Tag Archives: wine

Was it the Wine?

Posted on February 22, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

So there I was, having a completely Wrist to Forehead Sunday, when Steven came home, poured me a glass of wine, and suddenly everything looked a little bit better.  Was it the wine or the husband?  I try not to look too closely into these things (it was the husband).

I am typing rapidly (TRYING to think rapidly, but let’s not ask for miracles) so that we can move on to the movie watching portion of the afternoon.  We plan to watch Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.  We watched a different version of that one some time ago, and I wrote part of a blog post about it. I thought I could complete the blog post with a compare/contrast kind of thing (preview of coming attractions) for Movie Matinee Monday.

Steven just ordered some food from Carney’s Corners in Herkimer, NY (just to throw in a shout-out to a local business). I suddenly realize how hungry I am, now that I have to wait 20-25 minutes (according to the woman on the phone).  Well, one can’t always have instant gratification.

Additionally, I am working on yet another afghan.  I ran out of pink for the one I was working on so started a new one.  This one will be red, white and blue; and I expect to run out of white.  I really must learn how to make smaller things, so I can use up the odds and ends of yarn one inevitably saves.  I suppose I could do that at any time, since I have purchased numerous books about knitting and crochet. But I don’t think I should do it on Wrist to Forehead Sunday, do you?

 

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But I Think My Attitude is Improving

Posted on January 27, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am sipping my first taste of wine in 2016.  Isn’t that nice?  I had not meant to write a blog post about it.  I went running earlier with the specific thought that I could do a Running Commentary post.  Before making my blog post, however, I ate dinner, read some more of a book (I must NEVER pick up fiction unless I can just sit there and read the whole thing; I become obsessed) and of course dithered (I always say: go with your strengths).  This being Bad Attituesday, I don’t think my writing muscles are going to cooperate.

Regular readers may remember that I have been doing without wine for 30 days.  It started as an experiment to see if it had any effect on my headaches, then it morphed into “Well if I can’t go 30 days without wine, maybe I have a problem,” and then, well,  I just got stubborn.  But I made it 30 days, so I felt a little pleased with myself and thought I deserved a glass of dry red.

I went to Ilion Wine and Spirits after work to get my bottle. This is handily located next to The Medicine Shoppe, where I had to pick up a prescription.  So, you see, I give shout-outs to two local businesses as I sip.  When I walked into the liquor store, I immediately saw some bottles of Chianti on sale.  I had purchased one of these bottles prior to Christmas.  Steven drank the whole thing himself during my dry 30 days (not all at once, of course; he’s no lush either).

First I looked all around to see if there was something I’d like better. I hesitated over a bottle of Barefoot Pinot Noir.  When I was at church two Sundays ago, during the sermon the priest told a story involving Barefoot Pinot Noir.  “That’s a good wine,” I told my sister.  Imagine, me having something in common with a priest.  I decided to stick with the Chianti, but I may go back for some Pinot this weekend.

It is Chianti Superiore made by Banfi of Montalcino, Italy.  It was imported by Banfi Vintners of Old Brookville, NY.  So you see I am being international and buying New York State.  It’s pretty tasty wine, too.

Ilion Wine and Spirits is located at 10 E. Main St., Ilion, NY, phone number 315-894-8142.  The Medicine Shoppe is at 10 Central Ave., phone number 315-894-7283.  Don’t let the different streets fool you; they are just a parking lot away from each other. It is most convenient.

 

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Cooking Without Wine

Posted on January 24, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

The only reason I cooked dinner tonight was so that I could write a blog post about it.  I’m afraid it was not a very inspired dinner, but it was cheaper than sending out (although then I could have given a shout-out to a local business), and it was quite tasty.

Basically, I cooked some sausage and garlic, then added tomato sauce, tomato paste, canned mushrooms, basil, oregano and a VERY few hot pepper flakes.  I put this sauce on Spicy Tomato Linguine from The Pasta Shoppe in Utica, NY.  My favorite sister, Cheryl gave me and Steven the pasta for Christmas.

What makes this recipe different from many of the recipes I write in the blog about is that I did NOT cook with wine.  I did enjoy a wine glass of seltzer with fresh lemon while I cooked.  Yes, I continue to resist the devil on my shoulder I mentioned in yesterday’s post.

WARNING!  I am about to mention my headaches.  If you are sick of reading about them, READ NO FURTHER!

I feel especially happy I did not have any wine yesterday, because I woke up with a horrendous headache this morning.  In spite of the pain, I enjoyed the vague feeling of vindication with this further proof that alcohol in not the source of my headaches. And then I started to feel like I shouldn’t feel so delighted about it.

And now I begin to feel like maybe I shouldn’t be writing so much about it. Am I obsessed with wine?  Ah, wait, no I’m not. I talked about this before.  It’s the Doughnut Effect (I’ll put one of them there links so you can click back and see the blog post where I talked about that).

In any case, my headache has subsided by now.  Dinner is eaten and the leftovers put away (Steven nicely put them away). Time to get in with my Saturday evening.  Hope to see you all on Wrist to Forehead Sunday.

 

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Waiting for 19 Crimes

Posted on January 23, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought I would take today’s Friday Lame Post to give an update on my 30 Days Without Wine.  Or you may call it 30 Days of Whine, although I must confess to doing more than my fair share of kvetching even with the wine.  Be that as it may, this is Day 27.  Yes, I’ve been counting.  How else would I know when I got to 30?

Earlier today the little devil on my shoulder (you know, like in the cartoons, when the character has a little version of himself in horns on one shoulder and one with a halo on the other?) kept saying, “27 is practically 30.  Aren’t you being a little anal retentive about this?” She went on to say, “Anyways, isn’t this no alcohol thing a bit self-aggrandizing?  Just another way of calling attention to yourself? Shouldn’t you just get over yourself and have a beer?”  I didn’t even know she knew the word “self-aggrandizing.”

The Devil Me would probably also call me out on thinking something magical might happen if I go all 30 days.  How illogical and immature, she would say.  Of course I stopped listening to that bitch when I remembered she is also the one who thinks I’m such a terrible writer.

The Angel on my other shoulder did not contribute a whole lot to the discussion.  She merely pointed out that while PROBABLY nothing magical would happen on Day 30, how would I know if I didn’t wait that long?  Anyways, there isn’t a bottle of dry red in the house, and that is what I chiefly feel like drinking.  For Day 31 I have promised myself a bottle of 19 Crimes, one of my favorites.  I think that’s worth waiting three more days for.

Right now I am reinforcing my dry behavior by watching World’s Dumbest Partiers (why is my computer underlining “partiers”?  That must be a word! What else would you call these people?).  I don’t imagine the one little glass of 19 Crimes I intend to have on Tuesday will cause me to act like one of those guys.  However, if it does, I promise to write a blog post about it.

 

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Choosing a W(h)ine

Posted on January 16, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

My dry January continues.  I call it that for lack of a catchier title.  In fact, it is 30 days which began December 27.  That means it’s been 20 days.

I must say I was hoping for a bigger impact on my life.  So far the only effect has been that I would really like a glass of wine, and that was pretty much the case when I started the project.  I’m not sleeping any better, the headaches are about the same, I haven’t lost vast amounts of weight… what else is giving up booze supposed to do for you?

My main concern is when I start thinking, “Oh crap, X more days till I can have a glass of wine!”  Then I think, “Am I obsessing over this?  Maybe I DO have a problem!”  Then I don’t want to write a blog post about it, because I worry  all my friends and family will decide I must be an alcoholic and have one of those interventions.  I wouldn’t care for that.

I confess to feeling a little sad today (Friday) as I drove home from work and realized I would not stop by a liquor store that might be having a wine tasting.  Please note:  I said “wouldn’t” not “couldn’t.”  To not drink wine this month is a choice I make.  And here’s the fun part:  when I remind myself that it is a choice I made and that I choose to continue, suddenly the whole thing becomes not a problem.

It’s kind of like how I feel about running.  When I think, “I SHOULD go running,” I want to whine and cry and NOT run.  However, if I say, “It would be a good idea if I went running,” the next thing I know, I’m lacing up the sneakers and taking off.

Having talked myself right out of my little crisis, I’m going to call this a Lame Friday Post, hit Publish, and go back to sipping my wine glass of seltzer water and lemon.  Happy Friday, everyone.

 

 

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Lame But Not Lush

Posted on January 9, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well, here it is Friday at the sweats on, bra off portion of the evening.  Regular readers are saying, “Didn’t she leave something out?  For example, wine drinking?”  About that…

Christmas Day I had a rather dreadful headache.  I did not think I really tied one on, but I had been indulging in the white wine Christmas Eve.  My mother suggested I go a month without drinking, to see if it had any effects on the headaches.  Naturally I do everything my mother tells me (she would probably offer a different opinion about that, but I believe she would be referring to some time in the previous century so we need not regard it).

Full disclosure:  I had a glass of wine Christmas Day and maybe a glass or two the day after. But beginning December 27 until the present day (January 8, 2016), I have been dry. No, I don’t want a medal, I’m just SAYING!

We all know I love my wine (at least anybody who has been paying the least bit of attention) (not that I flatter myself that everybody pays attention to me).  It is definitely an enjoyable part of my weekend, and sometimes a welcome treat on a week night.  But I don’t think of myself as a lush or somebody with a problem.

Then again.

The fact that I’m talking about it AT ALL makes me paranoid.  If it’s not a problem, then it shouldn’t be a problem, now, should it?  It shouldn’t even make a blog post.  Oh dear.   And in fact, it is not a problem.  I mean, I’m not sitting here WISHING I had a glass of Pinot.  I did not have to grip the steering wheel as I drove home from work to keep from pulling in at the liquor store.  I haven’t even been thinking about, for example, the cool, dry tang of an unoaked  Chardonnay…  Just kidding.  I had to sit here and compose that Chardonnay line.

But if I’m not thinking about it, that insidious inner critic asks, then why am I writing about it?

Ah, I find the answer to that quite simply:  it’s what I call the Doughnut Effect.  As soon as you decide you can’t have something, what is the first thing you want?  That’s right!  And then what you do is try not to think about it.  OK, right now, try not to think about doughnuts,because you can’t have any.

I bet some people stopped reading this blog and are halfway to Krispy Kreme as we speak.  As for me, I have successfully taken my mind off the long-stemmed glass of fermented grape.

But I may be making a trip to the in-store bakery section of Hannaford.  Happy Friday, everyone.

 

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Return to Rustic Ridge

Posted on August 18, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought I would give another shout-out (love that expression) to Rustic Ridge Winery, which Steven and I visited as part of our long adventure a few Saturdays ago (perhaps you read my blog post about that).

We had visited Rustic Ridge some time before, on a nice, quiet week day (I wrote a blog post about that, too).  I was a little worried that it would be too crowded on a Saturday afternoon, being as it is a popular spot.  On the other hand, a little crowd isn’t always a bad thing, and wine-tasting crowds are often nice.  both things were true this day.

As we walked up to the tasting building, it was starting to rain.  I did Shawshank Redemption for the entertainment of the folks sitting in the Adirondack chairs on the porch, enjoying a glass of wine (ever since I spent time in Arizona in army training, I have been a big fan of rain).

As I utilized the facilities, Steven got us a spot at the bar.  On joining him, I realized I had left my little notebook in the bathroom.  By that time somebody else was in the bathroom.  I expressed my dismay.

“I don’t think anybody will steal your notebook,” a man sitting at a nearby table said.

“I know, but I always make notes in it while I taste,” I said.  I went back over to the bar.  Soon the guy at the table brought my notebook over to me.  See what I mean about wine-tasters being nice?  I know, many people are nice without wine, and some people are not nice with or without wine. Right now, I am talking about nice people tasting wine.

We tasted five wines.  The Chardonnay had no oak, which I like in a Chardonnay.  The Untamed White was a blend of Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer.  The guy pouring (I foolishly did not get his name) said it was comparable to a Pinot Grigio.  I pronounced it tasty.  I thought there was a little more to it than to the Chardonnay.

The Traminette is a hybrid grape like a Gewurztraminer.  I caught floral notes, although the description did not mention that.  I was impressed by this, because I almost never catch notes of anything, but I wasn’t sure I liked the wine.  The Untamed Red, a blend,  was described as  an everyday table wine.  I found it tasty.

The Cabernet Franc was described as heavy-bodied.  I liked it but was not sure how to describe it.  Complex?  Well, we all know I’m not a real oenophile.

We purchased a bottle of the Untamed White to enjoy later.  Other tasters were purchasing bottles for immediate consumption.  I may do that sometime, when I can get a seat in one of those Adirondack chairs on the porch.

Rustic Ridge Winery is located at 2805 St. Hwy 80, Burlington Flats, NY.  Phone number 607-965-0626.  Their website is http://rusticridgewinery.com/.

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Neither a Tall Table nor a Tall Tale

Posted on August 16, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

Is it going to be a Saturday thing now that I go out for dinner and drinks and then post?  It was pretty fun last Saturday and, well, here I am.

This Saturday we only went to dinner, not to a wine tasting first, and we did not have friends with us, definitely not my evil twin Phyllis, who always tempts me into bad behavior (as if I needed any encouragement) (and just to be clear, Phyllis and I are BOTH the evil twin).  But we did have a very good dinner at PK’s Pub in Herkimer, NY.

We went early to dinner, because I was hoping to sit at the tall table, which is my favorite.  When we got there, there was only one other patron in the restaurant.  Guess where he was sitting.  No matter, we sat down, got some Pinot Grigio and perused the menu.

I selected spaghetti with Alfredo sauce while Steven got mushroom stew over penne pasta.  They were out of spaghetti, but angel hair was fine with me.  We both both got tossed salad instead of soup, Italian dressing for me, Ranch for Steven.  The bread with herbed butter is always a favorite of ours.

We were feeling so comfortably full after dinner (taking home enough for at lease one more meal) that we were NOT going to get dessert.  Then, of course, we decided to.  Monkey Pie for Steven, Samoa Cheesecake for me.  Yum!

Now we are home, listening to music and chilling.  Full disclosure:  we stopped at Vintage Spirits to get a bottle of wine.  Lushy, perhaps, but it is Saturday night.  And I am having a glass of seltzer with lemon before wining further, so there.

We MIGHT have a Mohawk Valley adventure tomorrow.  If so, you’ll read about it here.  If I don’t indulge in a Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  I think a little uncertainty adds interest to the blog, don’t you agree? (And if you don’t, well raspberries to you!)  Happy Saturday, everybody.

PK’s Pub is located at 221 King St. in Herkimer, NY, phone number 315-866-3494.  You can visit their website at www.pkspub.com and you can Like them on Facebook.

 

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Never Drink and Type Be Damned!

Posted on August 2, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am sitting on my deck with my husband Steven, sipping wine and swapping stories with our dear friends Phyllis and Jim.  We went to a wine tasting at a Valley Wine and Spirits in Herkimer and then dinner at Copper Moose Alehouse in Little Falls.  We had a couple of glasses of wine with dinner.

A blog post must be made.  I always make a blog post.  To be sure, I could have made a blog post earlier today.  I was home. I was even on the computer.  I did not feel like making a blog post.

Full disclosure:  I do not particularly feel like making a blog post now.  I feel like continuing to sit and sip. And listen to silly jokes from my friends.

Oh dear, now they are talking about political posts on Facebook.  I like to stay off politics.  Too much hate.  I don’t have a problem with people disagreeing with me or with each other.  I do have a problem with people making hurtful, hateful, nasty personal attacks on people who do not agree with them.  Do you suppose people will hate on me for expressing such an opinion?  Oh I hate for people to hate on me.

OK, this is what happens when I have the rule of posting every day and I do not make my post early on my day off.  Please be amused by me.  Please continue to read when I manage to post before I have had any wine.  Thank you.

 

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Show All Your Work

Posted on May 1, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

Twice now this week I’ve gone running.  Twice I have narrated in my head, coming up with some rather witty commentary if I do say so.  Twice I have sat down at the computer and NOT been able to write the post.

 

Well, I can’t wuss out, because this is not Wuss-out Wednesday.  It is Non-Sequitur Thursday.  I shall come up with something non sequential but fun.  Or I’ll write a short, foolish post and slap on a goofy headline that doesn’t really fit.

 

But first I have to start dinner.

 

OK, I cooked the last of the bacon (we don’t often have bacon, but Steven had a craving).  While it cooked I sliced some red onion and opened a can of mushroom pieces and stems.  Then I cooked a couple of cube steaks, seasoning them with Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder and lemon pepper (I used the last of the Worcestershire, but I know Steven put it on the shopping list).

 

When the steaks were almost done, I put on the onions, mushrooms and bacon on them, then covered them with cheese.  Full disclosure: not real good cheese.  We got it to hide Tabby’s medicine in, but it turns out peanut butter works better.

 

Oh yes, I cooked with wine.  I did not put any in the food this time, because I don’t have a whole lot.  Next time I might put it on the food.  I think cube steaks need all the help they can get.

 

In the meantime, I hope this counts as a post, even without a catchy title.

 

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