Our First Meal Back Home

The moving van delivered all our belongings yesterday…yea! Tonight we had a wine that I bought at World Market. It was actually good for a cheap wine and great with an informal meal.

XS Red 2005

California Cabernet Sauvignon

Fruit forward robust red with blackberry and toasty oak. Delicious with your favorite pizza, pasta or BBQ. As the bottle says, “Sometimes a little XS is a good thing.”

Our 23rd Anniversary

Much to my dismay, there are no nice restaurants open on Sundays in Moscow, Pullman or Lewiston. What to do to celebrate our anniversary? With our move to Texas just around the corner, we didn’t want to drive far to celebrate.

So, we used some creativity…

After church we stopped at the Moscow Co-op and picked up a loaf of hot, fresh Salted French Bread (yum!) and a bottle of chilled Camas Prairie Chardonnay. Then, we picked up our dog and headed to a park with cheese and meat. We found a shady spot and spent the next few hours relaxing.

The Chardonnay was delicious. Of course, anything chilled on a ninety plus day tastes great. I can’t believe we didn’t try this wine earlier in our stay here in Moscow. Camas Prairie is a local winery that has some terrific reds. Their Chardonnay was buttery with a slight hint of oak….just the way we like a chardonnay.

Later, we drove to Uniontown to see a photo exhibit at the Dahmen Gallery and the Catholic Church. The Uniontown Catholic Church was the first church registered in Washington, back around 1910. Finally, we headed to Eleanor’s for a drink and a bite to eat. Eleanor’s is a quaint burger joint that Steve visited earlier this year.

This wasn’t your normal way to celebrate an anniversary, but I had a blast. Who wouldn’t enjoy a couple of hours with a great glass of wine, a book to read and a husband playing his guitar.

Ashley’s birthday dinner, 1 day later

Parmesan chicken, fettucini alfredo, broccoli with hollandaise sauce,

Crusty Cream cheese pound cake with ice cream

Dunham Cellars

2005 Syrah, Lewis Vineyard, Columbia Valley

Deep, dark berry. Sooo luscious

Complimented smooth flavors of meal

Passover Meal

Cashew Chicken with Artichokes

Amavi Syrah 2005, Walla Walla Valley– dark berry flavor. Fun

Amavi is combination of latin words for love (amor) and life (vita). That sums up wine!

Glacial & volcanic soils, long warm summer days and cool, high-desert evenings bless our world-class vineyards. We use only the finest hand-picked grapes to craft the elegant wines of Amavi Cellars.

Steve’s Birthday Dinner

We celebrated a day late with Steve’s request, fried chicken and cooked broccoli. We had another 2005 Matagrano Lava Cap Sangiovese from El Dorado county. It was spicy and smooth. I tasted a piney flavor that added to the spice. There was no significant berry flavors. This is a fun wine to drink.

Grapes for this wonderful Italian variety were grown by Frank Matagrano in a cool spot along the banks of the American River in El Dorado County. The wine is rich and full-bodied, yet has soft tannins and well balanced fruit and acidity. Enjoy with hearty pasta or grilled sausages and vegetables.

While Dad & Mom were visiting we enjoyed one of Ashley’s favorite wines, Lava Cap Cabernet Franc. The 2003 Reserve is delicious, a traditional Bordeaux variety produced on the Lava Cap vineyards in Sierra Nevada foothills. This well-balanced and elegant wine was aged in French oak barrel and is a perfect accompaniment for turkey, chicken, pasta, and roast beef. We actually had bleu cheese crusted filet.