Wine Club Insider (finally!) back…

I can hear it now…

“Hey, WCI, where have you been? I was looking for my usual end-of-the-week dose of wine club news, and, poof, there’s nothing there? What gives?”

With deepest and most humble apologies, I respectfully submit that sometimes even wine blogging must take a back seat to real life.

As some of you no doubt know, Ray and Joan Kroc (of McDonald’s Fame, and I don’t mean ee-ei-ee-ei-oh) left hundreds of millions of dollars to the Salvation Army to build a number of community centers across the USA. Well, Coeur d’ Alene Idaho was one of the fortunate recipients, and after raising a matching $38 million, CDA became the smallest (by far) city to have one of the amazing new rec and community centers. (Here… check out www.kroccda.org for an idea of how special these centers are!)

Well. the grand opening was this weekend, with the gala last Friday night, and yours truly was able to help provide the catering for the big day.

Since Wednesday, I’ve been on my feet for 12 – 14 straight hours prepping and transporting a buffet for 450 to the center, and then setting up, serving and cleaning up.

It was a lot of work but well worth it, and well received. Here is a sample of what we had on the menu:

~ Chicken Valdostana (chicken breasts pounded out like veal, and then stuffed with copacola sausage and fontina cheese and baked in a Putanesca sauce)

~ Crostini with whipped gorgonzola andfig or sun-dried tomato puree

~ Pizza “turnovers”

~ 10 sides of cold smoked salmon and all the trimmings

~ Huckleberry cheese cake and sauces

~ Antipasto, fresh fruit and cheese trays that could have fed the 2nd army

and a few other little delicacies.

Redwood Creek Winery served up the libations to accompany, and a good time was had by all, though I don’t know if I want to see another chicken or cut another piece of cheese for a while…

So, that, dear readers, is why last week’s column was a tad late… I hope you will understand, and tune in again this week… after all, this was for a great cause, and anything done in the service of food, wine, charities and enjoyment of the public has to be a good thing, right?

Enjoy your day!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out.

Uncategorized buffet, charity, food, gala event, Kroc Center, Wine Club

Wine Club Insider back with you.

There is spring in the air (finally?) here in the Pacific northwest, and it’s a sunny day. Even if the temp is still around 30, it just has that feel of spring. To top it off, my bi-annual shipment from Isenhower Cellars is supposed to arrive today, with a great selection, including a Horse Heaven Hills Syrah, a Petite Verdot, and one of my favorites, the Bachelor’s Button Cabernet! www.isenhowercellars.com.

I love Isenhower’s wine, and their “FOI” (Friends of Isenhower) wine club let’s me keep current with their top wines, as well as a unique wine made only for wine club members.

I’m also expecting my Pepperbridge Reserve Cab shipment soon as well… one of my favorite wines of the year… ahh… I love spring!

There are also quite a few wine and charity events over the next few weeks, and multiple tastings, as people get out from the winter doldrums, and we are involved in several, donating wine and dinner parties to worthy causes, including the Chamber of Commerce ‘Commodores,” a women and children’s center, and a cancer charity. There are very likely several of these types of events in your area as well, and I encourage you to get out and support them.

It is a great opportunity to try new wines from (often) dozens of wineries, try some neat foot or hors d’ oeuvres, get back in touch with other like-minded folks in your area, and to support some great causes… the coolest thing is that most of these events are very reasonably priced, with tickets in the $15 – 25 range, which, for what you get, is a steal! Seriously! This is less than a movie and popcorn, offers a great evening out, and hey, you might even get a souvenir wine glass out of the deal!

Back atcha soon!

Cheers,

WIne Club Insider out

As I was puttering around my wine cellar

California Wine, Fine Wine, International Wine, Red Wine, Uncategorized, USA Wine, Vineyards, Vintage Wine, Wine Cellar, Wine Club, Wine Education, Wine Glasses, Wine Lovers, Wine Reviews, Wine Tasting charity, Horse Heaven Hills, Isenhower, Pepperbridge, Wine Club, wine tastings, Wineries