| butter cake |
| See’s vanilla flavored lolly pops |
| Riedel red wine stemware |
| NOOK |
| any Riesling |
| Cezanne |
| the color orange |
| the Metropolitan Museum of Art |
| fried chicken |
| 60 degree winters |
| family |
| red Zinfandel |
| Pinterest |
| breathing |
:)
Pinotage is to South Africa what Zinfandel is to California, meaning the wine region of South Africa has the right to say “Pinotage is ours, we do it best, and no other wine region in the world can touch us”. Well, this is partially true (Zinfandel is actually the Italian Primitivo grape, but California does it best) To the best of my wine knowledge the Pinotage grape is only grown in South Africa. If fact, Pinotage is a manufactured grape with lineage tied to its parent grapes Pinot Noir and Cinsault. They made the perfect pair and produced offspring wines with tastes and aromas described as; concentrated deep black and red berries with a hint of herbs and vanilla…tannic mouth feel for days with length in the mouth to match. Pinotage is a full-bodied wine that pairs with a full-bodied dish. I had this Zonnebloem 2008 Pinotage with sautéed thinly sliced skirt steak and scallions with a hint of soy sauce. No sides necessary:)
enjoy
Over the week-end I was leafing through one of my vintage Gourmet magazines (March 2008 French Bistro issue) and came across a page of recipes devoted to butter. You know, that was the beauty of Gourmet Magazine, never being afraid to lay it all on the table…..butter is good, proving again and again that creamy buttery anything is one of life greatest pleasures. On this page there’s a short recipe for butter cake. I decided to make it. And why not it’s simple, classically French, and butter was involved…… I needed an excuse to indulge. You know the French are masters at making delicious cakes out of few and simple ingredients, and this butter cake from Gourmet Magazine represents that simplicity very nicely. Speaking of butter, chardonnay wine has been known to have the butter descriptor attached to it, and to get just a little technical on you, the butter, in aroma and flavor in chardonnay wine, is a byproduct of fermentation from a compound called diacetyl. Anyway, I paired my elegant butter cake with a buttery chardonnay, Louis Latour’s 2009 Pouilly-Fuisse, to be exact. 
Butter met butter and I must say they liked each other very much! Indulge for yourself!
enjoy
This little golden mass was what my husband and I had for Christmas breakfast….Crème Brulee paired with flutes of Korbel Natural Sparkling wine. It was the perfect morning indulgence while watching our boys open their Christmas presents. The new year is starting early for us. Our new motto is “if not now, when?” No more waiting, no more pondering, just doing. Life is too short!
Crème Brulee (compliments of Alton Brown of the Food Network)
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Place the cream, vanilla bean and its pulp into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and reserve for another use.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually. Pour the liquid into 6 (7 to 8-ounce) ramekins. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the crème brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
Remove the crème brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Divide the remaining 1/2 cup vanilla sugar equally among the 6 dishes and spread evenly on top. Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top. Allow the crème brulee to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.
enjoy
