Food

RT @bigpinots Here you go @wine_scribbler @GeckoComms - <-- bloody ugly toy if you ask me... not that anyone did

Gorgeous afternoon for Taste of Maplewood. #stl @EnjoyMaplewood

Sweet treat to stave off the lunchtime coma.

For Mother’s Day, Fuzz gave me a bottle of Penzey’s pumpkin pie spice along with a request to make some pumpkin muffins. Because she picked such a sweet present, I took her up on her offer and made a batch of what is currently our favorite pumpkin muffin recipe.  It doesn’t call for any crazy [...]

Hope You Enjoy ! It tastes very good !! It is messy as you see !!

This is where I show You How to make the Falafel

How to make a Falafel Sandwich part 1- Making the cucumber sauce

Clean, glowing white onyx imported from Mexico formed the gorgeous tasting bar that introduced me to DAOU Vineyards and Winery. Delightful taste treats of fine cheeses, home-roasted pistachios, quince and delicious, earthy green olives in their own oil were placed to my right. Daniel Daou approached, smiled warmly, and proceeded to not only wow me with his wines, but he also conveyed his winemaking passion and philosophy with precision, depth and best of all, contagion. Daniel presides over an amazingly gorgeous setting on his mountaintop vineyards and facility in Paso Robles. The higher elevation of his vineyards means his grapes develop in temperatures an average of almost 10 degrees lower than the sometimes-oppressive heat of some other regions in the Paso AVA. In fact, Daniel likens the DAOU climate with that of Oakville in Napa (and, as you will see below, that is one of his favorite AVAs), and the calcerous soils around him with those of France. Daniel does not add acid to his fermenting grapes, as his vines per acre are almost 3.5 times what others nearby have, while his clusters per vine are two to three times smaller. He believes these factors combine to allow proper ripeness and vine stress, which results in soft tannins and solid acid levels. Additionally, he pays a hefty electric bill to keep his cellar at a frosty 50 degrees so that the chill, not the normal addition of extra sulfites, keeps any unwanted bacteria from spoiling his wine during barrel aging. Finally, Daniel even managed to make a long conversation about cabernet clones pretty riveting. I sampled a number of his wines and will report on those later, but suffice it to say, his passion is obvious in his 100% free run whites and reds. They dazzled. Let’s get to know more about Daniel…. http://winetable.com/blog/winemaker-in-the-spotlight-daniel-daou/ The post WineMaker Spotlight, Winemakers, Daniel Daou, DAOU Vineyards and Winery, Paso Robles, California, USA appeared first on BrainWines.com.

Bought our own dry ice and made our own busted signs. Note duct tape. Finally open (>2.5 hours late) at @GoogaMooga!

Hello from hot and humid Chennai! It will be 2 months soon since we are in Chennai. We came here in the first week of April, it was just as humid and hot as it is today. Officially the start date of summer is May 15th. Although I don't agree. The summer for me started on April 2nd for me....the date I arrived.If you are happened to be in one of such climates where you feel that you need some drink that really cools you down, this is the drink you should try. It has all the cooling ingredients. I just decided to put all the cool things together and the results had to be amazing. It has fresh coconut water, mint leaves, chia seeds, and cardamom and a squeeze of lemon.I know it's not the best picture, but this is what I was able to capture sine I am some 8000 miles away from my SLR....:( I took this one with a random Nokia phone, the name of which I am not even curious to know.Getting back to the drink.....I think cardamom really takes it to another level. There are two types of cardamom used in Indian cooking. One is big black cardamom, which is usually used in heavy dishes like biryani, pulav , punjabi currys and the other is green cardamom which is used in light and sweet dishes like kheer, and drinks and such. It's a great digestive tonic, has awesome anti- inflammatory, anti- microbial, diuretic properties and helps in detoxification of body. It also has soothing effect on muscles, nervous system and gives mental clarity.So here it goes-:Fresh coconut water of 1 coconut.Mint leaves just slightly teared apart with your hands.Chia seeds- about 2 tbspGreen Cardamom- about 2-3, peel and discard the outer shell and use only small black seeds which are inside. Crush them and add.A squeeze of lemon. Lemon if you are drinking in the morning and lime if you are drinking in the evening. Lemon makes your body alkaline if you have it in the morning and acidic if you are having it in the evening. Always use lemon in the mornings and lime in the evenings.Mix well keep it for about 15 minutes to let the flavors come together and then indulge...:) The chia seeds will swell, the mint leaves will release nice aroma and flavor, cardamom will do it's job and your body will bless you about 2 hours later. That's right, at this very moment as I am writing this blog entry, I could feel my body feeling cool from inside, and I am not feeling restless as I feel every evening due to the hot conditions here in Chennai.The one thing you should always have on your list when you visit south indian cities like Chennai, is SPICES. Oh..boy I can't stress it more, they are local and fresh, the smell makes me feel like living here forever.( I hope my hubby is not reading this..:)) The freshness is something that will last on your tongue forever. It's unbelievable!!!Another thing you should have on your list is a visit to Nalli Silks while in South India. Absolutely gorgeous collection that one shouldn't miss..:)A friend of mine has shared this amazing song on FB that I want you all to listen to. It's been just an hour and I am already hooked on to it. Loving it. I guess it's perfect background for writing a blog post.Here it goes...Enjoy!!