Passion Food

Go Ahead… Take a Sip

It started with a text message on Friday afternoon from my sister-in-law Ashley: "Whatcha doing tomorrow, want to go to a wine tasting?" My first reaction was, "well I've got stuff to do." But really my plan was to stay home and roast a chicken, cook some leeks en papillote and watch the premiere of Grey Gardens on HBO with John. Tired of letting the dork in me take over I had a second thought. Two seconds later I texted Ashley back: "I'm in." She promised me I'd be home before Grey Gardens, albeit slightly drunk. Come to think of it maybe it would be a good idea to be drunk when watching Grey Gardens anyway.

And so we set off. The plan was for Ashley to pick me up, we'd go to our future sister-in-law Lisa's house (this was really Lisa's idea in the first place), get Lisa's friend Mariel (a fellow Scorpio I've heard all about – all good!) and head out east to the winery. Lisa and Mariel were prepared with a basket filled with cheeses (Manchego, Drunken Goat and Brie), crackers, some luscious strawberries and a bottle of white. Once we got to the winery, Lieb Cellars in Greenport, Long Island, we settled our picnic basket and blanket and Ashley and Lisa went in to get our wine tastings.

The tastings were paired with Oysters (Bay, Mystic and Rockefeller) supplied by The Frisky Oyster restaurant in Greenport. Both of the married girls thought the chef was cute too. Go figure.

 

We wasted no time digging right in.

As I am a novice wine taster I got caught up in the moment and neglected to write down any notes. Thankfully, Mariel remembered all of the details:

• Blanc De Blancs (this actually reminds me of the name of the first Police album – but let me stop as I am dating myself)

• Pinot Blanc Reserve 2007
• Pinot Blanc Reserve 2006
• Pinot Blanc Reserve 2005

Mariel also provided us with a review:

"Well I absolutely loved the Blanc De Blancs (the sparkling wine we had first). I thought it was delicate, yet structured with amazing notes of honey and a well-balanced citrus acidity. My other favorite was the Pinot Blanc reserve 2007. Though not a highly complicated wine, it was a great representative of a pinot blanc with its stone fruits, light minerality and a notable finish!" I couldn't have said it better myself.

Lisa complained that the tastings were not large enough, but she compensated by buying two more bottles of wine that we all polished off.

Agreeing that we all needed some substance after our liquid picnic, we headed off to the Love Lane Kitchen for some espressos and dessert.

In the pre-season it was quiet, had an old-fashioned feel and was a nice place to relax after a day filled with laughs. I had Madeleine's dipped in chocolate, Lisa had semifreddo, Mariel had a super chocolate raspberry tart that was almost like a candy bar and Ash had rice pudding, her favorite.

The day was a blast and the girls got me home just as Grey Gardens was starting. In fact, John was watching it in the sunroom, martini in hand.

Note: Photo credits go to Lisa Romandetto

We Were All Winners…

So after all of the buildup, the trips to the craft store, the swearing we were never doing this again, the glitter, glue, the late nights and the nail-biting suspense we didn't even vote on the egg project! But my aunt, this year's Easter hostess, prominently displayed the eggs so we could all ohh and ahh. The truth is they did look pretty darn cute and some of them were downright amazing, so I am taking the liberty of judging them for you.

My pick for top winner was Erica's mom Debbie's barhopping grasshopper. Not only was this guy precious, he came with a recipe for the drink.

 

Grasshopper
1 oz. green crème de menthe
1 oz white crème de cacao
1 oz. light cream

Combine all ingredients in a shaker nearly filled with ice. Shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass.

And now in no particular order let me introduce you to the rest of this year's eggs…

Erica's step dad Rob is an all around talented guy… check out his Herbie the Love Bug.

The family artiste Aunt Charlotte made the scarab beetle. Not sure what that is? Keep reading, she included some background:

"The Egyptians made amulets of scarabs and buried them with the kings. Since the beetles roll their eggs in a ball of dung and push it with their front legs, they remind the people of the God Kepri who pushed the sun across the sky each day - thus representing a new day, a new life (reincarnation )to them. That's why they were considered a sacred bug, but they were actually only the common dung beetle!" Moving on…

The cutest was Krista's bed bug

And Erica' bubble bee was a cutie too

Dad created his nemesis, the white lawn grub

And mom did the green fly, oh my…

Chris, Michele & Elisa created a caterpillar, ladybug and an ant

 

With my friend Eileen's help, two dozen eggs and $40 dollars worth of art supplies I created the cutest earthworm around…

And saving the best for last, John proudly displayed his public service announcement for a popular STD… crabs.

And on that note we happily conclude the 2009 Easter egg project!

And the Winner Is...

Stay tuned... will have details (and even a recipe) on this year's egg contest soon!

Mama Mia Mia Dona

New York Magazine's 2009 Best of New York Awards declared Mia Dona's meatballs the best in town. And it's true; they are and this comes from a woman who makes a mean meatball herself. If you're on Manhattan's Upper East Side check them out at 206 East 58th Street, near Third Ave.; 212-750-8170.

If you can't get there fast enough here is my sauce and meatball recipe.

Download Tomato Sauce Meatballs_10 13 07 (3)

Our Daily Bread.

 

I can't believe it is time to make the Easter Bread again. The Easter bread--sweet-dough bread baked with hard-boiled eggs that we eat on Easter Morning--is a long-standing Easter tradition for our family. In fact I can't remember an Easter when we didn't have it and I am sure my mom can say the same thing. This year making the Easter bread will be bittersweet for me. Last year I passed the tradition on to my brother Scott. He came over and we baked bread and talked all day. I'll be ever grateful for that day because he passed away suddenly just a few weeks later. When I look back on that day it amazes me that I had no idea that would be one of the last times we'd get to do something together. I'm so happy he took me up on my offer to teach him to bake the bread. Scott was one of the blog's biggest fans. Not only did he take many of the photographs on the site (he was a professional photographer) he loved to read the stories and of course he loved to eat the food! Just the other day his fiancée Erica was over and we were eating a chocolate-espresso cake I made. She said you know Scott would have loved this-–then we both looked at one another and said at the same time Haagen Dazs Coffee ice cream! It was his favorite. We didn't forget but neither of us had thought of it over the past year.

In the beginning my intentions were to keep up with the blog. But over time I found my heart just wasn't in to it anymore and I really planned to can it. In the end it was John that wouldn't let me and he threatened to write the blog himself. Terrified that our blog provider wouldn't appreciate his x-rated sense of humor and his liberal use of the f-word I just let it go. But then, just recently I felt like blogging again. I don't know if it's the spring time or if Scott himself is thinking ok… enough of this. I can just imagine him giving me the "look" when all six foot nine of him would look down at you; hand on his hips, shaking his head in disappointment. I'd never gotten the "look" personally, but I saw it stop our then five-year old niece in her tracks plenty of times.

And so I am back and happy to be so. Because at the end of the day I am truly blessed: to love to cook, to be able to write, to have my Beatles music that always hits the spot and makes me feel better, to have my cat that actually likes to listen to me sing my Beatles tunes, to have envy-worthy friends and family, to have a husband that is truly my best friend and to have my brother and sister as my guardian angels that guide my every step.

Download Easter Bread

This year if I have leftovers I am going to make French toast...