Trying to figure out what wines to serve with Thanksgiving Dinner this year? You’re not alone. Below is a fool-proof guide to finding great wines in all budgets for your holiday meal. I am a traditionalist when it comes to this meal, and my advice has remained the same year after year. The most important…
Great Values
12 Wines for Spring
12 Wine Recommendations Fantastic for Spring. From light bodied to full, white to red, there’s a wine for all occasions this season. I like to review wines the way most people taste them, with food. Many of the wine reviews you’ll see on this site are accompanied by a recipe. When we test recipes we…
Spicy Sriracha Grilled Shrimp – And Prosecco Superiore Wine Pairing
Spicy Sriracha Grilled Shrimp is the perfect party appetizer. The mild spiciness is tamed with a refreshing glass of Prosecco Superiore. Find out why this pairing works, and why you should serve it at your next dinner party. It’s the holiday season. A time of celebration. A time of parties and entertaining. A time of…
Smoked Pork Tenderloin Sandwich – And Beaujolais Wines Perfect for a Picnic
Jazz up your summer picnic with a Smoked Pork Tenderloin Sandwich. They pair fantastic with a glass of refreshing Beaujolais. This post was sponsored by Discover Beaujolais and Honest Cooking. As always all opinions, statements, and recipes are my own. Pin for later As much as we’re all about grilling and backyard barbecues around these…
12 Wines for Fall Sipping
I like to review wines the way most people taste them, with food. Many of the wine reviews you’ll see on this site are accompanied by a recipe. When we test recipes we usually open a few different wines of various styles that we think will work, then write about the best pairing. But often…
12 Rosés to Kick off your Summer
Rosé seems to be at an all time high right now in popularity. It’s everywhere! And, as an avid year-round rosé freak lover, I couldn’t be more excited. Today we have a review of a new book on the subject, and 12 rosé recommendations to jump start your summer sipping. Just this spring three new…
12 Wines for Spring Sipping
I like to review wines the way most people taste them, with food. Many of the wine reviews you’ll see on this site are accompanied by a recipe. When we test recipes we usually open a few different wines of various styles that we think will work, then write about the best pairing. But often…
Show me the heat!
Refreshing summer white wines It’s usually around this time of the year when you see articles about things to help you “beat the heat,” whether it’s drinks, cocktails, activities, you name it. We started the summer out on a hot note. In May and even early June we saw some high numbers here in Portland…
Reverse Seared Ribeye Steak Tacos – Stretching your budget
How to take an expensive cut of meat, like a thick cut Ribeye steak, and stretch the portions so that you can have your steak without worry of breaking your budget. This is also a great recipe for any leftover ribeye or prime rib. But before we talk about these budget friendly steak tacos I wanted to…
BBQ Chicken Pizza and Friday Wine!
It’s Friiiiiiiiidaaaay!!! Around here that usually means two things: Bubbles and Pizza Night (and by bubbles I mean sparkling wine, and by Pizza Night I mean we eat pizza nearly every single Friday night). Actually I lied, if the weather is warm it means three things — “Friday Night Lights” with our neighbors, which has…
Smoked Lamb Shoulder … and what to do with it.
A complete how-to guide on smoking a lamb shoulder, and its many uses… including these smoked lamb pitas. I’ve mentioned this before; I wasn’t raised on lamb. I’m pretty sure the first time I even had lamb was when I was a full-blown adult. And I know that many people fall into two categories:…
Weekend Wine Love – March Favorites
Wow, this month has sped by!!! I’ve barely had time to breathe, let alone share some of my favorite wines from the month. I had intended to share them this weekend in a post called weekend wine love, along with some favorite wine reads from the week. Then Easter happened. And kids. And sleep. Just…
Smoked Jalapeño Poppers — (Super Bowl 50 Ideas, part II plus wine!)
Smoked Jalapeño Poppers with Smoked Bacon. An easy game day appetizer perfect for Super Bowl made with crispy smoked bacon, cream cheese and cheddar cheese. But because Super Bowl is coming up, we’re adding these to the roster of game day party food! If there is ever a season for awesome bites it’s the late winter…
Friday Favorites — Arizona Edition
A weekly roundup of the “best of” the week in wine, food, and travel. The votes are in. Friday Favorites stays… for now anyways. According to my reader survey survey, a majority of the votes wanted FFs to stay. So I will continue to post them when it seems appropriate. And it seemed an appropriate…
Sparkling Wines for All Occasions this Holiday Season
Looking for some sparkling wine for the holidays? This past weekend was a big one. We went from Sean’s 40th birthday directly into celebrating the twins 5th birthday — two big milestone birthdays just three days apart. The later, to me, was more of a “we survived five years of twins” and stayed…
Ahi Tuna Ceviche and Wines to Pair
And here you thought all we did was barbecue. A girl can’t live on smoked meat alone (shh don’t tell the hubs I said that). Sometimes I just want to make something that requires no heating up a grill, no starting a fire, no ovens, no stovetops, no crock-pots. Well, really, no cooking. At least…
Getting to know Chianti with Ruffino
Let’s talk Chianti shall we? And no I’m not talking about the wicker basket looking Chianti bottle you may have had sitting in your college apartment used as a candle holder (please tell me I’m not the only one). No. I’m talking the real deal. Arguably Italy’s most famous wine, Chianti has come a long…
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…
Albariño Wine, and 6 Delicious Wines to try out
All about Albariño wines, and why you should be drinking this white Spanish wine year-round. One of my favorite white wines to drink with a variety of foods is Albariño. I’m constantly writing about it and hailing it as a versatile food wine, explaining to folks that it can pair with anything from salads, to…
Horse Heaven Hills Wine Region — a preview
A preview of the Horse Heaven Hills Wine Region and an article I wrote about the region for Palate Press Magazine. A few weeks back hubs and I ventured into the desert in search of… wine. No I’m not talking about Arizona, where I’m originally from. I’m talking about Washington State. But isn’t the Pacific…
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…
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…
Best Cheap Wines Under $10
Or rather, how to buy cheap wine for a non-profit event that doesn’t “taste like ass.” A good friend reached out to me recently with a challenge. She was looking for help in getting donations, wine donations specifically, for a fundraising event. That friend was Lynn Johnson, whom you may remember for creating that life…
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…
