An easy smoked tri-tip sandwich recipe topped with our awesome Chimichurri Sauce, onions, and a ciabatta roll. Don’t have a smoker? That’s fine, you can grill or roast it in the oven. Tri-tip, where have you been all my life. We serve this cut at catering events and in our house. And when we have…
Food
Pinot Noir BBQ Sauce
Pinot Noir BBQ Sauce is what happens when the combination of the delicate flavors of Pinot Noir wine and the bold flavors of BBQ sauce collide. Shortly after we got The Beast (aka our commercial smoker) we started a catering company. At the time, my husband/partner was still working his day job, and he had never worked…
Cocktail Week — Adults Only Blueberry Lemonade with Gin
Cocktail Week continues today with… GIN I love the signature juniper berry flavor of gin. I love gin martinis. I love a refreshing gin and tonic. What’s not to love about gin?! And this bottle of gin makes me wonder why I don’t drink it more often. Produced in Scotland, Hendrick’s Gin is infused with…
Cocktail Week: Lemon Rhubarb Fizz Cocktail & Rolling River Spirits Vodka
Let’s talk about vodka shall we? Why not? Kids are back in school and folks are already talking about cooler weather and heartier food… in other words, the F word — fall! This whole fall business makes me uneasy since I’m a little obsessed with summer and don’t want to see it go (ever!). Vodka…
Cocktails Week: Simple Simple Syrup Recipes
Cocktails Week It’s cocktails week here on Vindulge. We’re putting wine aside this week and dedicating an entire week to booze! I am not a professional mixologist, but I have been on quite the cocktails kick this summer. I blame my kids. No, not that they drive me to drink, but that their favorite activity…
Friday Favorites – anniversaries, box wine, and upcoming adventures
A roundup of my favorite things from the week in the categories of wine, food, travel, and lifestyle. WINE & FOOD Anniversary Food & Wines This week marked hubby and my 9th wedding anniversary. Though it fell on a weekday it didn’t stop us from going big for dinner. Hubs grilled up some amazing NY…
A Chilean Winemaker in Argentina – Meet Aurelio Montes Jr. of Kaiken Winery
“Passion is the best way that I can describe the country of Argentina.” This is how Chilean winemaker Aurelio Montes Jr. described his new home when I met him a few weeks ago. I had asked him to describe the difference between making wine in Argentina vs. Chile, where he is from. Aurelio (who bears…
Stag Hollow Vineyard — creating work-life balance
Since the purchase of the new smoker (“Old Smokey” as he’s being referred to throughout our neighborhood), we’ve been asked by nearly all of our family and close friends when we are going to start a BBQ business — as in, give up our day jobs and start a restaurant or catering company. We chuckle…
Friday Favorites – Travel edition (Neskowin, Oregon)
A roundup of my favorite things from the week in the categories of wine, food, travel, and lifestyle. TRAVEL About two weeks ago we decided we needed to get out of town for a weekend. We have not had a vacation in what feels like forever and I needed to get the heck out of…
BBQ Corner (part 11) — Dry-Aged Beef and Wine Pairing
By contributing writer Sean, aka “the hubby” Um, it costs how much? That was my initial response when challenged to understand the unique flavor of dry-aged beef. I’ve had it in restaurants, but you come to expect big prices at a big meat house. But buying it raw from a local butcher? I had to…
Exploring Cabernet Franc — Cornerstone Cellars
I first knew of Craig Camp, of Cornerstone Cellars, several years ago through the Wine Bloggers Conference, but our paths never crossed. I’m not sure why. It wasn’t until, several years later, through the introduction by a mutual friend, Thea, that I was officially introduced to Craig and able to taste a few of the…
July Favorites
A roundup of my favorite things from the week in the categories of wine, food, travel, and lifestyle. It’s been awhile since I posted my weekly favorites. This month was a blur, involving lots of travel, visitors, and toddlers who aren’t in preschool for the summer (eek!). So here are a few favs from the…
BBQ Corner (part 10) – How to add incredible flavor to grilled burgers
By contributing writer Sean, aka “the hubby” I’m gonna go ahead and say something out loud. Grilled burgers can be very boring. It’s true. Nothing is more uninspiring than frozen beef patties from your local chain supermarket, grilled so wrong they end up overcooked, then placed on a cheap bun with ketchup and mustard. But…
A Wine for Spicy Thai Food
The day after I arrived home from the Wine Bloggers Conference I was exhausted. Hubby, who had been on twin patrol solo for four days, was arguably even more exhausted than I was. Neither of us felt like cooking. More importantly, neither of us felt like cleaning dishes after dinner. This was a job for…
10 Fourth of July Recipes and Wines for BBQ
If any holiday gets me more excited about cooking than Thanksgiving, it is, hands down, 4th of July. Here are 10 great recipes to celebrate 4th of July with. 4th of July in my Portland neighborhood is… well… Picture 4th of July in Mayberry. It’s pretty darn close. Combine the charm of a close-knit neighborhood…
BBQ Corner (part 9) – McKinley Springs BBQ Competition
By contributing writer Sean “The Hubby” It’s no secret that I love to BBQ. But to make the investment in competition BBQ is an entirely different level of love obsession. You don’t have the safety of having your own kitchen and bed right around the corner. You don’t have friends and family giving you…
Cahors, France — a photo preview
This week’s “favorites” are dedicated to my week in Cahors, France. Cahors, France Cahors, located in southwest France, hails claim to the birthplace of Malbec (the grape Argentina gets all the credit for). I was there for “Cahors Malbec Days”, a four day symposium and trade event focusing on all things Malbec. While there I…
Friday Favorites – more simple summer wines and Cahors prep
A roundup of my favorite things from the week in the categories of wine, food, travel, and lifestyle. FOOD I’m still coming off a high watching hubs help cater his first event with the new smoker. 320 pounds of pork butt were slow cooked to perfection by hubby and Matt Johnston of Boda’s Kitchen celebrating…
BBQ Corner (part 7) — Introducing the Yoder Chisholm, and our first catering gig
In lieu of a BBQ lesson this week we have an important announcement to make. By contributing writer Sean “The Hubby” There is a fine line between obsession and passion. At least, that’s what I think. I’ll admit that my passion for quality barbecue and obsession with the right tools and ingredients are what guide…
Smoked Strawberry Shortcake with Smoked Bacon Biscuits
We may have gone a bit over the top with this recipe for Smoked Strawberry Shortcake with Smoked Bacon Biscuits… and for very good reasons… Strawberry season is officially upon us, and opening day at my favorite organic U-pick farm was this past weekend. We couldn’t pass the opportunity to be among the first to…
Different Styles of BBQ Sauces
A rundown of the major styles of BBQ and regional sauces and what they are good for. I love being asked what my style of BBQ is, for a couple reasons. I find it an opportunity to gauge how much that person really understands styles, and why it matters (or doesn’t). To be candid, if…
Brisket Tacos — a great use for leftover smoked brisket
Brisket Tacos are an excellent use for any leftover brisket, smoked brisket or not. This easy taco recipe will be one you will come back for over and over and…. We find ourselves with another overload of smoked brisket leftovers. It happens. Though we have dozens of great uses for leftover smoked brisket (see below),…
Mini-Vacation Spotlight — Sedona, Arizona
Things to do for a great mini-vacation to Sedona, Arizona. For Mother’s Day two years ago my husband asked what I’d most like. I told him I wanted Sedona. I wanted to go somewhere warm, quiet, beautiful, serene, and most of all peaceful. I had just come off of my first year of having twins,…
How to make a Grilled and Glazed Chicken
How to make Grilled and Glazed Chicken. I must admit a few years ago I was so uninspired when grilling chicken (but my wife requested it several times a week!). Frankly, I just felt that the flavor was bland and half the time it was either too charred or not cooked enough, meaning it would…