Comments on: About me http://www.thefeastwithin.com Recipes for Loving Life in our Kitchen, Home and Garden Thu, 29 Jul 2010 01:16:38 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Linda http://www.thefeastwithin.com/about-me/comment-page-1/#comment-35 Linda Thu, 27 Sep 2007 13:54:51 +0000 http://www.thefeastwithin.com/about-me/#comment-35 What a fun trip! We never made it to the Mendocino Coast! We meandered through some of the quaint towns of Napa & Sonoma like Calistoga, Yountville & Healdsburg (our favorite). Napa has no quaint downtown anymore, thanks to several years of flooding. There is one small area now, all within a "mall" sort of setting. Nothing quaint there and no boutique stores, only national chain stores. The Wine Train was spectacular! We had an appellation four course meal with pairings from Yountville. Each person was served approximately 1 full bottle of wine over the course of 3 hours. Way too much wine for me, but it was hard to turn down because it tasted so good. We were seated in the dome car for our entire dinner. Appellation dinners in the dome car a not done too often and, as such, are really special. The views were great! We were seated with a couple from the mid-west. We enjoyed great conversation and plan to keep in touch. We actually stopped at 3 wineries that were new since our last trek up that way. Personnel were very friendly and hospitable. Domaine Carneros is a champagne house on highway 121 just south & west of Napa. The building is fashioned after a Chateau in France and quite imposing. We sat on the wrap around balcony overlooking the vines while we tasted 3 champagnes with a food pairing. We liked the wine so much we joined their wine club! They also produce some very nice pinot noir. A staff member waits on you while you sit at tables on the balcony or inside. No wine bar to sidle up to. It was very nice and worth every penny of the $14/person for the tasting. Food, of course, was extra but the portion was good for two people and there was a variety to choose from. We then went to Black Stallion, a new winery on the Silverado Trail just north of Napa. The wines were excellent and the staff very friendly. We came home with half a case of their wines. The tasting fee was refunded with purchase and I think was only $5/person. Our last winery stop was Jeriko, another new winery on highway 101 south of Ukiah. Staff was friendly and the tasting fee reasonable and refunded with purchase. The wines were tasty too. We deliberately stayed away from the "old" entrenched wineries because our experiences have been less than favorably memorable. This time we were not disappointed! The weather was perfect in the low 80's. I know we'll go back, at least to Domaine Carneros since we're now members. I hope all is well with you and Rick. Hugs - Linda What a fun trip! We never made it to the Mendocino Coast! We meandered through some of the quaint towns of Napa & Sonoma like Calistoga, Yountville & Healdsburg (our favorite). Napa has no quaint downtown anymore, thanks to several years of flooding. There is one small area now, all within a “mall” sort of setting. Nothing quaint there and no boutique stores, only national chain stores.
The Wine Train was spectacular! We had an appellation four course meal with pairings from Yountville. Each person was served approximately 1 full bottle of wine over the course of 3 hours. Way too much wine for me, but it was hard to turn down because it tasted so good. We were seated in the dome car for our entire dinner. Appellation dinners in the dome car a not done too often and, as such, are really special. The views were great! We were seated with a couple from the mid-west. We enjoyed great conversation and plan to keep in touch.
We actually stopped at 3 wineries that were new since our last trek up that way. Personnel were very friendly and hospitable. Domaine Carneros is a champagne house on highway 121 just south & west of Napa. The building is fashioned after a Chateau in France and quite imposing. We sat on the wrap around balcony overlooking the vines while we tasted 3 champagnes with a food pairing. We liked the wine so much we joined their wine club! They also produce some very nice pinot noir. A staff member waits on you while you sit at tables on the balcony or inside. No wine bar to sidle up to. It was very nice and worth every penny of the $14/person for the tasting. Food, of course, was extra but the portion was good for two people and there was a variety to choose from.
We then went to Black Stallion, a new winery on the Silverado Trail just north of Napa. The wines were excellent and the staff very friendly. We came home with half a case of their wines. The tasting fee was refunded with purchase and I think was only $5/person.
Our last winery stop was Jeriko, another new winery on highway 101 south of Ukiah. Staff was friendly and the tasting fee reasonable and refunded with purchase. The wines were tasty too.
We deliberately stayed away from the “old” entrenched wineries because our experiences have been less than favorably memorable. This time we were not disappointed!
The weather was perfect in the low 80′s. I know we’ll go back, at least to Domaine Carneros since we’re now members.
I hope all is well with you and Rick.
Hugs – Linda

]]> By: Gabi http://www.thefeastwithin.com/about-me/comment-page-1/#comment-32 Gabi Thu, 13 Sep 2007 14:18:17 +0000 http://www.thefeastwithin.com/about-me/#comment-32 Thanks for the recipe- I actually do have that book-isn't it great?! Hope you enjoy your wine trip and hope to see you soon! Tell us about the wine when you can. xoxo Thanks for the recipe- I actually do have that book-isn’t it great?!
Hope you enjoy your wine trip and hope to see you soon! Tell us about the wine when you can.
xoxo

]]> By: Linda http://www.thefeastwithin.com/about-me/comment-page-1/#comment-28 Linda Tue, 11 Sep 2007 14:08:16 +0000 http://www.thefeastwithin.com/about-me/#comment-28 Blackberry-Lime Sorbet 3/4 c. sugar 3/4 c. water 4 c. blackberries, fresh or frozen 3/4 c. freshly squeezed lime juice (about 9 small limes) Bring sugar & water to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat & set aside to cool. Puree the blackberries in a blender or food processor with the sugar syrup. Press the mixture through a strainer to remove the seeds, then stir the lime juice into the sweetened puree. Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. This is extremely simple to make. I found it in a wonderful book called "The Perfect Scoop", available at Williams-Sonoma. I had a lovely chat with Ryan Sunday. It seems his knee is worse, poor thing. It's wonderful to hear from him again! We're off to Napa and fine dining on the "Wine Train" Thursday. We're making a 4 day holiday of it. It's David's Birthday gift to me this year. Napa is only 70 miles away, yet we haven't been there for over 10 years. The region has gotten pretty snooty and full of themselves, so we haven't felt the need. Realistically, we'll go to the dinner and spend a day, then head to the Mendocino coast, or something. We do most of our wine tasting & collecting from the Santa Cruz Mountain Wineries these days. There are about 60 of them now, and most of them are giving Napa wines a run for the attention. We have found some truly magnificent wines that are quite reasonably priced. Next time you and Rick come to CA, we can introduce you to some of our favorites if you like andassuming brother Rick doesn't over commit himself. Take care - Love, Linda Blackberry-Lime Sorbet

3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. water
4 c. blackberries, fresh or frozen
3/4 c. freshly squeezed lime juice (about 9 small limes)

Bring sugar & water to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat & set aside to cool.

Puree the blackberries in a blender or food processor with the sugar syrup. Press the mixture through a strainer to remove the seeds, then stir the lime juice into the sweetened puree.

Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

This is extremely simple to make. I found it in a wonderful book called “The Perfect Scoop”, available at Williams-Sonoma.

I had a lovely chat with Ryan Sunday. It seems his knee is worse, poor thing. It’s wonderful to hear from him again!

We’re off to Napa and fine dining on the “Wine Train” Thursday. We’re making a 4 day holiday of it. It’s David’s Birthday gift to me this year. Napa is only 70 miles away, yet we haven’t been there for over 10 years. The region has gotten pretty snooty and full of themselves, so we haven’t felt the need. Realistically, we’ll go to the dinner and spend a day, then head to the Mendocino coast, or something. We do most of our wine tasting & collecting from the Santa Cruz Mountain Wineries these days. There are about 60 of them now, and most of them are giving Napa wines a run for the attention. We have found some truly magnificent wines that are quite reasonably priced. Next time you and Rick come to CA, we can introduce you to some of our favorites if you like andassuming brother Rick doesn’t over commit himself.

Take care – Love,
Linda

]]> By: Gabi http://www.thefeastwithin.com/about-me/comment-page-1/#comment-25 Gabi Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:21:41 +0000 http://www.thefeastwithin.com/about-me/#comment-25 Hi Linda, Thanks for the lovely comments. I would absolutely love to have the Blackberry/Lime sorbet recipe. Please do share it. We loved having you come to visit. Wish we could see you much more often. Rick will be glad to hear he's made another convert to his incredibly tasty grillled cheese masterpieces. I'll have to ask him to post them on here for everyone else too. I would think the marinated mozzarella would be easier to find there than here but gourmet stores can be a little quirky. Hope to see you again soon! Love ya! Gabi Hi Linda,
Thanks for the lovely comments. I would absolutely love to have the Blackberry/Lime sorbet recipe. Please do share it. We loved having you come to visit. Wish we could see you much more often.
Rick will be glad to hear he’s made another convert to his incredibly tasty grillled cheese masterpieces. I’ll have to ask him to post them on here for everyone else too.
I would think the marinated mozzarella would be easier to find there than here but gourmet stores can be a little quirky.
Hope to see you again soon!
Love ya!
Gabi

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