Odds and ends about food and wine.
Like the grand opening of Petite Cellars.
Owned by the former owners of Perfect Pour, the store in Turf Valley has been completed and the ribbon cutting ceremony was this afternoon. Courtney Watson was on hand to cut the ribbon, along with Chamber of Commerce representation. We enjoyed the event, wishing them well and picking up a “local” gin, from Loudoun County VA (Catoctin Creek). Love having a specialty liquor around to use for entertaining, and finding locally produced items complements what is important to me.
Two days in a row, we have been out and about. Last night we attended the opening session of “Iron Bridge University”, this time the first of six tastings featuring the wines of Italy. Vince does a great job of leading the educational series. This one highlighted Tuscany.
The events are hugely popular. All 36 seats were taken, and there was a waiting list of dozens of people. The entire six event series is a sell out. Good to see another family owned local business doing well.
I also was impressed with the local farms providing the Bridge with meat and vegetables. Farms like Clark’s and Valley Haven, in Howard County.
At home today for lunch, we enjoyed locally sourced items, paired with a few new finds. Like these wonderful crackers we found at COSTCO.
These crackers are perfect with our ajvar, and my newest spread I made. I used the Bulgarian recipe as inspiration, but then just went off in my own direction.
The eggplant spread is in the small bowl. I used two eggplant and four green peppers, roasted and peeled. A few cloves of garlic, some lemon juice, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Processed in the “food pro” until the right consistency. Sharper in taste than the red pepper spreads I make, but still very tasty.
The salad on the plate was made with the Tuscan kale in our CSA box. Some scallions, pecorino, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and avocados I picked up at Boarman’s when I was ordering our Maple Lawn Thanksgiving turkey. None of it measured. Whatever looks good, is the way I make salads.
All in all, a very pleasant Monday and Tuesday to start our week. Crossing my fingers that it warms up a bit, so I can plant garlic.
Hmmm, food and wine and cooking. I need to find some other hobbies. Nah, I don’t think so. These keep us busy enough.
hocofood@@@
AnnieRie Unplugged 