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Engaging stories of love, joy, comfort and friendship with proven scrumptious, healthy recipes, we celebrate LOVE as the secret ingredient for wonderful food!

New on LOVE!! Wine pairings!

May 2, 2013 by Mary Frances 5 Comments

Red wine in a red wine glass for pairing with food.One of my big brothers, Steve, (we have many duplicate names in my family as my husband is a Steve too) is a true wine aficionado and expert. We all love it when he comes to dinner as he insists on bringing the wine. Of course I feign debating for a bit and then give in. (Ha!) You should see his wine cellar! – full of the more expensive variety. Lucky for us, he has offered to suggest wine pairings with my main dish recipes!! Yay!!!

So for my Faux Lasagna, or Vegetable Strata or Vegetable Lasagna with No Pasta or Whatever the Hell You Want to Call It Dish, in the previous post, after much thought from Steve . . . and a little sipping, here are his recommendations:

White Wine:  A light, crisp Italian wine from Campagnia called Falanghina. (San Gregorio is a good choice)

Red Wine:  A young, refreshing Spanish wine from Rioja called Crianza, served slightly chilled – cellar temp – 55 degrees F. (Vina Real is a good choice)

Both of these wines are less than $20.

A more expensive red wine alternative would be a Pinot Noir from Santa Barbara or Central Coast appellations.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: Dinner Tagged With: Campagnia, Crianza, Falanghina, Italian white wine, Pinot Noir, Rioja, Spanish red wine, wine pairings

Tanglewood!

July 1, 2012 by Mary Frances 4 Comments

I love going to Tanglewood. Before we had our upstate house, I had always dreamed of being able to be close by to there to do exactly what we did last Saturday. I love the setting, I love the whole picnic dinner, I love the music. Diana Krall was playing and she was fantastic! So last weekend, two of my brothers and their wives joined us at our upstate house, which is not far from Tanglewood. (My dream came true!) On Saturday afternoon, I fried up two and a half chickens, made a fabulous potato salad (if I can say so myself) along with a tomato and peach salad and some brownies. My sister-in-laws filled in with a wonderful vegetable slaw, a selections of cheeses, nuts and grapes. Add some fantastic bottles of wine from my brothers and we were all set!!

We were so set, that I forgot to take pictures of all the food and our plates!!

But here’s the evening – and what was left of the buttermilk fried chicken.

Two brothers at Tanglewood.

Two of my brothers at Tanglewood

Chicken basket.

This was full of buttermilk fried chicken

Fried chicken in tin foil.

This is what was left.

Picnic dinner at Tanglewood.

The remains of the dinner

The scene!

Elegant couple with candlelit picnic dinner at Tanglewood.

This elegant couple gladly posed for me. Notice the silver candlesticks and flowers. The guy told me he chose his shirt on purpose to match!

Diana playing at Tanglewood.

Diana playing.

I need to talk to you of what I have learned of the importance of voice – and what Diana Krall has taught me. She is so soft, so mellow, soooo sexy with that contralto voice of hers. She could almost say anything to you and you would agree. If you got mad at your husband with her voice, he’d just have to kiss you and do anything you wanted. Seriously.
I think we don’t pay enough attention to our voice and the strength of it – and we should. So pay attention to not only what you say but how you say it. It makes a huge difference.

Filed Under: Dinner, Travel Tagged With: brothers, buttermilk fried chicken, Diana Krall, dinner picnics, picnics, Pinot Noir, potato salad, Tanglewood, wine

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Mary Frances

Mary Frances

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