Vintage Tuesday - Wine, Food, Travel and Insanity

On a recent Tuesday night (when else?), I found myself in a bit of a PMS funk.  While Angus was off slaying corks in a foreign land (for his own safety that was a good place to be), I was feeling a little nuts under the crushing gray skies they call winter.   This can not be happening, Trixie doesn’t get the blues, even in winter.  I have to think of something to change this quick. 

One thing I know for sure, is that I need something chocolate,and fast.  After re-thinking my idea of calling the little girl scout next door to see if she is hiding any cookies, after all it is 10:30 pm,  I decided to take care of this predicament myself.  I put in one of my favorite attitude changing CD’s – Etta James Blues to the Bone.  I think it is amazing that she recorded this in 2004, at nearly 70 years old!  Her voice is amazing. 

The next step in this little mood adjustment is to find a really good bottle of wine.  I went to the wine rack and immediately eyed the winner.  It was a bottle of 2006 Layer Cake Shiraz, from Australia.  There is a great picture of a multi layered cake on the label.  Hmmm…….Yum.  So I opened the screw cap (Angus would be so proud), and poured a glass.  From the moment I poured it I could smell the chocolate. The taste was a great mix of luscious chocolate, mocha, and smooth black cherries and fruit.  It was just amazing.  Almost like eating a piece of Chocolate Layer Cake.  WOW!

OK, there is one final step in this process, and that is to make something really decadent…

Trixie’s PMS Brownies

2 Sticks of Unsalted Butter (1C.)
4 Squares of Unsweetened Chocolate
2 C. Sugar
3 Eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp. Vanilla
1 Tbl. Espresso Powder or instant espresso coffee
1 C. Sifted Flour
¼ tsp. Salt
12 oz. Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips (6oz. for brownies, and 6 oz. for icing)
Trixie’s Chocolate Frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour a 13 X 9 baking pan.
Melt Chocolate and Butter in a double boiler, or in microwave, stopping to stir about every 30 seconds.  Let cool slightly, then stir in sugar until well blended.  Add vanilla, eggs, and vanilla, mix well.  Stir in espresso powder, then add salt and flour.  When well blended add about half of the chocolate chips, reserving a few to sprinkle on top before baking.  Pour into prepared pan and bake 35 minutes.  Do not over bake or brownies will be hard.  Frost with your favorite icing and sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips.

Trixie’s Chocolate Frosting

6 Squares of Unsweetened Chocolate
1 Stick of Butter
1 tsp. Espresso Powder
1/3 C. boiling Water
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 lb. Powdered Sugar, sifted
¼ C. Milk or as needed
6 oz. Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Melt Chocolate and Butter in a double boiler, or in microwave, stopping to stir about every 30 seconds.  Stir in boiling water and espresso powder.  Add vanilla and mix, then blend in powdered sugar and beat with mixer on medium speed.  Adding milk as needed for desired consistency.  Spread on cooled brownies, and sprinkle with chocolate chips.

By the end of an evening of Jazz Tunes, Shiraz and Chocolate Brownies, the world seemed to be spinning in its proper direction again!

Enjoy!

Trixie

When you walk into a restaurant and ask what kind of wine they have, if you hear “we have both kinds - Red and White”, it is time to order a club soda.  Over the years we have found this answer usually means old jugs of bar wine that have probably not been opened in a while.  We have heard this line on many occasions especially in Mexican restaurants.  I guess these places are geared up for the tequila and Corona drinkers of the world not the wine type of crowd.  Over the years Angus and I have gone to some great Mexican restaurants with food that puts a little tear in your eye it is so good.  But when it comes to drinks - “I’ll have a club soda please”.  

Just a couple of months ago we took our wine trail adventures to the extreme.  We crossed the U.S. Mexico border for some authentic Mexican food.  We park the car on the U.S. side and walked through customs (I think that’s what it was, the agent on the Mexican side was just happy to see us - “come on over Welcome Welcome my American Friends”.

Crossing into Mexico was easy.  Running the gauntlet of merchants on the street wanting to sell you anything and everything, made the venture more interesting.  “Hey Meeester, Hey Ladeeee,  you buy my Cheeep junk?”  I thought there was sales pressure in stores back home, they have nothing on these guys.  One of the master salesmen was so smooth and worked me over so well that I am now the proud owner of a small clay pot made in Mexico.  I thought this would quiet down the situation.  It did… with him.  But I noticed everyone else eyeing up the very American looking Trixie and realized, hey she buys stuff.  It was like something out of an Indiana Jones movie.

We found a restaurant but knew the likelihood of good wine (or water) was non existent so about once a year we have a sacrificial beer.  We ordered Tecate which I never heard of.  Not being a beer drinker, I guess it tasted OK - how’s that for a review.  “It was OK”  The food was excellent - I guess when in Mexico, order the enchiladas.   

On our way back to customs, Angus was determined to buy a bottle of tequila.  He walked into a store and the person behind the counter was eying him up probably thinking  “Hmmm.. how much of a tourist is this person?”  He asked for a bottle of Tequila and they said it was $15.  He looked at the bottle and said I would like one with the worm in it.  Ah, a mega tourist!  the price just went up to $20.  Angus always had the best negotiating skills. 

It was time to walk back across the border and pick up the car.  We got to the U.S. customs and things were a little different.  “How long were you there” the agent said with a bit of a scowl.  Angus said “Ahh?? A few hours to look around.”   I wasn’t sure we would ever see our families again at this point.  Angus looked a little worried.  The agent then asked “did you buy anything while in Mexico?”   Angus just blurted out “Tequila and pot” being so nervous he forgot the “A”  as in Tequila and A Mexican pot, pottery, clay jar  come on Angus get it together.  I have seen Midnight Express - I want to see my family again!  The agent just looked at him, then he looked at me.  I think both of us looked like the ultimate panicked tourists.  Again he scowled and just mumbled “go ahead”. 

Huh?

After driving back to the Phoenix area, we arrived at the hotel by early evening. Still a little cranked up over today’s travels we walked across the street to a little Mexican restaurant. We asked the server what kind of wine they have and she said proudly, “we have both kinds - Red and White”  After an adventure like today, Angus and I looked at each other and at the same time said “We’ll have the Red“

Peace, Love and Good Wine for All

Trixie

I’m feeling patriotic today.  It’s Presidents Day.  We used to celebrate Washington’s actual birthday on February 22 and Lincoln’s birthday on February 12.  However many years ago the geniuses in Congress got the brilliant idea to make it a “convenient” holiday and lumped them together on a Monday.  Now  I know three day weekends are great, but let’s think about it.  What day do people dislike the most.  -  Monday!  So we honor two of our greatest presidents by celebrating them on the most unpopular day of the week.  Now there’s some gratitude.    

Why didn’t they consider Tuesday?   I know that would screw up the concept of the three day weekend but the Vintage Tuesday gang approves.  Having this celebration on Tuesday makes more sense because you could coast through the dreaded Monday, have Tuesday off, and now you only have three more days until the weekend.  Better yet, stick a vacation day in there on Monday and you get a Four Day weekend and Tuesday becomes something even more special!

In honor of the father of our country George Washington, we had to visit our friend the Wine Wizard to find an appropriate bottle of wine.  Since we were trying to stay with our Presidential theme she lead us to a bottle of St. George 2003 Merlot from Domaine Saint George Healdsburg, CA.  I know George Washington was not an “official” saint but perhaps his mom thought he was since most moms think their sons are saints.  The real Saint George was a soldier of the Roman Empire but I won’t take that one any further or I’ll confuse my wine tale with actual facts.

The wine is quite fitting for our celebration of President’s day and George Washington because when you open the bottle you can pick up a hint of cherry.  Remember the cherry tree?  See we did put some thought into this.  I can not tell a lie, the wine has a great flavor of fruits and berries.  A little bit of oak also comes through but that would also mess up our story since George chopped down the cherry tree and not an oak tree.

This wine has a mellowness to it that would have actually made George Washington smile.  I can’t say I have ever seen him smile in any portrait.  Must have had something to do with those legendary teeth.  I would imagine if George was able to try this wine back in his day, the one dollar bill would have a whole different look.  The picture would be of Washington with a  huge cheese eating, wine drinking grin and we would have known what those mystery teeth were really made of.

We can’t forget that Presidents Day also honors Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.  Lincoln had a distinct advantage over Washington because of his stove pipe hat.  The hat was so huge, he could have kept 3 bottles of St. George up there just in case.

Happy Birthday Abe and George! (and anyone else that has a birthday today)

Angus

Well we made another trip to our neighborhood wine shop to see the “wine wizard”.   We found a bottle with  an interesting label called “Cycles Gladiator”.  There is how you want to pick out wine - how interesting is the label!  I mentioned this one in the wineglish post a few days ago just because the title seemed odd to me.  

Now the problem I have with all of this is mixing wine with bicycles.  - yes this is the voice of experience!  Years ago I was an avid bicycler taking those crazy 100 plus mile trips pedaling my…. well you know, I was peddling it off.   These days I go in the garage, open the car door, turn the key, kick up the air conditioning, CD player, great tunes and all the creature comforts.  The bicycle only makes it out a few times a year for a leisurely cruise through the neighborhood. 

Once upon a time during a younger crazier time in my life, I was with friends in college and we had a little too much wine.  Oops - that only happened once - I promise!   At the end of the evening I had to ride my bicycle back to my college apartment.    Some of you think riding a bicycle can be a little tricky, try doing it without a sense of balance - or at least a temporary altered sense of balance.  I was riding across a pedestrian campus so cars were not a problem, but there were curbs and other adventurous obstacles that I had to avoid.  In those days I could ride 100 miles but that evening’s  1/2  mile ride home was quite an adventure.  So….. that is why the title puzzled me - bicycles and wine seemed like an odd combination. 

Much to my surprise, there actually was some thought that went into the label.  Now there’s a novel approach  - I’m glad someone else put some thought into it because I’m done thinking tonight.  The label and wine company are both based on a little bit of history.  (You are actually getting an education here!) At the peak of the early bicycle years during the late 1800’s (would love to try some wine from back then) a French painter G. Massias created a famous Parisian art poster of a new bicycle called  “Cycles Gladiator”  - Who knew?? 

Most pictures that I recall of the 1800’s bicycles always had some goofy looking guy with a big mustache in a suit riding a bike with an enormous front wheel - I always wondered how he even got on the bike.  Well this one is a little different.  There is definitely not a guy in a suit in this piece of art.  She seems to be floating behind the bicycle and makes a great picture for a wine bottle. The winery is named Cycles Winery in Soledad, CA - the Central Coast Region of California.    It was quite a nice bottle of wine with an interesting label .  Best of all it was only $9.99 which is right in line with the Vintage Tuesday budget (quarters stuck in the sofa).  I wonder if anyone will ever name a wine Schwinn Roadmaster?

Trixie and I popped this one open while listening to Amy Winehouse.  What a great combination, wine and winehouse - another one of those coincidences?  Many of you probably saw her perform at the Grammy’s recently .  I don’t watch much TV, but that night Trixie drug me kicking and screaming to the evil TV and I was mesmerized by her performance.  We had to run out and buy her latest CD Back to Black.  The music sent a shiver up my spine - it was also cold out, maybe that was it.  For a young British singer, she comes across with the heart, soul and attitude you might picture in a smoke filled lounge from decades ago with Etta James, Billie Holiday or one of the greats from that era.   If you like funky “off the trail” music, this CD is a great one.  She does a great remake of “Me and Mrs. Jones” appropriately renamed “Me and Mr. Jones.”

The Cycles Gladiator 2004 Merlot wine was quite good.  There are hints of spices and berries.  A very mellow red wine, the kind of wine we really enjoy.  Trixie thought she picked up a hint of smoke but I think it was the music from the CD!  That lounge thing was coming through.  If you are looking for a great combination of wine and music, Amy Winehouse and Cycles Gladiator wine can certainly do the trick.  Just don’t jump on the bike afterwards!

Cheers!

Angus 

Angus and I took a much needed vacation to Paris.  When we finally arrived after a very long fight across the big pond, we realized neither of us spoke French.  Actually we knew we did not speak French long before then but it became quite apparent while looking like lost tourists.  In Paris, the signs were not bi-lingual, they seemed to want you to know you are in France and if you don’t speak their language, don’t expect them to speak yours. 

We crawled out of the subway and in our best French finger pointing, we found a local and pointed to the Holiday Inn logo and address on our hotel reservation hoping they could point us in the correct direction.  They smiled and pointed to a street that seemed pretty far away.  With 2 kids in tow and more luggage than they had on Gilligan’s three hour tour, we drug, groaned and pulled our bags towards the mystery street.  No hotel -  dead end!  O.K. Plan B.  We asked  another French person (using our French finger pointing again).  This time, they smiled and pointed in the direction that we just came from.  We looked at each other in disbelief.  Is this a game of ping pong with the American tourist or are they all just trying to be helpful without knowing where the hotel was?

This whole thing just seemed to humor Angus. Now he was saying, “see why I never ask for directions?”  I used my French finger pointing on him - but only needed one finger.  Time we found a map and do this ourselves.  As we drug all our worldly possessions down the street for the last time (with people pointing and laughing) we passed a small shop with food, wine and cheese.  Angus said “Gotta remember that place - they have wine!”  Once we finally settled into the hotel we realized it was 5 O’clock in Paris but it was still morning back home.  Hmmm.  It’s 5 O’clock somewhere and we are there!   We could get used to this. 

Angus and I journeyed off to the little shop that we found earlier.   After walking inside,  the shop keeper greeted us by saying something we could not understand.  We’ll assume it was friendly because he was smiling.   We got back to using our excellent French communication abilities involving pointing and smiling.  The great thing about this place was all of the wine in this store averaged 3 to 6 dollars.  No wonder all the French are smiling.  It has nothing to do with the lost tourists and playing ping pong.  It was about CHEAP WINE!

The next day after touring the Eiffel Tower and cruising around Paris in a tour bus (both are a must do if you ever get to Paris), we headed back to our wine shop to see our new best friend.  He was behind the counter and as we walked in he said something French to us again smiling from ear to ear.  This time we gave him our best cheese eating grins and shot right back.   “Hi Fred, how are you doing today”  He did not know what we were saying but he kept smiling.  We looked at his wine collection, made our selection, paid “Fred” and on our way out the door, we said “Have a great evening Fred, we’ll see you tomorrow.”  This began a week long friendship with our new acquaintance - Fred the Frenchman. 

During our last evening in Paris, we had to pay a final farewell visit to Fred.  We picked out the wine of the evening and we also picked a bottle to take back home with us.  This bottle has remained in our wine rack until now.  It is a 2000 Corbieres basic red wine.  French wine has a taste all its own (so does cheese).  Being corked up for several years and being haulded across the big pond with us, this one needed to breath for a while but after it opened up it was a very nice lighter red. 

I would give you the description from the label such as: Ce vin a ete eleve et mis en bouteille par but since it is in French, I have no idea what it means but I do know you can get it at Fred’s Place in Paris.  I have not quite figured out how to finger point in French on a blog or I could give you better description and watch everyone nod and smile.

Here’s to you Fred!

Trixie

Say it isn’t so - I’m in a fight with a cork!  On one of my recent travels to Portland, Oregon, I picked up a bottle of Columbia Crest Merlot www.columbia-crest.com after I landed at the Portland Airport and was on my way to the hotel.  I have had this wine many times over the years and Columbia Crest is always a safe bet for a decent every day wine - especially when traveling to strange lands (Portland is not really all that strange but there are some interesting characters in the heart of downtown)   It is actually a beautiful city and a great place to walk around.   

Settling in for the night in a strange hotel in a strange land I was ready to pop the cork.  Reaching into my suitcase I realized OH NO!  I FORGOT MY CORK SCREW!!!  I was starring at the bottle and it’s amazing contents with no way to access it. How was I to free the imprisoned nectar and let it escape into my glass? (actually it was a plastic hotel room cup that had just been freed from its cellophane wrapper - nothing but the best for me!)  It was getting late in the evening and I was not ready for a late night hike through the city trying to find a cork screw at a store.  

Being the ever resourceful one (Trixie says it actually borders on insanity) I reach into my bag and found a screw driver.  Yes, the old “push the cork into the bottle” trick!  Cork screw - screw driver - Coincidence?  This seemed very logical.  I placed the bottle on the floor and begin to push down with the screw driver.  YES - success, I push right on through - this was easier than I thought.  Then I realized the screw driver pushed right through the cork but the cork did not move.  Failure is not an option - I must be victorious in this battle!  Suddenly I felt like I was in an old cartoon that I remember where the cartoon character was trapped with only a can of food but no can opener.  This can’t be happening. 

In a stroke of genius (or insanity - I get the two confused), I see the famous hotel stationary with a pen sitting on the desk.  The pen has a fatter tip that might not make a hole in the cork and actually push it through - could this scheme really work this time? Again I push down on the cork this time with my trusty pen and….. SUCCESS! the cork goes into the bottle.  However, I forgot the laws of physics, volume displacement etc.  When the cork went into the bottle there was no longer room for all of the wine and the cork.  The cork had it’s revenge shooting some of the wine straight up out of the bottle onto my shirt.  With the help of gravity the rest of the airborne wine quickly returned towards the floor and of course, did not go back into the bottle.  A few hotels towels were turned purple that evening - oops!  

Getting ready to celebrate the fruits of my well fought cork battle, I began to pour the wine.  The cork decided it was not going down without a fight.  It kept floating towards the opening of the bottle determined not to let me win the “Cork Wars”  Finally with my trusty pen, I held the cork down, aimed for my plastic cup and finally, victory was mine!  I really was smarter than the cork!  The Columbia Crest Merlot was worth the effort!

- Sir Angus, Cork Warrior Extraordinaire

Today is the Vintage Tuesday gang’s favorite day.  It’s Tuesday!  Tuesdays make Mondays bearable.  Actually Monday is referred to as “Tuesday Eve” at the Vintage Tuesday corporate office (which consists of a laptop, cork screw and wine glass)  However today is not just any Tuesday it is FAT TUESDAY!  You know what that means (maybe??)  It is the day before Ash Wednesday when Lent begins so this is the last day to cut lose until after Easter - although we will get a day off for good (or bad??) behavior on St. Patrick’s Day - green wine?.   

Oh no, does this mean we will take time off from our twisted tails of the wine trails during Lent?  Not on your life.  We kind of play by our own rules which can be conveniently made to fit any occasion. 

Sooooo…  what wine do we have to celebrate Fat Tuesday?  Why Fat Bastard of course.  See a theme here?  It turns out Fat Bastard is a French wine and since much of New Orleans (home of Fat Tuesday) has French roots, it seemed appropriate.  Plus….  the bottle was only $9.99 how could we resist.

We went hiking off to our local store again (they love us there) and loaded up.   I mean we bought a little bit of wine.  This wine was developed as an experiment by Thierry Boudinaud a Frenchman with help from his friend Guy Anderson an Englishman from London. (wish I had these guys in my science class!)   They tried the experimental wine at the same time, starred at each other in amazement and the story goes that Thierry yelled out in a thick French accent “now that is a fat bastard”  And the rest as they say, is history.  

We love heavy reds but this one is so heavy you don’t want to drop it on your foot - it will hurt.   A very deep and full bodied wine that goes great with steak (which we had with it) I loved every sip of it.  Nothing over powering, just a very good wine.

Here’s to Tuesday!

Angus and Trixie