I saw this first on Cherries and Clay and ended up on Wine.com where the questions was, "Love Champagne?"
Since my answer is unequivocally YES, I have followed instructions to embed the code that will share with you, my dear readers, this infographic explaining of the history of the regal French sparkler, Champagne.
Brought to Between the Vines by Wine.com.
Cheers to you!
Still haven't made Valentine's Day dinner plans?
Here are some suggestions for those who live in the Fraser Valley or those who don't mind driving here. As I write this, there are still some Valentine's Day dinner seatings left, but if by the time you write or call you can't get a reservation, I highly recommend you try another date and simply share some oysters and wine with your lover on February 14.
xoxox
Copyright © 2012 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.
We hosted a luau for all our Hawai‛ian friends.
We greeted our guests with lilikoi margaritas—yes, we made sure they included those fun little umbrellas—and presented a menu that included poke, laulau, BC-style salmon, kalua pig, chicken in coconut milk, baked beans, and an Asian-inspired coleslaw. We finished with cheesecake, mango-rum pie, and an Island favourite, haupia.
Watch a very quick video menu recap here:
Cheers, all!
Copyright © 2012 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.
This time it's our friend and fellow vacationer John R. Laing who shares his fun foodie-ness as he makes poke for our Sunday lu‛au.
Scroll down a bit to view a very short video featuring our very own poke man and then scroll down just a little bit further to see a snapshot of John's finished poke.
Here is a snapshot of John's finished poke:
Cheers, all!
Copyright © 2012 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.
Here is my column as it appeared in the January 19 issue of My City, a monthly magazine in the Abbotsford News.
“The Chileans are coming,” is the call of this year’s Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival running Feb. 27 – Mar. 4 at the Vancouver Convention Centre West. And this means a spotlight on some value-packed,flavour-filled wines. Many of the... read more.
Click here or on the image below to read the whole column.
Cheers, all!
Copyright © 2012 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.
During December, 2011, good friend and co-vacationer Karen Laing mastered the art of making liliko'i jam. In January, I followed her lead and helped make some more.
Inside the lilikoi (passion fruit)
In addition, we've made guava jam and grapefruit marmalade, all from fruit on our winter-house-sitting property or picked and gleaned from friends' properties.
I haven't even started on all the fresh papaya and avacado...
Cheers, all!
Copyright © 2012 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.
My son, Steven, and I had a fun evening tasting three white wines and three kinds of fresh oysters (Kumomoto, Effingham, Kusshi) from 1Fish 2Fish in Langley.
The Cuvée du Haut-Censy Muscadet was my favourite wine with the oysters, while Steven really enjoyed the Silver Chardonnay. The Prospect Winery Sauvignon Blanc was pleasant and worked nicely with the oysters but didn't come in as number one with either of us.
From your left, here are the wines we enjoyed tonight:
Cheers, all!
Copyright © 2011 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.
Red meat. Lots of it. Family and friends. Lots of them.
Oh, and the red wine. Let if flow, please.
That's Christmas Eve at our house.
Behold the 3.776 kg (roughly 8.325 lbs) Lepp Farm Market prime rib roast we'll serve tonight. Sides will include roasted asparagus, braised red cabbage, grilled Roma tomatoes topped with Parmesan cheese and fresh basil, half-as-bad garlic smashed potatoes, and a rosemary-shallot red-wine sauce.
Wines will represent the old and new worlds: 2008 Twisted Tree Six Vines and 2009 Mission Hill Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (B.C.), 2007 Château de Beaucastel (France), and 2010 Castillo de Monséran (Spain).
Merry Christmas!
Copyright © 2011 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.
We had Mt. Lehman Winery's 2009 Pinot Gris with dinner tonight.
The wine was cheery and refreshing, with green apples, pears, chalk, and just a hint of roses and tarragon on the nose and palate.
For dinner, we enjoyed the pork tenderloin I had picked up from Lepp Farm Market earlier in the day while in Abbotsford.
I made a rub from the herbs I had grown, dried, crushed, and stored earlier in the season (rosemary, thyme, basil, parsley, garlic, plus added sea salt and black pepper), a little olive oil, and some grainy Dijon mustard, and then roasted the meat until it reached just a light pink in the middle.
I'm always shouting how pork and Pinot are made to go together...this time, though, it's Gris rather than Noir.
Cheers, all!
Copyright © 2011 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.
Here, very briefly, is my take on the 2009 Ata Rangi 2009 Crimson Pinot Noir. Scroll down further for more detail.
A little more detail...
On the nose, this wine shares aromas of bright, ripe red and black cherries, carnations, sweet spice, a sense of something meaty, and the forest floor (I called it wood in the video, but what I meant was the woods...sorry for any confusion).
On the palate, the Crimson bursts with bright cherries, floral qualities, a hint of licorice, a little bit o' tobacco, and the earthiness I happen to love. It is silky, with great acidity and a very nice, long-lasting finish.
The 2009 Crimson clocks in at 14% ABV and around $17 for the half bottle (375ml) at Whatcom Wine & Spirits and $28 for the full bottle (750ml) at Signature Liquor Store.
The half bottle is a nice size for trying a new wine or for sharing in a gift basket or Christmas goody bag. In addition, it's handy to have the small bottles around (with their screw-cap closures) to use when you want to save other wine you didn't happen to finish. Storing left-over wine (apparently, there really IS such a thing as left-over wine) in a smaller bottle helps to keep it fresher, longer. Really.
While I am happy to sip this solo, it really is a good food wine--one I am happy to buy again. I'll serve the rest of this small bottle with our roasted chicken at supper tonight.
Sales of this wine help support the Project Crimson charitable trust in its effort to protect and enhance New Zealand’s pohutukawa and rata trees.
Cheers, all!
Copyright © 2011 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.
