A special guest

Last night, Craft Night had a special guest - my Mom! We had a delicious salad inspired by last weekend's trip to Cambria - mixed greens with pistachio-encrusted goat cheese, pink grapefruit, and a citrus vinegrette. Mom is a white wine drinker, so we had a bottle of

2005 Mokelumne Oaks White Blend Yeah, not such a great name, but surprisingly nice. It's a blend of chenin blanc, vionger, and pinot grigio, and you can certainly taste the melony stone-fruit. We'd picked this one up at the winery over at Vino Piazza in Lockeford. Here's what the winery says:

White Blend consists of 60% Chenin Blanc, 20% Viognier and 20% Pinot Grigio. This is a dry white blend, with a hint of sweetness from the Chenin Blanc. It has aromas of apricot, peach, apple, melon, nut and spice and a smooth, soft, crisp taste with a low to medium acidity. Its regions are from France, Oregon, and California. It accompanies: fruit, cheese, mildly spiced foods, salads, seafood and chicken.

Claire is getting really close to finishing her new, green bag. Mom worked on her legwarmers in that cool self-striping, self-patterning Grosso sock yarn, while I slaved away on the stupid baby sweater I need to have done for a baby shower this Sunday. Only one sleeve left, thank God; I might actually get it finished in time!

Craft Night?

Well, this week's Craft Night quickly turned into "drink too much wine and commiserate over crappy jobs and the general state of the world" night. Claire and I enjoyed my newly refurbished patio, with a bottle of 2005 El Dorado Mourvedre Estate Reserve by Holly's Hill, which arrived via wineclub delivery that day.

Here's what the winery says about the mourvedre:

Raspberries and cherries mingle with chocolate in this 100% estate wine. The aromatics are complimented with white pepper and mushrooms/forest floor (think wet pine needles). In the mouth, the wine is mouth-filling with nicely balanced acidity, velvety tannins and a long finish.

After the moquitoes started to brave our application of "Off", we headed inside, where Ken had graciously prepared pizza from "scratch" - feta, fresh tomatoes = mmmm - and a green salad. We opened a bottle of 2004 El Dorado Patriarche, also by Holly's Hill. This one is much more complex than the mouvedre, but as we were quickly getting to the trashed point, I'll be finishing the bottle tonight with dinner.

Here's the winery's take on their Patriarche:

This wine is huge and dark. Complex aromas of dark berries, cherries and raspberries along with toasty caramel, earth and game all come together for a broad mouthfeel and big tannins. It is very drinkable and will keep you coming back for more.

We did actually pull out our knitting; I got about 10 stitches cast-on for a baby sweater before we decided that soaking was a far better option. Hot tub and lime-water for rehydration. Happy times! I sure felt better about the world, that is, until trying to get out of bed this morning :D

Socks!

It was a mellow knitting evening last night. Just Claire and me working on our socks. I finished the "Tahoe weekend" socks. They look great, and Lornas Laces sock yarn is pretty darned yummy feeling on the feets, even if it is a bit twisty to work with. Claire continued plugging away on her Pippi Kneestocking #1.

2004 Robert Hall Cabernet Sauvignon (on sale last week for $13 at Nugget Market) was our wine of the evening paired with a delicious pesto pizza from Giovanni's (a local pizzaria) and a salad of spring greens with feta. RH Cab is quickly becoming one of my favorite everyday wines. It is nicely balanced with a little bit of complexity, and not overpowered with tannins. Not terribly challenging, but certainly not boring either. I think this might become this summer's housewine at Casa de G.

Thanks, Robin, for introducing us to this lovely wine :)

Tahoe Crafty

This past weekend, for a "bachelorette" trip for Robin, we spent a most glorious time in S. Lake Tahoe knitting, drinking and finding out that the Urgent Care on US 50 next to KFC is staffed by friendly folks. There was some snowshoeing (which is where the urgent care came into play) and gambling, as well as a trip to the Wool Tree. Great shop! Did I mention drinking?

First off, the wines we consumed during our first evening of knitting:

1. 2004 Wild Coyote Meritage - we picked up this delicious wine the weekend we got Robin engaged down in Paso Robles. It is well-balanced and pretty wonderful. Pricy, though.

2. Lordy, I can't remember. It was pretty good however.

3. 2004 Rodney Strong Cabernet, I think. This was bottle #3, so I was pretty wasted by then.

Needless to say, hangovers ensued the next day, which was filled with snowshoeing. The snow was pretty much crap, but we still had a grand time. Up until Claire fell upon a branch and needed 9 stitches. After we were done at the Urgent Care, it was time for the obligatory trip to the Burger Lounge. Sadly, the new owners have been unable to retain the old liquor licence, so no pitcher of Snow Plow for us.

After burgers, we trudged home for showers and more knitting, several cosmos apiece, then later, a trip to the casino for some roulette and slots. Robin was the big winner!

Projects:
Claire - socks
Robin - making great progress on her scarf
Becky - started and almost completed her scarf
Betsy - finished the back of the Ruffled Surplice sweater, and started a new pair of socks.

Sunday was cleanup day, then a visit to the LYS - The Wool Tree. A wonderful yarn shop, the Wool Tree. Lots of yummy yarns I haven't touched before.

Becky and I worked on our projects on the drive home. Sock #1 is almost finished!

Last time, on Craft Night...

Another successful, though non-soaking, craft night at Claire's.

What we worked on:
Claire and Betsy worked on their socks. Robin learned to knit with some deliciously soft yarn. We had a couple of false starts, as Robin is a lefty. Betsy tried to learn Continental style thinking that it would be easier for Robin, but that really sucked for Betsy. Robin learned the other way afterall!

Wine:
Mokelumne Oaks Carignane 2001

What the winery says:
The Carignane grape originated in Northern Spain. This grape is noted for its deep purple color, high tannins (tannins are substances found in the seeds, skins, and stems of grapes, as well as in oak barrels), and high alchol content. The Carignane grape produces wines that are fruity and spicy in nature. The 2001 Carignane has a deep berry flavor and a spicy, mineral finish. Just before the finish, there are hints of licorice.

Pairing:
Spring salad with apples drizzled with champagne vinagrette and olive oil. Paninis with Tilamook Vintage white cheddar, tomatoes and basil on extra-sour bagette. Yummy!

Consensus:
Yummy. Love the spice and the balance of flavors. We followed up with a glass of Stama Cab, also from Lodi, which really didn't compare.

Whoo! New crafty blog

We'll see if this gets any use, but it might be a nice tool to keep Craft Night organized, and to post pics and project notes.