Ever wonder what you could do with a miniature 3.5-inch cast iron skillet? Here are 17 Genius uses for that teeny tiny miniature cast iron pan! This past Christmas my mom gave me one. A super teeny tiny miniature cast iron skillet. It is small. Really small. Like 3.5-inches wide small. It’s just like this…
Friday Favorites
Love
There are many who harp on Valentine’s Day for being a “Hallmark” holiday. I listened to several people on OPB this morning going on and on about how much they hate this “commercialized” day. I get it. The same could be said about any holiday really. But what if, just for once, we ignore the Hallmark stuff and…
Friday Favorites — Arizona Edition
A weekly roundup of the “best of” the week in wine, food, and travel. The boys and I traveled to AZ this week to visit family. Sean and I took a couple of nights to ourselves (wohoo!) while the boys tortured spent some QT with the fam. FAVORITE FASHION – The Man-Robe If you’ve ever tried…
Friday Favorites — California wines, supermoons, and fire.
A weekly roundup of our favorite finds from the week in the categories of wine, food, and travel. WINE With the exception of our lunar eclipse wine (bottom) we spent this week focusing on California wines. For someone who spends a good deal of her time focusing on Oregon Pinot Noir I did tend to notice…
Veneto and Puglia (Italy) — Photo Preview
A photo tour of two incredible regions in Italy — Veneto, in Northern Italy, and Puglia, in Southern Italy. I’m still in total awe of the beauty of these vastly different regions and the warmth of the people I had the pleasure of meeting. I can’t wait to begin sharing stories of the wines, sights, people,…
Friday Favorites — BBQ, breakfast, and stellar sunsets
A weekly roundup of my favorite things from the week in the categories of wine, food, travel, and occasionally lifestyle. Since we took last Friday off, this covers the last two weeks of July. LIFESTYLE Favorite Moment — Cooking for Counter Culture! I’m still pinching myself that we even got invited to cook at such…
Friday Favorites — tasty treats and upcoming BBQ fun
A weekly roundup of my favorite things from the week in the categories of wine, food, travel, and occasionally lifestyle. This week we have a mix of some cool wines, a recipe I’ve been obsessing over for the last few weeks, and some awesome upcoming events you don’t want to miss. WINE Forgeron Cellars Façon…
Friday Favorites – It’s BBQ competition time… almost
A weekly roundup of my favorite things from the week in the categories of wine, food, travel, and occasionally lifestyle. BBQ Competition Prep This is it. We’re down to the last week before our first major barbecue competition — The 8th Annual McKinley Springs BBQ Showdown & Benefit — next weekend and we couldn’t be…
White Wines to Drink During the Polar Vortex
Yesterday I posted about rich slow cooked winter foods and hearty red wines to pair, so I only thought it fair to talk about some light white wines I’ve had lately to even the scale. I know it also seems counterintuitive to be talking about white wines when most of the country is in a…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
Friday Favorites – Touring Oregon Wine Country
A weekly roundup of my favorite things this week in the categories of wine, food, travel, and lifestyle. Since returning to Oregon I’ve tried to immerse myself in Pacific Northwest wines, specifically on understanding the intricacies of each wine-growing region. This week I had the opportunity to spend some time focusing on two different regions…
What we’ve been drinking
I recently attended two fantastic events showcasing Northwest wines. First, at Taste Washington in Seattle, and second (and closer to my own backyard) the Columbia Gorge Winegrowers Grand Tasting in Portland. In addition, I’ve opened several standout wines at home recently that I’ve wanted to share. So I decided to highlight some of the best…
Friday Favorites — Farmer’s Market Fun
A weekly roundup of my favorite things this week in the categories of wine, food, travel, and lifestyle. Since I took last week off this encompasses two weeks of favorites. LIFESTYLE Portland Farmer’s Market The Portland Farmer’s Market is open for the season! It has been open for two weeks now and we’ve hit it…
February Favorites — a wine country getaway & stress relieving bubbles
A roundup of my favorite things in the categories of wine, food, travel, and lifestyle. Since this month has flown by I decided to highlight the month of February instead of just this past week. TRAVEL & LIFESTYLE Napa/Sonoma girls weekend – a much-needed getaway When the opportunity arises for your best friend to join…
Friday Favorites – Valentine’s Day Edition
A weekly roundup of my favorite things in the categories of wine, food, travel, and lifestyle. Once upon a time I was a cynic about Valentine’s Day. I had my years where I boycotted the holiday, and also those where I preached that you should appreciate your loved ones every day, not just one day…
Friday Favorites — Touring Portland with Friends
A weekly roundup of my favorite things in the categories of wine, food, travel, and lifestyle. Two of my dearest friends, Allison and Lynn, were visiting last weekend from CA, one of whom I’ve been BFF’s since we were fifteen years old, singing and dancing our way through high school together. We had a lot…
Friday Favorites – welcoming fall, and a stunning Pinot from California
A roundup of some of my favorite things this week in the categories of wine, food, travel, and lifestyle. The Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maize on Sauvie Island It was a perfect fall day yesterday and I’m trying to take in all the good weather I can before the you-know-what wet stuff starts and doesn’t…
Friday Favorites — Bordeaux Travel Edition
I returned from Bordeaux this week, so naturally this weeks favorites are all about some of my favorite things from the trip, and as always in the categories of wine, food, travel, and lifestyle. Wine For many the word Bordeaux conjures up images of the famous great growth wines of Bordeaux. Wines that are…
Friday Favorites — Oregon day tripping and weekend bubbles
A roundup of some of my favorite things this week in the categories of wine, food, travel, and lifestyle. It has been a very slow week here on the blog, but an incredibly busy one for me and Vindulge. I’m sorry I missed last week’s Friday post. To make it up I’ve extended this weeks…
Friday Favorites — food, friends, and an award winning recipe
A weekly roundup of some of my favorite things this week in the categories of wine, food, travel, and lifestyle. This was indeed a week full of “favorites”. Well, my absolute favorite part of the week was getting to spend it with some good friends who were visiting from California with their toddler who is…