines for this meeting were all great picks with nearly every major wine player in the Southern Hemisphere represented. Here is our list of wines.

2006 Crios de Susana Balbo Rosé of Malbec Mendoza, Argentina

2005 Pannotia Vineyards Torrontés Mendoza, Argentina

2004 Melipal Malbec Mendoza, Argentina

2005 Dos Lomos Malbec Mendoza, Argentina

2002 Marques de Casa Concha Cabernet Sauvignon Puente Alto, Maipo Valley Chile

2005 Caillero del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon Central Valley, Chile

2004 Root 1 Cabernet Sauvignon Colchagua Valley, Chile

2004 Three Rings Shriaz Barossa Valley, Austrailia

2004 Rawson's Retreat Merlot South Eastern Austrailia

2005 Suavignon Republic Cellars Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough, New Zealand

2004 Luzon Jumilla, Spain*

*someone needed a geography lesson but this wine ended up being one of the favorites, plus our unofficial motto is "the only good rule is a broken one".

Our next meeting is sometime in December so be sure to look for the report on our Old World Wine tasting (this time a map will be distributed for the geographically challenged).

Some See & Hear For Ya....(Sip & Taste will make an appearance soon)

Tasting Notes: 2002 Beaucanon Estate Merlot

I promise not to make any references to that movie...uh, what's it called? Upside down? Leftways? Rightways? I can't remember, but I am not drinking any F*&$%ing PINOT!!!

The bottle we had last week of 2002 Beaucanon Estate Merlot made me completely forget about Paul Giamani's (aka Miles) winey ass (can you say 'suck it up, princess?'). I will call this Nappa Valley Merlot what it is....A Pinot killer.


If more Merlots were this good the Sideways effect would be upside down. The 2002 Beaucanon Estate Merlot is a big boy, yet refined & elegant. Maybe it is the wineries roots that are deeply rooted in Bordeaux that buck the style of typical Merlots that give the grape a bad name. Ya know the ones...the one dimensional, fruit driven, crowd pleaser's.

The wineries genesis began when Jacques de Coninck came from Bordeaux to search for prime vineyards, convinced that the New World held the promise of great wines. I think he struck gold with his estate on the historic Longwood Ranch in the Rutherford American Viticultural Area in Napa Valley.

The nose of this Merlot leaps out of the glass & dope slaps you....it is so intense you can almost see it. It is full of fruit, mostly blackberry, black plum & some dried fruit. There is also a touch of herbs & evergreen. Very alluring. The palate represents the same. It is voluptuous yet brawny. The tannins are chalky had me craving a nice bloody fillet. The minty finish went one for minutes.

This is really a delicious Merlot. If the producers of Sideways had a bottle of this before shooting the movie, I am sure the famous catch phrase from the movie would have been "I am NOT drinking any F&*^$@G PINOT!!!"

Ooops, I broke my promise.

Let's Do Lunch

I love that phrase. What I love even more is doing lunch. I am lucky...sorta. I get off of work everyday at noon (but at the price of going in at 3AM), so I can do lunch everyday if I wanted. To me, there is no better way of unwinding after a hard days work of pushing pixels for the man. A glass of wine (or three) from whatever joint we choose plus a tasty sandwich or lunch portion of a dinner entree is the perfect apres work treat.

There are numerous benefits of 'doing lunch'. One being that lunch our is almost always cheaper than dinner out. The menu at most places is about the same as it is at dinner & sometimes if you are lucky the portions are the same size at lunch as they are at dinner.

There is one drawback that I have found to doing lunch. Usually the kitchen staff & front of the house staff that work lunch are the "B-Team". We have figured out not to eat at the Beauty Shop for lunch. The last two times we have been there for lunch the service was terrible & one couple of weeks ago I had the worst burger I have ever had.

The next best thing to doing lunch....is doing lunch & then coming home to take a siesta.

Five Things I Have Learned In The Kitchen

1.) Always wear pants when frying bacon.

2.) Baking is not cooking. So stick to the recipe when baking & experiment only when cooking.

3.) Be sure your cream is still good before pouring it into the soon to be pot of shrimp bisque.

4.) A CD player does not replace a dishwasher but it sure as hell makes washing dishes by hand a lot easier.

5.) A glass of wine while cooking helps the effort. A bottle of wine while cooking hurts the effort.

What's Been Going On

Sometimes life's whirlwind pace picks up a little bit...nah, make that a lot & the whirlwind spins you out of control & you don't know whether you are coming or going. Well, that has been us as of late. La is back in school finishing up her last year of graduate school & of course that comes with a lot of non-school time work, social functions (boy, do those anthropologists know how to party) & her/our schedules being flipped upside down. Myself, well, I have been super busy too. I am currently job hunting & in my line of work (motion graphic artist) that entails building a resumé reel...or DVD if you will. I spent about two weeks on my reel & i finally completed it a few weeks ago. I have already had a little bit of action on it from a TV station in Denver (*fingers crossed*), so I have been busy with phone interviews & the like. Plus we have been out of town quite a bit lately. Last week we went down to Jacksonville, FL to visit my parents for a few days & the week before we went down to Atlanta for WineSouth.

In the next few days expect to see posts on WineSouth, our trip to Jacksonville (an awesome wining & dining town, by the way), the Dungenese Crab Video Blogcast & much more. We have had lots of GREAT wines & lots of great food in the last few weeks too, so expect to see some new tasting notes & recipes in the weeks to come.

For those interested, here is what I have poured my heart & soul into the last few months.
My resumé reel.

Restaurant Review: Encore

Last Friday night we went out to dinner at Encore in Peabody Place, to celebrate La starting her last year of grad school. We have been wanting to eat there since they opened in late-2005. This was a highly anticipated dining experience for us.

Encore is the brainchild of Master Chef José Gutierrez, who was the long standing Chef de Cuisine at Chez Pilippe in the Peabody Hotel. He is a local culinary hero with a laundry list, as long as your arm, of awards & accolades.

We have an affliction that I call "Early Bird Syndrome", as in early bird like your grandparents. We showed up at 5pm & we had the place to ourselves, which was nice. The decor was fresh, hip & relaxed with an eclectic mix music being piped in. The dining room has a weird layout with all the tables over on one side of the room, rather close together, I might add. I would like to see the place when packed but I am not sure I would like to eat there with a full house.


To start things off, we each had a glass of Bouvet Rosé while we looked over the menu. This sparkling rosé hails from the Loire region in France & is made from Cabernet Franc grapes. It was an excellent aperitif that sufficiently whet our appetite with its dry, mineral & berry notes. Later, we found this wine at the wine shop & had to get a bottle to enjoy later, we liked it so much.

For dinner La decided on soup & salad. The combo was a one, two punch of Spring Asparagus Soup with Onion Soufflé & Caesar Salad with Roasted Red Pepper Dressing & Warm Garlic Shrimp. We have no idea what made the asparagus soup 'Spring' but it was really light & had a very nice asparagus flavor. The onion souflé floating in the middle of the green concoction, is what made the soup though. It was sweet & buttery & it melted in your mouth.

I went with Caramelized Salmon with Cauliflower Risotto & Balsamic Reduction. It was really good but not knock your socks off good. The salmon was a little more on the well-done side than I like my salmon, but it was far from being dry. The glaze gave it a nice sweetness that was not overpowering & complimented the fish very well. I feel the risotto stole the show though. It was so creamy & chock full of cauliflower that every bite had me wishing for a big bowl of it. The balsamic reduction set every bite off with a nice tart sweetness.

La's salad was an excellent twist on an old classic. The red pepper dressing was piquant with a touch of sweetness that covered just enough of the whole head of romaine lettuce. The shrimp were there to bring it all together with it's garlic soaked, buttery flavor. For just soup & a salad it was quite a meal.

We only have one beef....or three beefs that is. As I mentioned earlier I studied the menu on-line, as well as the wine list extensively earlier & knew what wine I wanted to have with my salmon, so I ordered a glass of Burgundy, the Joseph Drouhin Chory-les-Beaune. Guess what they were out.....& guess what else, they were out of the wine La ordered too, the LePin Viognier. We had to regroup & choose again. After much perusing of the wine list, again. We made our decision, La went with the Joseph Drouhin Saint-Veran that our waiter recommended & I went with an old favorite, Gundlach Block 13 Pinot Noir. Not two minutes after we placed our wine order for the second time, our waiter emerges empty handed. No Gundlach Bock 13. Strike three. Our waiter went over the list AGAIN with me & suggested some other wines, but it was just "blah-blah-blah" to me. I specifically wanted a Pinot Noir to go with my salmon, because it is one of my favorite pairings & I wasn't about to drink a bargain red I'd had many times before (Mirrasou) & for the price of a glass I could have bought a whole bottle. I was ready to stick with S. Pelligrino when our waiter came back again with a taste of Aquinas Pinot Noir from Napa Valley. This was a nice gesture & after a taste, it proved worthy of my glazed salmon. I really wanted to try the Burgundy and the Aquinas was no Block 13 but it was god none the less.

We choose to dine at Encore because they supposedly had a respected wine program. It may have been an off night, I don't know, but I was extremely put off by this snafu. It did not ruin the meal, though as the food was excellent & the service was stellar, but we will think twice before heading back to Encore...or at least call ahead to see how well their cellar is stocked.

On a five point scale we would have to give Encore a 3.5

Coming Soon....

Stay tuned!!!

The More I Run, The More I Eat

I started running a few months ago & boy, has my already ravenous appetite gone through the roof. Now I am not going to get all "health nut" on you, although I do believe it is important to keep in shape & I can honestly say I like tofu, but damn I feel so good when I run.

The point being, I have been ravenous lately. I eat two breakfasts, one at 5AM, after I have already been at work for three hours & one around 9AM when I take my lunch break (I know...pitty me, I work some crazy hours). Then, I usually go home around noon & eat a pre-run snack, usually a sandwich. But the real treat comes after my run.

When I need to refuel & am too tired to really cook, I grab a handful of pasta from the pantry, boil it up al dente. Meanwhile I raid the fridge for leftovers. Last week we had grilled herbed chicken leftover for most of the week. It made an excellent companion to some angel hair pasta. Of course it needed some company, so I picked some cherry maters from the garden, along with some purple basil & spicy globe basil. Now I had the makings for a nice 2nd lunch. I sauteed two cloves of sliced garlic (two too many according to La) in some extra virgin olive oil with a quarter of an onion, then added the chicken & the 'maters & fresh herbs at the end with some salt & pepper. Voila! What a treat. I don't know whether I eat to run or run to eat, as long as I get to do both, I am happy.

This fine concoction is just what a tired body needs. Add a nice chilled glass of Viognier (try the 2005 Cline Viognier it is outstanding...tasting notes coming soon) & this meal will satisfy the soul too.

Five Things To Eat Before You Die

La & myself were both tagged by our friends, the Squirrel Family to participate in the blogging event Five Things To Eat Before You Die. This was a tough task & we spent a whole morning coming up with our lists. Of course we ended up with a few of the same dishes, so we revised our lists, making sure there were no 'repeats'. I have to say, we could have easily come up with a list as long as Suge Knights wrap sheet, so we put a lot of thought into it narrowed it down to five a piece.

Collin's List

1. Whole Fried Catfish. It has to Mississippi Farm Raised catfish too, not that cheap stuff from Vietnam. Fried fillets do not do this fish justice, although they are still excellent. Whole catfish should be crispy on the outside & moist on the inside. Dredged only in cornmeal, salt & pepper. Served with a slice of Vidalia Onion, ketchup & Tabasco Sauce...& you can't forget the hushpuppies.

2. Stone Ground Grits. Cooked slow. With cheese. Or with out. For breakfast. Or for dinner. The epitome of Southern Soul, however & whenever you eat them.

3. Blue Crab 'You' Caught Yourself. Store bought crabs are good....but NOWHERE near as good as crabs you caught yourself. All they need is some drawn butter & the sound of the ocean crashing near your dinner table. There is something about watching the little buggers crawl in to your net at the bottom of the ocean that excites you & whets your appetite.

4. Fresh Hogfish Snapper. With a roasted red pepper zabaglione. I have only had this once & it was at Cafe Sole in Key West. It was THE best fish I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying. It is delicate & flavorful & it has to be caught by divers adding to the 'cool factor'.

5. Tik-in-Chick. A Yucatan specialty of grilled red snapper with achoita sauce (spicy mayan sauce made with achoita). We had this on Isla Mujeres in Mexico & I have to say this was one of our top dining experiences. The fish caught minutes before it was grilled of an open fire right on the beach. Our table was literally 10 yards from the emerald blue Caribbean...Best. Dining room. Ever.

Laura's List

1. Salt Fish and Ackee. On a beach in Jamaica. The Ackee is scrambeled like eggs with the salt cured cod. It sounds gross but it is the best breakfast ever. (pic of Ackee on the left)

2. Raw Vidalia Onions. You really could eat them like an apple they are so sweet.

3. Pork Ribs....Done Right. If you think you've had them "done right" you are probably wrong. 10 or more hours smoked. Dry rub only. Beautiful.

4. French Fries in a Cone aka Vlammes Frittes. A treat we fell in love with in Amsterdam. With a little mayo, preferably when it's so cold outside, that the cone steams.

5. Good Chile Verde ¡Mucho Gusto! On anything...a plate of scrambeled eggs, a burrito, enchiladas, with tortilla chips....you get the point.

Now time for the tags.
-The gals at one of our favorite Food & Wine Blogs, Everyday Wine Pairings.
-Sean, who has another favorite blog we read at More Is Less.
-Michael, who also blogs from beautiful Midtown Memphis at Midtown Stomp- A Memphis Wine Journal.
-Last but not least, another fellow Memphis Food & Wine Blogger, Benito at Benito's Wine Reivews.

Pakistani Via Mississippi

Last Saturday, we ventured out with our friends Paul, Angela & their kiddo Patrick, to this quaint Pakistani & Indian joint they discovered in the boonies just across the Mississippi state line. You would never know this place existed, if someone didn't tell you. We are more than thankful they shared this hidden gem with us, because it rocked. We will definitely be making the pilgrimage again.

We have never tried Pakistani food, but we love Indian & other Middle Eastern cuisine, so we were more than intrigued & we love ALL cuisine so the decision was easy. The place is in a tiny strip mall type building connected to a gas station. If you have never been to Mississippi, or heck the South even, you might think this is odd. It is not. More of the norm & I am betting the gas station probably served up some nice meat & threes, fried catfish, fried bologna sandwiches or all of the above. The setting might have scared away some less adventurous epicureans, but not us, the intrepid epicureans (hungry too, I might add). On the inside The Shahi House was simple with little, to no atmosphere & I could tell the focus was on the food. The walls were lined with giant photos of most of the dishes they offered & boy, did it all look tasty. A heady aroma wafted out of the kitchen making our stomachs growl. It looked like the place was pretty much set up for take-out, because there were only 4 booths & they serve the food on paper plates.

We started things off with some puff pastries. We had one potato & one chicken. They were comprised of filo dough, with spicy fillings of potato & chicken. Both were excellent, but the potato was our favorite. Paul & Angela also ordered a middle eastern version of a soft taco that we split. Just because I can't remember what it is called in it's native tongue, doesn't mean that it wasn't absolutely delicious. The chicken was spicy but not hot & was accompanied by some fresh cilantro & onions, all in a vessel that was somewhat between a tortilla & naan which was basically fried flour & water. It was served with a yogurt based dipping sauce that added a nice tang to the equation.

The first course sufficiently whet our appetite & left us wanting more, much more. Just in the nic of time our meal was ready. La had the chicken biriyani (pictured to the left) & I had the chicken karahi. The biriyani was was my favorite & La's was the karahi. The biriyani was a spciy chicken dish served amongst some of the best rice I have ever eaten. I couldn't get enough & couldn't keep from getting it all in La's lap too. The karahi was top notch as well. The chicken was stewed in a spicy red sauce full of onions chiles & tomatoes, garnished with a huge jalapeño & a handful of cilantro. I am not the best judge of heat, because I have been eating chiles of all kinds (& recently habaneros) since I was 5 or 6. I could tell this had a good amount of heat to it, because it satisfied both La (she is a chile head too) & my thirst for the fire. Plus everyones noses were running.

I think I can safely say everyone enjoyed their lunch & we definitely enjoyed our first taste of Pakistani. After lunch we headed back north to Memphis for libations, but first we stopped at an Indian grocery in Collierville to stock up some exotic goods. All we bought was a 5 lb. bag of biriyani rice & have already started to experiment with different ways to cook it & plan to try a Persian rice recipe soon. It was a great deal too, for only five dollars.

After perusing their imported goodies we were on the road again. Great Wines was having the final blind taste off in their Summer tasting series so we stopped by to taste & to vote for our favorite wines. I was in the minority & was the only one who liked any of the whites, but it is funny because we came home with the only white I really didn't like, a 2005 Craneford Viognier. The reds were good too & I am anxious to see which wine won. I will post the winners when I get word.

A trip to Mississippi & our culinary horizon has been broadened in one the most unlikely of places. It was a great way to spend a Saturday.

When the Moon Hits Your Eye Like a Big Pizza Pie, That's Amoré

Well, It's official. We will never buy store bought pizza crust again. I have been experimenting with homemade pizza dough for quite some time now and think that I may have finally come close to perfecting my recipe. It still lacks in a couple of pizzeria qualities that I enjoy but it has turned out fluffy and golden every time I have used this recipe. The topping always differ. Pizza is usually a "clean out the crisper night" but the final results are always scrum-didly-umptous.


Pizza Dough
1 Packet instant or rapid rise yeast
1-1 1/4 cup of water
3 cups bread flour (about 14 oz.)
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons of corse kosher salt plus more for sprinkling
chopped rosemary or other herbs to taste (optional but I think this makes the dough)


I use plain old fashioned 'have to proof it yourself' yeast, why, because I like to challenge myself for no good reason whatsoever.
So proof the yeast with a pinch of sugar and some very luke warm water (you don't want to kill it because that makes for some nasty dough.) I also make my dough with a stand mixer, because while I like a 'don't kill the yeast and ruin your dough' challenge, I don't enjoy a physical challenge so much. A stand mixer makes this so easy.

Combine half of the flour with salt, yeast, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and one cup of water in stand mixer, blend with machines paddle. With the machine on slow speed, add the flour a little at a time until the mixture has become a sticky ball that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Kneed for a minute by hand adding as little flour as possible. Put in a bowl greased with olive oil and cover with plastic wrap or a dish towel and leave to rise in a warm, draft free place. I put mine in the oven (don't turn it on.....). This process will take about 1-2 hours.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven as hot as you can get it. I can get mine up to about 575ºF. Most comercial ovens bake at about 700ºF. Heat is important in getting a good crunchy crust.

Remove dough from resting place after it has doubled in size and kneed slightly. Push dough down and roll into a ball. Leave wrapped in plastic wrap or towel for 20 minutes or until it fluffs slightly.

Remove dough from wrap and place on pizza pan. I just spread the dough out with my hands to the edge of the tray making sure not to rip it. Holes in pizza dough isn't great, you lose a lot of valuable juices. Then I spray with olive oil over the crust and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Top the pizza with anything you like (our pictured pizza has marinara, sausage, onion, tomatoes, oregano and basil and feta cheese on it), and put in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until the crust looks done.

Cheap Thrills: Black Box Wines & Pop Music

I have two new cheap thrills I have been enjoying for the last few weeks. They are boxed wine & cheezy pop music. In my car, my usual mix of NPR & WEVL, the local volunteer station, has been trumped by one of the local Top 40 stations. If you pull up next to me at a red light you will more than likely here a muffled rendition of Christina Aguilera, J-Tim, or Nelly Furtado (her new song with Timbaland, Promiscuous is my new jam) escaping my windows. Don't judge. I have my reasons for my new listening pleasures.

I also dove head first into the boxed wine world which strike me as being very similar to the world of pop music.

We tried two of the Black Box Wines, the Cabernet Sauvignon from Paso Robles & the Shiraz from the Barossa valley in Austrailia.

The Black Box Wine & the Top 40 hits I have been enjoying are both superficial pleasures, not meant to be explored too deeply, because if you do...you will certainly be let down. Take Justin Timberlake's new hit "Sexy Back" for example. It is an infectious groove with a bouncy disco-house beat & some cool synthesized vocals in which J-Tim proclaims to be "bringing sexy back". If you think about it was sexy ever really gone? If so, where did it go? The French Riviera for holiday? I dont think so.

Both of the Black Box Wines we have tried are great weeknight wines with beauty that is no deeper than skin deep or deeper than the catchy hook, if you will. The Cabernet Sauvignon was full of flashy fruit & mellow tannins. It was simple, but not quite one dimensional. It was fantastic with left-over meat loaf sandwiches & an enjoyable week night wine.

The Barossa Shiraz was similar in style, but had a little more depth to the flavors & aromas. The typical shiraz meat & pepper were represented in the nose & palate, albeit somewhat subdued. We enjoyed this one more than the Cab because it showed a lot more varietal characteristic & there was a little more structure.

One thing that drew me to the Black Box line of wines was the fact that they from specific appellations & they are vintage wines. Instead of being a blend of grapes from all over California or Australia & a blend of grapes from different vintages, at least by law, 85% of the grapes came from where the wine is labeled & all of the grapes were picked in 2004. This usually means you are getting a little higher quality wine. Most of the other boxed wines I saw were non-vintage & only labeled as California wine. Which typically means a little lower quality wine. Basically, the more specific the place the wine comes from, the better quality of wine it is.

These boxes sell for about $20 & have four bottles worth of wine concealed in a silver bladder within the box. This has been dubbed by my brother "The Silver Tittie". That equals to about $5 a bottle. Not a bad deal if you ask me & definitely falls under the "Cheap Thrills" category along with the J-Tim I have been jamming out to.

Weekly Fresh Seafood in Memphis

From Whining & Dining....


Red Truck Seafood is making another run to the Gulf!!
Place your order now for the freshest shrimp available.
We will make the run on Thursday, August 17 and
deliver on Friday, August 18.

Don't forget to let us know your wish list
for fresh fish. We will try for Grouper, Trigger, Amberjack, Red Snapper, and Mackerel. Availabilities and prices vary.

You can call in orders to:
JD 901-921-0010
Cynthia 901-218-5399

Recipe: Anise-Scented Short Ribs

Well, It has been a long time coming, but this recipe is too good not to share. The key to getting a perfect, melt in your mouth experience with this recipe is to hit up the beef guy at the Memphis Farmers Market for your short ribs. Three bucks a pound (last time we were there) makes this a super affordable meal. This is a great cold, rainy day recipe because it stews for a couple of hours, which warms the house up nicely. And the smell, ahh the smell of slow cooked meat and anise, Glade Plug-Ins I scoff at you. You can also do this in a pressure cooker in a fraction of the time and have it turn out just as good. Just follow the rib cooking times on your machine.


Anise-Scented Short Ribs
Time: 2 hours or more, largely unattended

1 Tbs Olive oil

3 Pounds meaty beef short ribs

Freshly ground black pepper or szechwan peppercorns to taste*

1 medium to large onion chopped

5 nickel sized slices of fresh ginger or 2 teaspoons of ground**

3 cloves of garlic lightly crushed

5 whole star anise***

1/4 cup of soy sauce or fish sauce

1 cup water

1 Tbsp rice or white wine vinegar

2 Tbsp sugar

2 Medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices

Salt (optional)

1. Heat oil over medium high heat in a dutch oven. Brown the short ribs well on all sides. Season with pepper as they cook. Don't rush the process, which will take about 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the heat so you don't burn the ribs or get the oil too smokey. You can also do the initial browning in a 500º F oven in a roasting pan turning the ribs every so often to get an even brown. This takes about 20 minutes as well.

2. Remove the ribs with a slotted spoon and pour off most of the fat. Lower heat and cook onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger cooking for another 2 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients except carrots and salt. Bring to a boil and return ribs to the pot.Reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook slowly, occasionally turning the ribs, for about 1 hour.

3. Add carrots and re-cover pot. Cook 30 minutes more until ribs are tender and meat is falling off the bone. Remove carrots and ribs from stew juices and place on a platter in a warm (200º F) oven. Discard the ginger and star anise pieces. Turn pot heat to high and reduce the liquid, stirring until thick and syrupy, about 10 minutes. Add more salt or soy sauce to taste. Serve sauce on ribs with white rice. I also like crusty bread to soak up the juice, but I am rather gluttonous when it comes to this recipe.

*Szechwan peppercorns have a far superior flavor in this dish, use them if you can find them.
** Fresh ginger is easy to come by, use it over ground ginger, the flavor doesn't come close.
*** Viet Hoah Market on Cleveland has the hook up on affordable star anise. They have the hook up on a lot of spices but that's for another post. you might be able to pick up some szechwan peppercorns there too.

Recipe source: How to Cook Everything, Bittman

Video Blogcast #1: Home Coffee Roasting

***YouTube.com server MAY be down for maintenance. If so, please check back soon.***


Show Notes:


Roasting coffee at home is fun & really cheap...about half as cheap as store bought beans. One pound or so of beans roasted pretty much pays for the popper. There is also no better way to get The. Freshest. Coffee. Ever. It is fun to experiment with different beans & see how they taste at different roasts. Blending different types of beans is great too. The possibilities are endless.

I failed to mention in the Blogcast that if you smell the coffee beans burning, you roasted them too long...but I guess common sense would dictate that. Usually if you can hear the second crack slowing down (less frequency of beans cracking), the beans are close to burning.

I also should apologize for the poor resolution. Once I get a dedicated server, that will change. YouTube doesn't cut the mustard.

Links:
Sweet Maria's
Degree of Roast Pictorial

My Little Black Book

I started writing tasting notes right before I started blogging & sort of, but not quite, a few years ago. One year La got me The Unoffical Guide To Wine & I started writing the name of each bottle we purchased & where it was from. No tasting notes or whether or not we liked the bottle, just the basic info. The few blank pages at the end of the book filled up rather quickly. Looking back I am glad I did this. When I read some of the names I could remember the occasion & hazy details of enjoying the wine. This marked my unofficial genesis of becoming a wine geek.

The picture is of my current & second 'little black book'. My first one was half was filled with caffeine fueled coffee roasting notes & then, the vinous words of my new wine obsession took over & the rest of the pages are now filled with tasting notes & purple stains.

Why take notes?

Well, I do it for many reasons. Blogging about wine being one. Another reason is, I feel it helps to hone my palate & figure out what I really enjoy about certain wines. I tend to ponder the flavor & nuances of the wine more when taking notes. I start to wonder about the process of how the wine was made, why certain flavors are stronger or more subdued. It raises my awareness of what I am drinking in a sense.

Of course I can delve that deeply into a glass of wine without taking notes, but I like having a reminder on paper, so I can remember all the details. For instance, I was thinking the other day about a wine I recently tried, that reminded me of an orange creamsicle & I couldn't remember the name or variety of wine at all, but I could taste vividly it in my mind. After thumbing through a few pages, I saw where I had noted those flavors under my notes for a 2005 Epiphany Grenache Rosé. It was very good rosé, but I also noted how it was huge for a rosé too. This bad boy came in at 14.5% alcohol too. Too much for a 95º+ day outside in the sprinkler.

My notes are not strictly for record keeping either. My notebooks are like a scrap book of fond wine memories & some bad ones too. Taking tasting notes or at least noting the bottles you drink is something I would recommend to anyone who enjoys wine & doesn't mind looking like a total wine geek.

Meals From The Road: Pismo Beach, CA

This is the first post of many more to come, about the food we ate on vacation. Starting with The Splash Cafe & The Cracked Crab. Why defy a chronological order by starting this series of posts in Pismo Beach? Because I am jonesing for some fresh seafood like a junkie craves a hit.

For our anniversary dinner, which turned out to be a multi-dinner, cross country extravaganza, we went to The Cracked Crab in Pismo Beach, just south of Avila Beach on US 101. We knew before we got there what we wanted, the big bucket for two. The "Big Bucket" is, well...a big bucket full of enough crustaceans, potatoes, corn & sausage to feed two hungry souls. First we split a bowl of Crab Bisque, that was touted to have "made them famous". It was only mediocre & it tasted heavily of chicken broth. When it came time to order our "Big Bucket" we opted for rock crab, slip lobster & dungenese crab.

We brought an indigenous bottle of wine with us that we had picked up earlier. It was a 2005 Zaca Mesa Viognier. It was outstanding & went perfectly with the assortment of sea dwellers with its lively acidity & floral notes.

After a glass of Viognier with our bisque it wasn't long before the attentive staff emerged with our implements of destruction, a mallet, some crab crackers, a couple of chop sticks (for picking the hard to reach meat out) & some small forks. But what they brought out next caught us off guard & all we could do was laugh. Two CC staffers, at the same time, tied big bibs with giant crabs on them, around our necks. Good thing too. After we emerged from the restaurant we had crab bits in our hair, but not on our shirts.

The shellfish was outstanding. It was so fresh & plentiful. When the bucket was dumped out on the table, my jaw hit the table. It was no small task but we devoured it all, minus a few pieces of sausage & corn. If you are in the area & love seafood, we highly recommend The Cracked Crab.


The other seafood joint we ate at in Pismo Beach was The Splash Cafe, famous for their clam chowder. It was so good we went back a couple days after our first visit. With our clam chowder we also enjoyed am order of steamers. Both times we at The Splash Cafe we sat in the window & enjoyed some prime people watching. The little town was full of vacationing families, surfers & four-wheelers, all enjoying the summer. It was delicious both times, really affordable & comes with our recommendation as well.


There is a lot to cover when it comes to the food & wine we enjoyed on our 16 day trek, so stay tuned for more recaps.

Gifts From Paradise

Our friends, neighbors, & fellow food bloggers just returned from Hawaii bearing gifts. They stopped by Friday afternoon with a fresh Maui Gold Pineapple & a bottle of pineapple wine, decked out in a lei, grass skirt & coconut bra. The Hawaiian garb still cracks me up. We have yet to try the wine, but the pineapple...oh, the pineapple.

It was so ripe, you could smell the sweet aroma wafting to your nostrils as soon as you picked up the prickly fruit. It was delicious. One thing that struck me was, how low the acidity was. Usually with store bought pineapples, the acidity literally burns my tongue after eating a few pieces, not with this pineapple though. It was so sweet the juice had a pineapple syrup quality. Only a fruit this sweet could come from paradise.

The pineapple wine will be uncorked soon. I have a strong feeling it will help us cope with the heat wave that has a death grip on most of the nation right now. It will most definitely be a wine for an afternoon sprinkler session.

Farmers' Market Finds

For the last two Saturdays we have been up bright and early to peruse the Memphis Farmers' Market downtown. Last Saturday we arrived at 7.00 sharp. Venders where still unloading and some had not arrived by the time we made our purchases and moved on to The Complex for breakfast.

This week we decided to take it easy and arrived just as things were getting into full swing. The plan was to get everything for dinner from the market. Too late to catch the steaks from the beef guy (he said he sold out of most of that in the first hour)so we settled for short ribs. We were too late for the cheese folks as well, they had sold out of almost everything but gave a sample of some delicious petit basque. Alas, we blew the budget so we'll have to be patient until next week. We finished up our shopping with some stone ground yellow grits, baby carrots, blueberries (best. blueberries. ever.), cabbage and peppers. A lot of the really good looking produce was already sold out by the time we got there, but I was very happy with our booty. Our friends came along and got some phenomenal granola. I plan to pay more attention next time, so we can give props to the vendors.

So the meal (recipes to come) that we got out of this trip was: Anise scented short ribs, stone ground cheese grits and steamed cabbage (best cabbage I have EVER eaten). All in all I think the entire meal without the wine cost about 5 dollars a person. Well worth it.

The farmers' market is great. It opens at 7:00 am on Saturdays only and get there early because the popular vendors are very, very popular. The beef guy is worth the trip. The short ribs melted in our mouths.

Wine South 2006

Mark your calendars. The biggest wine event in the South is a little over a month away. On September, 15th, Wine South 2006 kicks off for the whole weekend, through September 17th. With over 600 wines & food from Atlanta's best restaurants & caterers, any food & wine lover will certainly be in heaven.

On Friday the 15th, the event kicks off with the Reserve Tasting Event and Silent Auction for Angel Flight. The wineries pouring at this Reserve Tasting Event are there on an "invitaion only" basis, so I am betting it will be the creme de la creme. Food will also be prepared by Atlanta's hottest chefs to match the wine being served.

Saturday the 16th is the Grand Festival Tasting. With over 600 wines being offered, I am sure there will be something for everyone. At events this large it is best to go with an agenda, like maybe just tasting reds, or only whites or even narrowing it down to only trying certain varietals. Making a dent in the huge selection will be a Herculean task...even if you spit.

Wrapping up the festival on Sunday the 17th, will be the Trade Only Tasting, where the members of the wine trade get to taste new wine vintages and portfolios of the top boutique distributors and importers in the state of Georgia plus schmooze with industry insiders.

This is not an event to be missed. Even if you are not a die-hard wine drinker or just someone who wants to learn more about wine (remember you learn by tasting!) Wine South 2006 will be a great event to attend.


More information & tickets available here.

Weekly Fresh Seafood

Leslie Kelly posted last week about Cynthia's Gulf Coast Express taking orders & then making a run to the Gulf Coast for fresh seafood. Last week I missed out on passing the word along to loyal readers of S*S*T*H but fear not, this is going to be a weekly thing according to Leslie Kelly's blog.

Here is the original post.

Contact Cynthia's Gulf Coast Express at 901-218-5399


Oh...& just a note, the crabs in the photo were Dungeness Crab purchased at the Viet Hoa Market on Cleveland in Midtown Memphis. They were outstanding, by the way.

Attn: Memphis Bloggers

There is a 2-part, Memphis Blogger Bash hosted by Serrabee at the Young Avenue Deli. It will be on Thursday the 10th & Sunday the 13th. Evidently there has been some tension at these gatherings between the political bloggers, who seem to make up the bulk of the Memphis Bloggers, hence the name 'Rise Above Blogger Bash'. If you are a Memphis Blogger you should check it out. If it turns into a political debate...at least the Deli has fried pickles & a full bar.

Tasting Notes: 1998 Peachy Canyon Benito Dusi Ranch

1998 Peachy Canyon Benito Dusi Ranch

This bottle of Peachy Canyon was a hidden gem I found in a corner of the wine shop I barely visit & when I have, I only breezed by. Breezing by any shelf in a wine shop is not like me. I shop for wine like an old lady shops at a Christmas bazzar. I go slow & make sure I see everything...twice. This annoys La & usually the staff, if I am not at a store where I am a regular. We are big fans of Peachy Canyon, so the decision was made as soon as I dusted off the label.

At first I was a little apprehensive about spending $25 on an 8 year old bottle of Zinfandel, because many people say that Zin should be enjoyed in the first four years. In fact this is true for most wines, as less than 5% of wine gets better with age & even then, it has to be stored under strict climatic guidelines & I have never been in a wine shop that was 55ºf with a 55-70% humidity.

There is a lot of history behind the Benito Dusi Ranch with most of the vines being 60-80 years old There is an interesting article on the Benito Dusi Ranch over at Appelation America that can be found here.

It seems Peachy Canyon no longer sources fruit from Benito Dusi Ranch & according to the article, only Ridge & Dover Canyon purchase fruit from Benito Dusi Ranch. After tasting the wine, I know have to seek out a bottle of each.

We uncorked this bottle on a Friday night, with no plans other than vegging out on the couch, eating a little dinner & watching "That 70's Show". This has become our ritual for kicking off the weekend.

Upon the first sniff, which was me cramming the bottle under my schnoz, I knew it was a winner. I think I let out an "Ungh" as I exhaled. I poured us two glasses & after the first sip, we both knew it was definitely a winner.

The nose was a full bouquet of mixed berries & spice. The berry aroma was not as vibrant as a young Zin, but it possessed a complexity most young Zins don't have. There was also gobs of cocoa & sweetness with an underlying maple that lingered in the background.

In the mouth it was soft, smooth & velvety. The flavors of berry compote, bitter-sweet cocoa & a little earth danced across my tongue leaving a gentle tannic grip that lingered & slowly faded away. This wine was very balanced with a slight acidity. The finish was long & wonderful, leaving you a lot to contemplate.

This wine easily stood up to 8 years in the bottle proving that there is nothing definite in wine.

For a good article on aging Zinfandels, written by Zin guru Paul Draper of Ridge Vineyards, check it out here.

Things To Come...

We are going to start a monthly video webcast/podcast. The first one will be up in a couple of weeks & will be on home coffee roasting with an air-pop popcorn popper. This will be a regular feature on all things you can see, sip, taste or hear. I have a lot plans for the webcast, so stay tuned.

Road Trip: More Photos From The Road

Baby grape cluster.


Blackjack Winery.
This was our first stop at a winery (in Solvang we only went to tasting rooms). We stopped here on our way to Avila Beach via Solvang & Los Olivos. Black jack had some great wines. A few were what I call 'knock-your-sox-off' wines. I particularly liked their 777 Pinot Noir, Chardonnay Wilkening Vineyard Reserve & their Bordeaux blend, Allusion, which made the "take a bottle home list".


La swirling at Alexander & Wayne in Los Olivos.

We tasted at a handful of other tasting rooms in Los Olivos, on two separate days & both days missed out on the Tri-tip at 'R' Country Store (which I hear is excellent). I guess we gotta head back real soon.


Grapevines.



More grapevines. These were at Peachy Canyon in Paso Robles, where they make some damn fine Zinfandels. We had the pleasure of meeting Doug Beckett, the owner of Peachy Canyons, in New Orleans at the NOWFE. He is a great guy & we enjoyed talking to him & we REALLY enjoyed the wines he was pouring. He offered to give us some barrel samples when we made it out. Regrettably, our time in Paso Robles was too limited.


Barrels in the winery made of hay...Claiborn & Churchill. They specialize in Alsatian whites, which were all fantastic, but their Pinot Noir made "the list"...but didn't make it home. We drank it on our anniversary.

Restaurant Review: The Complex: El Pollo Grille and Mexican Cantina

For the past two weeks we have hit up the Complex on Madison (in The Edge District) for breakfast after our trip to the Farmers' Market. We were drawn in by my appetite for a mexican breakfast (I have California to thank for my chili verde addiction). I really love this place. The menu is comprable to any other greasy spoon breakfast. Ham, steak, egg, bacon, omlettes. Then there is the mexican breakfast. Chile verde, huevos rancheros, huevos mexicanos. They have a copy of their menu on the website here. Everything comes with your choice of bean/hashbrowns and tortillas (corn or flour)/toast. The prices are super cheap too. We get away with breakfast for two for $15. Best part, the chile verde is to die for. Something about eating a plate of beans, eggs and tortillas smothered (and I do mean smothered) with spicy green chile sauce makes me smile. I only wish they had breakfast burritos.

If you sit inside you might get lucky enough to watch a spanish music television channel which is pure entertainment. Your cook is your server and he is super nice and never lets you run out of water or coffee. It is empty on Saturday mornings which makes it a great low-key place to recover from Friday night. If the coffe doesn't wake you up, the salsa will. Its hot.

We give The Complex: El Pollo Grille and Mexican Cantina a 4/5.

Spanish Wine Blind Tasting

We went to the Spanish & Portugese blind tasting hosted by Great Wines this past weekend & had a great time tasting some great Spanish wines. Guessing was more difficult this week, than last week. I got the one & only rosé right & that is it. La got one of the reds correct plus the rosé. It was a Tempranillo.

We have been using tasting Saturdays as our wine buying days these last few weeks. Whether it is a Great Wines tasting or a Buster's tasting, or both, there are some great deals to be had. Buster's gives you 15% off of your entire order on tasting Saturdays & Great Wines has the wines they feature at the tasting on sale & they are always a good deal.

This week bought two bottles from the tasting, 2002 Castell de Remei Gotim Bru Tempranillo/Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot & 2004 Osborne Solaz Shiraz/Tempranillo. These were also the winners in the voting too. The top two whites were Hermanos Lurton Bianco & Torres Viña Sol.

We had the Gotim Bru the other night with a Provençal-style grilled chicken, with grilled eggplant, fresh speckled lima beans & mashed potatoes. On its own the wine was straight forward & simple with some dark fruit & earth in the nose as well as the palate with a touch of mint in the finish, the tannins were soft & were balanced by a nice acidity. It didn't shine until we had a glass with dinner, where it accented the rosemary, thyme & basil flavored, grilled chicken.

The Osborne will probably get opened tonight with our pizza...but then again the Zaccagnini Montepulciano "Stick Wine" will be good with the pie as well. Life is full of difficult decisions.

Sunday Picnic & A Gift From A Neighbor

Sunday the temps were in the 80's, the sky was mostly sunny & nothing could stop us from enjoying the day. La packed a picnic, while the Vinho Verde was chilling in the fridge.

Our picnic spread was comprised of various deli meats, white cheddar, laughing cow cheese, a bowl of cantalope, watermelon & Bing cherries, an avacado with a dropper full of 20 year old Balsamic Vinegar, some cherry tomatoes & some bellpeppers. The main attraction was the bread. The bread was a gift from Paul aka 'Papa Squirrel' from the food blog Sqirrel Squad Squeeks.

Funny thing though...Paul & I have been in touch through the interweb & I knew he lived in Memphis too. As it turns out, he lives in our neighborhood too, but what makes it even stranger...he lives one street away, essential on the same block as us!
For all I know he could be poaching my Wi-Fi signal!!

Back to the bread. Paul read in my profile that I am a graphic artist & asked me to make him some acorn icons for his blog. Of course I said sure, but being neighbors & all, I can't take any cash. The only payment I would accept would be wine for the quick Photochop job. We met up at a tasting this weekend & along with a bottle of 2002 Il Circo: Uva di Troia "La Violetta" he gave me a bag of bread from a mexican bakery, that included, a pastry with sprinkles all over it (How did he know I loved sprinkles?), some pineapple bread & the lovely two loaves of jalapeño cheese bread pictured above.

The bread rocked the party that rocks the party. We will definitely be seeking out the bakery he got the goods from.

With our picnic fare we enjoyed a Gazela Vinho Verde. Vinho Verde may be my favorite Summertime wine...only if I had to choose. It comes from Portugal & translates to 'green wine'. It is called green wine because it is made to be consumed young, soon after it is made. It is meant to be consumed so young, that most of the time the producers don't date the bottles. It is not green either. It is a simple white wine, light, with low alcohol & a touch of spritz which is added when bottled by a dose of carbon dioxide. It has a snappy acidity & light floral quality with a faint peachy-ness to it & at 9% alcohol, polishing off a bottle during an early picnic does not render you useless for the rest of the day. There is not a more refreshing Summertime wine, that I have tried at least, but if you think there is, send me a bottle!

It was great way to wrap up the weekend & recharge our batteries for the coming week. Now it is time to start counting down to the weekend again.

Movie Wine

Movie Wine

We went to see Pirates of the Carribean the other day in attempt to escape the relentless, triple digit, heat. We needed refreshments & while sneaking in a bottle of wine, a corkscrew & glassware would not be impossible, it would just be too much trouble & not worth the trouble. So we opted for the 4-pack of "Little Joeys".

The four mini-bottles are equivalent to a whole 750ml bottle of wine, so four was just enough. They were screw cap of course (do they even make corks that small?), so no need for a cork screw (do they even make corkscrews that small?). All we needed was a little carafe (Ok...that joke is old now...you may now throw rotten fruit at the screen).

The poison of choice was 2004 Alice White Shiraz. It was a simple, very fruity concoction. Not a lot going on but lots fruit. No pepper, meat or smoke, that you expect from a good Aussie Shiraz. It was not unpleasant, just what I have come to expect from giant producers like Alice White.

It was easy to sneak into the theatre & that was it's best virtue. It also made you feet like a wine-o drinking out of the bottle.....giant, a forty-foot wine-o.

Great Wines Australian Blind Tasting Results

Great Wines is hot & heavy in the middle of their summer blind tasting series. We missed the first installments but caught up with the Italian blind tasting a couple of weeks ago & thoroughly enjoyed last weeks Austrailian tasting. The tastings have been a blast so far & have been our first exposure to the blind tasting format. If you are unsure of what a blind tasting is, let me break it down for you.

All of the wines are tightly wrapped in bags & labeled with numbers. You get a tasting sheet with a list of the wines so you know what is being poured, but not necessarily, because you can't see the bottle. We like to try & guess the wine. We are sometimes successful & when we are, we get strange looks when we let out our boisterous "BOO-YAH!!" When you are finished, you vote for your two favorite whites & your two favorite reds & then walk next door to see the wines revealed. I don't know if all blind tastings are done this way but this is how Great Wines does it.

Last week's Australian winners - On the red side of the table, was a runaway, the McWilliam's Merlot, followed by Jacob's Creek Reserve Shiraz. For whites, again in a runaway, Cranford Viognier was first, followed by, McWilliam's Riesling.

We ended up picking up a bottle of the McWilliam's Merlot & having it with star anise scented beef short ribs for dinner. It was excellent with the tender, buttery, anise flavored beef that we picked up from the beef guy at the Farmers Market.

My votes were for the Lucky Country Grenache-Shiraz-Mouvedre & the Jacob's Creek Reserve Shiraz on the red side. We tried the Jacob's Creek Reserve Shiraz in New Orleans at the NOWFE. I loved it then & still loved it last week. Imagine bacon-wrapped-blackberries in a bottle. It is one of my favorites. On the white side I voted for Jacob's Creek Brut Sparkling & the Fonthill Verdehlo.

Out of the reds La liked McWilliam's Merlot & Paringa Sparkling Shiraz. For the whites she voted for the Jacob's Creek Brut Sparkling, also & the Fonthill Verdehlo. We share the similar tastes in whites.

The blind tastings continue Saturday, 1-3 p.m. at SALSA restaurant, 6150 Poplar Avenue in Regalia. This week is the Iberian Peninsula-Spain & Portugal. Drop by format, vote the best. No charge to attend.

Check out MemphisWineEvents.com for an up to date list of Memphis Wine Events.

Road Trip: California or Bust

After 3 nights in the Utah desert, it was time to pack up & head west. It was kind of sad. We knew we would miss our primo camping spot, but then again Cali was just five hours away & we needed to get out of the 105 degree heat.

We camped our first night at El Capitan State Beach just north of Santa Barbara. We set up camp soon after scoring the last camping spot available & then headed in to Buellton & Solvang. We went to Andersen's Pea Soup Restaurant got dinner & a glass of wine. We both had a bowl of pea soup & it was so good I forgot what we actually had for dinner after the soup. The billboards up & down the highway don't lie. The pea soup was great & the atmosphere was strange. I think it was the restaurant that time forgot. We love little eccentricies like that.

So after dinner we drove down the road to Solvang, the mock Danish village.

What we didn't know was the town closes at five o'clock...SHARP. (look at the time on the clock in the photo....D'OH!)



We managed to find a market open that sold wine so we got a few bottles & headed back to the campsite.

We took a bottle of 2004 Santa Barbara Winery Pinot Noir down to the beach to watch the sunset while dolphins played off shore right in front of us. Our first night rocked. If it had been a fairy tale it wouldn't have been any better.



The wine was good...not knock your sox off good, but...well, let's just say the wine only got better.



La enjoying our first sunset over the Pacific.

Road Trip: More Zion Photos

Stay tuned for the California leg of the trip. We have LOTS to talk about & a ton of photos to share.