Susan in FL

What nice comments, thanks. The week has flown by, and Klary, I am happy to say I don't have to burst your bubble! This has been a representative week of Real Life, except that I hardly ever keep the late hours and the early rising times of this week. Certainly I don't make it a habit to attend pricey events like the wine festival on a regular basis, although I wish I could. It was a special occasion. But otherwise, this has been typical of the Florida life I looked forward to for so long.

Good Morning. Whew! [Looking at watch] ...yep it is still morning. Today I enjoyed a slight variation on the coffee theme. I drank my first cup on the porch, but at the bar instead of the table. And, it was a cup of coffee, instead of a mug of coffee. I used the china that was my mom's. The sun was a bit higher in the sky than usual coffee time. The weather is beautiful so far today.

Thanks, Michael. I failed to say that it was delicious, grilled to perfection. Tune in tomorrow (later today) for the last day of this Foodblog. (And then, I'll get back to my usual habit of going to bed much, much earlier than this.)

In the salad was the mozzarella di bufala I got from iGourmet. Wow, there's nothing like the real thing baby, and now knowing how good it is purchased from iGourmet, no reason to buy the supermarket stuff. This week I am flying to California to visit my son. I am flying into San Luis Obispo, and plan to spend the afternoon in and around Paso Robles before driving to Lemoore. Sooooo, we've been drinking wines from the area whenever we get the chance for an affordable bottle -- thus, the choice of this wine for tonight. Out of the pictures I took of the table tonight, I chose this one because it shows a guy who showed up at dinner time. See him in the upper left hand corner? In case you don't, I have cut and blown up a shot of him. We have these guys as visitors on our screens very often, but this is the first time one has made it into a dinner photo. Florida dining at its best.

Today on his way home Russ stopped by Publix to buy a few things we needed for dinner. He cooked tonight, and even took pictures as he was cooking, to give me the time to go through photos and compose the posts, etc. about the wine festival. Then I paused to make the salad, plate the food, take pictures of the plated food, and eat (and watch Cold Case on TV). We had a mixed grill of lamb chop, quail, and sausage with mashed potatoes, broccoli, insalata alla Caprese, and Turner Road Cabernet Paso Robles. First, his picture of our grill, with the sun setting in the background. I like it!!

This morning for breakfast before taking a long walk on the beach, we fueled up with room service on the balcony. Russ's: Mine: Views: The Resort's tiki bar... And at last, what I was hoping to be able to post this week... We saw that the shrimp boats were back out there. My camera doesn't have the zoom to show it, but trust me, these are shrimp boats.

No connection with any wine publication, that I know of. It was put on by The Shores Resort & Spa, and also sponsored by National Distributing Company and some local businesses. Interestingly, most of the group preferred the sparkling wine. One factor might have been that the California sparkling wine had brighter fruit, making it more drinkable without food. I think the preferences might have turned out differently if there had been some food, even if just bread. There were a handful who could usually tell the difference in the blind tasting.I just glanced over the list of all the wines featured in the festival's entirety, and my initial guess is that about half the wines or a little less were from California and half Washington state, France, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, South Africa, Spain, Portugal (Port), and Italy combined.

Why thank you, Ellen! I guess I wouldn't know those sort of things because in both high school and college chemistry, my lab partners did all the work of the experiments and I copied from their notes into our notebooks (I had better handwriting). We got good grades and I learned very little. I'm glad you are enjoying it.

It was quite pricey, but well worth it. Many attendees took advantage of the room package that included two of the seminars and the Grand Tasting. No professional interest in wine... This was just for fun, as is my interest in food & drink; and it's part of my hobby of food writing (and my even newer hobby of food photography).

The Grand Tasting was held in the ground floor ballroom. There were tastings of over 100 wines available, a buffet dinner, a jazz band, an emcee, and a silent auction to benefit Speediatrics, the Pediatric Floor of Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach. One item in the silent auction was a BMW! The only disappointment in this event was that seating was not provided, as in the luncheon and seminars, making it awkward to get food from the buffet stations while carrying around a wine glass. There were a few tables available, some regular tables with chairs and some high tops for standing and eating. Due to this set up, I didn't take any notes during the evening. With the lighting in the ballroom, including candles, the pictures did not turn out good and so I took way fewer photos. The food was great. There were roasts of beef tenderloin, cold peeled shrimp, various vegetable salads such as broccoli and cauliflower, lots of cheeses, crackers and breads, and my favorite, a mashed potato bar! There was also a station for custom made banana splits. That is me in the picture with the emcee, Mark McEwen, of CBS Morning Show fame. Some of you may know of him if you watched the network morning news shows some years ago. He moved from New York to Florida a couple of years ago and is now an anchor of one of our local stations, WKMG-TV Channel 6. A fun time was had by all.

The third seminar and last event before the Grand Tasting was billed as a Riedel Crystal Glassware Seminar, but there must have been some hitch in the program or some reason to change, because it featured Stoelzle-Oberglas in the part of the lecture about the advantages of using good stemware. The presenters were Steve Palmer, Sommelier and Robert Mann, Winemaker, Tintara Estates, Australia. The two wines served in this seminar were the Tintara Estates 2002 Shiraz and the Cabernet from McLarenvale, and it was a discussion about several aspects of "tasting" wine, in addition to the use of the specific shapes of crystal glassware. Three glasses of wine were poured, the first two again a blind tasting. Predictably, wine #1 and wine #2 were the same wine, the Shiraz. Glass #1 was the Libby-type glass and glass #2 was Stoelzle Crystal. It clearly illustrated the difference in taste. The third wine, the Tintara Estates Cabernet Sauvignon was served in a Stoelzle glass, as well. This was also a very good seminar, but taking place immediately after that lunch, even though I carried in a cup of coffee, I felt like taking a nap more than listening for an hour. Fortunately, there were a couple of hours between this and the Grand Tasting, during which time Russ arrived. I rested and freshened up and changed my clothes and managed to revive myself.

Lunch is served! We moved from one side of this lovely room to the other, and during the time that a speaker was not talking, a harpist provided background music. The first course was Blue Crab Salad; Potato Crisp; Smoked Atlantic Salmon; and Lemon Aioli; with 2003 Sauvignon Blanc. On the left is a perfectly peeled cherry tomato. On the right is crab salad with the smoked salmon wrapped around it. The "potato chip," in the middle is served atop a thin slice of apple, and fennel, which were ever so slighty and perfectly dressed. A welcomed change from oaky Chardonnay, the wine was 100% Sauvignon Blanc and it was aged in stainless steel -- no oak. Second course: Yellowtail Snapper with Shrimp Dumplings; Cucumber Wrapped Radish Sprouts; Watermelon; and Kaffir Lime Sauce, served with 2003 Virtu white meritage... A thin slice of watermelon was overtop the sauce, and the snapper was placed on top of that. In the cucumber wrap were also some matchstick carrots, and something else if I recall correctly. It was all topped with a sea vegetable which had a flavor of sea salt and was just plain tasty. The delicious and expertly fried shrimp dumplings surrounded the work of culinary art. The white meritage contained Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. It was a harmonious match. Third course was an "omigod," for sure. It was Roasted Squab and Foie Gras; Herb Crêpe; Medjool Dates, and Porcini Mushroom Sauce. That, listed on the menu, did not do this dish justice. There were two glasses of wine served with it, 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2000 Elu red meritage. The crêpes we called herb crêpes because there were herbs in the batter. They were filled with pulled squab. Think pulled pork... only pulled squab. For the plating, the piece of squab was served on top of the halved crêpe, and on top of that was a generous portion of foie gras. Some sauce was layered somewhere in the middle, and on the side were flavorful carrots and parsnips. AND, the porcini were fresh. This looked so good, I forgot to take a picture of it before I started eating it. When I thought of that and made mention, the young man sitting next to me suggested that I shoot someone else's who hadn't yet dug into it. I did. Both wines were very good, and the nuances were evident depending on what mouthful of food the sips of wine followed. Mark Fine told the group that two wines were served with this dish because tastes in wines were different and "you don't have to love every wine." I loved every wine with this meal. The final course, dessert, was Tres Leches, Cake with Caramel Sauce, and 2004 Moscato. It was an excellent food and wine pairing. There was coconut in the icing and it was garnished with slices of candied dried citrus on top and almonds to the side. The caramel sauce was served on the side.

Next was the Meritage Blending Seminar, and then the Food & Wine Pairing Luncheon. One ticket gave participants both of these events. Before I go further, I want to remind you to feel free to ask questions about the wines or this festival. I don't know how much interest Foodblog readers have in wines, so I'm trying to keep it general in reporting about yesterday. It you want more detail, please ask. I definitely learned the most from the Meritage Blending Seminar, and what fun it was! We were seated at the tables with five glasses of red wine poured, and one empty glass. This seminar was taught by Mark Fine of St. Supery (likewise, the wines served at lunch were from St. Supery). After a general overview of winemaking in that area of California and similar winemaking in Bordeaux, he presented great information about the blending of grapes in winemaking, and in making Meritage wines. Four of the five glasses of wine were actual barrel samples -- not filtered, not the finished product -- of St. Supery vintage 2002: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. We tasted each as he talked about them. Also placed next to the glasses of wine was a long skinny calibrated thingie that we were to use in creating our own blends. That was done by sucking the amount of wine desired into it, and then holding the top and releasing the measured amount of wine into the glass. Most people made about five or six different blends. Paper cups were available if any turned out really bad. After our very own blending experiences, we were all eager to drink the fifth glass of wine which was the 2000 Élu, St. Supery's red Meritage, guess what the grapes were, and guess the percentage of each grape. An aside.... This seminar was so interesting that I wasn't even distracted by this beautiful west view of the intracoastal and the Daytona Beach area that I sat next to! Of course, it didn't hurt anything, either.

The first event of the Wine Festival yesterday was at 11:00, and I was glad to be able to check in to the hotel before it began. I can't resist showing you the room that awaited me. ...Talk about a room with a view. It was an oceanfront room on the 6th floor. This was not like other wine festivals we have attended outdoors with food, music, arts & crafts, and with a souvenir wine glass included. It was actually more like a day-long wine conference. It was a beautiful setting, though. It was held on the top floor which has windows all around and consists of rooms for dining, classes, and conferences. I learned a lot about wines in all three of the seminars. Throughout the seminars, participants were poured glasses of wine, rather than tastings only. Saratoga was the water, available in abundance all day and evening. The first seminar was Champagne vs. California Sparkling Wine, presented by Chad Munsey, Sommelier and owner of Grotto Wine Bar in St. Augustine. Some other people from wineries were there, including a representative from Gloria Ferrer. Attendees tasted six wines, two at a time, blind tastings, and then after each blind tasting were told which was from California and which was French. Before the tastings started, there was a Sparkling Wine 101 type thing, followed by more detailed additional information. Then after the tastings, there was further discussion about the wines served in particular. First we were poured glasses of Domaine Carneros Brut 2001 and Henri Abele Brut Champagne NV. Following them, it was Gloria Ferrer Rose NV and Piper Heidsieck Rose Savage NV. This was my first occasion to take the time to learn about and truly appreciate sparkling rose wine. The third pair was Gloria Ferrer Carnernos Cuvee 1995 and Taittinger Comtes De Champagne 1995. I enjoyed all of these, and two out of three times in tastings, it turned out that my preference was for the California sparkling wines. I really wanted to drink all six glasses. However, I couldn't, as I would be attending all three seminars, the luncheon with five wines, and the Grand Tasting.

Belated Good Morning! I'll start, as usual, with a mention of coffee as my first blogging post of the day, and then back up and report on the Wine Festival, and The Morning After. Actually I feel pretty good today considering the quantity I drank and ate yesterday, and I believe I owe that to huge amounts of water consumed throughout. This morning's first cup of coffee: Jake and Susan, ahhh yes NASCAR Sunday... practically a weekly culinary event. We just got home, and the race is "TIVO'ed." It's peanuts and beer for Russ. He likes watching the recorded/delayed version so he can fast-forward through commercials, and he is on the porch doing that, even as I type. On the table for watching the rest of the race later and the first episode of Cold Case for the new season will be a mixed grill, mashed potatoes, probably some kind of green vegetable, and some kind of salad -- last two yet to be determined.

Priscilla, I know what you mean about the taste imparted by rosemary sometimes. I took a second look at that recipe before deciding, but went for it. It was OK! What I wish I did differently was roasting the potatoes ahead the night before. It would have been better tossing the vinaigrette with them if they were just cooled from coming out of the oven. I would also add a little bit of garlic next time, too. Rosemary and garlic seem almost inseparable to me. The lemongrass is something. Sometimes we have to cut it back and we use it fairly regularly, especially when I am on one of my Thai kicks. Lemongrass was one of the topics of food conversation yesterday while I was getting my new feet.

Coffee is happening now, as I type. The Daytona Beach Wine Festival starts this morning. I have tickets to all the seminars and events which will include California Sparkling Wine vs. French Champagne at 11:00, the Food & Wine Pairing Luncheon and Meritage Blending Seminar at noon; a Riedel Crystal Glassware Seminar at 3:00, and the Grand Tasting at 6:00. It is being held oceanfront, at The Shores Resort & Spa, and Russ will come this afternoon to go to the Grand Tasting with me. We have a room for the night, which will make for a real fine Sunday with the beach right there for our morning -- or perhaps afternoon -- walk. This is where Baleen is located, the restaurant we enjoyed so much for our wedding anniversary celebration. Hopefully there will be wireless internet access so that I can "keep you posted" from the scene! If it doesn't work out for that, I'll post commentary and photos as soon as I can. Wishing Everyone a Good Weekend...

Thanks! So rosemary might help memory and erase forgetfulness... I'm afraid that my exposure to it so far is showing no evidence of that benefit. I sure do need that though. I'll go breathe a whole bunch of it. If I remember to, I'll report back.

We drank lots and lots of water tonight during happy hours, but still at this point were ready to stop drinking and safely drive home. We discovered another new place called Heavenly Barbecue, and decided to check it out and order dinner to go if it looked good. It did indeed look good. It was very down-to-earth Southern style, and didn't even take plastic or checks, but again worth an inconvenience. We each got the pulled pork dinner, with BBQ sauce on the side, and three side orders! We drank some of the Hazed and Infused. Then on the porch we ate the food out of the styrofoam containers, and drank one of the wines, a 1997 Zinfandel, out of Riedel glasses. It was really, really good.

...Isn't this a great store-front sign on the window? ...Espresso, microbrews, used CDs, and candles?! It's only been here for two weeks, and I surely hope it makes it. We were thrilled with the beer selection. We had Shipyards on tap -- Russ had the Stout, and I had the Export Ale. There is no food yet, and so smoking is allowed. My eyes immediately teared up. I am allergic to cigarette smoke and have a strong aversion to it, but this was worth it.

Between the spa and happy hour I also went to a new package store. After we had the drinks and appetizer at the Riverview, I took Russ to the new package store and we also went to a couple of other spots new to us. I am so grateful for the existence of Foodblogs on eGullet, or else we might not have discovered these places! I've driven by this several times, and imagined it was just a dive-kind-of liquor store, but it isn't. It has the best selections of beer, high end wines, and rums I've seen in the Daytona Beach area. I bought a sixer of Dogfish Head Chicory Stout when I first went in, and when we went back together, Russ bought a sixer of Boulder Hazed and Infused Dry-hopped Ale and a couple of bottles of 1997 California wines.

When Russ met me after he got off work, we started with drinks and the obligatory bar snacks. Then we ordered an appetizer of parmesan-dusted calamari. As expected, good but not great. However, the views are worth the price at this spot.

So I went for the manicure and pedicure today, and experienced such total relaxation for two hours... What, you might ask, does this have to do with food & drink? Well for one thing, a glass of wine is always offered and today I certainly accepted. I sipped on a nice Chardonnay for the entire two hours. Food? When it was done, I went to another section of the spa and ate some really nice cookies. And also, it seems no matter where I go, the conversation turns to food, and so it did today. But I won't go into that right now. This is the place: The Riverview Hotel and Spa. It's a hotel (I think more aptly called an Inn), restaurant, spa, and giftshops. It's a beautiful place to relax. I could go on and on about this place, but would eventually get off the topic, so PM me if you want to know more. To make a long story short, if anyone wants to vacation in the Daytona Beach area and get away from the glitz and the crowds of families with screaming kids, New Smyrna Beach is the place to go. It's about 10 to 15 miles south of Daytona Beach. Here is a shot of one of the gift shops, with lots of kitchen stuff handcrafted by local artists. Today I bought two sparkling wine glasses, which you will hopefully see pictured Sunday or Monday. This is the outside of the restaurant. We have gone here for Friday happy hour several times, and met here tonight. The food leaves something to be desired, but the atmosphere can't be beat on a beautiful sunny afternoon or evening. And yes today the sun did come out. It's on the intracoastal, the place to be in all of Florida, to look west and see the setting sun. And the "inside" ...actually the bar which is on the intracoastal. Russ got off work a little early, and I met him after my afternoon in New Smyrna Beach, and we were the first cocktail hour customers when they opened at 4:00 PM. And ladies especially, take a look at this. Isn't this a nice looking manicu ...uh ...glass of wine?

Monica and All, I am glad you are enjoying it. I've been waiting for the sun to shine more before taking some pictures of foodstuff growing in our yard, but this morning realized that the waiting could be endless, so here it is. You saw the one rosemary bush. Here it is again with more in the background. To the left, the prickly pear cactus, and to the right, my avocado tree: This is a pineapple plant. We have yet to see a pineapple, but patience, patience... I have faith that we will see it someday. Most of the plants in our yard were given to us by patients or families that we have visited on the job. In a way, it's a memorial garden. Lots of stuff looks very young..... This is a year after the three direct hits by hurricanes, so there are way less trees in our backyard, and with some of the plantings, we started all over. This is the lemongrass "patch" ...one of the die hards. And this is the part of our yard that we call the garden. It's usually mostly an herb garden. It is time for fall planting, and soon there will be new tomato plants.

Beautiful, all of it! Looks Delicious.