Two Wine Chics on a Quest

Don't Let It Rain On Your Labor Day Fun!

Laura recommended yesterday to post up some recipes, and I got to thinking about what food I'd recommend for the upcoming holiday weekend.  Then I looked at the weather report.  Yikes...looks like Missouri is going to be hit with a lot of rain leftover from Hurricane Isaac.

So.....instead of recipes, I started looking around for some great games to play.  Of course, you can't go wrong with charades or make-your-own-pictionary.  But if you want to branch out a bit, here are a few options, whether you're traveling or just stuck indoors due to rain.  Have fun!

Alphabet Bodies: Divide players into groups of 3 or 4 people.  A leader calls out a letter and the group forms that letter using their bodies.  They can make the letter either standing up or lying on the ground.  Every person in the group must be a part of the letter, and the first group to form the letter wins the round.

2 Truths & A Lie (this is a fun ice-breaker type of game): Each player thinks of 2 true facts and 1 untrue fact about themselves.  When it is a players turn, they tell the group their 3 facts.  The group then tries to guess which 'fact' is actually the lie.  Once a final decision is made by the group, the player tells them the answer.

Psychic Scavanger Hunt: One player writes out a secret list of 5 to 10 objects that can easily be found in a room, such as a bowl, a brush, and a bottle. She then announces the number of objects she's looking for, and the other players have one minute to gather that same number of items.  If anyone brings an object that's on the list, she/he gets a point. And, of course, players have to put their items away before the next round (a mom must have come up with this game!). Vary the game by limiting the objects to things that begin with the same letter or are a certain shape.

Building Words: Players take turns saying letters and building words together. Someone starts with any letter, maybe an R. The next person thinks of a word, such as rake, and says A (the second letter in the word they just came up with). The next person thinks of a word, such as rabbit, and says B (the third letter in the word they just thought of). Each player must have a real word in her head before speaking. Players can pass a turn three times.  If you challenge someone and they don't have a word in mind, they're out. Last one left spelling wins.

A Bit Dicey: I love Minute to Win It - definitely a guilty pleasure!   For this game you'll need 6 dice and a handful of popsicle sticks.  Each player places a popsicle stick in their mouth with one end sticking out.  The player has 1 minute to stack 6 dice on top of each other on the end of the popsicle stick.  Check out this video for a demonstration.  I might need to do this at my next wine tasting party!

Car Bingo: this site has a great set of printable bingo cards plus instructions that you can use on your trip.

Have a fabulously fun and safe Labor Day Weekend everyone!

Happy Trills,

Katie

What's Cookin' This Weekend

On Monday, I posted some ideas for traveling this Labor Day Weekend. But if you're staying close to home, I hope you'll be attending a picnic or two, even if it's just a picnic in your backyard for your family. To make picnicking more fun, stock up on plenty of wine (may I recommend Peaceful Bend or Wenwood Farm Wines??) and try these recipes using Wenwood wines. I'll give a shout out to Katie to give a quick post for any Peaceful Bend wine recipes she might like to add. I'm sticking with great summer picnic favs; BBQ sauce, Sangria and ice cream!

 

Century Farm Red BBQ Sauce

3/4 c. Wenwood Century Farm Red
1/2 c. white wine vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
4 oz tomato paste
2 T honey
2 t worcestershire sauce
couple dashes hot sauce, to taste
1 small clove garlic, finely chopped
3 T fresh, finely diced onion
1 T fresh, finely chopped parsley
1/2 t dried mustard
1/2 t spanish paprika
salt & pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, mustard, paprika, salt & pepper. Stir about 1 minute; add wine and simmer for 2 more minutes. Stir in the tomato paste a little at a time, mixing well. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer on low for about 5 minutes to blend flavors. Allow to cool, and use on ribs, burgers, chicken, kabobs, or any favorite grilled food! Cover and refrigerate leftovers for up to a week. Make a day ahead to really allow the flavors to meld.

 

Kirsch Sangria

2 bottles of Wenwood Kirsch
1 orange
1 lemon
1 lime
1 cup pineapple chunks
1 mango
1 kiwi
Any other tangy, tropical fruits you can think of!
Frozen Cherries

Pour the Kirsch into a large pitcher. Cut the fruit in large chunks and place in pitcher. Place in the refrigerator and allow to steep for 4 to 6 hours. Just before serving, add frozen cherries to the pitcher (this keeps the Sangria chilled without getting watery.) Serve in tall glasses over ice; garnish with a lime wedge.

 

Berry Blush Strawberry Ice Cream

1 cup chopped strawberries
1 cup Wenwood Berry Blush wine
1 cup half-and-half
1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar, to taste
1/2 t. vanilla
6 slightly beaten egg yolks
3 cups whipping cream

Cook and stir half-and-half, sugar and vanilla in medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Stir 1/2 cup of the half-and-half mixture into the beaten egg yolks. Return mixture to saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Stir in whipping cream, chilled wine, and strawberries. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 30 minutes. Freeze the mixture in an ice-cream machine according to the machine’s instructions. The wine will make this a slightly softer ice cream, so don’t worry if it doesn’t seem to be freezing as hard as your machine usually freezes.

 

Hope you have a wonderful long weekend, and if you try any of these recipes, please give me a shout to let me know how they turned out for you!

Happy Trills,

Laura

 

After Katie Closed For The Night

That's my husband Clyde.  Yesterday was his birthday.  Clyde never wants to celebrate his birthday, but he usually likes to cook.  So last night he cooked himself up his own birthday celebration.  Which, by the end of the evening, even Clyde had to admit was pretty fun.

After the salesroom shut down for the day, we brought in lots of food....grilled portabella mushrooms for sandwiches, grilled pork chops (thanks Lee!), grilled pork patties, fresh squash (thanks Crystal!), homemade salsa (thanks Karen!), and hershey's dark chocolate kisses for dessert.  MMMMMmmmmmmmMMMMMMM!

We all enjoyed wine with this great meal, but once dinner was over we figured that birthday shots were required.  So I went back to our living area and grabbed a bottle of tequila and a bottle of whiskey.

My neighbor Crystal has this great party trick - she can gargle La Cucaracha with tequila.  She discovered this talent on vacation in Mexico many years ago, and is now called on a regular basis to demonstrate her gargaling prowess.  Which of course she did so with great vocal dexterity last night.

 

But then the rest of us decided to join in.  

Whoo boy.

Clyde decided to gargle with whiskey but felt that 'Oh Danny Boy' was more appropriate for his beverage choice. He actually did pretty well too!  Everyone else stuck with La Cucaracha, but we all used different beverages.  Crystal's husband Gerald likes rum, so I believe he used that, while another neighbor stuck with beer for his rendition.  Two other neighbors, not pictured here, went with port for their gargling performances.

I debated trying wine, but was peer pressured into tequila.  Unfortunately I started laughing half-way through the first stanza so I didn't get too far.  My nose still burns today. Fortunately, I'm the camera person so there is no photographic evidence of my ta-kill-ya performance.

I hope.

I'll add a side note to this by saying that I thought about alternate titles for this post.  Things like, 'What Happens At The Winery Stays On The Internet' or 'Winery Owners: Classy?', or, 'How I Lost My Husband and Friends in 15 Minutes'.

Hopefully this video will make everyone smile again:

Guys?  Guys...are you still there?  Are we still friends?

Guys?

Oh dear.

Seriously though, we had a wonderful night.  We are so lucky to have the neighbors we have on our little bend.  Lots of laughing, lots of support, lots of food - you just can't ask for better people to celebrate a birthday with.

How about all of you?  Any crazy birthday party memories you are willing to share? 

Happy Trills,

Katie

Great Apps For a Labor Day Quest

The last weekend of summer is almost upon us - crazy, isn't it, how fast it comes up? While I'm looking forward to September and autumn, this weekend is always a fun one, and I thought I'd share a couple of great phone apps that I love for questing the roads of the midwest.

First of all, the Missouri Wines Mobile App is a great resource for finding - you guessed it - Missouri wineries!!
There is a map feature, so you can find the ones closest to you, or you can search for a specific winery. Here's Peaceful Bend Winery's page:

All the info you need is right there in the app, plus links for phone, e-mail and website with one touch. There is also a great My Wine Log feature to make tasting notes about the wines you try, which can be very handy after a few days of tasting different wines!
Of course, there are tons of other attractions in Missouri, too, that you can add to your winery-hopping trip. I happen to like the off-beat and unusual. I know, you're shocked and stunned, right?? But apparently I'm not the only one, because there is actually an app for that.

I LOVE this app! It lists some of the quirky, funny, interesting, goofy and "road less traveled" attractions from all over the Midwest. Just look:

This is just a partial list of all the attractions within 30 miles of Wenwood Farm Winery alone. I've been to Missouri Hick BBQ (YUMMY!!), the World's Largest Rocking Chair (really???), and I'm going to get to all those other ones as soon as I can. I mean seriously, who can resist the Vacuum Cleaner Museum?? I know I can't, let alone the Antique Toy Museum. I love the categories - Offbeat/Small Museum, Roadside Attraction, Eats Route 66, and more. I once again am feelin' the whole See the USA in Your Chevrolet thing. Look how many attractions there are just in Missouri:

 

This app will lead you to destinations all around the Midwest, and if you'd like to continue with wineries as you travel middle America, try Wine America. Their app will be up and running soon, but in the meantime, you can follow along with the mobile site. http://AWT-MOBILE.MOBI

There is a cool Wineries Near Me feature, so wherever you travel you can find the closest wineries. They also have a Journal, and you can search by state.

Here's the Wenwood Farm Winery listing:
I truly hope you enjoy any quests, short or long, near or far, you may indulge in over Labor Day Weekend, and that these apps will help you on your journey.

Happy Trills!

Laura

A Relaxing Work Quest

I'm so lucky in that many of my adventures come during work - it's hard to say what is time off and what isn't anymore.  I hope you aren't sick of hearing about tastings, because that's my quest post this weekend.  Saturday I traveled up to St. Charles, MO for a tasting at Miss Aimee B's Tea Room.  

Most Saturdays this fall MAB's is hosting a music and wine afternoon outside in the shady garden behind their beautiful historic property.  They call these casual outdoor afternoons 'Saturday Sips'.

This was the first tasting in, oh gosh - I don't know how long anymore - that both Clyde and I hosted a tasting together.  It was great to have him along...especially since for the first hour or so, we were busy bees!  After that first hour though I was able to escape for a bit of picture-taking time.

Rachael Brandt and Brad Johnson played for everyone yesterday afternoon.  They are more than wonderful!  Talented, romantic, and just perfect for a relaxing Saturday afternoon.

Guests enjoyed wine, food, music and just about the perfect weather yesterday. Jim even wore a Peaceful Bend shirt. :) What a joy to be able to be outside enjoying the atmosphere with the rest of the patrons!

From right to left is Miss Aimee B's partners Sherry and Judy with their friend/bartender Anna.  These ladies were so warm and welcoming all afternoon - we couldn't have been treated any better.

When Clyde and I arrived, we immediately set up and then ordered food.  Clyde had the Muffaletta Sandwich while I ate a Victorian Salad.  Clyde told me his sandwich was 'an explosion of flavor', and the salad was crisp and fresh, so we highly recommend the food.

I loved the people watching too - the Tea Room is open for lunches, and then after 3pm or so, private groups celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, showers, and reunions get together at Miss Aimee B's.  Yesterday the indoor party was dressed to the nines, so it was fun watching everyone arrive in elaborate hats and party dresses.  I wish I had my camera in hand when the belle of the ball - a 4 year old - came in dressed in a poofy white princess dress complete with a tiara!  So cute.

All around the building there were beautiful floral displays:

And attention was also made to landscaping with many fun garden vignettes:

I love that picture frame behind the potted plants.

After the tasting finished up Clyde and I headed to dinner and then stayed the night with friends.  I was allowed to sleep in this morning, and woke up while everyone else was out getting coffee.  I woke up to an empty house and had enough time to photograph my friend's very own garden vignette (above) before they arrived back with a bit of breakfast. 

Ahhh...a lovely afternoon followed by a lovely evening and morning.  You just can't beat a little summer relaxation for your work!

Happy Trills,

Katie

Winery Sunrise

My apologies to my Peaceful Bend Winery blog followers, my facebook friends and all those that follow me on Pinterest as I realize you are probably sick of this photo already.  It my very first 'HDR' picture, and I was so excited to make it that I had to share it everywhere.

But you, my wine chic friends, get to see a few other sunrise photos that occured the other morning.  I woke up just before sunrise....very unusual for me....and realized that we had amazing clouds in the sky.  So I grabbed my camera and tried my hand at this new-to-me photography technique.  The above shot is the one I've shared, but here is another HDR shot of the morning sky:

After this photo, I quit with the HDR photography since I wasn't entirely sure that they would turn out properly.

I went back to plain 'ol jpegs and snapped the next two shots as well.  

First a close up of the sky above the trees:

And then I walked around and changed up where I was taking photos at.  I went down our hill a bit under a broken down pavilion we own which framed out the next shot:

I just love the color in the sky that morning.  I should wake up early more often.

I should.

Really should do that.

Yep.

O.k., so these morning photo sessions are not likely to happen too often.  Fortunately, Clyde provided an extra cup of coffee for me, so I survived the day in pretty good form.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse at our sunrise over the winery and that you enjoy whatever sky you have a chance to view today.

Happy Trills,

Katie

Recipes with Wine

I love to cook with wine... sometime I even put it in the food! OK, an old joke, but still funny. Thought I'd share one of those recipes with you, one I actually do put wine in. If you enjoy this one, I'll post some more in the future.

My Wine Chic Kitchen!

 

Country Estate Spinach Artichoke Dip

 3 - 8 ounce blocks cream cheese, softened
3 cups Miracle Whip
16 ounces grated parmesan cheese
1 - 12 ounce jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained & coarsely chopped
1/2  a "regular" size bag of fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
1 small red pepper, finely chopped
3 T dried minced onion
2 1/2 T garlic and herb seasoning (McCormick has a good one)
1/2 cup of Wenwood Country Estate White wine (Peaceful Bed Courtois is a good choice too!)
1/2 to 1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend (to taste)

Blend all ingredients except the shredded Italian cheese in a crockpot. Heat on high for about 2 hours, or low for 3 to 4. Stir to blend, and top with the Italian cheese. Cover and heat until cheese is melted, about 1/2 hour. Serves with your favorite chips (pita chips are my choice.) Enjoy!

Happy Trills!

Laura

Crafty Katie's Hexagon Grape Card

Before I get to today's post, I've gotta say...WOW to yesterday's post Laura!  You have some gorgeous scenery to drive by on the way to the bank.  I love your example of living in the moment and appreciating what is around you. :)  The photo album was delicious eye candy!

O.k....on to today's tutorial.  I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was geeking out over hexagons.  They are sneaking in everywhere!  One of my favorite stamp companies came out with a cutting plate to make a whole bunch of hexagons, so I splurged.  I love it!  I also got the stamp set that goes with it so I can stamp numerous designs onto those hexagons.  So let's get started.

1. Materials: You'll need cardstock in your choice of colors (I used white, purple and light green), a die cut machine (mine is a cuttlebug), the hexagon die plate and the 'Happy Hexagons' stamp set from Papertrey Ink, dye ink (I used giverny green and amathyst made by Pallette ink), and an acrylic block or old cd case.

2. Cut out your hexagons using the die plate and your die cutting machine.  You'll need a total of 8 hexagons.  Hang onto the frame that's cut out too - you'll need that in a bit.

3. Attach your favorite hexagon stamp (I used the polka dot stamp) to your acrylic block and use purple ink to stamp 6 of the hexagons.  Use another hexagon stamp (stripes used here) and the green ink to stamp the additional two hexagons.  Cut a piece of white cardstock to 3.5 X 4.5 inches.  Stamp your sentiment in the top right corner.  Mat your white cardstock with a piece of purple cardstock that is 4 X 5 inches.

4. Create a card out of light green cardstock.  Center and  attach your matted white cardstock piece.  Lay the frame that you created when you die cut your hexagons onto the white portion of your image panel.  Use the frame to guide where to glue down your hexagons...follow the picture for placement to make a stylized grape cluster.  Remove the frame.

Viola!  A geometric grape cluster card.  Change up the sentiment to make this card suitable for any occasion.  And if you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to leave a comment.

By the way, I'm donating this card and several others to Operation Write Home.  OWH donates hand made cards to deployed soldiers so that they can send notes home to their loved ones.  If you are a cardmaker, I encourage you to check out OWH and consider making a few cards to donate too!

I hope you enjoyed today's crafty tutorial!

Happy Trills,

Katie

A Quest!! .... to the bank...

Well, its Monday. A wine chic's Monday is about the same as everyone else's Monday - phone calls, various small crises, much drudgery. My big thing on Mondays is banking. Bleck. But its gotta be done, so in the spirit of sharing the ins and outs of the wine business, I decided to make the task more enjoyable by taking some photos of my drive to the bank for you to enjoy. Let me just say, wow.
I took so many photos!! I thought I'd just end up with a nice handful and show them in the blog post, but I ended up with a photo album's worth. Here is the album; I really hope you have a minute to enjoy it and the beautiful Missouri scenery it displays.

I have to say, it was the best trip to the bank I've had in years. I went with the spirit of living in the moment. I remembered to appreciate my gal Friday, Becky, who does my bookkeeping now and makes banking day much better for me. I thought to be grateful to actually have money to deposit in the bank! I appreciated the gorgeous day - not so much of a challenge. The tellers at the bank were great, even when I pulled in a two minutes to two, trying to get my deposit on today's business.

Ryann at the bank, and the pretty day reflected in the window

 

I just can't believe how much notice I took of the world around me when I looked with a stranger's eyes. In wanting to share the scenery with you, I gained a renewed appreciation of it myself. For that, I thank you very much!

Happy Trills,

Laura

I'm Feelin' Retro

Well here we are, on another Weekly Quest Sunday. Katie and I had yet another wine tasting, this time in Moberly, Missouri, at a fundraiser to support Safe Passage, a very good cause. And now you're groaning, ok, ok, we've heard all about your tastings, geesh! I kinda agree. But in an interesting twist, this post idea came to me this morning after spending the night at the Best Western Moberly Inn, as Katie and I were wandering around looking for the breakfast area. That's when the attack of the retros occurred.

Maybe it's because Katie and I stayed up a little too late (you can check out the margaritas we indulged in with our late night supper on FB,) and I was a bit... let's go with tired. But we're looking around at this old motel and thinking what it must have looked like back in the day. It was probably quite the posh place. We wondered aloud why it is that corporations like Best Western and other brands don't just totally embrace the retro thing. It's pretty popular right now, you may have noticed. I have it all over my PInterest boards and I'm always googling fun retro photos, and I know I'm not the only one! It's natural, therefore, that I'd be interested in staying at an old motor inn that was retrofitted to its original glory. So, a mental quest begins.

Here's our motel. Kinda whatever, generic. But maybe, it could look like this second photo - does that kinda remind you of a old postcard a bit?
You know, something like this.
They could change the really nice pool area from this:
To this:
And add retro decor, like in this awesome old ad:
Rooms from this boring look:
To this (with modern comfort mattresses and an HDTV in a cabinet, of course!):
With a lobby like this:

And a great old sign, all displayed on cool retro-look postcards.

Ahhh, there's my awesome retro dream. I want to get in my '57 Chevy and See The USA In My Chevrolet, staying in these wonderful places along the way, all across the nation. We'll stop for wine and cheese picnics, have a photo op at each state welcome sign, and know a comfy, charming motel room is waiting for us at the end of the day. Wanna join me? Yay!!

If you know of any great old motor inns like this, that have been restored and are open for business, please send me photos. And directions. Maybe we can forward this blog post to all those companies out there - I'm talkin' to you, Best Western! - that own these great, historic places. What do ya think? Could be the start of something big...

Happy Trills!

Laura