In Vino Logica

Today I am finally going to a local winery for a tasting tour. I have been wanting to go for about…. Hm…. I want to say six months or so. Why? Because apparently I can only buy a certain wine at that particular winery and I need it like burning.

Let me attempt to explain the logic here. I like sangria. My father’s cousin used to make the best sangria ever, but she passed away before I was old enough to ask for the recipe. Don’t judge me. Anyway, I have tried sangria everywhere it was offered, hoping to find one that was close enough to her recipe, usually to no avail. Once while in Berlin we saw an offering at a biergarten. That alone should have tipped us off, but we went ahead and tried it. It looked like someone had *ahem* upchucked their fruit salad, and tasted just as vile. After that, I tried the bottled sangrias, but usually they are not sweet enough, and the citric acid tends to conflict with the alcohol somewhat.

Bunch of liars…

Fast forward to May 2012. The ladies of our local wine club make plans to go to the Wein and Sangerfest just north of here, and ZOMG!!! I find the best cheap sangria recipe EVAH!!

Texas Style Sangria

• 1 6oz can of frozen orange juice concentrate, plus one can of water
• 1 6oz can of frozen limeade concentrate, plus one can of water
• 1 liter of grapefruit soda
• 1 bottle Dry Comal Creek Foot Pressed Red Wine™

Blend limeade and orange juice concentrates with water. Add the wine, stirring well, then add the grapefruit soda, and stir well again. Freeze until slushy, or serve over ice if you are impatient, like me. Garnish with orange slices, or pass on the fruit if your impatient, like me. Those of you that are sharp-eyed will recognize where I originally posted this recipe.

Anyway, see that last item?? THAT wine is ONLY sold at the winery. Why?? Why can’t they offer it locally in all other stores that carry their brand?? It is a nice table wine, and a less expensive alternative to their Black White Spanish, which is also awesome, by the way. My point is, if you want people to buy your wine and entice them with an awesome cheap recipe, you should make said wine available to the masses. But no…. Now I have to make the sacrifice of an afternoon, and go to a tasting room just so that I can purchase a bottle or five of wine.

It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make 😉

Lush-ious

There was a good reason as to why I didn’t write a post yesterday. A very good reason.

This was my first trip to attend, and it was awesome! The Gruene Music and Wine Fest is considered a stepping stone for performers, and attracts people from all over the USA. Several well-known country music stars got the start at the Fest, including Garth Brooks. Gruene Hall is still a popular venue as well as a tourist attraction. But I wasn’t there for the music, as good as it sounded coming from the Hall. Nope, I had missed out on Clint Black, so I set my eyes on the prize.

WHOOP!! Your very own tasting glass. For a fee of $20 (which in retrospect, is pretty steep) you get a cheap tasting glass and five tickets for five tastings. Now, there were dozens of wineries featured. DOZENS!!!! Five tickets were just not going to cut it, right? Luckily for the gals, Hubby had volunteered to be our designated driver in exchange for videotaping our drunken conversations, and he divvied up his tickets between the rest of us. And by a strange quirk of fate, we got extra tickets, so we didn’t have to buy any more! I ♥ Fate. Anyway, we managed to sample some wines from several small wineries, finding some to be hidden gems in the rough, so to speak. Others….not so much. I do have to give a shout out to the best winery name we saw: Three Dudes Winery. I ask you: how can you go wrong with that?? And yes, their wine was very good. All in all, a great time was had by all, and I’m sure I will be making a return trip next year.

Next up on the fest roster: WURSTFEST!!

Because you can’t go wrong with German food and beer 😉

Food Blogging: Day Three, I Think

I told Laura that for “NATIONAL IRRITATE A FOOD PIC HATER FOOD PIC POSTING WEEK”, known as NIAFPHFPPW, for short, I would have the BEST Sunday breakfast evah!!!

I bet you it will cure a hangover, too.

And this phoned in post concludes my food contributions for NIAFPHFPPW. I can tell you I got some awesome recipes from the bloggers to try in the next few weeks…. Ok, maybe the next few months. If you haven’t been to Bad Bad Juju yet, go….NOW!!

Have a great Friday!! 😀

Ooooh, Pretty AND Smashing

Today is one of those days. I have yet to finish any one single chore, and still have to take Little One to her Prep Day at her school. So what did I do with my lunchtime? I scoured the internet for some wicked mixology.

Hey, the washer and dryer only go so fast, ok??

Behold the Witches Brew!!!

Pretty, isn’t it? And perfect for Halloween. But we all know we do NOT need an excuse for pretty cocktails.

• 1 oz. Bacardi Dragonberry Rum
• 1 oz.  Blue Curaçao
• 1 oz. Crème de Banana
• Juice of one Lime
• Black Sugar

Pour ingredients except sugar in shaker with ice, shaking well. Pour into a martini glass rimmed with the black sugar. I don’t care for flavored rum, but may try it with just Crystal or Añejo. I’ve partaken of dragonberry before. Let’s just say, I was not impressed.

Anyway, time to go fold clothes and finish telling Little One she looks better than fine for her school pictures. If any of you are brave enough to try this, let me know. I can’t imagine what the combination of blue and black will do for the tongue! 😀

Game of a Certain Throne

I swear, no matter how early I get up, I still run late posting here.

This weekend we had Nomstress and her hubby Nightflyer as our guests. As usual, we had a lot of fun enjoying the company and laughing about people we know. Mostly my relatives. Anyway, Hubby was scrolling through the movies available On Demand™, when he spied one of our favorite BS meter movies: The Core.

And then he decided to make it a drinking game.

Since I had seen the movie before, I knew I would have been sloshed by the first fifteen minutes, so I passed on it and remained sober. Needless to say, the results were epic. I must admit I relished being the sober one, because it left me free to poke fun at the others. I felt the power, and it was GOOD!!!

I may be a lightweight, but I ain’t stupid 😉

Saturday Sithy

Since I shall be spending my time at the family reunion this weekend, I figured I would post something Sithy.

It will help with keeping me sane.

All it needs is a shot of Bailey’s™ 😉

Have a great Saturday!!

Family Ties

This weekend we shall be travelling to Hubby’s family reunion. We always get excited about it, because so many people show up, and it’s always fun to catch up on news, as well as see the new additions and witness the many re-tellings of family histories.

It’s also the best time to wager who will wig out first. “Crazy” is a relative term in our family.

Every year, we are asked to bring something for consumption for the masses. Travelling for four hours makes it tricky, so I can never bring any hot foods. Most of the time I bring dessert, but so do most people coming in from out-of-town. So, this year I shall bring some of this, and some Solo© Cups.

I know it will be gone in 60 seconds.

But no worries. I will be designated driver, just so I can write down all the delish gossip for Sithy. There will be plenty, I’m sure. When you have Bible thumpers and Wiccans in the same venue, hilarity will ensue 😉

Tiny Bubbles

Sometimes the best laid plans go off without a single hitch.

Take a few nights ago. As y’all know, I do enjoy taking bubblebaths. They are my escape, and for those few hours 40 minutes, I can enjoy some trashy novel or write in my journal, or just vegetate without being interrupted by someone wanting to know if they can have a snack, even though they had dinner less than an hour ago. But usually someone needs to find something, or someone calls for me, or someone sends a text that must be answered as soon as possible…. something always happens.

But not this time!!

I took care of the dogs, so they wouldn’t need to go outside. I turned off the phone, since in a real emergency they would call the land line anyway. I cleaned up the kitchen and told the kids that if they were hungry, they were on their own and not to ask me for anything, and I left Hubby nicely comfy upstairs playing a videogame. Then I poured a glass of wine, grabbed a trashy book, and proceeded to my garden tub, whereupon I ran the hot water in the scalding range (because if you don’t sweat in the bubblebath, you are doing it wrong), poured half a bottle of bubble stuff, and submerged myself in the lava-hot goodness. One advantage to being short is that I can relax myself enough to feel like I’m floating while almost completely submerged. It’s like a sensory deprivation tank, without the drawbacks. It was so relaxing, I totally forgot about my trashy book.

I didn’t forget about the wine, though. Next time, I may just bring the bottle 😉

I Slept In

And I liked it!

It didn’t do anything for my beauty, but at least I got plenty of sleep for a change. Oh, I did get up around 7:00 AM to tend to the Sheltie, but I made fast tracks back to bed when she was done. The whole house was still and I was going to take advantage of that. So seeing as it is Sunday, and too late for doughnuts, have a Sithy.

What?? It’s Sunday, time to relax, and it’s 5 o’clock somewhere!!

Courtesy of ArmedGeek (sometimes NSFW….ok, most of the time) 😀

Sweet Swilling

As some of y’all know, last Saturday I attended the 9th Annual Wein and Saengerfest. It was fun to be out and about drinking legally in the streets. Anyway, the talk of the fest is always the Sangria made by Dry Comal Creek Vineyards™.

In a word, SUPERB!!!

Why? Because not only did it taste heavenly, it is super cheap, super easy, and super fast to make! TOTAL WIN!!

Texas Style Sangria

• 1 6oz can of frozen orange juice concentrate, plus one can of water
• 1 6oz can of frozen limeade concentrate, plus one can of water
• 1 liter of grapefruit soda
• 1 bottle Dry Comal Creek Foot Pressed Red Wine™

Blend limeade and orange juice concentrates with water. Add the wine, stirring well, then add the grapefruit soda, and stir well again. Freeze until slushy, or serve over ice if you are impatient, like me. Garnish with orange slices, or pass on the fruit if your impatient, like me 😉

Cross-posted at H&B.