Rook, right now ..

Yummmmmmm .....

it's a cab/syrah/merlot blend & has a lighter mouthfeel than I expected. Smells a bit like dark ripe cherries and that's the first thing that hits my mouth. It has a touch of something earthy, maybe smokey ..it's soft & full. Really quite drinkable, not challenging but quite good .. Will be great with roast chicken, spring mushrooms, lighter meats cooked on the grill .. not sure it will stand up to barbeque sauce, but what does?

Here's what they look like, cool huh?

New O'Reilly Wines ..$12.99!

I'm a huge fan of David O'Reilly wines ..I met him through the folks at Sineann and then Owen Roe was paired with Supreme at Taste of Washington our second year there. I love stumbling across one of his new wine projects. Today I discovered Corvidae (yes, the family of the crow ..our brilliant tormentor) .. and I bought the 2 wines at Madison Market, Lenore, a Syrah .. yes, Lenore from the poem The Raven. The second wine named Rook is a Cab-Merlot-Syrah blend. Here's the next best part ..$12.99 each ..really! Awesome labels .. I'll let you know how they taste soon.

Enjoy the sun.

Bravo NYTimes might be saved by the downturn (at least for me) I was afraid that the magazine and style sections were being taken over by editors whose idea of affordable is Moss. Now, I love me some Moss but anyone with eyeballs can walk in and pick out 10 great things for a shoot, it's THAT curated and edited but it's mostly only for the super wealthy or very design obssessed. Now bravo to those folks but still, let's get real!
The paper now regularly has articles or posts that consider things we actually might be able to afford. Here's a link to Kermit Lynch's wines mostly under $20.
http://themoment.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/cheap-wine-well-drink-to-that/#more-7601

YAY! The Joguet Chinon and perhaps the Cahors are at Madison Market even.

Watched The Big Night again a few nights back, what a sweet film. Has anyone ever tried to make Timpano? http://www.newitalianrecipes.com/timpano.html unsure I'm this ambitious ..but maybe one day I'll have a Big Night dinner party ....

one little aside:

my friend emily has a blog too .. we sort of complement each other ..
her's is: http://marketofsplendor.blogspot.com

nice recipe for making rustic pesto and a sweet article about winter daphne

another friend, Shannon Kelly, a style-trend maven in her own right also has a blog
http://trendscaping.inyourhead.com .. give her's a try too

Here's a recipe using pomegranate molasses:

green olive & ruby grapefruit salad

handful of nice green olives (not the kind for martinis)
2 ruby grapefruit (you could use blood oranges or even stone fruit later in the summer)
greens: watercress, some italian parsley, maybe a bit of belgian endive, butter lettuce is also nice in this. You could also just use spring mix, though some tart & bitter greens are nice.
1/2 fennel bulb, shaved. (optional)
1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts
1 ripe avocado, chopped
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
2 tablespoons nice fruity extra virgin olive oil
S&P to taste

Prep:
Smash the olives a bit & remove the pits add to bowl
Wash/Dry greens
Shave Fennel (optional)
Dressing:
Mix together molasses, oil, pepper

Put everything else into the bowl and add dressing, toss & let sit for about 10 minutes.
Salt to taste.

How easy was that?

Enjoy.

xo tova