Author Archives

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Recipe: Wine’d Up Kale Pesto

I have a college friend who has a Paleo-focused blog that I just love.  If this sounds like something interesting to you, I would encourage you to check out her blog (MomUncorked) as she has lots of recipes, helpful hints, and thoughts on how and why to follow this lifestyle.  While this plan is not for me, I really enjoy looking through her recipes and playing with them until they become something that would better fit my family’s eating habits.

Kale Pesto

This recipe is a mash-up of a pesto recipe that my niece posted on her blog (Peanut Butter Fingers) and one that my Paleo-friend has created on her blog.  It’s a Kale Pesto that incorporates wine… James River Cellars’ Hanover White Wine to be exact.  If you don’t have access to this lovely sweet white wine, I would suggest trying a Vidal Blanc or even a Sauvignon Blanc that has a bit of residual sugar.  You don’t want to use something as sweet or bubbly as a Moscato, but a little sugar isn’t a bad thing against the bitter taste of the raw kale in this recipe.

Enough of the lead in…. let me tell you how I made this fun recipe, using actual measurements, no less!.  Using my small food processor, I popped a large handful of chopped kale into the bowl, along with a few crushed garlic cloves, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup walnuts, and 1/8 cup pine nuts and began processing everything to a fine crush.  When it began whirling around, there didn’t look to be enough kale, so I added another small handful and continued to process the pesto.   I alternated between using the pulse setting and the continual setting until all the kale and the nuts seemed uniformly crushed.

Once the pesto started looking like… well… pesto, I turned the machine to the “on” position and slowly drizzled equal amounts of olive oil and Hanover White wine until the pesto was smooth and sauce-like.  I started with the olive oil, added wine, then went back to olive oil and finished with some wine.  It was definitely a “Using the Force” sort of situation and I stopped to taste-test before deciding it was finished.  I also added some freshly ground salt and pepper, seasoning the pesto to my preferred taste.

This recipe is definitely one that I will continue to keep in my fridge. It’s just sooo versatile!  I’ve used it as a sandwich condiment (fabulous on a BLT or even a simple tomato sandwich), I’ve added it to pasta (with a little warm cooking liquid, it softens and adds so much to a side dish), and even added some cream instead of cooking liquid for a creamier pesto dish with chicken or shrimp that is really yummy.   While kale is not my first choice for a green vegetable, it has some amazingly great dietary stats that make it something worth adding to your diet if you are willing.

Want an added bit of knowledge?  If you massage your kale leaves before using them, you can remove some of the bitterness of this hearty green.  Don’t believe me?  Read this great article from the Huffington Post that explains the why, what, how, and “really??” of this cool trick.

I hope you’ll consider trying this pesto recipe… with all the benefits out there about kale, it’s worth a whirl!

“Whirl”… get it?

Have a great and healthy day!

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Crock Pot Recipe: Beef and Broccoli

This basic recipe popped up on my Facebook feed one day and I knew that I just had to play with it… it seemed a crime (to me) not to see any red wine listed for this dish!  Thankfully, this was a fairly simple dish to use for my family… they love any sort of meat and vegetable dinner.

Crockpot Beef and Broccoli

I gathered my ingredients and went to work assembling everything before I left for work in the morning.  I used a large package of thin cut beef strips that I’d picked up on sale at the local grocery store a few weeks prior and popped the frozen meat into the bottom of my crockpot.  I then mixed 1 cup James River Rad Red Wine (you can use any red wine that you like to drink in this recipe – if you’d drink it in your glass, it’s perfectly fine to use for cooking), 1 packet of G.Washington Rich Brown Seasoning, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup honey, 2 Tablespoons of sesame oil, minced garlic to taste (I use the pre-minced packages, but feel free to add or subtract as you like) and turned on my crockpot to cook on low for 6-8 hours.

When I got home from work that afternoon, the house smelled fabulous.  All the sweet, salty, garlic-y smells combined to make my mouth water as soon as I walked in the house.  I could hardly wait for the guys to get home!  I set about making up some rolls to go with dinner and waited for them to be ready to eat.

There wasn’t much I had to do to complete this meal.  I had purchased a bag of broccoli at the store, so I pierced the bag and popped it into the microwave for 4-5 minutes to steam the broccoli.  As soon as the broccoli was done, I swapped the bag of veggies for a bag of microwaveable brown rice that would cook in 90 seconds and turned the microwave back on.  Now for the sauce…

To complete this meal, I needed to turn the cooking liquid for the beef into a delicious sauce… so I removed it from the crockpot, saving 2 cups of the broth in a small bowl, and added 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to thicken the broth.  I whisked the cornstarch into the broth until there were NO lumps and then stirred it back into the crockpot of beef.  I then added the broccoli and stirred everything together before serving it over the brown rice.

This was simple… it was easy… and it was so VERY tasty.

Enjoy making this recipe your own – it’s worth it!

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Recipe: Easy Enchiladas

This is a recipe that I first saw on another blog (kevinandamanda.com) and knew I just HAD to try!  The original recipe called for a lot more cheese and enchilada sauce than I knew my family would like… plus, there was no wine in the recipe.  I just *had* to re-work it into something that would work for me and my wine-inspired blog.  Thankfully, it was a huge hit and has already been made numerous times to great positive acclaim.

EasyEnchiladas

What I love most about this recipe is that it truly is incredibly easy.  I’d always been a bit intimidated by enchiladas for some reason, but not any more when I use this recipe.  Much of this meal was done by simply assembling the ingredients, but first, I had to make some rice.

I used James River Cellars Gewurztraminer wine but could have easily used another favorite wine (Chardonnel, Vidal Blanc, or even Chardonay) to make the rice for this dish.  I used 1 cup of wine, 1 cup of water, and 1 cup of Arborio rice.  I simmered the rice until the liquid was absorbed and the rice was fluffy.  I did add some parsley, salt and pepper, but feel free to add whatever flavors you like in your rice.  Just remember that the rice is a fairly tame part of this assembly line, so don’t go too crazy with the seasonings.

I also decided to use a pre-roasted chicken in this recipe.   I pulled off both chicken breasts and diced the meat small enough to layer in the enchiladas.

Overall, your ingredients are as follows:  tortillas, hummus, rice, chicken, cheese, and enchilada sauce.  As with all my recipes, please feel free to personalize things to your family’s tastes.  Red Pepper Hummus instead of a Garlic Hummus, Mexican cheese in place of Cheddar, Whole Wheat Tortillas as opposed to bulk purchased tortillas or even homemade tortillas. . .  it’s all about making a meal that will make you and your family happy.

Assembling your enchiladas. . . here’s where the fun starts!  Place the tortilla on a cutting board and begin the layering with hummus, a layer of rice (mine is fairly sticky and soft), some chicken, and a sprinkle of cheese.  You can see an example in the second photo from the left… I throw on a fair amount of cheese, but do whatever will make you happy.  I made all the enchiladas, laying them in the baking dish, then poured some enchilada sauce over top and finished by sprinkling on more cheese.  Note:  I loved the Cheesy Enchilada recipe that inspired this alteration but know that my guys would have balked if I had followed her recipe exactly. . .  hence the need for an “Easy Enchilada” recipe of my own.

Once your enchiladas are assembled and ready, you can wait a bit to bake them if you must.  I had a hard time not popping them directly into the oven (I was already hungry by this point) but I was “good” and waited until my darling hubby and son got home from work.  Once they arrived, I popped the baking dish into a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes, until the cheese was melty, I could hear sizzling, and there was visible steam rising from the enchiladas.  Seriously. . . I don’t usually use “exact times”, so use your best guess on cooking time, based on your own oven.

As you can see by the large photo of an enchilada, above, these things were really filling.  I thought everyone would end up eating two enchiladas each, but we could barely make it through one.  If you’re making this for a crowd, feel free to expect football players to eat two, but the average person will probably only make it through one.  They are aa-maze-ing!

Hope you find this recipe to be as amazing as we did. . . and, as always, be sure to alter the ingredients to make your own “family favorite”!

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Recipe: Stuffed Pork Chops with Gewurztraminer Gravy

This dinner really had a great “wow” factor… the flavors were big, the presentation looked good, and the taste was amazing.  I really thought it was stellar, especially since much of it was simple “Use The Force” type cooking…. my favorite kind, right?!

I had purchased two thick-cut pork chops when they were on sale at my local grocery store a few weeks ago and popped them in the freezer.  Since tonight was supposed to be  “just the two of us” dinner evening, I thought they’d be perfect.  They didn’t take a tremendous amount of time to thaw (especially since I wasn’t planning on letting them thaw completely) and I was able to put things together fairly easily.

While the chops defrosted a bit in the microwave, I made a tiny batch of stuffing.  For things like this, I really do like to use a packaged container of stuffing.  I keep a container of dry stuffing mix in my pantry and can use as little or as much as needed… very convenient!  I scooped out about half of what was left in the container (just under 1/3 cup) and added a little margarine (maybe a thumb’s worth?) and some wine (rocking the Gewurztraminer theme, this was my wine of choice for the night… James River Cellars Gewurztraminer… Mmmmm) and tossed it together in a measuring cup.  I warmed up the mixture in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds (until the margarine was melted) and then stirred to get all the crusty bread into the liquid to soften and re-hydrate.

My biggest challenge with this meal was to stuff the pork chops.  This (to me) seems much easier when the chops are still slightly frozen.  I use a thin paring knife and make a small slit in one side, then wiggle the knife back and forth to make an open pocket in the chop, being careful not to make the original slit too big.  I like to check the size of the pocket with my fingers before attempting to insert the stuffing.  **Make sure not to cut the entire way through the chop but try and get the pocket as close to the edges as possible.

StuffedChops&GewurzGravy

Once the pocket seems deep enough, divide the stuffing into both chops, doing your best to push it around to fill all the edges.  I then let the chops rest until I was ready to start making dinner.

Using a medium saute’ pan, I added a small pat of butter, and a drizzle of olive oil, heating them in the pan until bubbling.  I seasoned the chops on each side with salt, pepper, and a touch of cracker crumbs.  Panko bread crumbs would work well here, but I used crushed saltines since that’s what I had in the cupboard.  I let the chops cook on medium-high heat in the butter/oil mixture until all sides were slightly toasty.

At this point, I poured a generous amount of Gewurztraminer wine into the pan, sprinkled some Hungarian Paprika over the chops, and popped the entire pan into a pre-heated 375 degree oven while I finished mashing and seasoning some golden potatoes that had been simmering on the stove top.  You can serve these chops with any sort of side dish you want (or none at all, if you prefer) but I love mashed potatoes and gravy, so this was “it” for me.  Egg noodles, pasta, macaroni, or even rice would all be fine accompaniments with this dish… make what you and your family like.

I didn’t really time the chops while they were in the oven.  You can see how much wine I poured into the pan before I put the pan in the oven and it had cooked into the chops by the time I pulled them out, so my best guess would be that they roasted for about 20 minutes or so.  Seriously… I really make dinner this way… The Force is my friend… 🙂

Once the chops looked done, I removed them from the pan, put them on a pewter dish, and put them back in the oven for a few minutes while I made the gravy.  Here’s my favorite way to make gravy… I put the saute’ pan on medium heat and added a pat of butter and use that to help lift off the “bits” from the bottom of the pan.  Once melted, I added a spoonful of flour and let it bubble together and start to get toasty.  Before it starts to burn, add your wine (ok…. you can use stock at this point if you’d prefer… I just prefer to use wine) and slowly whisk and add more wine until the mixture thickens and “looks” like gravy.  I seasoned the mixture with a little salt and pepper, as well as a splash of cream.  I had some leftover heavy cream, so I used that, but normally I would have just used the skim milk that is a staple in my fridge.  Once everything is whisked together and the gravy tastes “just right”, I plated our dinner.

Mashed potatoes, a stuffed pork chop, and gravy drizzled around to look pretty… delicious, no?  The chops hadn’t overcooked… the potatoes were fluffy and lightly seasoned… the gravy had enough texture and taste to hold everything together… it was a wonderful thing.

A homemade dinner to share with my husband is balm to my soul… and I am always glad that he enjoys eating the meals I make.  Sometimes, it’s all about the simple pleasures in life.

May you find, and feed, the simple pleasures in your own life…

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Recipe: Wine’d Up German Pancake

I was making breakfast this morning and thought I’d play around a bit with one of my favorite recipes.  The recipe is called “Jan’s German Pancake” but since it’s originally from my Aunt Jody, I honestly am not entirely sure who “Jan” is.  Jan is not one of my aunts… not one of the people that I remember meeting when I would visit her… not a close relative, that I know of… so the name simply lives on in the recipe.

That being said, I’ve been using this recipe for decades.   It’s a simple recipe that is easy to decrease or increase, depending on the size crowd you may be feeding.  I typically use a half recipe when feeding 2-3 people, unless those three are my husband and sons… then I make a full recipe just for them.  Given my preference for using The Force, you’ll be surprised to see that this post is in “recipe” form… enjoy it, as it doesn’t happen often!

Ingredients:

2 cups milk (I use skim, since that’s what we always have in our house)

4 eggs (you can use FF egg substitute if you prefer)

2 cups flour (I like white flour – wheat flour doesn’t “poof”)

1 teaspoon salt

*2 teaspoons dried egg whites

*1/4 cup James River Cellars’ Hanover White

4 Tablespoons of butter or margarine (to melt in the pan – I use 2 T of butter and 2 T of margarine)

Directions:

WinedUpGermanPancake

I preheat the oven to 400 degrees and slide a 9×13 pan with butter/margarine inside to melt.  While the pan is in the oven, mix eggs and milk together with a whisk until very frothy.  Add dried egg whites and wine and whisk until thoroughly incorporated.

Once all the “wet” ingredients are combined, add the salt and then begin to whisk in the flour, half cup by half cup.  Make sure that your batter is thoroughly combined and smooth… lumpy pancake doesn’t tend to rise nicely.

Once the batter is made (the fat is melted) you’re going to pour the batter into the “smokin’ hot” pan.   Do this quickly so your pan doesn’t have a chance to cool at all.  Bake your German Pancake for 30 minutes and hope to see a “poof” in the middle (see large photo).  This will deflate when you pull it out, but the resulting dish will be lighter than if it doesn’t poof.

In my opinion, this is a breakfast that needs some sort of topping… my guys like to simply use pancake syrup, but I’ve been known to use jam, fresh fruit, or even a combination of cream cheese with some jelly.  A sweetened cream cheese would work nicely as well.   It would be tasty to add some sort of breakfast meat along side, if you’re feeding a crowd that wants “more”.  Bacon or sausage, links or patties, anything that sounds delicious to you works well.  This is a “tame” breakfast that can easily handle those savory additions.

Note: The ingredients that have an asterisk (*) are ones that I added to this morning’s recipe.  You can absolutely delete them if you’d prefer and the dish will come out beautifully.  It’s entirely up to you…. and isn’t that the point of being the chef?

Enjoy!

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Recipe: Chambourcin Drizzle

I was trying to create something to add to a salad, when I came up with the idea of trying to use James River Cellars’ Chambourcin as the star ingredient… as luck would have it, a reduction of this sweet wine was just what I had in mind.

ChambourcinDrizzle

I started with 1 1/2 cups of James River Cellars’ Chambourcin wine.  Since our winemaker creates ours as a sweet wine, rather than a dry one, it seemed like the obvious choice to me.  I simmered the wine in a medium saute pan until much of the liquid had evaporated and the wine had thickened significantly.  I didn’t want to do a quick/hard boil on this, so it took about 40 minutes or so for this thickening to happen.

Once the wine was thick, I added 1/2T butter, 1t sugar, and 1T heavy cream to the mixture.  When the butter had melted and the sugar and cream had incorporated thoroughly, I poured the wine drizzle back to the glass measuring cup, where I was able to see that the mixture had reduced down to 1/4 cup of drizzle.   It was tart, yet had a bit of sweetness in the background that I thought would pair beautifully with some blue cheese and chicken in a salad.  Adding some crunch (some nuts, perhaps?) would have been nice touch, but I was more concerned with assembling a simple salad that would be filling and delicious.  The drizzle was relegated to the fridge until it was time to put my lunch together.

When lunchtime rolled around, I was more than ready to dig into this yummy salad.  NOTE: Since butter was used in creating the drizzle, you may want to allow the drizzle to warm ever so slightly so you don’t have any clumps in your drizzle.  Beating it lightly with a small whisk will accomplish the same task.  I sliced some romaine lettuce and used that as the base for my salad.  I thinly sliced a cooked chicken breast, use as much as you’d like and laid the slices in a pleasing array atop the lettuce.   NOTE: I used a breast that I had roasted the night before, but could have easily used pieces of a pre-roasted chicken from the local market. I crumbled some blue cheese over the chicken and lightly seasoned everything with 1T olive oil, salt, and pepper.  

Now was the time for my Chambourcin Drizzle to shine.  I used approximately 2 teaspoons of drizzle to “glaze” my salad, so there was plenty to use for a few servings.  Once I tossed the salad, the entire salad became slightly pink in color… it would have been wonderful with some crusty bread, but I loved all the flavors that combined to create something fun and tasty.

Hope you’ll try making something unique for your next luncheon.  A port wine would have been delicious in this recipe as well… maybe I’ll have to try that version next time.

Enjoy your taste tests… I know I do!

 

 

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I’ve been nominated for a Liebster Award!

Wow… have I “arrived”?  I’ve been nominated for a Liebster Award!  Now what do I do?  

While I honestly wasn’t sure what this award was, I was pretty stoked that someone… anyone… was reading my blog and liked it enough to recommend it to others.  The Liebster Awards is essentially an award by bloggers for bloggers, sort of a virtual chain letter. I really like that it’s based on peer-to-peer recognition, and it’s a way to help introduce great blogs to a larger audience. To accept the award, there are a few rules I now have to follow:
  • Pass the award on to 11 bloggers (and let them know)
  • Pose 11 questions (and not the same ones my nominator posed to me) to these chosen bloggers
  • Answer 11 questions posed by my nominator (and let her know)
  • Post 11 random facts about me.

So, thanks so much to Amy of Living a Good Food Life for nominating my blog…  now I will return the favor.  I am looking forward to following these 11 fantastic up-and-coming blogs:

My 11 questions for these bloggers are:

  • Why did you begin blogging and what makes you continue?
  • What is your favorite past time?
  • What’s your “guilty pleasure” food?
  • What do you do in your spare time, if you have any?
  • What are your three favorite things to make?
  • Do you believe that recipes are “directions” or “guidelines” in cooking?  Discuss…
  • Do you have a role model in your life?  If so, who and why is that person important to you?
  • Do you have a Bucket List (or more than one)?
  • If money were no object, where and how would you live?
  • Favorite TV show or movie?
  • What’s one thing that you would never eat?  Why?

Here are my answers to the 11 questions that Amy posed to me. Hopefully they make sense, since not all these blogs are food-based:

  • Why do you blog?   I blog because I was creating recipes at the winery where I work and I didn’t want to try and create a full-blown cookbook.  I also blog because it’s a way for me to share my love of food and wine with others.
  • What is your favorite vegetable?  I love asparagus, but am not so fond of the “after effects”.  I am a fan of most any vegetable, aside from lima beans (or any of those other “big flat beans”)
  • What is your favorite utensil in the kitchen?  My favorite utensil is my stick blender… it’s easy to use in a variety of ways and I can wash it quickly and put it away immediately.  My favorite basic utensil is a non-stick whisk… it’s essential!
  • What’s your closest grocery store?   Food Lion – I call it “Food Dog” because the symbol doesn’t look like a lion to me.
  • What were the last three things you cooked?  Homemade pull-apart rolls and Pretzel kaiser rolls, Kielbasa with sauteed onions, and Mango Risotto
  • Are you a baker or more of a savory cook?   I cook using The Force, so that lends itself to being a savory or sweet cook as opposed to the precise directions needed for most baking.
  • Chocolate desserts vs. fruit desserts: discuss.   I love chocolate desserts AND fruit desserts, but my husband is not a fan of either.  Since he’d prefer vanilla desserts, anything I bake that’s chocolate tends to go to work with me.  I’m not very good at making fruit desserts, so I lean toward making baked goods when I’m asked to bring something.
  • What is your favorite place to visit?  Hands down, Annapolis Maryland is my favorite place in the world.  Being there with my husband (and sons, if they’re able) is a true joy.
  • If money were no object, what restaurant would you most like to try?  I don’t have a “bucket list” for restaurants, so I’d have to ask my best friend, Lynne, for suggestions, but I believe that she would suggest that The French Laundry be at the top.  I’m just as happy and satisfied going to Cantler’s Riverside Inn in Annapolis.
  • Best food movie?  Mystic Pizza… the idea of creating a sauce that makes people happy seems pretty awesome.
  • Last meal: what would it be?  Seafood of any sort… I love it all.

And finally, here are 11 random facts about me:

  • I love wine… I may not drink it all the time or know everything about it, but I love it just the same.
  • I really hate Halloween – masks scare the life right out of me.
  • I used to be a Drug Addictions Counselor.
  • I love to write, whether it’s recipes (on this blog) or about life (on beatitudesofmylife).
  • I am too vain to use reading glasses in public, unless absolutely necessary.
  • I adore cooking, but hate to follow a recipe, so I use “The Force” and create new meals almost every day… but I am not a chef.
  • My husband is the very best, most amazing person I know and I thank God, every day, that he’s mine.
  • I get bored watching most “must see” movies and don’t like unnecessary violence.
  • I really love watching sports, especially with my family, but I do NOT like to watch baseball on TV.
  • I am nauseatingly patriotic… and proud of it.
  • I adore my job and feel blessed every time I go to work.
Ok… those weren’t as easy as I thought they’d be, but hopefully they give you an idea of who I am.  Good luck to all the bloggers I nominated. I hope you accept the award, and pass it on.
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Recipe: Mango Risotto

OK, I know this sounds really weird, but this side dish was the perfect accompaniment to dinner recently.  As you can see by the photo, I was making tilapia (not using the recipe for Ali’s Rock Star Tilapia… just wanted to saute’ the fillets with some paprika) and I decided to make a side dish that would utilize the mangos that I picked up at Sam’s Club recently.

MangoRisotto

My younger son is a huge fan of the mango fruit, so I decided to attempt a spicy/sweet risotto that would include this yummy ingredient.  I peeled and chopped two mangos and popped them into a saucepan with 1 cup of white wine (I used Potomac Point Viognier this time… could just as easily have used James River Cellars’ Chardonel or Vidal Blanc) and 1 cup of water.  I brought the liquid to a low simmer and cooked the fruit until I could mash it easily with a potato masher.

I added 3/4 cup arborio rice and seasoned with a little chicken consomme powder, salt & pepper  before allowing the rice to cook and soak up all the yummy flavors.  Simmering the rice took about a half hour, but I was watching to see if I needed to add any more liquid.  Note:  the liquid absorbed faster than I expected, so I added a touch of James River Cellars’ Hanover White Wine, to stay with the sweet/spicy theme.

Once the liquid was absorbed and the rice was tender, I added a handful of parmesan cheese and a heavy dash of paprika to taste.  This side dish ended up having a tasty blend of mango and spice that paired really well with the sautee’d fish.

Nothing like having something go over well when you’re totally winging it, right?  I was definitely a fan and will work this dish into the “meal rotation” going forward…  YUM!

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Recipe: Corey’s Cake (Chocolate wine cake with Irish Cream Frosting)

I had to say “farewell” to a friend and co-worker at the winery this week, so I made a special cake for her.  The recipe for the cake is already posted on this blog here (although I substituted the coffee with more wine), but it was the frosting that was special for this cake.  I gave Corey the option of frosting flavors (peanut butter, white chocolate, or irish cream) and this was her preference… so in deference to her, this cake is so named.

The frosting was a very simple one.  I used equal parts butter and butter-flavored shortening, confectioner’s sugar, a touch of vanilla, and a few teaspoons of a recipe of homemade Irish Cream.  I had a basic frosting recipe as a template, but veered far enough off that it just seems easier and simpler to let you, dear reader, to your own devices.  Basically, I beat the butter and shortening together, added in a few cups of sugar and the vanilla, then added Irish Cream to taste.  Honestly, it was that simple…. and I love things that I can make “to taste”!

Farewell2CoreyI baked the cake a day before I needed to assemble the dessert.  This cake is seriously the easiest recipe to use…. it always comes out well, and I am never without the ingredients, since it is an “oil and vinegar chocolate cake” and doesn’t need milk, butter, or eggs.  I could have made the cake a few days or even weeks in advance, since this cake freezes (and thaws) beautifully.  Definitely a “keeper” in my book!  I whipped up the frosting before I went to work that day and put the cake together (see the top left-hand photo) in an easy-to-carry container.   To make it special, I used rainbow sprinkles to put a “C” on the top of Corey’s cake (see the top middle photo) and pressed them lightly into the frosting so that the sprinkles wouldn’t move as I transported the cake to our farewell.

I am really sad to see Corey leave, but must be excited for her and her husband as they embark upon a journey that will move them out of the state.   She has been a breath of fresh air at the winery with her enthusiasm and excitement.   It’s never easy to see people leave… I’m just grateful for Facebook and other modes of social media that will allow for continued connections.

Wishing every blessing to Corey and her husband… we’ll miss you!

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Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I’m making the switch to Bloglovin from Google Reader.  To follow my blog, it’s easy… just click the “Bloglovin” link on my blog and you’ll get to read every recipe as soon as I post them.  Yea!

Hope to see you here… I’ve got lots more recipes to add and you don’t want to miss them!