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…
White Wines
Smoked Sausage and Mushroom Risotto
Smoked Sausage Risotto combines smoked sausage and mushrooms for a creamy, meaty, hearty and comforting risotto recipe. This risotto recipe uses homemade smoked chicken stock giving it a rich mildly smoky undertone. This delicious meal also comes with wine pairings. A traditional mushroom risotto has just taken traditional risotto up about 100,000 notches by adding…
Wild Mushroom Soup with Sherry and Thyme
A hearty Wild Mushroom Soup is the ultimate comfort food in our house. This recipe calls for both dried wild mushrooms soaked in sherry, and cremini mushrooms for a delicious, savory, earthy soup. This soup was also adapted from our very first cooking class we ever took, and in some ways launched our food and…
Smoked Salmon Dip
Smoked Salmon Dip is the perfect appetizer for smoked salmon lovers. This dip combines flavorful and tender chunks of hot smoked salmon (not lox) a mix of cream cheese and crème fraîche base, seasoned with a little dill and lemon. The Best Smoked Salmon Salmon is one of the first things we cooked when we got…
Tomahawk Pork Chops – Reverse Seared
You may have cooked pork chops, but these pork tomahawk steaks are just as dramatic and delicious as their beef counterparts. Pork tomahawk chops are incredibly tender, and make for a great dish to serve at a dinner party. Sometimes when we have friends over, it’s fun to have a great visual reaction to the…
Grilled Shrimp with Garlic White Wine Butter Sauce
Grilled Shrimp with Garlic White Wine Butter Sauce is quick and easy and can be made on the grill or adapted for the stove top. Shrimp is a regular thing in our family. The hubby is usually craving beef, and I’m often in need of a beef break (yes, that’s a thing). Seafood, or specifically…
Grilled Peach Crostini with Mascarpone and Honey
Grilled Peach Crostini with Mascarpone and Honey is the perfect summer appetizer. Grilling peaches is a must during the summer months! Grilled peach wedges and baguette slices are grilled up, the bread is topped with some creamy mascarpone, layered with a grilled peach wedge, and topped with honey and a drizzle of aged balsamic and…
Rosé Wines (mostly from Oregon) for the Summer of 2019
12 Rosé Recommendations Perfect for Summer. From light to bold, find out about rosé wines and some of our current favorites. 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…
Apricot Glazed Grilled Chicken Recipe
Apricot Glazed Grilled Chicken is quick, easy, and oh so delicious. Add lime for a citrus pop and fresh diced jalapeño and you have a lip smacking dish for your next grill night. We can’t get enough grilled chicken recipes around here. It’s a weekly staple, and our kids love this healthy protein! This version spends a…
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…
Pulled Pork Sliders with Grilled Pineapple Coleslaw
This recipe for sweet and savory Smoked Pulled Pork Sliders is a take on Asian-meets-Hawaiian flavors with a dry rub of Chinese five spice, dry ginger, and brown sugar, topped with a soy based glaze and a bright pineapple citrus coleslaw. These pulled pork sliders pair perfectly with one of our favorite white wines – dry riesling….
Double Smoked Ham with Cherry Bourbon Glaze
Smoking a store bought cured ham gives the ham what’s called a double smoke, or twice smoke. This Cherry Bourbon Glaze takes a Smoked Ham to the next level giving it that extra wow factor! Find out how to double smoke your next holiday ham. I wasn’t much of a ham person growing up. We…
Grilled Wine Can Chicken
Wine Can Chicken is flavorful, moist, and incredibly tender. This grilled chicken takes the classic beer can chicken method to a whole new level with the addition of a can of wine. What Is Beer Can Chicken Beer can chicken and its cousin, wine can chicken, is the method of inserting a can of liquid into…
Grilled Sriracha Sweet Chili Chicken
Grilled Sriracha Chicken is an incredible combination of whole cut up chicken pieces in a savory marinade, grilled to perfection, and then finished with a sweet and spicy sweet chili glaze. Grilled Sriracha Sweet Chili Chicken is great for a whole quartered chicken, or even chicken breasts. Chicken is a blank canvass, and we love…
Back to Bourgogne: An introduction to Burgundy wines
A beginner lesson on the wines of the Burgundy (Bourgogne) region of France. Good Burgundies can be life changing. They are the kinds of wines that, in the 60’s and 70’s, motivated crazy folks to pack up and plant vineyards in Oregon, because they saw the potential for the kinds of life changing wines they…
Grilled Salmon with Orange Maple Glaze
Grilled Salmon with a Sweet Glaze is a great meal to ring in the new year. Healthy, yet indulgent enough to eat on a date night! Throw in a glass of Prosecco Superiore and you’ve got yourself a perfect meal. As the year wraps up we start to plan our goals for the new year….
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…
Grilled Pork Chops with Wine Brown Butter Sauce and Prosecco Superiore wine pairing
The next time you think of pork chops, elevate them to the next level by making this super easy, yet elegant, Wine Brown Butter Sauce. Pair it with a bottle of delicious Prosecco Superiore, and you’ve got yourself an incredible meal for date night or entertaining guests. We’re very passionate about our bubbly around…
How to make the Ultimate Mimosa Bar (or Bellini)
How to Make the Ultimate Mimosa Bar! No matter what time of year it is, mimosas are always a great idea! Whether for a wedding or baby shower, celebration, or heck, even Sunday football, your brunch needs a mimosa! And we’re here to show you how to create the ultimate Mimosa Bar along with some…
Grilled Romaine Caesar Salad (recipe and video)
A simple and delicious Grilled Romaine Caesar Salad elevated with some smoky crispy pancetta (or bacon), grilled lemon, and grilled baguette slices to sub for croutons. This grilled romaine Caesar salad is the perfect side dish for your grilled meats or backyard BBQ and you’re gonna love it! I’m a huge fan of grilled salads….
15 Awesome Summer Wines
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…
Easy Classic Ceviche Recipe (with white-fleshed fish)
This easy and classic ceviche is made with rockfish (or other white fish like tilapia or bass) and is perfect for a hot summer day when it’s too darn hot to cook. This classic ceviche recipe is also perfect for parties, appetizers, or a light meal at home. You don’t see many recipes here prepared…
Smoked Pork Ribs with Asian Spice Rub
Inspired by a variety of Asian flavors, these Smoked Pork Ribs with Asian Spice Rub and Sauce are absolutely incredible! Barbecue can be a very subjective experience, especially if your lens for barbecue style foods is heavily influenced by one of the BBQ classical regions like the Carolinas, Memphis, or Texas. That said, the technique…
Sparkling Wines of Italy — The wide variety you should know about
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the Italian Trade Commission for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine. There’s a wide world of quality sparkling wine beyond Prosecco produced in Italy. If you’ve read much of this blog you’ll know that I am quite passionate about sparkling wine, and if not, now…
