Passed on to me by a friend…I found this pretty funny! 

The 10 Most Annoying Restaurant Trends

Written by: Zagat

 Some restaurant trends are easy to embrace: lower prices, bigger portions, free refills, you get the idea. But other, more recent trends are bordering on the absurd. In fact, some of them are just downright annoying. Here’s a list of some of the most irritating restaurant trends – developed with some suggestions from our 30 Under 30 honorees – that have us shouting: “Dear God, make it stop!”

1. Communal Tables

Like Communism itself, communal tables are a great idea…in theory. But let’s face it, even Karl Marx couldn’t endure this much sharing. Sure, they’re great for the single diner who’s looking to make “friends,” but for the most part, if you start talking to the person next to you at a communal table, you’re probably interrupting a date or butting your nosy self into someone else’s business. If the restaurant has even an ounce of cachet, you’re most likely shoved up against the next table anyway – in which case you should still MYOB.

2. “The Civil War” Look

A hallmark of the “Brooklyn aesthetic,” more and more restaurants nationwide are being decked out in rickety furniture that looks like it got ganked from the home of a Civil War reenactor. Note to restaurants: wall-mounted wagon wheels and photos of dead bearded dudes don’t make the food taste any better. Live in the now!

Note to restaurants: The Civil War is over

3. Chalkboard Menus

We kind of got over reading off a chalkboard in say…pre-school? After a long day of staring at a computer screen, the last thing we’re trying to do is have to squint at a barely legible menu scribbled on a wall halfway across the room. Are restaurants doing this to make the prices appear fuzzier?

4. Mustachioed Bartenders

We’re not knocking all facial hair, but we don’t need Wyatt Earp mixing up our martini. The suspenders, the fedoras, the mustaches…nuh-uh. The more pretentious the whiskers, the more we just want to get wasted on Malibu bay breezes and be done with it.  

5. “Gourmet punch”

There’s nothing like a $45 bowl of Earl Grey–spiked punch served in dainty crystal teacups to get the party started. Last time we checked, we weren’t attending a turn-of-the-century high school prom. Can we get a real drink, please?

6. Iceless Table Water

Whatever happened to ice? Just a quick note to restaurants: not everyone is an ice-hating European or a germaphobe who thinks all ice is contaminated. All of a sudden, it’s as if liking ice in your water makes you a T.G.I. Friday’s–going rube. What gives, man?

7. Pop-Up Restaurants

Pop-ups are to real restaurants what hot, emotionally unavailable men on motorcycles are to love-starved 38-year-old single women – a pointless tease. The allure of pop-ups is clearly their impermanence, but are they merely a way of dodging failure? Some brilliant person thought to himself: “Most new restaurants fail within the first months of opening, so, hey, why not just open one for only that long?” Note to that dude: um, no. The odds of anybody making a profit during such a short run are slim, and what’s worse, fans of the eatery will have to say buh-bye to it the second they get hooked. Le sigh. Pop-ups are a lose-lose for everyone.

8. “Comfort-Food” Menus

We’re all for indulging in comfort food when the moment strikes, but lately it seems like an alarming number of major chefs are opening eateries that serve nothing more than overpriced, overly gussied-up versions of dishes you could have learned watching Paula Deen. Eighteen dollars for some mediocre mac ’n’ cheese, $26 for a breaded pork chop, $22 for fried chicken. Can chefs please go back to being chefs?

9. Sliders

Putting the word “slider” on your menu has been known to cause instantaneous food boners among middle-aged ex–frat boys. “Dude, they’ve got sliders on the menu…hook those up, brah!” And lately it seems like almost any meat item is being “slider-ized.” Crisped-up kernels of pork belly packed between two bready buns is no doubt delicious, but it’s definitely not a “slider.”

10. Bread Baskets You Have to Pay For

Restaurants that charge for bread are as irritating as airlines that charge for a bag of peanuts. We don’t care how many wheat-scything artisanal bakers it took to make it, there’s no way bread should cost as much as your appetizer.

  I think he’s spent some time in the Twin Cities…

SOMM Documentary Trailer 1 from Forgotten Man Films on Vimeo.

No kidding, it’s one of my most Frequently Asked Questions…

What do YOU think about Minnesota Wines?

Here, I review a whole line up from a winery located just one hour west of the Twin Cities, Crow River Winery.

Complete with food pairings, I share with you a line up of eight wines, detailed with tasting notes to boot! 

Check it out…In HD

I teach a number of great Twin Cities Food and Wine classes across the board, but really our Vines to Reefs Series at Cooks of Crocus Hill is always a ton of fun!  Chef Mike, culinary director for Cooks, and I team up to teach a full five course menu paired to all things seafood, explaining that it is not always the color of your protein that dictates the wine you choose, but the cooking technique. 

Step outside the box with your pairings with this fun culinary/libation combo!

If you happened to miss last nite’s class, here’s a quick 4-1-1 on the dishes and the wines paired to each course.  Chef Mike explains the combination of flavors, as I shoot you the best tips for pairing to all things ‘reef’ to vino. 

The best part…5 out of the 6 wines we showed here are all under $20!!

See what food/wine combos take the cake…In HD

A to Z Pinot Gris ~ Oregon  $12
Chamisal ‘Stainless’ Chardonnay ~ Edna Valley, CA  $12
Poggio Morino Morellino di Scansano ~ Tuscany, Italy  $15
Vega Rioja Tempranillo ~ Rioja, Spain  $12
Michel Picard Sancerre ~ Loire, France  $25
Toad Hollow Risque ~ Limoux, France  $15

Call 952.473.8846 to register today!

Why You’ll Be Drinking Moscato This Year

Anyone who claims to be able to see into the future is often forecasting the past. (Isn’t that how history manages to repeat itself?) Since this holds true as much for wine journalists as anyone else, I’ll make my own backward-facing prediction: The hottest wine of 2012 will be Moscato. Just like it was in 2011. How could it be otherwise? Sales of Moscato grew by a mind-boggling 78% in 2011, according to a recent Nielsen survey, and major producers like Gallo and Trinchero (aka Sutter Home) are still searching the world for yet more Moscato to add to store shelves.

 Gerald Weisel, proprietor of Weimax Wines, a shop in Burlingame, Calif., recently told me he had it “on good authority” that Gallo, the wine behemoth, had purchased “all the available bulk Moscato” in Northern Italy. Stephanie Gallo, the company’s vice president of marketing, would neither confirm nor deny the assertion, though she did tell me that her family’s company had been “pretty aggressive” in its efforts to find enough supply to meet the Moscato demand, and that included sourcing fruit from Italy.

While the Moscato grape is grown all over the world (i.e., Chile, Argentina, Australia, California, Spain and Italy) and goes by a variety of names and clones (from the fine Moscato Bianco to the plebeian Muscat of Alexandria) the Piedmontese version, Moscato d’Asti—a sweet, soft, low-alcohol, lightly sparkling (frizzante) wine with delicate notes of peach and apricot—is probably the most famous. And yet, Italian Moscato is just a footnote to the much larger Moscato story that’s unfolding in the U.S.

The story began just a few years ago, when Gallo introduced its first Moscato under the Barefoot Cellars label in 2008. With residual sugar over 6% (dry table wine is well under 1%) and an alcohol level close to 9% (four or five percentage points lower than most wines), it was an instant hit—Barefoot is the largest Moscato brand in the U.S. today. Three other Gallo Moscatos soon followed, all priced between $5 and $9 a bottle. And according to Ms. Gallo, her family’s company would introduce even more Moscato if it could find enough fruit. Some Gallo Moscatos are blended with inexpensive grapes like French Colombard, presumably to keep production up and prices down.

“One analyst says he’s never seen anything like the Moscato craze in more than 10 years of analyzing wine trends.”

Smaller producers like California-based Cameron Hughes have also had difficulties getting Moscato. When Mr. Hughes received a request for Moscato from a big retailer two years ago, he searched all over the world for suitable fruit. As soon as he found something acceptable, “the price would shoot through the roof,” though the quality was often middling at best. Mr. Hughes finally bought finished wine from a small Moscato producer in Italy and, priced at $13 a bottle, it quickly sold out.

The producer of Yellow Tail, Casella Wines of Australia, waited until last year to introduce its Moscato, in part because it didn’t have enough quality fruit but also because it miscalculated the Moscato appeal, according to Tom Steffanci, president of W.J. Deutsch & Sons, Yellow Tail’s New York-based importer. “The humble answer is that we should have seen it sooner,” Mr. Steffanci said.

How much did he figure the delay had cost? “I’d say if you missed a year, you probably missed selling a million cases of Moscato,” said Mr. Steffanci. The company is clearly making up for lost time: It sold 330,000 cases of Yellow Tail Moscato in just eight months last year and expects to more than double that number in 2012.

Who’s buying all this Moscato? According to producers and retailers, the audience is diverse—from middle-age Midwesterners to rap stars like Drake, who penned a paean to Moscato in his song “Do It Now.”

The biggest audience for Moscato is the “Millennial” generation between 21 and 30 years of age, according to Ms. Gallo. These drinkers “found their own way” to the wine, she added, noting that while Gallo did extensive in-store sampling, there was no formal Moscato ad campaign—”but we have a Facebook page.”

Bob Torkelson, president and chief operating officer of Napa-based Trinchero Estates, where White Zinfandel first appeared under the Sutter Home label, doesn’t see Moscato as White Zin’s successor, though his company produces plenty of both (four million cases of White Zinfandel and about three million cases of Moscato, some sourced from Chile, he says). “The Moscato movement feels more like the wine-cooler movement to me,” said Mr. Torkelson.

That didn’t sound particularly auspicious. The wine-cooler era was short, and I have yet to hear anyone wax nostalgic over Bartles & Jaymes. I asked Danny Brager, a vice president on Nielsen’s alcohol research team, for his view of the phenomenon.

Mr. Brager said he’d never seen anything like the Moscato craze in more than 10 years of analyzing wine trends. Nothing else came close, he said, except perhaps the peak of the post-”Sideways” period (2005), when Pinot Noir grew 66%. But Pinot Noir’s percentage growth quickly fell to the low 20s, Mr. Brager added, and the growth in sales is only 11% now.

I drank plenty of Pinot Noir both pre- and post-”Sideways,” but I can’t say I’ve done much to move the Moscato numbers. I don’t drink much Moscato, save an occasional bottle from small Piedmontese producers like Saracco and La Spinetta, whose low-alcohol, lightly sparkling, peach-inflected wines are among my favorite ways to end a meal.

I decided to broaden my horizons and purchased some 25 Moscatos ranging in price from $5 to $30 a bottle. They included big names like Beringer, Mondavi, Yellow Tail and Gallo, as well as smaller labels like Michele Chiarlo and Elio Perrone. And I invited some friends from different demographics (including middle-age Midwesterners, millennials and one rap fan) to taste along.

We found a lot of unbearably sweet offerings—wines that would put a diabetic into immediate peril—and some wines that tasted like canned pineapple or worse (Teal Lake). But there were also some delightfully sweet and off-dry wines that were lovely dessert wines or aperitifs. They were also incredibly reasonably priced—only one cost more than $14 a bottle and one of our favorites, the lightly sweet 2010 Beringer Moscato, cost a mere $6. Well-chilled, it would be a great aperitif on a summer day, said one friend.

Our favorites, perhaps predictably, came from Italy and included frizzante wines from Perrone, Marcarini, Mosca and Cameron Hughes. They had the bright, lively acidity, creamy texture and aromas of flowers and peaches that make Moscato such a beguiling and seductive drink.

As to the future of Moscato, it seems pretty well assured, at least for the short term. Mr. Torkelson, despite his rather dour wine-cooler analogy, had an optimistic, if rather corporate, view: “Right now there are probably a million people sitting around conference tables trying to figure out how to get a piece of the Moscato market.”

This close to the holidays, the Girls & Grapes group got together one last time to celebrate ‘all things wine’.  In fact, our mission this month…bring a wine that you thought of as ‘luxurious’.  Or, a wine that really was one of the first wines or wineries that shaped your passion for wine. 

For many of us, the wines that spelled L-U-X-U-R-Y were the bubblies that we’d come encounter with.  From Champagne to northern California, and running the gamut of tasting notes from yeasty to soft and voluptuous, the bubbles were exquisite. 

At the same time, ’wine regions’ drove the conversation of P-A-S-S-I-O-N.  From the austerity of French Burgundies to the earthy spice notes of Chianti and the smells of the red Jory clay soils of Oregon – the wines of this category evoked feeling and desire to share.

Lastly, it was a nite of EXPERIENCE, TRUST, PASSION & FRIENDSHIP.  A nite of sharing ‘all things wine’ amongst those who appreciate it immensely and enjoy the stories that come with it. 

From our Girls & Grapes group to yours, we wish you a very Happy Holiday season filled with all of the above. 

Enjoy our tasting notes!!

Girls & Grapes- A Luxury Holiday Tasting

#2:Lemony, slightly pink bubble, very minerally w a hint of yeast
Love this wine, feels very balanced – zingy acidity – cherries
Schramsberg Querencia ~ St Helena, CA
Composition: 82% Chard +  18% Pinot Noir  ~ Wine club exclusive – Approx $45

 #3:  Meyer lemon – yeasty – lime – green apple – almond husk – lemon curd
(If we were painting this wine) Wispy lines – Easter egg yellow, pinks and greens- lovely
Briny – could be good w oysters – very brite.  We approve!
(Allison is getting visions of little  Irish Dancers at the top of her head.  I guess that means ‘happy’??)

Gaston Chiquet Champagne ‘Special Club’  ~ Champagne, France  (Pricepoint: $150) 

These guys have been making Champagne since 1919

Composition: 70% Chard  & 30% Pinot Noir ~ This winery does not use oak

Intermezzo: Chicken w Morel Mushroom Cream Sauce

 #4:  Banana runt- candy – wet wool and pineapple
Leslee guessed Chenin, then said fat Pinot Gris
Some of the chicas said Chardonnay…feels so FAT.
It ’s Chappellet Chenin Blanc from Napa – one of our favorite producers!
Winery exclusive – Approx $25-$30

 #5:  Girls are talking ‘brushed silk jammies’ (nice tasting notes!) with this wine.
Lemony – aioli – full – grey slate w heaters underneath your feet
Direct and lovely!

Louis Carillon & Fils Puligny-Montrachet ~Burgundy, France  

(Approx $60-$70 on the retail shelf – found, most likely, @ Haskells)

#6:  Flinty , round, feminine – round, white floral
It’s like the purple bra comes back out, but it’s not quite full.  
Erin says, ‘Does that mean, it’s a Demi-Cup?’
Domaine Roulot Meursault ~ Burgundy, France
C’mon- who could pass up a Chardonnay like this?  This is L-O-V-E.   (We’re not sure of the pricepoint)

#7:  Tart, Cranberry, Vanilla
Sangiovese Chianti Classico – very approachable.
Ruffino Aziano Chianti Classico – $15.99 @ Princeton Liquors

Intermezzo:  Spicy Italian Sausage & Orchiette Pasta

#8: Green bell pepper – coconut- mosquito repellent – tastes a lil’ like chocolate
 Mounds & Almond Joy!  We love deez nuts!!!!!!!
(The ‘Would u rather’ game broke out ?? – Okay, maybe we shouldn’t have drank those 1st two bts of bubbly)
Heart’s Desire Claret  ~ Sonoma, CA - $18 @ Pairings Wine Market

 #9: Sparky coconut – Dk Bing cherry compote syrup – blackberry thickness
Dk cocoa – chocolate fountain
Allison wants to lay on the floor & absorb it all in.  (Bon Iver is playing in the background)
Leonetti Cabernet ~ Walla Walla, WA
Winery Exclusive -  Approx $130

Intermezzo: An 80’s Dance Party Broke Out!    Hi-Lites: The Tootsy Roll Dance (a dance lesson by Erin)

#10:  Cherry spice & Italian herbs
2008 Avignonesi Rosso ~Tuscany, Italy
I love this producer- one of my favorite Sangiovese(s)  

(Approx $40 on most retail shelves, can be found most stores)

#11:  Dk stewed cherry – wet earth & tobacco
Sweet tobacco fruit – like swisher sweets – dk cherry wood – Sweet cookie dough-a little stewie from the fruit side-lacking acidity for balance
Archery Summit 2003 Premier Cuvée Pinot Noir ~ Willamette Valley, Oregon

 (Approx $65 on the retail shelf at the time of its current sale)

#12: Burnt caramel,  roasted hazelnut – Dk nut and heavy burnt cream
El Maestro Sierra Oloroso ~ Jerez, España
Lovely way to end a meal or a great nite with friends!

Pairings: Wine + Chocolate

Written by Leslee Miller / Photography by Steve Henke / Cambria Style Magazine ~ November, 2011

Leslee Miller of Amusée Wine takes the mystery out of pairing wines with chocolate.

Pairing wine to chocolate is not exactly as hard as some will tell you. Most, in fact, say it is impossible. I say, “Bring it on!” I’m always up for a good food/wine pairing challenge, and chocolate just so happens to be one of my favorites. With a few easy tips under your belt, pairing wine to chocolate will become a snap for even the toughest of libation critics. In fact, when paired correctly, there’s not much that tops this match made in heaven!

                Pairing Tips

1. First rule of thumb for really any combination that involves ’sweet treats’ is to find a wine or libation that is just one degree sweeter than the food on your plate. Pairing a very acidic wine to any dessert, will leave the palate feeling tart and bitter.

 2.  One of the best tips for pairing to different forms of chocolate – be it milk, dark or white – is to always think of pairing from a    ‘weight’ standpoint. For example, more intrícate chocolates/desserts pair best to lighter bodied wines and darker, heavier chocolates/desserts fit to a more full bodied wine. Often times chocolate can overpower a wine. Using one that has the weight to counter-balance the palate is important. Fortified wines like Sherry, Madiera & Port are great pairing examples for heavier, richer sweets.

3.  Serve wines that pull out the natural ingredients of the dessert. Whether your chocolate is plumped full of bacon or passionfruit, it’s important to think about what pairs best to the salty, savory or gooey inside of your dessert. Fruited fillings love a juicy, fruity wine like a Zinfandel or a sparkling sweet while ingredients like salt and bacon pair best to rich fortifieds like Sherry & Madeira.

4.   Experiment. Try on every example you can think of!  Pair the thinkable with the unthinkable – after all, it’s your palate.

Most importantly, if it tastes good to you, that’s all that matters.  Salut!

Holiday gift guide 2011: For the oenophile

Vita.MN Article:  November 24, 2011

By Christy DeSmith, photo by Tom Sweeney

Forged in the crucibles of the West Coast wine industry, sommelier and event planner Leslee Miller recently returned to her native Midwest to launch Amusée, a wine consulting and events firm. Check out her plum wish list, filled with ideas for the foodies and winos on every shopping list.

1. GoVino Glassware 

Check it out — these good-looking glasses are shatterproof and reusable, plus they don’t mess with the taste of your wine (unlike the ubiquitous red Solo cup). Says Miller, “They’re great for on-the-go wine drinking!” (available at Byerly’s Wine Shops, www.lundsandbyerlys.com • $11.99)

2. “What to Drink With What You Eat” by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page

The definitive guide to pairing food with wine, beer, spirits and even coffee and tea, this 2006 book is the staple of any bon vivant’s library. “I give it a zillion times a year as a gift — people go crazy for it!” says Miller. (available at Cooks of Crocus Hill, www.cooksofcrocushill.com • $35)

3. Cheese Deluxe Basket

Miller adores the selection of foodstuffs at France 44, which emphasizes small-batch farmers and food producers from around the world. “This basket comes with a whole slew of cheeses, chocolates, biscuits, crackers, even a cheese board and cheese knife,” says Miller. (available at France 44, 4351 France Av. S., Mpls. • www.france44.com • $114.99)

4. The “Swirl” Decanter by Riedel

“Who doesn’t want a brand-new decanter for the holidays?” asks Leslee. This vaguely psychedelic, vaguely laboratory-inspired style is definitely cool. Considering it’s from luxury producer Riedel, the price isn’t bad, either. (www.riedel.com • $44.99)

5. Vinturi Wine Aerator

Give the gift that helps sippers enjoy better reds. “This gadget is great for decanting wine one glass at a time,” says Miller. (available at Pairings Wine Market, 6001 Shady Oak Rd., Minnetonka • www.pairingsfoodandwine.com • $30)

Girls & Grapes are back at it!  We figured that since the holdiays are so close, we might as well squeeze in a number of opportunities to drink great wine.  Below is a recap of an evening spent touring ‘blindly’ the wines of Spain.  Under tin foil until the last of the tasting notes were logged, we found the wines brought were some of our favorites so far this year.  Incidentally, a majority of these wines are good for the holiday budget and great pairings to the trimmings on your holiday table!  Wonderful foodie wines with amazing flavors and exuberant profiles. 

(And because you all commented as to how much you loved the RECIPE section in the last Girls & Grapes CRUSHPAD BLOG - we added a couple of our favorites from the nite to pair.)

 Girls & Grapes: Tour of Spain  

Wine 1:
A rosé, fun!  Smells like watermelon, cherry Chapstick.  Oh, and it tastes supple – nice.
Grenache Vega Sindoa Rosé – Surdyks $12.99
Great way to start!

Wine 2:
Corny, warm flavored, tastes like squash (root veges), apple cider, but crisp
Guessed Albariño, we were wrong…still, We really like it!  We missed the green element here because this was so silky and soft on the palate - Shaya Verdejo – $16.99  @ Pairings

Loved this wine with Erin’s Spanish Styled Deviled Eggs  (recipe below)                                                        

 Wine 3:
Floral, round, lush but flabby – lacking acidity – cotton candy!
“Valley Fair, here we come!”
Candidato Viura - $11 @ Surdyks

Wine 4:
Oily – Vaseline – perfumed – red delicious apple -pulpy.  We love this wine!  Could drink a gallon of it.
Telmo Rodriguez’s Basa blanco from Rueda – $16 @ Haskells (Plymouth location)
Grapes: Verdejo, Sauvignon Blanc, Viura  – Wines like this make me think I have a secret crush on Telmo, shhhhh!

Wine 5:
Purple in color – cherry vanilla – sassafras (rootbeer)
Has a hint of cherry fruit but this was potentially a ‘corked’ bt- flavor was very flat & muted.  Would be a great bt for the $!
Federico Tempranillo – Ribera del Duero – $23 @ Pairings  

Wine 6:
Raisiny, dried fruit,  concentrated, herbs, leather
“23 yr old D Cups with a plum-colored lacy bra!”  ~ Leslee & Allison
$24 on the shelf- we think this is a huge winner for the $$ - We think, quite busty!
Ramirez de la Piscina Crianza Rioja (2005)
Very mature and lovely.  Rock my world kinda wine!!!

Wine 7:
Strawberry & dill with a hint of pink peppercorns
Luzon Verde Monastrell from Jumilla  $11.99 @ Surdyks
Super solid people pleaser – very approachable w a new world style
Loved this wine with Leslee’s chocolate covered blue cheese dates  (recipe below)

Wine 8:
Musk, wet leaves, over ripe raspberry- tastes cheap
Valencia Tempranillo Radio Boca – actually equals $ for $
Not mad at it for $7.99 (@ France 44)

Wine 9:
Dk jam, raspberry, blueberry – sh*t ton oak – coconut cream -yuk
Grenache fr Campo de Borja $35 – not worth the dollar
We’re not fans of the uber coconut – too much barrel!

Wine 10:
Stinky, meaty, dried meat – yummy!  Leather, dirt & tarnished.
Barnyardy but in a very good way, fruit is still very fresh.  
Mature – Epitomy of Old World wine – A very very well balanced wine all the way through!
Flor de Pingus (2001) -$150 on the shelf @ SoloVino

 Wine 11:
Strawberry & white pepper.  Aspirin.  Green. Stem-my.
Dido Grenache & Carignan, Merlot, Cab  $33 @ France 44
Limited production, female winemaker- supposedly a big deal wine…we don’t think so.

Wine 12:
Briny- cod water- dried cranberry, sage, and herbs- rosemary
Maybe the fruit has dropped out?
Montecillo Gran Reserva 1994 Rioja – 15 yrs old – Fruit not as plump but still solid as a product.
$80 on the retail shelf - 5yrs ago

Wine 13:
Yes, tomato – I love this wine!  Definitely, not for everyone, but it is Leslee & Erin’s heart-throb.
Ripe tomato.  Most interesting wine (period)!
R. Lopez de Heredia Viña Tondonia Rosé 1995 – we love!!!! 

(No idea the pricepoint, I bought it from Solo Vino in St Paul a few years ago.  Ask Chuck for it!)

Wine 14:
Cinnamon – acetone – pruney – big red (barrel)
Ostatu Crianza-Tempranillo- Grenache- Mazuelo
$18.99 @ Haskells (Plymouth location)

Wine 15:
Dk raisenated – blkberry- supple – yet textured – tar – violet & very layered
“This smells like ribs!  Bacon!” ~ Lindsay, Allison & Katie
Numanthia Termes -$60 awesome wine for the $, well worth it! Find @ Solo Vino
This is a rock solid wine!!

 Recipes

• Spanish Styled Deviled Eggs   (Recipe compliments of Cafe Ena owner, Erin Ungerman)

Peel eggs and slice in half (Long Way)

Remove yolks and place in med size bowl

Mix Yolks with 3-5 oz smoked salmon (mash with fork)

Mix in 3-4 TBS Mayo

1 TBS Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

Spoon Salmon/Egg filling into eggs 

Drizzle with truffle oil

Sprinkle with pimentón (Spanish Paprika)

•  Date Recipe that Leslee shared is  Compliments of Chef Mike Shannon of Cooks of Crocus Hill 

(This recipe was taught in Chef Mike and I’s ’Steak & Cabernet IV’ Class @ Cooks, November 2011)