McKinney Wine-ing

So the next day after Grapefest, we had an appointment to see our IRA (money gal) server in McKinney.  While there, I suggested we go to the two wineries there and pick up our club selections.  We set the GPS ("Gypsy") for Dusti's address since this was a new office and we'd never been there.  After taking us on quite a round-a-bout trip, it took us right across the street from our favorite McKinney restaurant--Café Malaga.  We told Dusti if she'd just told us what the office was across from, we'd have found it easy.  We love Café Malaga.

So, next we went to Lone Star Wine Cellars.  I first wanted to confirm that they had gotten my e-mail about cancelling my membership.  The wine seller behind the counter called the owner who talked to me and asked if I'd tried their newest wine--a slightly sparkling moscato.  Usually they are too sweet for me, but this was nice.  We already had one selection coming from before I cancelled, so I got two bottles of the moscato.  However, I'm not at all sure she actually cancelled my membership--  I'm inclined to think not since I was wishy-washy on the phone.  We each had a glass as well and some warm nuts.

Then we went to Landon who have two sparkling wines we really like plus a bunch of fruit wines that are fun.




We got two bottles each of the sparklings, then ordered a bottle to drink there, plus a cheese platter which would be supper.  Originally the plan had been to go to Café Malaga, but a friend has asked us to join her for lunch at Pho Yen Phi earlier and there was only a very little hunger in us.  I can always enjoy a cheese platter with a bottle of sparkling for supper...  :-)

Grapefest, Thursday, 9/11, 2014

Oh, yes, know.  The pictures of "not us" are annoying, but I cannot remember my camera for the life of me when I go to these things.  The point of this pic is look behind these ladies...the crowd!  the crowd!

Which accounts for us going on Thursday.  Imagine trying to navigate that with a scooter (me) and a walker (TR).  This pic was actually taken at the People's choice event which is a way that we non-expert peons can vote on our favorite wines.  And, because the event is so popular, a huge number of wineries participate--only Texas wineries are allowed and there are between 50-60 of them participating this year.

But, we did this event last in our day--because we went on Thursday, the first People's Choice time slot was at 5:00 - 6:30 p. m.

We got there at about 10:30.  I accompanied TR to the shuttle bus after we parked, and then rigged his walker to the back of my scooter with bungies to race the bus to the entrance of the event.  (The bus won.)  When I met TR with his walker, unhooked it, and we headed into the event, a guy ran out toward us from the side motioning to a special parking area they had set up for handicapped, right by the front entrance.  Was that there in previous years?  I have no memory of it.  But, now we know for future reference.

Of course, first on my agenda was to check out the art and other vendors.   TR was willing to accompany me for awhile.  Then we came to Nature's Finest Art:
http://www.naturesfinestart.net/NEW_Gemstone_Designs.html    They are at many of the festivals and art shows in the area--we see them all the time--and I have bought most of my jewelry with them.  TR has also bought rings from them, but they had none with them on this day--however he browsed while I spent over $300.  My purse sated and his browsing also, we eased on up the road to the champagne terrace, whose bar was not yet open (things often don't open at opening on Thursday), but there was champagne being served on the street, so, I left him with a glass as I explored the rest of the vendors.  However, I spent no more, still in shell-shock from the $300.  I went back and had a glass of champagne with him. 

While browsing, we had noticed that Messina Hoff had a sign up on an old hotel building saying they were going to open this fall.  Commenting on that to the champagne vendor, we were pointed to a new winery just around the corner which had opened in August.  Since it was within the event gates, we headed over to check it out.

It is Sloan and Williams Winery:   http://www.sloanwilliams.com/index.html.  I see from their website that they have vineyards in central Texas, but that is not what the girl at the winery said.  She told us the grapes came from their original winery in Lodi, CA.  But the website doesn't mention that.  They only had four wines at the moment, but more are coming in all the time, including a line of fruit wines.  We liked two of the wines and shared a glass of each (pacing ourselves).  They also had a nice assortment of Tapas (probably the best in Grapevine) at the moment, including a build it yourself cheese plate with lots of choices.  We have not joined their club...yet.  This is a wait and see attitude at the moment.  We did not have any Tapas, because this was a festival day and we had already dipped into the street food and intended to go back.  I'd gotten a steak burrito which I had only been able to eat half of.

Back to the Champagne Terrace to see if any music had started yet; it had not.  We drank champagne and read and wound up talking on the phone--everyone seemed to want to call us.  And, the music started sound checks and rehearsing a couple songs--a rock group--not the usual fare for the champagne terrace, but at this point, we were just waiting for the People's Choice event.  I got TR two desserts from the Italian tent and I got a frozen chocolate covered cheesecake--my first ever.  Wow!



Now we were ready for the People's Choice.  We headed on down there and waited in line for our wristband, glass, ballot, and for them to open the gate.  We headed toward the back figuring back to front would encounter a bit less wait at each table.  The point was to pace ourselves and only sample those wines that we had half a prayer of liking.  Between the two of us, we were able to mark our ballots with only one wine in each category that we like.  I also discovered at the Messina Hoff table that they will be opening on Thanksgiving Day in Grapevine.  So that makes five real wineries (that can sell bottles) in Grapevine by the end of the year, plus two food and entertainment venues that have Texas wines.



TR decided to walk back to the car, after getting a frozen chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick, and I, not to be outdone, had had a root beer float which I immediately proceeded to dump all over my scooter!  I managed to salvage half of it, so all was not lost.  We were home by 8:30.

Within the next few days, I e-mailed another winery, Crossroads, that I'd learned at the People's Choice was in Little Elm (across the lake from us--about ten minutes away).  We like two of their wines very much--Detour and My Cheeky Bastard.  The gentleman e-mailed me back that they would be moving to Grapevine before the end of the year--so six wineries in Grapevine!

A Serendipity Day at Grapevine on September 4

Well, over to the right side of our People's Choice tickets (an hour an a half opportunity to sample Texas wines from over 60 different wineries and vote on your favorites) it said Sept. 4.  Now the whole statement was Sept 4-11 which I should have known was a misprint--Grapefest (in which People's Choice is an event) lasts 4 days, not ten.)  I had deliberately gotten our tickets for Thursday because it is the sparsest  day (on the week-end, there are so many people it is impossible for me to navigate with my scooter.) 

So, long story short, we arrived in Grapevine at the right time, on the right day, just a week early.  Grapevine was (relatively) dead.  I checked the tickets and saw that on the left side, it said September 11.  I hadn't even noticed that before.  So, I said, "Well, we need sparkling wine, anyway" (we drink a lot of sparkling wine--the alcohol content is not as much, most of our friends will drink it making scrambling for the right wine easier, and I often serving it with crackers and cheese or breakfast, the two times we most enjoy wine at home.)



I suggested we head for Homestead first.  This is a small house with two rooms, a front porch, a side patio, and tables in the front yard (in the picture, obviously decorated for Hallowe'en).  The actual winery is further north, this is just a venue for serving and selling their wines as well as some of the other wines of North Texas.  Homestead has carried a wonderful sparkling (Celebration) in the past, but they ran out in the winter.  I was hoping they had gotten more.  They had not, but were still hopeful.  Since we have a club membership there, we sat down and sampled the two new wines they had, then ordered a glass each of our favorites.



This is (or at least was) one of the main draws at Homestead--John, now retired much to our sorrow.  He is always a friendly and charming soul--probably the soul of Homestead Grapevine, in fact.  We affectionately called him "the undertaker" because he looked like he'd stepped straight from a horror movie (though not so much with this hat which was not a usual accoutrement.  I think he bought it for golf, something he intended to do a lot after retirement.)  Of course, John wasn't there (though we may be lucky enough to catch him next week at Grapefest)--he is retired of course, but still shows up for parties and events--on his schedule.  We had a lovely conversation with the lady who was working there...all of Homestead's people are friendly and knowledgeable.

              

           

Next we went to Cross Timbers Winery, as far north as you can go on Main Street in Grapevine.  Since this is somewhat off the beaten path, we don't often go there, but we will now.  The venue is huge, a small house which holds the tasting room is bordered by huge outside areas, including a large barn used for parties and a wonderful trellised terrace in back not even shown here.  There are two large parking lots and even room for some grapevines, though most of their wine is neither grown nor made here.  We have usually found one or two wines we like here, but have not been really wild about any.  We sampled their semi-sweet wines (which would be more to our taste) and found one we were impressed with--their Muscat Canalli (the newer one).  This is semi-sparkling and not too sweet, but certainly light and lovely.  We bought two bottles of this.  The wine clerk  would not allow us to sample their new sparkling wine, because the rest of the bottle would go bad.  We said we'd buy a bottle, have a glass there, then recork it, and take it home.  (This worried her greatly, but not us--we knew that right down the road we could buy a sparkling wine bottle cork.)  However, the wine was delicious, and we not only drank the whole bottle right there (Cross Timbers gives you complimentary cheese and crackers with wine drunk on the premises, and we had to finish that--right?), we bought four more bottles of the sparkling and texted Julie about how our day was going and finding this great new wine.

Of course, at this point, we needed something to eat---FAST!  We headed to The Main Bakery and Bistro (whose website pictures I can't seem to copy and bring over here).  TR had an angus burger with a huge pile of French fries.  I had a bowl of tomato basil soup (which was to die for) and a fresh salmon salad.  I had expected the salad to be smoked salmon, but it was salmon sushi, which was surprisingly mild.  It had an Asian dipping sauce, which really didn't add much flavor, and the overall effect was that it was bland and not what I needed after all that wine, so I helped TR finish his pile of French Fries.  We then skipped all those fabulous-looking pastry desserts...and headed to Su Vino Winery.

Had I been in Grapevine with girlfriends, we'd have gone shopping--there are wonderful shops and art exhibit spots on Main Street as well, but I'll do that next week at Grapefest.  Then I will be able to park TR at some music with some wine and wine tickets and shop to my heart's content.

Now at Su Vino we sampled their new wines and ordered a glass each of our favorites with a small cheese plate (picture below.)  We had a fun conversation with some of the people at the bar--a couple ladies in town for a convention and doing some sight seeing (or drinking) on their spare time.  After our purchase of four bottles of sparkling almond wine, we headed home, ready for a quiet week-end.

Dinner at Seasons 52

Well, I have a picture right here of the four of us at dinner, but I can't make the ding blasted scanner work...  It says I need a software update, but Windows 8 won't let me look for it!  Aggggh!

So, hopefully this pic from their website will help:  (on the bottom of the page--it won't let me write underneath the picture for some reason.)

Julie and Chris took us out to celebrate TR's birthday.  She immediately ordered champagne  and we then ordered four appetizers to share.  I wasn't greatly impressed with the seafood, but loved the ravioli (if memory serves, it was spinach and feta).  Very good.  All of us but Chris had rack of lamb (which was lovely, but way too much--I took half of mine home, along with some of TR's and half of Julie's.  We ate it the next night also.)  Chris had a steak and loved it.

You can see the dessert platter below, except we were brought a dessert tree (on a tree-shaped stand like a cupcake stand) with TR's birthday candle on the top.  Fun.  We could take as many as we wanted--I think everyone took three, except me--I took two.  And my first choice was not much to my liking--Key Lime, but it seemed to have more graham cracker than lime.  My second choice--Crème Brulee--was much better.  One of Julie's choices was the tiramisu, which she did not like--one taste told me why--it was made with very strong expresso and Julie does not like coffee.  I found it delicious.  One of TR's was blueberries in lemon curd.  I had gone with the key lime thinking it would have more flavor--wrong-o.  That lemon curd was wonderfully rich and tart--just like I like it.  Fabulous.

We decided next time, we will just get appetizers and desserts....and maybe leave not quite so full.

Baby Shower for Sabrina

 Now, let's see if I can explain this relationship:

     - I live with TR and have for the last seven years.
     - Julie Brown is TR's daughter.
     - Julie is married to Chris Brown.
     - Before being married to Julie, Chris was married to Sandy.
     - Sandy already had several children when Chris married her--I met a number of them at the shower, but I don't think I have yet met all of them.
     - One of those children was Troy. 
     - Troy married Sabrina and Sabrina is now pregnant with her first child--a girl.
     -  That, I figure sort of makes me a step-step-grandmother to Sabrina and a step-step-great grandmother to the new baby.  I figure she can just call me Grandma G.  She can't call me Grandma Julie, because (to the child, at least) that would be Julie Brown.  Whew, that was exhausting.

     The shower was at Coco's Tea Room and Bistro which is in a huge, probably consignment, very nice antique store.  It was fun.  There were cool games, little baby diaper corsages (which figured in one of the games), lovely decorations, very nice favors which Julie had made, a whole lunch (quiche, croissant, chicken salad, tuna salad, and Ritz crackers.  Then four kinds of tea--English Breakfast, Irish, Earl Grey, and Blueberry.  I tried the blueberry, which was nice, but I put too much sugar in it, so I added Earl Grey when I got it down enough.  Now that was a great combination.

     For dessert, we had scones with Devonshire Cream...(is this the same as Clotted Cream?)  Either way, it was the first time I'd had it and it was delicious.  We also had cupcakes made by another one of the sisters (there were four sisters there.  One of whom, Tasha, is Chris' daughter.)

    The gifts seemed to go on forever and there is very little I can think of that she did not get.  I didn't see a rattle anywhere....  But they now have enough clothes to last until the child grows a bit, as well as pretty much all of the equipment I can think of that she might need.

     We really had and great time, and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone, although, I can't put all the names to the faces yet.  There were great conversations with very personable people.

Sabrina and Moms--Sandy and Julie

     When we got home, we helped Sabrina get all the gifts consolidated and moved into their car for the trip back down to Austin.  I don't think I'd have made it after the eventful day, but they are young.  TR and I came home and watched a double feature of bad Sci-Fi disaster flicks--we just really enjoy those things.

The Two Julies

This picture of Sabrina and Troy was taken earlier in the week.

Tuscan Summer Dinner and Wine Pairing at D'Vine Wine

First, I will apologize to myself and hope to remember my camera next time I go out to dinner.  I'm not a person for whom a camera is "must have" gear...it is often an after thought and usually long after.  Julie is trying to convince me that I need one of those "does everything but wash dishes" phones.  Maybe, if I could figure out how to use it without kerfluffling everything and not knowing how to get back where I want to be.

We took friend Rebecca who we know from the Y.  Well, to be correct--she took us.  All we had to do was drive to her house and she drove us over there (people who live in Coppell have a trick way to get to Grapevine that avoids all the construction which is different every time we go through and very confusing), and dropped us right at the door!  We are taking her again!

Maureen and John (also from the Y) joined us.  So, great conversation ensued with lots of laughter (more as the evening went on) over tales of travels, work, and family.  As we conversed, we had our choice of Pinots--Noir or Grigio.  Of course, TR, I, and Maureen took the Grigio.  John and Rebecca had the red.  I love D'Vine's Pinot Grigio, it is light, fruity, and not too acidic.

Our first course was Tarragon Stuffed Egg with a Sauvignon Blanc.  The pairing was wonderful and the egg was smooth and flavorful.  It was just one egg and, thank God, my allergy allows me to have just one.

The second course was a Panzanella Bread Salad with Tomato and Cucumber paired with D'Vine's White Symphony (which is a dry blend of three wines.)  I don't think I'd ever had a bread salad and wasn't expecting much, but it was mild though well seasoned with just a touch of a vinegrette and the tomato and cucumber had been marinated.  It was fresh and refreshing.  Though I'm not a fan of dry wines, this paired really nicely with the salad, not overpowering its mild flavor.

The entrée was Balsamic glazed Pork Tenderloin stuffed with Chevre and Sun-dried Tomato.  A couple of us found no stuffing it theirs and, since the stuffing seemed to have been injected, there wasn't much in anyone's.  The pork was almost to the point of being overdone, but not quite.  It was quite flavorful and, since it was accompanied by Seasoned Asparagus with Romesco Sauce, I was quite happy.  You can never go wrong with Asparagus!  This was paired with a Cabernet Sauvignon which was fruity enough to set off the pork quite nicely.

The dessert was Chef-made Lemon-Basil Gelato with fresh Raspberries and a Lemon Shortbread Cookie.  The ice cream was rich and tart, which I love, as well as very creamy.  And, of course, you can't go wrong with raspberries.  I also love shortbread, so the cookie was also a hit--wished I could have bought a box of them.  It was paired with D'Vine's Enchanted Granite (a Pomegranate Red Zinfandel) which was sweet enough to not get lost in the ice cream--always a challenge with dessert wine.

We had a great dinner and a wonderfully fun time.   The caterer was again All In Good Taste Catering who, we were told, would be doing the next dinner in October with a German theme.  Since German is their heritage, we were told by the owner of D'Vine that he is expecting a great meal.

My Birthday Dinner at Five Sixty, Part III

Now for the fourth course...General Tso's Quail with a Mizuwa Salad.  Now, for the first time, we had a red wine--one that I'd actually heard of and tasted before--Irony Pinot Noir, from Monterrey, CA.  Again a perfect pairing.  I'd had quail before, but not with this sauce--it was sweet and crispy and kind of orangey (if I recall correctly) and I did not at all mind gnawing at the tiny leg bones until there was nothing on them.

After this course, we were brought hot napkins to wipe hands and mouth on, and, yes, we needed them! 

Next, (Fifth Course), we had Mango Chili Glazed Gulf Coast Prawns with Jasmine Rice and were back again to a white wine,  Arneis from the Russian River Valley, in CA.  The winery is Segshesio (?), or perhaps I have the name of the wine and the winery reversed.  These, too, were wonderful and the pairing a delight, but sandwiched between the last two courses and the next two, well, shrimp are somewhat mundane  But, they certainly cleaned the palate for the next course.

I know we had a curried dish as well, it may have been a bonus, or it may have been the shrimp, I just don't remember for sure now.

 

 



As the sun began to go down behind Dallas, our sixth course was served:  Beef Filet and Wok fired Corn with a smoked Shallot Sauce)  By now, I was becoming very full and knew I needed to save room for dessert.  I was, however sure this was Wagu (sp?) beef, and it was cooked exactly the way I like it, seared and removed from the heat--blue!  TR dug into my corn when finished with his, but he wasn't getting any of my beef--it was the most tender flavorful beef I've ever had and was served with our second red wine of the evening, Cotes Du Rhone, "Le Clos DeCalliou" from, of course, France.  It was not strong enough to overpower the beef, but was also not overpowered by it.

I cannot find a picture of that course or the next, but you can probably get the idea by the description.





 



And, now for dessert.:  We had a flourless chocolate mousse cake, in a half circle shape, with cherries macerated in Amaretto and a chocolate ice cream.  On my plate, in chocolate syrup was written, "Happy Birthday, Julie."  This was served with a Bergman Eiswein (Ice Wine) from Germany.  Thank GOD I'd saved room!  I'm usually not fond of ice wine--much too sweet, but, this dessert needed a sweet wine, and this complemented it perfectly without adding heaviness--the dessert was rich, the wine was light.  A perfect ending to the day.




 

 

 

And, surprisingly, as we left nearly five hours after we had come, we did not feel uncomfortably full or inebriated.  We were just really satisfied and had a good night's sleep that night.

 

My Birthday at Five Sixty, Part II

Please see Part 1, one entry down.

Our first course was a summer corn soup with Thai basil oil and pork belly (pork belly and fish will become a theme, as you will see.)  It also had a drizzle of chili oil on the top which tended to burn my mouth something fierce, but nobody else was bothered, so it was just my super sensitive mouth that was at issue.  No bread would be served at all, so I dove into the water and the wine--with this course it was a Gruner (Vetliner?), by Saurenz V "Singing" from Austria--a light white that worked perfectly with the corn and pork belly. 



The bar in Five Sixty.

The second course was Miso Marinated black cod (sushi arrangement for table), salmon, sea scallop, octopus, and Hamachi.  It was served with a Momokowa unfiltered Sake from Japan.  This was the best Sake I'd ever had, which means I was actually able to drink about half of it before I let TR finish it for me (which, yes, required his wavering from his course of only drinking champagne.)  All of the sushi was delicious, especially the scallop which I'd never had raw before.  The texture of cooked scallop was gone and this was just smooth, buttery, and melt-in-your-mouth good.  There was also California roll, but only a taste for each of us, so we would not get full on rice.

Not exactly what we had, but close.
 

Our third course was "Dim Sum" which included Tamarind Glazed Ribs, Porkbelly Potsticker, Organic Chicken Dumpling with Szechuan Dan-Dan Sauce, and Lobster and Shrimp Spring Rolls.  With it came the Sankerre (wine) by Henri Bourgeois of France.  This was a large course and took us some time.  We lingered over and commented each bite.  There were four tastes of each treat, so dividing up the platter between us was pretty easy.  Again, the wine was a superb pairing, and still not a red wine in sight.  This is, of course to be expected with so much fish included in the dinner.

These are the items we were served, except the ribs are not pictured, but ours were arranged for four on one plate.
Pretty spectacular.

Four courses to go.  Hopefully, I will finish this treatise tomorrow.  And, I promise, next time I will take my own pictures which should take a lot less time than searching the internet for pictures similar to what we ate.  Thank goodness Julie took some pictures!




We were, of course, enjoying every moment.  Julie had us clear the area in front of us so it wouldn't
look like every time I was photographed, I had a glass of wine in my hand or food in front of me, but,
really, why else would I be at a restaurant?





My Birthday Dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Five Sixty at the top of Reunion Tower in Dallas

I confided in Julie, TR's daughter, that one of the things on my bucket list was to eat at least once at a celebrity chef's restaurant.  She immediately made reservations for Wolfgang Puck's Five Sixty (that  is the height of Reunion Tower) for the Sunday before my 69th birthday (July 6, 2014) while we were sitting at the coffee table at the Y.  Reservations were for 5:00, which rather disappointed me since in the height of summer it doesn't get fully dark here until 9:30 and the city is a whole new kind of beautiful when the lights come up.  Little did I know we would not be leaving until 9:45....  Yes, we were there for 4 3/4 hours--nearly five turns around the dining room.

 

After a first perusal of the menu, which I'd seen earlier on the restaurant's website, I was at a loss.  I wanted to try everything.  The closest to that was the seven course (there is a twelve course also, but I knew that was totally beyond my stomach capacity, large as I am) tasting menu with wine pairings ($200 a person!), but I figured that was totally out of line. 

I should mention, at this point, that this is an Asian restaurant, and in many of the menu items, I did not recognize a single word.  Julie went ahead and ordered a bottle of champagne while we decided and then proceeded to tell us what she and Chris had had in the past and enjoyed.  I said, "I just can't decide," although I did know I eventually would when she suggested exactly what I really wanted--the tasting menu with wine pairings.  All of us decided to have the same except TR who decided not to have the wine pairings because his meds might clash with unknown wines.  He decided to stick with champagne, finishing our bottle and then ordering by the glass as we went on. 

While we were still drinking our champagne, our palate cleanser (a sweet and savory spoonful to get the palate ready for good food) arrived: a cherry-size heirloom tomato, blanched and peeled, on a bed of avocado mousse with a kind of honey jam on the bottom (or maybe just honey) piled on a tasting spoon like the ones used on the TV show, The Taste.  Luscious, especially with the champagne.

 

I should note at this point that this was my first experience with fine dining--everything I know is from the TV chef competition shows which I am addicted to, so I may cite them often.

As we drank the champagne and waited for our first course, chatting with our very personable and knowlegible waiter, Mathew, who knew, not only all about our food and wine, but also everything, it seems, about what we were seeing out the window, Julie took and posted pictures:



This is Dallas looking east over the city--the highway is 75.

And here is the dining room as seen on the restaurant's website:

 

Mathew asked us if we had any time constraints, and when we said, "No, none at all, you are stuck with us for the evening," he seemed relieved and told us how he hated it when people thought they could get through a seven course tasting menu in an hour and a half.  This was no hour and a half meal for us!

 

The "Amuse" course was brought out, a bonus course now giving us eight courses, not counting the palate cleanser.  This was a glazed pork belly Bao Bun (a sandwich on a bon mi bun) with Hoison Gojuchian aoli (I know from my shows that an aoli is a mayonnaise,  usually flavored.)  With it was served a Rose, a Lucien Albrecht wine from France.  The pairing was perfect--the wine having enough body, while being light, to stand up to the pork belly, which I now learned was a glorified bacon, thickly cut.  Although Julie suggested that what really separates pork belly from bacon was that the hogs were raised as pets, fed milk and honey, curried and groomed, and had music played to them as they matured.

 

Part II of this discourse will come up tomorrow....We haven't even gotten to the first course yet!

 

 

 

Fourth of July

Why is it every time my picture is taken, I have a drink in my hand.  Julie entitled it, "Waiting for fireworks and drinking champagne."

Fourth of July, no triple digit temperatures yet, and none predicted.  (Turning to knock on my wooden desk).   As the sun went down, the thermometer dipped from 94 to 84 with a lovely breeze coming in from the lake.  This was our fireworks in Lake Dallas.  We'd tried to watch them from our house the past few years, but there were just too many trees in the way.  However, we knew enough to know it was a pretty decent show.  Chris filmed it--it lasted about 30 minutes--and was spectacular.  A lovely evening out with Julie (taking the picture) and Chris.  That is TR to the left of Chris--almost unrecognizable in that hat.

Now I have three fireworks shows I DVR'd to watch--D. C., New York, and Fair Park in Dallas.  :-).  I love fireworks.

Wine Dinner at D'vine Wine

 

Regardless of the look on my face, I was having a great time.  This was taken at about 6:15 and the dinner didn't actually start until 7:00.  We were having a glass of champagne and a small cheese plate, trying to feed Chris Brown (middle), Julie Brown's husband (Julie is taking the picture.)  Filling out the picture are TR and me.  Julie Brown is TR's daughter.  Chris is always hungry, but also I think he knew that, since he was our designated driver, he had to keep food in his stomach while drinking.  The place filled up greatly later.  This was a good time to take the picture, though.  Later than this Julie would have been sitting on someone's lap to take the picture.

 

We had gone over to Homestead first to pick up past wine club selections there.  But they were hosting a huge bus tour, so we just grabbed out wine and fled, putting us at D'Vine early.  No worries, it made finding parking easier.  I was also glad we had gotten there early, because I needed a ladder to climb up to the bar stool.  It had been difficult before, but never that hard!  I swear, the next time they measure me, I will be 4' 9.5"!   I'm getting shorter while the rest of the world just gets taller.  Why can't chairs be made people-size?  This is probably how Peter Dinklage feels all the time!

 

The dinner was catered by a new company (for D'Vine, anyway)--All in Good Taste Catering.  It is mainly run by a married couple, Sharon Hardy-Easter is the chef and Hal Easter is general manager.  www.allingoodtastecatering.net.  They do not have a restaurant, so their attention is not divided.  They brought their own wait staff making the evening go very smoothly and taking a huge load off the winery's staff who now only had to deal with serving the wine.  It was a bit more expensive than in the past, but well worth it.. the food was worth blogging about.

 

Our first course was Italian Flatbread with Lemon Artichoke Spread and Pine Nuts (the spread was divine!)  It was paired with D'Vine's White Symphony (a Chardonnay, Riesling, and Semillon blend).  The only problem now was that it was self serve, and getting the ladder back out for me to climb up on would be difficult now that the place was both crowded and busy.  Julie volunteered to get my food for me, and she was probably even more generous with me than I'd have been with myself.  The wine was a bit bland, but was a good fit for this course since the flavor of the spread was lovely, but delicate.

 

Next was a Strawberry Salad (and spinach leaves), with Toasted Almond, Chive and Basil Dressing and a Boursin Pinwheel Biscuit.  The bread was not my definition of a biscuit--it was more my definition of Challa bread or a Brioche (mildly sweet), but more flavorful.  It was a yeast bread made in a pinwheel (like a cinnamon roll) and delicious.  They served butter, but it was totally unnecessary.  The salad was perfect, refreshing, and full of flavor.  It was paired with D'Vine's Pink Vine which they bill as a dry rose.  It is dry, but is also light  and slightly fruity, and was a good accompaniment to the strawberry salad.

 

The entrée was Coffee Crusted 6 oz. Beef Filet, Garlic Roasted Fingerling Potato, and Grilled Heirloom Tomatoes with Balsamic Glaze.  The surprise was that the steak had been infused with a thick, rich chocolate syrup (genache?)--injected with it actually.  I ate the whole thing, but I don't think I'd choose it again.  I will never refuse chocolate in whatever form it is served, but that is definitely not my preferred form.  Also, the steak was overcooked.  She was obviously going for medium rare, but mine was closer to medium well.  I prefer my steak very rare, so she never had a prayer with me (I wonder how the blood would have mixed with the chocolate?)  The conditions were such that, well I don't think I'd ever have chosen to serve steak--catering it to approximately one hour away from where it was cooked with no cooking equipment at the venue.  (D'vine probably has a microwave, but all they need for their cheese plates is a refrigerator, cupboard, and counter.--I think that pretty much is all they have.)  I'd never serve steak there, unless I could set up a grill outside the back door and cook to order.  I'll bet they have figured that out by now, however.  This was (I think) their first time catering this venue.  Of course, the beef may have been requested by the winery, wanting to showcase their Pinot Noir.

 

The vegetables were superb and Chris commented that that was the best tomato he'd ever had.  I didn't finish my potatoes, but that was the fault of my wanting to save room for dessert, not the potatoes.  The course was paired with the Pinot Noir, the perfect choice to complement both the beef and the chocolate.

 

The dessert was Peach Bread Pudding with Sweet Pecan and Peach Brandy Sauce.  I am a bread pudding lover, but TR usually turns up his nose at it saying he doesn't eat white stuff.  But not this time, he not only finished his, but he jumped on both Chris's and Julie's unfinished portions (they were full because they had eaten their potatoes...LOL).  So, I'd say a highly successful dessert, rich with just the right amount of sweetness and fruitiness.  With it was served D'Vine's Almond Sparkling Wine which is one of our favorites (most of us had started the evening off with it.)  I bought six bottles of the Almond Sparkling to take home with us.

 

We both slept very well last night and this morning I weighed 1 1/2 pounds more than I did yesterday.....Everything has its consequences. 

 



Had to Post This

New Year's Eve at iFratelli

iFratelli is a pizza joint.  Hard to believe if you read the rest of this post.  They are actually a very nice restaurant and this particular location also has wine.  They offer wine tasting evenings every Thursday most of the year (except for Thanksgiving through New Years when they are busy enough.  They also have special dinner menus for special days and some wine dinners (two or three throughout the year.)  We have gone to a number of wine tastings and one of the wine dinners.  This was the first of the special menu days we have attended.

The attraction was that the special New Year's Eve menu was to be served from 4-9 pm on NYE.  I made reservations for 4--we were home by 6:30 avoiding all the madness and having a special evening anyway.

We started with individual splits of Martini and Rossi Moscato.  For the remainder of the meal, I ordered a Nobel House Riesling--one of our favorites.  For an appetizer TR had a creamy spicy shrimp and crab soup.  I had the squab.  He loved the soup and I very much enjoyed the squab--I'd had it once before in Mexico and it was overcooked and dry, but this was perfect.

For an entrée, we both ordered scallops with creamed leeks.  It smelled good coming to the table.  It tasted as good as it smelled.  We used up an entire loaf of bread soaking up the sauce.  Wonderful!

For dessert, TR had the chocolate crème brulee.  I had the pumpkin cheesecake with a caramel drizzle.  We tasted each other's--they were both superb.  The brulee was very rich, more like a mousse than a brulee to my taste.  The cheesecake, creamy and also rich.

Our waiter was a bit too enthusiastic and familiar, but I just gave it right back to him.  We had a great time.  They did add the tip to the bill, but they made the fact that they had done that obvious.  I'd not known them to do that before, but I don't mind.  Saves me having to figure it out.



In addition to pizza and wine, this location also has a great Tapas menu, a full Italian menu complete with everyone's favorite Italian desserts.  The menu we chose from last night was a special menu only offered on special days of the year and varies then.

Then the menus offered for the wine dinners are one of a kind as are the appetizers that are a part of the wine tastings.

We hope we can find a place like this when we hit San Antonio.