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Wine Blending at Wine Tree Farm
I have done a lot of wine tasting in Gold Country over the past couple of years and the most enjoyable times have been when I learn something new about wine or winemaking. As I’ve mentioned, I’m no expert. I just enjoy wine and learning about it. On a recent visit to Wine Tree Farm with the Vineyard Vixens wine tasting group, I attended a wine blending class which was both educational and thoroughly enjoyable. The vineyard and winery are located on Highway 49 near the turnoff to Amador City. It can be easily missed but just look for the large sign up on the hill opposite the turnoff. Even though the grapevines are still dormant, we’ve had so much rain that the hills are an amazing green. Owner…
Animal Enrichment at the Sacramento Zoo
I have always loved going to the zoo. When I lived in Southern California, I went to the San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park frequently. Even though it was about 90 minutes away, I had season passes some years. When Kelly told me she saw a special animal enrichment event coming up at the Sacramento Zoo in celebration of Valentine’s Day, I said I was definitely in. It has been raining here almost nonstop for weeks so we were quite lucky to have a beautiful, sunny day for our outing. The Zoo was very easy to get to but I thought the entrance was a little hidden as we almost drove past it. There didn’t seem to be an official parking lot, at least…
Wine and Food Pairing Event — Scott Harvey and Taste
You’ve heard that membership has its privileges. Well, that is very true when it comes to wine club membership at local wineries in Gold Country. Scott Harvey Wines had its February Wine Club Release Extravaganza for wine club members and their guests this past weekend pairing their wine with food from Taste Restaurant in Plymouth. A sign outside the winery welcomed wine club members for the wine and food pairing event. As you may know, I love my bubbly and the Jana Mendocino Blanc de Blanc is delicious. We arrived a little early and Jack poured the Blanc de Blanc for us while we waited for the food stations to finish setting up. Wine and Food Pairing Menu We looked over the wine and food pairing…
The Murals of Downtown Harlingen
I just got back from a week-long trip to La Feria, Texas. I was visiting my Dad and helping him celebrate his 95th birthday. What a blast we had! He has bad knees so it is hard for him to walk a lot, which meant we didn’t go many places — we spent most of the time just visiting. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that one of the things I did want to do while I was there was check out the murals of downtown Harlingen. It is probably best to do this as a walking tour but because of my Dad’s knees, we did it in the car. I wasn’t sure my Dad was going to enjoy this because he was having…
Pasta with Pumpkin Cream – Not Just for Fall!
Several weeks ago, the Vineyard Vixens had a pasta dish for lunch at Villa Toscano that we all just loved. Executive Chef, Tim Benham, explained his process to us and told us the ingredients but didn’t give us any specific amounts. I played with the recipe and tweaked it until I came up with a version that I find quite yummy. I’m calling my version of this delicious dish Pasta with Pumpkin Cream, Butternut Squash and Chicken Sausage. The original dish had an even longer name! One of the ingredients of the dish is soy sauce soaked, roasted pumpkin seeds. There weren’t any on the portion I got from the buffet at Villa Toscano so I didn’t get to taste them. I thought this sounded like…