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eG Foodblog: Rebel Rose / Dover Canyon - Life in a vineyard


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Both wines approach 15% alcohol so now I'm feeling really relaxed.

Cheeky.

That's an awesome story about Dan's dog. He deserves to have his face on all those bottles.

Your blog is making me jealous, and I have a perfectly lovely life in rural Vermont. :hmmm:

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Being that I'm the ultimate urbanite (I think grass is over-rated :laugh:) , this blog fullfills my need for the rural life with out actually having to leave the city.

Thanks.

Edited by bloviatrix (log)

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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Do bobcats eat cats?

Yes, they certainly try! We had coyotes come right up in the flower beds by the house and eat a litter of kittens. :angry:

Last week during the night I hear a cat shrieking, like a cat fight, but then the shriek went high and seemed to be moving on into the distance at warp speed. Not good! I hit the floor running with Rebel right behind me and let her out the front door. Although not the fiercest of dogs she took off barking.

The next morning our favorite fluffy grey kitty walked up to Dan in the vineyard and was rubbing against his legs. "Oh my god," he said, "Look at this!" Half the fur around her neck was gone, and she had bite marks in her neck. Apparently something had gotten her entire head in its mouth and was dragging her off.

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Spunky follows her new best friend everywhere. It's a little embarrasing for Rebel.

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Your roti rod looks exactly like the one we have that fits our oven! Did you have that hooked up to something that turned it automatically?

Oh yes. I'm not into hand cranking. :biggrin:

We got a rotisserie kit for our Weber. They're inexpensive, and so much fun. The kit includes a riser that extends up about 8 inches, the rod, and a motor. After the chicken was done we removed the kit and put the grill back on so I could speed-grill the asparagus.

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This blog has been great fun, and most of all for the pictures. You consistently get really nice resolution in your pictures. Have you had formal training in photography?

Pan, thanks for the compliment and the info on triticale. No, I'm not a trained photographer, although I once worked as a field reporter for a small newspaper, so I was also my own photographer and had to learn some basics.

I use a Kodak Easyshare, but Easy is a relative thing. I have to rely on LK to help me figure it out! :laugh:

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This is a "Wheat Montana" mix that Dan's father, who lives in Bigfork, sent us. The mix includes hard wheat, soft wheat, oats, rye, barley, triticale (what is that?) and spelt. I like Silver Palate, too, but I would have to say that this is the best cereal I have ever tasted. I don't know what the price is for the 3 lb. bag he sent us, but their website is on the bag . . . www.wheatmontana.com

Wow, it's great to see Wheat Montana given a round of applause. It's from my home town! :-)

A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness. – Elsa Schiaparelli, 1890-1973, Italian Designer

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Spunky follows her new best friend everywhere. It's a little embarrasing for Rebel.

That's a cute picture. Makes sense: Rebel does his best to protect the cats, and they're smart enough to understand that.

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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Spunky follows her new best friend everywhere.  It's a little embarrasing for Rebel.

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

Thanks for putting a smile on my face on a gray Friday morning.

If someone writes a book about restaurants and nobody reads it, will it produce a 10 page thread?

Joe W

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The tasting room is open today and I'm on deck, so I ran some errands first, stopping at Wilmot Market for bread and cheese. One of Wilmot's owners is chef Laurent Grangien of Bistro Laurent. (Laurent trained with Michel Rostang in Paris before moving to the states and becoming chef of Bistro Fennel in Santa Monica, then executive chef of the Inn at Morro Bay, subsequently moving to Paso to open a family-style bistro.)

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Ooh, there's French onion soup from the restaurant in the cooler. And black truffle butter . . . I've got to have it! I'm not sure why, but as the day goes on, I'm coming up with some ideas!

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A quick stop at the herb farm on my way home. I'm in the mood to make walnut pesto for customers, but no cut basil yet. Later this spring they'll offer fresh cut herbs by the bag, four dollars for a quart bag stuffed as tightly as a pillowcase.

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Sycamore Farms is also the home of Chequera Vineyard (Spanish for "checkbook") and a tasting room for Bonny Doon. Randall Graham buys Syrah and Viognier from Chequera.

I settle on some basil and thyme starts for the garden, and say hello to Annie.

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Petunia looks hopefully at the box of herbs as I walk back to my SUV.

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Lunch is French onion soup with a sprig of thyme and crusty French bread.

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Dan offers to make dinner tonight. He's made scallop fajitas, with red pepper, tomato and cilantro, with a Cajun seasoning that provides just enough kick to make it special. We sip some Dover Canyon 2002 Cujo Zinfandel with it—one of those big, jammy, purple, spicy, high alcohol zins—it seems tame and fruity with the Cajun scallops and cilantro.

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I'm still thinking about the black truffle butter. I have some veal sauce from Bistro Laurent in the freezer. I'm thinking about a romantic candlelight meal for Friday, maybe Cornish game hens basted with the sauce and finished with a swipe of truffle butter, wild rice served with a button of truffle butter, and summer squash saute with citrus zest and ginger. . . hmmm . . .

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And wasn't that the same wheat the Tribbles ate up on the original Star Trek series?

Uh...I saw it in re-runs.  Yah, that's it. :rolleyes:

Nope, that was quadro-triticale, the far-flung future offspring crop in "The Trouble With Tribbles". :cool:

Reruns, right! :laugh:

Nancy "Once a Trekkie, always a Trekkie" Smith

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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I am curious what you feel are the strongest vintages coming from your area? I think there some great pinots coming from the area south of you.

The best vintages in our area in recent years are 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2001.

Although we're close to the coast, our elevation and the coastal hills keep us warmer than the wine appellations to the north and south, Monterey and Santa Barbara/Santa Ynez, so those appellations have really good pinot noir and chardonnay, while our region is more known for zinfandel, cabernet and syrah.

I'm glad someone sent you home happy, and with lots of wine to keep you that way! :cool:

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Absolutely beautiful. I'm using you for escapism as well.

You're going to be hosting the next eGullet gathering if you aren't careful. :wink:

What's wrong with peanut butter and mustard? What else is a guy supposed to do when we are out of jelly?

-Dad

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Whew. Friday was a whirlwind of activity, and I manned the tasting room as well, but I'm thinking about the truffle butter all day. Mmm, mmm.

I stuffed the Cornish hens with a tangerine and half a lemon each, and rotisseried them on an old Farberware electric unit. It's about 25 years old, and one of our favorite kitchen appliances. I basted the hens with a mustard sauce from Bistro Laurent that consists of veal stock, mustard seed and white wine. Once the hens were crispy and dark I set them on a platter and basted them with some of the black truffle butter.

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In the meantime, I put some Vidalia onions on to caramelize, and assembled some other ingredients: chopped sundried tomatoes, grated ginger in olive oil, and zest from the lemon and tangerines in aged Amontillado vinegar. In a pan next to the onions I put chopped green and yellow summer squash, with diced red bell pepper.

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When the birds were close to done, I added the sundried tomatoes and a few threads of saffron to the caramelizing onions, then poured the ginger and olive oil over the squash and lightly sauteed it. I wanted to make wild rice but we didn't have any in the pantry, so I made some buckwheat soba noodles. The noodles get a button of truffle butter, and the finished squash is dressed with the citrus zest and Amontillado vinegar.

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While everything's cooking, a quick run to the wine "cellar." Our wine cave isn't as scary as Lucy's, though! :blink: The door is right below my bedroom window. (Handy, huh?)

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It's just an old root cellar. We keep our special bottles in old riddling racks that were once used for making champagne.

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Let's check on the temperature and humidity monitors.

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Yep, they appear comfortable.

Let's try this Chalone 1993 Pinot Noir. It's got to be almost over the hill, but it will be fun to open it with dinner.

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I think Dan owes me a foot rub! :wink:

Edited by DoverCanyon (log)

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Saturday morning it's off to the farmers' market in Templeton. The booths surround a village park, and kids and dogs enjoy playing together on the grass.

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I spend $40 on carrots, asparagus, honey, Mayan onions, sugar peas, basil, and Pinkerton avocados. I'm so loaded down with bags I can hardly walk. I need to get one of those little market carts!

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Saturday afternoon I have a book signing at a local bookstore, so I hie myself off afterwards to a local restaurant for margaritas and guacamole. And then I run into friends and associates just getting out of the Hospice du Rhone main tasting and the whole restaurant turns into a party. I didn't have my camera, but trust me, you probably wouldn't want to see the pictures!

Edited by DoverCanyon (log)

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Sunday morning, and well, it's time to turn over the day to the next blogger.

Who will it be?

Unfortunately, it's a mystery to me as well! I 've tagged Australia, Pacific Northwest, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pastry so far. Gotten two no's and two already-dunnits. If the fifth one gets cold feet, I'll be coming after the New Yorkers again. We know you guys are always "game!" :biggrin:

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Sunday morning, and well, it's time to turn over the day to the next blogger.

Who will it be?

Unfortunately, it's a mystery to me as well! I 've tagged Australia, Pacific Northwest, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pastry so far. Gotten two no's and two already-dunnits. If the fifth one gets cold feet, I'll be coming after the New Yorkers again. We know you guys are always "game!" :biggrin:

See, I don't think no is a valid response.

It's an obligation to the community, as long as they haven't done it already.

You have to badger, browbeat, and intimidate them into doing it.

Herb aka "herbacidal"

Tom is not my friend.

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