Snow Day Sustenance

Francis Coppola Petite Sirah.  Yum-O!  Definitely a 5 on our 5 point scale!!  Todd was a little annoyed I drank more than my "share."  All I can say is it was payback time for all those diet cokes I "shared" with him only to reach for my sip and suck ice.  Hmmph.

I made STEW!  I've made it before, but I tried REALLY HARD this time, and it was super yummy.  Well, I thought it was anyway.  :)  Not only did I make stew, but also cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, eggs, and peanut butter cookies.  You can call me Betty Crocker now.  I can take it. 

Holiday Wine Tasting

We did a little tasting over the holidays, but I'm just now getting around to making a post about them.  It's been on my to do list though, because I think we found a little goldmine at our local IGA.  :)

This was the first set of tastes, all Cabernet, and all under $10.  We threw the Wal-Mart Oak Leaf in there just to see how it held up.  They are pictured in order of best to worst.  Electric Reindeer from World Market was a favorite, with the two in the middle being VERY CLOSE.  That 337 was so dry I didn't have spit for a week after I tasted it.

Just showing you that we were official about this whole tasting, too.  No peeking.

The second set of tastes were blends, (cabernet, pinot, etc.).  These were also under $10.  They are pictured in the order they were ranked, and the Sebeka was the best by a ton.  It was the one I bought from the local IGA, and I think it was $7ish.  It had a little info attached to the shelf saying how it had won some award, so fell for it.  I'm so glad I did, too!  I quickly went back and bought a few bottles just to have on hand.

We are all undecorated now, and getting in the mood to hit school and work on Monday.  It really was a nice break from the daily grind.  As the years pass by, and the days seem to get more hectic, I'm really beginning to cherish this holiday for just that reason.  Somehow, we manage to unhectic ourselves a little and retreat.  I like that, and with a little wine tasting thrown in.  That's the stuff of life right there.

I'll drink to that....

Shelly brought over this bottle of wine last night to share for my Birthday. Being her, she had a card to match the label. That Shelly. :) But, she picked this wine for the story. Apparently, Kate and Cassie were BFFs that went into wine-making together. One liked Merlot, and one liked Cabernet Savignon. They combined their tastes into this wine. It was FABULOUS. A 5 on our scale, and now Shelly and I are wondering if we could pull off the same endeavor! Wine making sounds like an AWESOME job to us!

As if that wasn't enough, Todd commissioned a cake from his mom. A very healthy carrot cake. :) He even made me blow out candles after I got home from my meeting at 9:30 last night. It made me laugh, especially since he also insisted on taking pictures of the whole extravaganza. So now another year until an "all about me day." But then I'll be 35...I'm not sure I'm looking forward to many more of those kinds of days. :)

some recent tastes...

We took this bottle with us to San Antonio to enjoy in our fancy hotel room. Frances Coppola, Claret, and old favorite. At $18ish a bottle, it's worth every penny. 5 stars from the Scroggins.

Natalie brought along this lovely taste during her visit. Firefly Ridge Merlot. I'm not sure how much she spent, but I'm guessing $10 or below. That's pretty much the budget in my little group of fellow winos. It was super super yummy! We give it a 5. I think I had most of the bottle on my own. :)I bought this bottle last summer on my trip to California and the wine country. In my excitement to be among all the wine trees, I spent $50 on it, so we had to save it for a wonderfully special occassion. What exactly was I thinking?? It was from the Tensely Winery, and a Syrah. I guess I knew we'd have a reason to celebrate this year. We opened it in honor of my new gig at the Messenger. It was ok yummy, but I don't know about $50 yummy. Those are some high expecations, ya know? We gave it a 4. I guess we might be getting a little wine snobby in our wino old age.

2 new tastes

While on our little Staycation, I relaxed with a few sips and cups of The Show brought to us by Jason and Jenn for dinner one night, but in all our fun conversation, we just didn't quite get to it. It was tasty, but a little tart for me. I'll give it a 2 on our 5 point scale. Todd was a beer connoisseur this particular night, so wasn't in on the tastacation. :)

Again, I'm being a solo wine critic. I took the kids swimming today-twice. Once at Sona's house (blogworthiness to come), and twice with Jared for a swim lesson. Throw in a cranky 8 year old (due to possible ear infection), crazy city traffic, and blistering Texas heat, and you can imagine my need for a little relaxation. I bought this bottle of Mirassou Pinot Noir a few weeks ago. I don't remember the exact cost, but I'm sure it was under $10 since that's my general rule. It was lovely! Very smooth, and perfect with a summer salad for dinner. I give it a 4 on our little 5 point scale. I will be purchasing this one again. Maybe tomorrow.

This weekend, I had an interesting conversation with another wine connoisseur-want-to-be who stated that no one really likes wine. They drink it, but they don't like it. He said that grape juice was good. Wine-not so good. I tried to suggest that maybe we just need to get him some better wine, some tastier versions of Cabernet or Pinot Noir; he suggested a lovely Franzia Merlot Box Wine instead. I've put it on my list, but I'll have to refer our friend, J, first. He was my official wine tutor, and I don't know that he'd approve. He was very adament about me graduating from the box to the cork. Any other suggestions? We're taking them. :)

Francis Coppolla-Alicante Bouschet 2007

My friend, Jennifer, gave me this bottle after a week of "sharing kids." You know those weeks where you feel like you've called in every favor to every friend? I think that's how Jennifer must have felt (even though I'd happily pick up kids and take them anywhere anytime!) She gave me this lovely little end-of-week-present after one of those kind of weeks.

Todd and I decided to celebrate spring, and our productive day in the yard with this bottle-and it was so lovely! It was a little more dry than we usually go for, but we still give it a 3.5 on our little 5 point scale.

Thanks Jennifer!

the Daytona 500 tradition...

A few years ago, we declared Daytona 500 weekend a holiday with our friends Shelly and Jared. We vowed to always stop down and spend the weekend together, and also not to stress when we couldn't attend birthday parties, Christmas gatherings, or other celebrations throughout the year. It was the perfect solution for that annoying guilt when our families would be constantly double-booked, and Daytona (the apparent Superbowl of NASCAR) seemed the most fitting event in light of the boys' intense admiration of the 'sport'. We've shared many laughs, beers, stories, pictures, and dinners over the years, and of course, recall all of them every year we repeat the tradition.

This year began with the treehouse project-the treehouse without a tree as it has been pointed out to me. Once we mentioned a building project, Sona and Kevin jumped at the chance to help, and everyone was assembled Saturday morning by 8:30. I was shocked. The boys set to work, and the girls started cooking. We had many tasty treats and projects planned for the kids since it was also Valentine's Day.

We started with the bird feeder project Grady and I did earlier this week during the infamous injury-filled playgroup. Grady felt super special that he was the "leader" of this one, and he showed the other 4 how to smear the peanut butter "just right" on the pine cones before rolling them in birdseed. Now our trees our very nicely decorated with these homemade bird feeders.Meanwhile, the boys kept working away. Kevin, being the out-of-the-box-thinker, gave some much needed advice to Jared and Todd on some design elements, while Jared and Todd mostly bickered like little old ladies over every wood cut. It was a comedy routine in the making for sure.

To set the Valentine's Day mood, the kids made cards for EVERYONE with some superfun glitter puff paint and foam hearts. This project was golden. Not only did it keep them busy for over an hour-but I think I even heard some sounds of love and joy as they worked on them.

With two crafts under our belt, we took a much needed break for refreshment. Sona brought Little Black Dress (a merlot), and we ranked it a 3 on our little wine tasting scale.

During all the crafting and wine tasting, the boys made a lot of progress on the Fort. We attribute the productivity to Jared's 3pm beer curfew-meaning no drinking until after that time. What a concept!! :)

By this time the kids were getting excited about the finished product-they could see all the fun in the making!

To channel their excitement, we headed back inside to make heart shaped Valentine cookies-complete with frosting and tee tiny heart sprinkles.

The boys worked until dark, having accomplished over 11 hours of work! We treated them to an enchilada dinner, and game of Partini-which we give 2 thumbs up by the way. Shelly had us rolling with her humming abilities, and Todd kept us right on track with the rules. Both very important elements to the fun of the game.

Todd was up early this morning hoping to put the final touches on the Fort before the big race. He and Jared finished up the ladder, walls, and rope climb. They also made future plans for a slide, rock climbing wall, and swings...guess we'll be adding on to the Fort throughout the years.

The boys had barely hammered in the last nail before the kids scrambled to the top sharing in the first official play in the Fort. I'm looking forward to many weekends, summers, and holidays spent playing, camping, and relaxing in the Fort-not to mention just sending them out to play for hours and hours upon end.
The Daytona 500-or as it's being called now the Daytona 380-just ended, with Matt Kennseth as the winner. The race was cut short because of rain, so noone is giving much credit to Todd's favorite guy. I can hear the jokes for years to come-maybe the kids will even retell the story in the Fort one day. It gives me warm fuzzies to think of the fun memories. :)

Menage a Trois-a definition

Menage a Trois...

Todd's Aunt gave us this bottle for Christmas, and raved about how she LOVED the Menage a Trois...she went on and on about how much she loved it. She made this the House Wine at her restaurant in Nocona, and recommended it to everyone. And no, she didn't know the meaning of the label; she was enlightened by her extended family during the Holidays, and took her embarrassment well. I think she still loves the wine though. :) We gave it a 4 on our 5 point scale.

Cheers!

Per Jarhead's Recommendation...

Rosemount Shiraz. I think it was $6ish for this bottle. There was a little disagreement between Todd and I on this one. I thought it was great, although it didn't quite compare with the Concannon Petite Syrah from last week. Todd was leaning towards liking our old Wal Mart standby a little better. I think this is where if we knew a little more about wine, we could make a more informed observation. Todd's take is that maybe he likes Cabernet more than Shiraz. I just know what is yummy. I guess we will just have to do more research on the subject. O well-it's for a good cause.

Ultimately we give this one a 3.5 on our 5 point scale.

And yes, I made Todd drink out of the flowery glasses. I think they are lovely. :)

The Old Standby

Tonight we wanted to compare our usual $2.97 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon (Wal Mart's finest) to the Petite Syrah we tasted last night. Although it's not as lovely as the other, we just can't find much wrong with this one! Either we are too easy to please, or this one is good to have on hand for your basic day to day wine gulping. It certainly gets the value nod according to Todd-and we all know how I love a good deal! We give it a 3 on our 5 point scale.
The kids got in on the action tonight too, and they give this Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice a 5.5 on our 5 point scale. :)

one more resolution...

I'd like to know more about wine. I have a few friends "in the know", and they've tried to teach me. I've progressed from boxed White Zinfandel to bottled Cabernet (with a cork!)...but I'd like to know EVEN MORE. I'm adding that to my new year's resolutions...
On the way home from the Big City today, we stopped at Tom Thumb and splurged on a $15 bottle of wine. That's big time for us-hey, it's not box wine, ok? I used my newfound knowledge from wine tasting in California this summer, and picked a Petite Syrah. It's lovely-on our new 1-5 scale, we give it a 4.5. :)