Feast

Have you ever wanted to spend a gorgeous summer day eating perfectly paired food and sipping perfectly poured wine, all while getting to make new like-minded friends!? Duuuuuuhh!

Not only did I get to do all of those wonderful things, I got to educate people in the slightest of ways that will change the way they look at, smell, taste....EXPERIENCE wine. Thank you FEAST Portland and Dobbes Family Estate Winery for the possibility! 

(This is Paxton --- friend, co-worker, all around cool dude-man)

We've all seen the guy swirling the wine around ostentatiously then sticking his face FULL-ON into the glass, and thought: "OK buddy, we get it, you know wine, you smell fancy things and make greeeaaaat slurping noises before you (sometimes) swallow it..."

But guess what? If you like wine, you should be doing what he's doing..... You don't have to follow up with gargling and swishing and spitting and such, but a few healthy sniffs can change your entire perspective, and can enhance the flavor more than you'd ever imagined. Here's why:

When you swirl the wine around (with great fervor of course ;)), you're allowing oxygen to get into the wine....it likes to swim around in the glass and break the alcohol smells and tastes away from the flavor profile smells and tastes.

 So now that the oxygen has done its thing....the first time you smell the wine should help clear out the alcohol smell on your newly "decanted" wine.

The second time ---when 'that guy' starts to look pretentious...(we all SAW you smell it already dude)---is when you can really start to smell the fruits and juiciness---the true "nose" of the wine is coming out to play.

Number the third--where all the newcomers really start to feel silly because aren't you supposed to TASTE the wine eventually?!--- This time, give it a second, really clear your nasal palate, and SMELL the wine...now you are smelling the flavors you will taste :) ! 

(What a pleasure to work next to so many fantastic wineries--this was only the teensiest tiniest little bit of us out that day)

There is nothing sadder than a wine with a beautiful bouquet (the fancy word for the smell of a wine---I got tired of saying smell :) ) that is followed by a flat, characterless flavor. The reason all of us wine snobs swirl and sniff and swish (to get MORE oxygen into the wine) is to coax out the myriad different fruits and spices that the humble grape can "become". So let your nose prepare you for the fun flavors your mouth is about to partake in ~~ internal dialogues be damned!!

If you wanna hear more, come see me out at Dobbes on Saturdays-- about an hour from Portland, in Dundee, OR! Until next time, eat deliciously, drink opulently (though safely), and send me pictures of both!
I am Love *Toni

Broke and hungry--just needs bacon

So we just got back from vacation and have about $0.12 to our name ;) That meant lunch was feeling pretty grim for a food-fanatic. Then I remembered that the reason I started this thing you're reading was to try new  things/"dishes" (not the "washing them" kind though....HATE that ;) ). 

So I started taking a look at what I DO have in the kitchen (and apparently it's really good taste in pantry staples!)...and came up with a bomb-ass lunch for the ages (or at least for the week)-- on the CHEAP!

Try the pantry game next time you're feeling the hanger-pains (no, not hunger pangs for all of you grammar police), and who knows where your mouth will take you!!

Here goes:

Not pictured: Sundried tomatoes, dried and julienned (one of my salad staples)

Pictured: An INCREDIBLE boucheron from Cheese Bar here in Portland -- crumbly, creamy, tangy, nutty, INCOMPRABLE

Fresh basil pesto--little garlicky, little nutty, lot delicious

Eggs and milk (for the visually impaired ;) )

Little oil in the pan til it glistens, then tossed it all in together and let it set until it was almost an omlette--- I bet you can't wait for the cheese to melt!!! (It was worth the wait)

*working on the lighting situation in the kitchen...not always friendly to picturing scrambled eggs** ...mixed with pesto... ha! green eggs, no ham (or bacon as I prefer)! In case you couldn't tell from the headline, I really wished I'd had bacon to seal the deal. Next time I suppose!

Meanwhile I toasted my marbled rye (luckily I remembered to put it in the fridge before we left for vacation!), and buttered 'em up!

See how they scrambled...so fluffy, so delicious... **still slightly green ;) **

Woo hoooooo! Final product! Eat your hearts out dudes, this guy was fantastic! **And check out our supervintage supercool German plateware! Straight from Munich-- and a storage unit....

You know I had to have dessert too! I had a cinnamon/sugar mixture, and come on, you saw how little milk was left in that carton....everyone knows you just use that up or chug it!!

I went with fresh strawberries and using it up :)

Have a fantastic next meal everyone, your mouth will thank you!

I am love *Toni

It Begins

Here I am folks! Making my internet debut, and taking the culinary and wine worlds by storm! Trying to take the WORLD world by storm as well, but that's a little more expensive ;) I'm here to talk about food techniques that I know nothing about, make meals I've never attempted before, and find new flavor profiles in each vintage of Chateauneuf du Pape (hahaha!!---if you're not laughing at that part, you will after I tell you why it's funny!)---make sense yet? 

Each week I hope to try a new food, taste a new wine, master a new culinary technique, or just wax nostalgic on the worldwide culinary adventures I wish I was on. I can't promise you'll walk away from the computer knowing how to de-bone a fish or make the perfect souffle, but I can assure you it'll be a hoot while you're playing (following) along! I want to hear what you want to see....did you see a cooking show and wished you could make what was onscreen? I bet you I wished that same thing, so let me know, and I'll let you live vicariously through my learning process--- it's a win/win!

Share this with your friends, and message me your thoughts! **unless they're rude, then you can keep them to yourself ;) **

Let's get cooking! (And drinking, and travelling, and playing, and.....)

Crab suckin'!

Cuban feast in Miami-- Palacio de Jugos (if you don't speak Spanish, it might be hard, but it's WORTH IT)

Disney Margaritas! (I think they tasted better just cause we were at Disney...)

Me (rocking the CLASSIEST Minnie ears EVER), and the hubs at Magic Kingdom Disney World

Just a taste of some of Oregon's finest....I work in the tasting room at Dobbes Family Estate....if you're in the Pacific NW, come see me!!

Family beach day!!

Ummmm, did anyone say yummy fruit parfait?!

Fried lobster skewers, fresh oysters on the half shell, a no-filler crab cake and an incredible Nebiolo to wash it all down!

I did that! Seared steak, heirloom tomato sandwich with a quick-pickled cucumber salad! (I did not, however, cut the waffle fries)

Yeah, that's the look of satisfaction after some fresh seafood stew on the Intracoastal waterway Fort Lauderdale! (Pirates Republic Seafood house and bar....INCREDIBLE)

I bet you think that's soda....it's Not Your Father's Rootbeer....and it was DANGEROUSLY delicious. That's a 6% whallup in that there glass!


So that's a "taste" (ha! see what I did there!?) of what you'll be getting... So stick around and let's see what kind of trouble we can get into!!!

I am love---*Toni