bodega naranjuez: the natural wines of antonio vílchez
Last Thursday (practically Friday, with the delay of our final flight), we returned from our two-week honeymoon in Andalucía, the southernmost province in Spain. I hardly know where to start, but over the next few weeks Marvin and I will be posting some stories and highlights from our trip (photos in this post were taken by him). For our first post, I want to share with you a natural winemaker that we discovered in the most serendipitous way.
Wandering Granada’s Albaicín neighborhood on a rainy afternoon, we decided to take shelter in a tiny place called Bar Kiki. We were leery that it would be a tourist trap, as we were adjacent to the mirador San Nicolas (a popular vantage point from which to view the city and Alhambra), but we entered anyway to warm up with a glass of wine and some rabo de toro (oxtail stew). It turned out to be a great little spot, with a friendly bartender who was happy to answer our questions about different drinks and menu items. So when a local winemaker came into the bar to make a delivery, the bartender offered to sell us a bottle at their cost. We started talking to the winemaker, Antonio Vílchez, and before we knew it he had invited us to come to his bodega, about 45 minutes away, for a tasting and tour of his vineyards.
The next day we were heading for Córdoba, but decided to take a detour to the east to visit Antonio’s winery. After all, when would we get another chance to have a personal guided tour with a Spanish winemaker? We drove towards Guadix and found our way toward the tiny (300 inhabitants) town of Marchal. On the way into town, we spotted a gypsy caravan on the side of the road, as well as cave dwellings in the surrounding cliff side. After pulling up in front of the tiny ayuntamiento (town hall) and getting some curious looks from the townspeople, we located Antonio and he showed us into his place. The operation was small and unglamorous- he produces a mere 8,000 bottles per year- but it was great to get an inside look at how a small winery operates. Continue reading
goodbye, hello… new site, new look!
Some of you may have noticed that, while I ostensibly have more time now for cooking and blogging what with getting rid of my desk job, my posts have been sporadic at best lately. But, there’s been lots going on behind the scenes! I’ve most definitely been cooking (see my instagram feed at right for evidence), and in between other jobs I’ve been working to get my content transferred over to this spanking new site (well, new to you guys- I’ve been staring at the back end of it it for months). Let me tell you- if I knew then what I know now, I would have made this switch a year into my blog when it would have been much less work to update!
Please bear with me, as I am still in the process of going through the archives and fixing links, reformatting some posts (photos and layout might look wonky on some older posts) and tweaking other odds and ends. But, I just couldn’t wait any longer to show you guys my cool new masthead, hand drawn by the talented Nicole Ray of Sloe Gin Fizz.
For those of you who subscribe via RSS or email, I’m working to get the feed transferred and (fingers crossed) that will all go smoothly, but if you’re a fellow wordpress.com user and subscribed that way, you’ll probably have to resubscribe here on the new site. I appreciate every subscriber and hope you’ll stick with me! (And, hint hint, if you haven’t yet, there’s no time like the present…)
HUGE thanks to my friend and all-around swell gal Kim over at wine blog Gang of Pour who helped with the site design and showed the utmost patience with getting all the details just right.
And last but not least, thanks to all of you reading this- I hope you enjoy the new site, and I’ll be back to our “regular programming” soon with lots of delicious posts about our upcoming trip to Andalusia (we leave in a week!!).
schnäck!
Sundays just don’t get much better than yesterday. I started off the day with a greasy-spoon breakfast at the Steak Hut on Lafayette, where my friends and former band-mates Steve and James were playing an acoustic set of country classics… I even got to sit in on vocals on a few tunes. After that, I sat outside reading books in the record-breakingly warm sunshine. And to top it all off, I had dinner with the husband and friends at a pop-up German restaurant called Schnäck.
Our friends at Porktown Sausage set up Schnäck in Supino Pizza (temporarily closed while owner Dave Mancini takes a well-deserved vacation in Argentina), and it was just the right size for a first-time venture such as this. We got there shortly after it opened at 5pm and it was already over half full; it didn’t take long for a wait to form at the door. But the small number of seats (about 30) and limited menu allowed them to manage the flow and keep from getting too slammed.
in the red {les culinettes}
After a few months’ hiatus, les culinettes (a potluck dinner club of like-minded ladies) was back in full force a few weeks ago with a red-themed dinner at Emily’s beautiful Woodbridge home. Because of the length of time that passed since the last dinner (September! yoinks…), we were all extra-excited and inspired this time around. Since the green-themed dinner went over so well, Emily decided to do a similar theme but with red food. Once again, I was impressed by the variety and breadth of people’s contributions- red pepper hummus (Emily), an African curried chickpea stew (also Emily), Spanish stuffed ancho chiles (Abigail), a salad with lots of red accents (Meghan), beet ravioli with brown butter & sage (Sarah), roasted red pepper & tuna tapas (Amy), fries with homemade ketchup (Christina), a red onion vegetable tart (Molly), and even cherry-pomegranate bourbon jello shots (Molly again)! You’ll forgive my phone photos, I hope… I forgot to bring my camera, but can’t resist sharing some shots of this amazing food.
I had a bunch of pitted tart Michigan cherries in the freezer left over from some Beau Bien jam-making, so I offered to bring dessert. I made a buttermilk ice cream, and to go on top, cherries in a light syrup infused with vanilla and a touch of cinnamon. I thought it might be nice to have something to soak up all the sauce, so I also made shortcake-type biscuits, and sprinkled them with a little red sugar to get in the spirit of things. By the time we got to dessert, I was shocked anyone had room left, but then again, I always am! Luckily everyone rallied, since it would have been a difficult dish to take home for later. Continue reading
soup swap III: a porky good time
A couple weekends ago, the soup swap was brought back to life after a one-year hiatus. What were we thinking, skipping a year? I do not know. My only excuse is that we moved last January and at the time, I probably didn’t think the house was “ready” to have people over. I can’t say that it’s that much more ready now- we still have a long way to go and the list of home improvement projects is long- but fortunately I’ve forced myself to get over it and lower my standards; otherwise, I’d never have any guests!
It’s a well-known fact that a little pork can enhance just about any soup, and we found it amusing that everyone’s soups, without specifically planning it that way, had pork in them. Michelle’s was the meatiest, a pork and tomatillo stew with big chunks of tender, falling-apart meat. Kate brought a delicious split pea with bacon, perked up with the addition of fresh rosemary. Molly made a hearty chickpea and sausage soup with some Hungarian sausage she’d been gifted from a neighbor, and Sarah made a fantastic wonton soup with homemade, pork-filled dumplings.
