Of wine and the wisdom of rats.

I didn't always enjoy wine. I believe my first exposure was in college - but all we could afford was Boone's Farm. Then, my hubby and I felt refined when we bought Beringer White Zinfandel for holiday meals.

I'd say what hooked me on wine was a wine and cheese tasting that was part of my hubby's and my 10th anniversary. Our gift to each other was a weekend in Nashville (Tennessee, not Indiana) in which we stayed in the Opryland Hotel, and saw a live show with Alton Brown - one of my heroes (I am a huge AB fan, and would love to share all of the reasons why...but, that's "another blog entry").

See, I have proof:



Anywhoo - basically what served as a "time killer" between his show and the meet and greet afterwards was a wine and cheese tasting. If my memory serves correctly, my experience was kinda like this (click here, and do the "Wayne's World" dream fade music as it loads).

A new world presented itself, guided by a very knowledgable sommelier and cheese expert. My hubby and I slowly entered the admittedly intimidating world of wine, and now, are hooked.

However, it's interesting the response you often get from people who aren't "into" wine. If you say, "My hubby and I went to a few wineries and did a wine tasting at each," the response is split between, "Oh, and you're still standing?" or a smug shrug that seems to indicate "You must think you're SO refined...wine snob."

Being a musician, classically trained to boot, I note a similarity between the latter response in regards to enjoying art music, as well. People who aren't "into" classical music - when I gush about what it means to me, how it has touched my soul and moved me beyond what words can express - will sometimes respond with a blank stare, followed by the same smug shrug.

Everyone eats and drinks. Everyone listens to music. Everyone has different tastes. However, I often wonder how many people miss the opportunity to truly savor a significant culinary/artistic experience because they simply don't take the time to pause, perceive, reflect and experience the sensations that wine/food/music offers.

On our vacation, we had the opportunity to taste wine with a novice wine taster. This person said, "Wine tastes like wine - I just don't like it, except blush - I like blush, it's sweet."

Now, I don't think that everyone "has" to like wine. However, this person had never really tasted many wines, so therefore, didn't have an informed perception. So, we ordered a tasting tray, and encouraged that person to try a small sip of each.

Reactions ranged from "that smells like a tire shop" (it actually did, interestingly enough), to "oh no, no, no, no I can't even get that past my nose" (this was a very strong, sweet ice wine that was definitely not for drinking as much as it was for sipping slowly as a digestive). This person tried the blush - and indeed liked it - but, now the person knew why, and also that it was very different from the Riesling and the ice wine. The person also knew that they didn't like a blush wine because it was sweet - but because it was light, and not too sweet.

While I don't think this person left a wine fan - the person did have an experience that broadened their perspective and allowed them to be more knowledgeable about wine, as well as their own taste.

I have often been accused of "thinking too much." And sometimes, that is an accurate assessment. But, there are wonders all around us everywhere, and the truly significant moments, in my estimation, happen when more than just the surface is scratched, and we habitually pause, perceive, reflect and experience what life has to offer. Whether this be music, or food, or wine, or bird watching, or soaking in a sunset, or falling in love - it's worth the effort when the sublime awaits.

Which it often does.

The film "Ratatouille" is one of my favorites, because in many ways, it sums up many of my educational perspectives, replacing "food" as art, with "music". I think we often spend much of our lives as Anton Ego - criticizing the world around us as a means of insulating us from our own insecurities (oh, how I have fallen into this trap many times myself). If you haven't seen the film - don't watch this clip, go see the movie! But if you have, please enjoy, and join me in re-dedicating myself to embracing that which is new, and while "not everyone (or every life experience) can become a great artist, a great artist can come from anywhere (or any life experience)".

Cheers!

Totally Worth It

So, I hopped on the scale this morning, and it seems I've gained 6 pounds in a week.

I can blame a few things for this. But, probably the main cause is the wonderful gustatory indulgences I've allowed myself while we traveled to visit my family in Ohio. Iconic food from my youth, paired with new treats from the region - we ate and drank well, indeed.

I'll share these experiences in reverse order, starting with our visit with my sister and brother-in-law in Cincinnati, OH.

I told my brother-in-law that he was the perfect addition to our family, because he loves to cook, and we love to eat. He doesn't just "cook" - he "creates". He regularly elevates "calorie intake" to "fine art", investing much love, care, passion, skill and refinement in his craft. To wit, I present the following evidence:




Chicken Confit, served with pork belly slices, poached egg, pickled radish and cucumber over jasmine rice.

See, I told you so! The chicken was braised in fat for 5 hours, making it succulent and rich. The warmed yolk of the poached egg served as a sauce for the dish, flavoring the rice, connecting all of the elements. The pork belly provided a salty contrast in flavor to the chicken as well as a textural "crunch" to the "melt-in-your-mouth" chicken. And the pickles were a welcome crispness amongst the unctuous, creamy rice. Art, indeed. He served a Riesling with the meal, providing a slightly sweet, yet acidic effervescence that cut through the richness of the meal and contrasted perfectly.

His dessert was a sugar cookie that more was like a sugar cake. Crispy in the outside, cake-like on the inside; dense enough to please the senses, yet light enough to finish such a decadent meal feeling very full, yet very satisfied.

As in any artistic experience, I do believe the artist found fulfillment in the creation of his art as much as those who appreciated the creation found fulfillment in its enjoyment - and consumption. He spoils us rotten - and inspires me to be not only a better cook, but a better artist, because the elements of care and dedication he embraces should be at the core of any artist's soul.

Exhibit #2 - Breakfast:





Wallbanger Cake - for breakfast, a perfect combination of orange freshness, with a doughnut's sweetness, and a moist texture that was just dense enough to feel one was starting one's day with just the right balance of saintly goodness and sinful pleasure.

The recipe includes vodka and triple sec...he did send me the recipe, but without his permission to distribute it, I'll be keeping it to myself...

Or maybe I'm just selfish, trying to keep the Elder Wand for my own.

We then made our bi-annual pilgrimage to Jungle Jim's. For those of you who have not been - imagine if Walt Disney designed a grocery store. We spent an hour and a half gathering mystical ingredients often only found on the Internet, planning menus and dreaming of ways to create culinary art in my humble Olney home.

Before heading home, we visited Richard's Pizza, which served not only very yummy pizza and decadent garlic breadsticks - but fudge for dessert! It was a great end to a splendid visit with my sister and her hubby.

My emotions for our visits are often somewhat bittersweet - so happy to visit, so sad we can't spend more time together. I suppose this allows the focus to be sharper, the energy expended on enjoying the experience and living in the moment.

And, as always, I remember how thankful I am to be blessed with such wonderful friends that happen to be family.

Next installment: "wine tasting" vs. "tasting wine"...and feeling that I sometimes have something in common with a rat with high aspirations...

What do dead birds and guitars have in common?

A very detail oriented hippee.



This was our view as we walked into "The Famous Root Beer Saloon". I wasn't sure if I had just walked into an Alfred Hitchcock sequel, or the Aflack duck's family cemetery.

My husband and I looked around, and at first saw no one...just birds. A woman came out to greet us, poured us each a draft root beer. I drank a Sprecher - and it was delicious indeed!

However, the highlight of this visit was the "who", not the "what". A man came out to chat, and asked what brought us to the area. He sported a black bandana, white hair, beard, leather vest, and blue eyes peering out from behind a face that one could tell had enjoyed the 1960's...with all that observation implies.

"Wineries, huh? You staying the night?"

"No, it's only a 3 hour drive back, so we thought..."

"Oh, man, that's too long for me. If I was drinking wine 3 hours from home, I'd buy a bottle, tell my woman I'd be in the back of the car getting drunk and let her drive us home. Who's driving?"

I sheepishly looked at my husband. "He is."

"Well, that's bull. You need to let her drive. I'm tellin' ya, I'd be long gone in that back seat."

He mentioned he made guitars, so I volunteered we were musicians. He began to talk about taking his guitars to the NAMM Convention, and the success he was having with them. He brought out a beautiful sample of his guitar work, and a flyer with information about his guitar company, Zuni Guitars. He owns a sawmill on land in Michigan that has exclusive rights to trees bearing black curly maple - evidently a rare, desired wood for guitar making.

And then, I asked the 50 Million Dollar Question, "So why live in Alto Pass?"

To make a long story short (we were there at least an hour), this man worked for SIU-Carbondale until he was 39. He decided it was time to move on, so on his 39th birthday, he resigned, asked for his retirement contributions in a one-time lump sum, cashed the check, put the money in a duffel bag and headed to Michigan to fish. He eventually bought the sawmill. He has a home in Alto Pass, because it's near Carbondale. His passions are guitar making, taxidermy, and making deals with major guitar companies on the wood he sells.

I couldn't tell, while we were talking, if this was just a crazy man telling stories trying to pull our leg, or an eccentric millionaire.

After looking at his websites, seeing the guitars, and pricing black curly maple, I vote for the latter.

We finished our root beer, thanked him for his hospitality, and headed to find more wine. I remember thinking, "Now you don't meet someone like that every day." I'm guessing, possibly not again in a lifetime.

We went on a bit of a wild goose chase, heading northwest through back roads, crossing a dried up creek bed that laid in the road, and watching deer jump barbed wire fences under the canopy of thick green trees. The next winery was closed on Tuesdays...so we headed back the way we came.

Finally, we arrived at Starview Vineyards.



This picture was taken as we left - when we arrived, The tasting bar was packed, and we had to wait for an open spot. When we did taste, we found this was our favorite wine of the day. I tried a dry red called "Super Nova" that boasted of spice and buttery mouth-feel...and it delivered. Layered and rich...the best wine of the day, for sure. However, it being summer, hot and sticky, we brought home another strong selection, the "Moonlight White", which was crisp, light, and had a kiwi finish that was very refreshing.

It turned out the young lady who helped us was from Cisne, and was in the band there. She was a student of a friend of mine - small world!

The next winery we visited was Owl Creek.



The building was charming, a cottage in which the tastings were upstairs, and people could sit and enjoy their wines on an elevated patio under the shade of maple trees. The wine we took home we bought not for drinking - but to use as a dessert topping - Framboise. It truly lives up to their claim that it is the most intense raspberry flavor you will find in a bottle. The alcohol content is 17% - fortified with aged brandy - so this is not meant for anything other than a digestive after a meal - or to splash on fruit. At our "Happy Birthday America" meal, we did both.

The final winery of the day was a wonderful choice to end our adventure - Blue Sky Vineyard. The wines were good, the bread with dipping oil delicious...and the scenery...I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:
















It felt like Tuscany-West. We also were invited to join another couple enjoying their wine and bread, and had a delightful visit. It turns out the lady had a daughter the same age as ours, and she was a teacher, so we could "speakity-the-same-lingety" (Austin Powers quote...sorry...). We parted ways, our new friends headed to an evening at the casino in Metropolis, us, headed back home.

My husband and I are nomads by nature. We like to move, go, explore...not be rooted. After a month decompressing from a stressful school year, we were due for a relaxing day adventure. We certainly got one! Good wines, good food, unique and memorable people...and a day to just "be".

And on those days (weeks, months) that our "crazy busy" life threatens to swallow us whole, I believe I will uncork a bottle of wine, inhale, then sip slowly...closing my eyes, remembering...

We're just "wining" again...

My hubby and I went on an adventure this week. You see, out daughter is away at a church youth convention, and we have very few obligations this week...so we're trying to make the most out of our "discretionary time".

And what better way to pass time than going exploring? And if wine and food are involved - all the better!

We drove south to find the Shawnee Wine Trail. We lived in this region for about 4 years, but that was when we had a young child, and drinking wine and going traipsing across the countryside just wasn't in the cards. So, our trip was a bit of a time machine, going back in time to see our first house, places we shopped, and the region we never knew existed because we were up to our elbows in diapers and baby drool.

Our first stop was Von Jakob Vineyard.





The drive was about two and a half hours, so by the time we arrived in the area, we were ready for lunch. We chose this winery for lunch because on Mondays through Wednesdays, if you bought one lunch, you got the second for half off - and we always keep an eye out for a deal!

We chose wisely. I ordered one of their grilled pizzas:



This winery is also a brewery, and used beer in the pizza crust. This veggie pizza was fabulous! My husband, being of German heritage, couldn't pass up the German beef sandwich with butter potatoes:




It tasted like the old country, indeed! But - we did come for the wine, and at the waitress' recommendation, accompanied our meal with their Hillside Red. It was a bit sweeter than I usually drink, a bit drier than my hubby usually drinks, but it complimented the food quite well. We bought a bottle of their Country Red to bring home - a sweeter wine. The food was great, and for $30, we had an appetizer, two meals, two glasses of wine, two wine tastings (you didn't think we'd just try one wine, did you?) and took a bottle to go. Pretty sweet deal - with very good food, and nice wines.

We then moved to our next destination: Alto Vineyards.




We had already become somewhat familiar with their wines at a tasting in Champaign, so we only tried a few with which we were unfamiliar. We asked for a recommendation to serve with our Good Ol' American Burgers and Potato Salad July 4th celebration, and he recommended the Rocko Red. It was another semi-sweet red, but he claimed he personally could attest to the fact that it went with just about everything. It seemed that while in college, he could either afford good food, or good wine, but not both at the same time. A friend of his made the revelation that Rocko Red complimented Mac & Cheese...and his mission began to test this wine with every kind of cheap college fare possible.

His testimony seemed reputable to me - thus our purchase. So now with two bottles of wine in the trunk, and having tasted 9 wines so far, we headed to our next destination.

Now, before you express concern with the amount of alcohol in our system by this point - perhaps it would be a good idea to explain how wine tastings work, in case you've not been. The tasting samples are only about 4 small sips worth of wine each. At the risk of sounding "wine-snobby", we take our time to smell the wine, then inhale slightly as we sip, to get the best flavor profile of the wine. We take our time...and take advantage of the little crackers in-between each wine to cleanse our palette. So, in a tasting of 5 wines, for example, we may only drink a total of 3/4 a glass of wine. Over the course of an hour, that's not going to make us "blotto", by any means.

At this point, however, being mindful that the alcohol in our system could accumulate, we decided to take a detour while on the way to another winery. Being in Alto Pass, we saw a sign for "The Famous Root Beer Saloon - You Have To See It To Believe It".

Well, how could you pass that up?

But on our way, we also came to a sign that said "Scenic Overlook" - also, a must-see. So, the scenic overlook would come first, then the Root Beer.







This was the view from the scenic overlook...these pictures do not do it justice. So green, so quiet, so breathtaking...after a busy summer, it was nice to feel peace here.

As my husband and I were taking it all in, a voice came from behind us.

"Ya'll from around here?"

Often when one hears that sentence, one expects it to be accompanied by banjoes. Not this time. The man speaking to us was a kind, older gentleman who just wanted to make conversation and meet new people.

He quickly became my friend when he told me I looked about 26 years old, and my husband clearly robbed the cradle when he landed me. He then asked me to guess his age - I returned the favor to him by ballparking low - I guessed 65 years old. He volunteered that he was actually 89 years of age, then pulled out his wallet to show that he was a member of the "Battle of the Bulge" club - he fought in this battle during WWII.

"There's not many of us left," he said, as he continued to flip through his wallet. "Here's a picture of me and my wife...I lost her a few years back now." He showed us a picture taken during the late 1960's, when they would have been in their 40's. "Isn't she pretty?" My husband quickly lightened his mood by saying, "Well, who's that young, handsome guy with her?" This encouraged a hearty chuckle, and we continued to make small talk and enjoy each other's company for a few more minutes. He had brought "an old man" with him to enjoy the day who stayed in his truck, presumably not able to get out and around, so after a bit, he said he needed to get back to his friend.

We parted ways, and the man instructed me to make sure I work to keep my "figure", and reminded my hubby how lucky he was to have me. As we drove away from this beautiful overlook, and our new friend, I thought about how some of life's greatest pleasures are the ones brought about by sheer happenstance. I looked at the darkening clouds - a welcome sight during this drought - and said a small prayer of thanksgiving for our happy accidental meeting.

Our next stop - another happy accident in the making - was "The World Famous Root Beer Saloon".

To be continued...but to encourage you to check back, I present you with this picture, taken inside our next destination:



Yes, we make a cute couple...but check out the decor around us, multiply it by 50, and imagine being surrounded by stuffed "flying" birds while drinking draft root beer...and hearing the life story of a millionaire...

...stay tuned, my foodie friends!