Just 2 posts for the entire month of February. Pathetic. Miserably pathetic. Wretchedly, miserably pathetic. Wretchedly, miserably, inexcuably pathetic. You get my drift.
If I were a smart wino I would have written this down as it happened, but seeing as my fingers have had a case of the lazies, here's a recap of last month's drink and foodables:
-Karen and I made homemade ravioli a few weeks ago, and I now have a homemade pasta fetish. Making your own pasta isn't hard; it's just time consuming when you're doing more involved things like stuffing ravioli. Fettucine would be a breeze! Still, how zen is it to hang in the kitchen for hours, drinking wine, rolling out pasta and preparing the filling. We had butternut squash with goat cheese and sage. Proud to say there was no ravioli leakage this time around. I absolutely couldn't tell you what we drank; sadly it wasn't memorable, but the rest of the meal was.
-Realizing I had 5 turkeys in my freezer, I brined one in wine, cranberry and orange. Hell yes! I love brined turkeys, you can't fuck them up. You could cook them within an inch of their lives and they'd still come out perfectly brown and moist as can be. Also for the first time I overcame my turkey dyslexia. I have a special talent for roasting turkeys upside-down. I am aware of it and I still do it. I think to myself " Self, take the turkey, and put it in the pan the way you think it should go, then do the opposite." I do this every time, and every time I cook that bastard breast side down. This time I didn't! Not only did my turkey turn out gorgeous, I had a wonderful wine to go with it: Masi Costasera Amarone Classico 2006. This was my first amarone; I learned this wine is made with corvina, rodinella, molinara and negrara grapes. They are picked super-late so the grapes are busting with sugar. Then they're spread out and left to dry a bit so the sugar is even more concentrated. The result is massively concentrated flavours and very high alcohol content. Freaking incredible. Italy, Italian winemakers, I heart you. I heart you a lot. Flavours are a mix of earthy, raisiny, spicy goodness. Just beware and take care; amarone will kick your ass. One glass is enough. Two glasses and you'll lose your underpants. Three glasses and you'll call your ex-best friend at 2 a.m. Beware.
-Loving the Masi amarone, I ran out and bought another: Tesdeschi 2006. Know what? It was kind of a let down. At 15.5 % alcohol, I am surprised I have any eyebrows left this wine was so hot. My tongue was instantly paralyzed. I just couldn't taste the nuances with a tongue so immobilized by alcohol. Is this what Newfie screech is like? I even tried it with strong cheese, as you're supposed to do. No luck. At least I don't have to landscape any nose hair for awhile...
-Left over turkey turned into homemade turkey ravioli. My wee girl had a cold, so I kept her home from school one day, and we spent the afternoon making ravioli--she was in charge of cheese, I did the meat. This was awesome fun for us both. She's one of those craft-loving kids who can spend hours doing fiddly things, so this was right up her alley. How proud was she when her daddy said "You made this? It's delicious!" We have a young foodie in the making.
-Visited Dad this week who was quick to open a bottle of Franciscan 2006 Merlot. Why is merlot out of fashion? I don't get it. Merlot is totally easy to drink. This one had a nice, vanilla oakey flavour. Note to self (and to all): do not brag about being an anti-merlot snob. Not only will people think you're behaving like a self-important douchebag, but you'll also be missing out on some very yummy wine.
-Lorri, my brilliant sister who's taking a course at Harvard (that never gets old), went back to Cambridge for a week and had drinks with Eileen, our favourite wine steward. Eileen, modest Eileen, who I hear is shy about being mentioned in this blog, to which I say phooey, Eileen, you are wonderful and wonderful at what you do and it's all because you LOVE wine as much as anyone can. Lorri brought back two very special bottles for me to try: a 20 year old white Rioja (it has netting, just like the wine bible said it would! Squee for authenticity!) and a 5 year old Barolo, which I'm not sure if I'll drink or hold. Lorri tried and loved both, and said the barolo was pretty muscley, so I *might* hang onto that one for another year *if* I can stand the suspense.
March: wine show, poeple! Cheese and wine show at the international centre in Toronto! If you're a Wine Align member you get $5 off of tickets bought online! So buy your tickets online already! And don't drink too much Guinness on St.Patrick's Day, because the show starts the very next day!
Done fer now. Stay tuned for Cambridge wine reviews!
B.
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