{Wine Wednesday} Robert Ramsay Cellars: Counoise

2011 Robert Ramsay Counoise

A few years ago we bought a Living Social deal for tasting and a bottle of wine at a winery called Robert Ramsay Cellars near some of our favorite wineries in Woodinville. We bought it knowing we’d be in the area before it expired and we always enjoy trying a new winery. At that time Robert Ramsay was only making Rhone-style reds and we fell in love with most of their wines, especially the Mourvedre, a peppery, smooth and spicy wine blend.

We’ve visited Robert Ramsay nearly every time we go to Woodinville and we finally bit the bullet and joined their wine club after tasting their newest release: the 2011 Counoise and the 2011 Le Mien.

I preferred the Counoise and Brandon liked the Le Mien. Perfect since we got both bottles with our new wine club membership. Later tonight we’ll be drinking the Counoise with this gnocchi with turkey, squash and kale.

Here are the tasting notes for the Counoise. Looks like we’ll have to get another bottle or two to enjoy with a filet mignon:

With the grill fired up and the first glass accompanying the chef, you experience smells reminiscent of Syrah, deep, dark and musty. A taste of star anise confirms your thoughts but is followed by a meaty and chewy mouth feel, a thickness to go with your filet mignon and a peppery tone suggests the blending of Mourvedre into the mix. Has Bob combined a powerhouse of Syrah and Mourvedre together you ask? No. Counoise transcends them both and your steak has found the perfect partner. If you didn’t buy a second bottle, you may be disappointed.

Never heard of Counoise? The Rhone Rangers have more information about the grape itself:

Counoise may be an obscure grape in the United States, but it is a key component of many Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines. It is a deep purple-red, and has a rich spicy character, with flavors of anise, strawberries and blueberries. Counoise’s moderate alcohol and tannins make it a good complement for Syrah, balancing that grape’s characteristic intense spice, strong tannins and high alcohol.

Have you been to Robert Ramsay Cellars before? Next time you’re in the warehouse district of Woodinville, you should definitely check them out and let me know what your favorite wines are. Happy Wine Wednesday!

17Nov2013

Winter decomposition

Posted in Around the house, DIY, Garden by mszerwo

It was just a few short months ago when our backyard looked like this:

Backyard shade garden, circa summer 2013

With the rain and wind and the changing of seasons, our yard now looks like this:

Fall shade garden decomposition | Megan's Island Blog

Looks like we traded UW Husky flamingos for hostas!

A few weeks and showers later… It’s almost a winter shade garden

Where did all of those beautiful hostas go!? I know from previous experience that hostas die back in the winter, so I was prepared for the decomposition and their disappearance.

In fact, I’ve taken my sweet time planting most of these hostas and have had them in their pots for years. This is how it usually goes: Clean up the yard in the spring, look at the empty pots as I’m taking them out to the yard waste bin, see new plants sprouting! So, they stay in their pots another year. Summer 2013 was a big time for us in that we actually freed the hostas from their pots and planted them!

Knowing that the hostas and a few of our fern varieties will disappear until the spring and that I’ll forget where I planted them, I bought some golf tees (~$5 for 100 of them from Target) to put in the ground, so I’ll know where not to plant next spring.

Here’s how it looks:

Pretty inexpensive solution, right? As your fall gardens start to decompose, I encourage you to get some golf tees of your own to help with your spring planting.

Happy planting and decomposition!

16Nov2013

{Gone Pinning} Gluten-free Thanksgiving… with all the fixins’

Posted in Food, Holidays by mszerwo

I kid. I like feasts full of gluten but I also like gluten-free feasts!

I’m coming more around to the idea that Thanksgiving is almost here — in less than a fortnight (thank you, Heather), nonetheless.

As I mentioned last week, Brandon and I won’t do much cooking for the holiday, so this post is really targeted at my parents (thank you for reading) who will hopefully be considering some of these ideas for our holiday feast. This post is also for a dear friend of mine who is throwing her first gluten-free Thanksgiving (hi, Megan!), so hopefully this provides inspiration for her too. (Man, that’s a lot of pressure on this post!)

So, here we go. First things first: gluten-free appetizers:

A cute, holiday-inspired veggie display

Bacon-wrapped dates? Yes please.

Sweet potato crostini

And some ideas for gluten-free side dishes:

Lemony Brussels sprouts

Wild rice and mushroom stuffing

Honey-roasted butternut squash

Spuds!

I’m going to assume that you gluten-free’ers have the main dish covered. Mom & Dad: I hope it’s turkey!

Which leaves us with some gluten free desserts!

Gluten-free pie crusts

Pumpkin-ginger cupcakes

Gluten-free fig frangipane tart

If you do use any of these recipes or re-pin these, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below! And if you’d like to see all of my Thanksgiving pins, visit my board. Please note: not all pins on my Thanksgiving board are gluten free.

Happy menu planning and have a great rest of the weekend!

13Nov2013

{Wine Wednesday} Wine…for cats!

Posted in Cats, Drinky drinky, Wine Wednesdays by mszerwo

This made the news a few weeks ago, but I wanted to make sure you saw it: cats can finally join in on the Wine Wednesday fun with Pussy/Nyan Nyan Nouveau. A wine for cats!!

Pussy Nouveau Cat Wine

There is now a non-alcoholic beverage made from the juice of Cabernet franc grapes, vitamin C and catnip, and intended “exclusively for cats.” Presumably, pets will only be able to drink the product with their owners’ purrmission. Get it? It’s a cat joke!

It’s currently only available in Japan, but Pussy/Nyan Nyan Nouveau is very inexpensive (~$4/bottle) and could be quite a hit with my cats. What do you think? Would your cats like to enjoy a glass or two of wine with you?

Here are my two gatos, ready and patiently waiting to get their paws on some cat wine! Happy Wine Wednesday!!

Jackson of Megan’s Island

Madison of Megan’s Island

8Nov2013

{Gone Pinning} Thanksgiving appetizers

Posted in Food, Gone Pinning, Uncategorized by mszerwo

Holy crap. It’s November. And not just the beginning of November. We’re already 1/3 done with November! I cannot believe how fast this year has flown by.

Since it is mid-November, its time to be thinking about Thanksgiving. (I still can’t believe it…)

Brandon and I love to cook, but we don’t really get the opportunity to showcase our skillz at Thanksgiving or Christmas. Both of our parents are really good cooks and typically take care of most of the big dinner. Brandon and I each have siblings and we get to either bring appetizers or desserts to the big event. We haven’t been assigned a dish yet, but I thought I’d get a jump start on our options. Today, I’ll share some of the front runners for appetizers for the Thanksgiving holiday.

First, we’ll start with the baked brie recipes. I can’t get enough brie and baked brie is even more decadent. I do have a favorite recipe, but it’s a mish-mash of a few recipes and it’s not online. Come to think of it, I should probably make that dish soon, share the recipe with you and then pin it for everyone else to see and share.

Brie + jam on sticks: YUM!

Baked brie bites with pecans

Brie bites with cranberry jam

A cheese plate would be a great idea… I mean, how good does that look!?

Garlic cheesy bread . Yes. Yes. Yes.

More cheese: marinated fresh mozzerella balls

Caramelized Onion, Mushroom, Apple & Gruyere Bites

And for the cheese haters (like Brandon):

Shrimp lime cups

Now I’m hungry. I hope you’ve enjoyed the fruits of my pinning. Please share some of your favorite holiday appetizer recipes in the comments below!

5Nov2013

Happy Election Day!

Posted in Holidays by mszerwo

It’s the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November, which means its a very special day: Election Day.

I’m a bit of an elections nut (I worked as a spokeswoman for the Elections Department for many years) so I love Election Day and I love educating voters on the process. Now, it’s your turn. In Washington, we don’t have polling places. Instead, we vote entirely by mail. We received our ballots three weeks ago and after reading all of the mailers, the voter pamphlets and the endorsements, we voted.

If you haven’t voted yet, make sure you return your ballot TODAY! Ballots need to be dropped off in a ballot drop box by 8 p.m. You can also return your ballot via the USPS, and it must be postmarked with today’s date.

Save a stamp! Fill out your ballot and drop it in one of these!

For all you King County voters, here are some useful links for you:

General election information
Voter pamphlet
Video voter guide (hear from the candidates themselves!)
Ballot drop box
Track your ballot
Check election results (posted today at 8:15 p.m. and daily at 4:30 p.m.)

Here I was this morning sign waving for a candidate that I’m endorsing for Mercer Island City Council. Go Rich! This was my first time working on the campaign side of things and I really enjoyed it! What do you think of our “Waving Rich” cutout? They’ve been all over Megan’s Island!

Mercer Island voters: Vote for Rich! http://voteforrich.org/

3Nov2013

{Gone pinning} Soup season is here!

Posted in Food, Gone Pinning by mszerwo

Good morning! What’d you do with your extra hour today? I woke up at my normal time and spent the hour in bed, quietly playing on Pinterest, pinning all sorts of handmade Christmas present ideas and seasonal eats, like soups. Find all of my favorite fall recipes on my “Falling into Fall” Pinterest board.

Growing up we would often have soups and stews at least once a week, usually on Tuesdays, my Mom’s day off at the time. We playfully — and appropriately — dubbed Tuesdays “Stew-sday” in our house. Take a look at these recipes I found and add them to your meal plan this week… Maybe you can celebrate Stew-sday!

This is one of our favorites, it’s so easy and so delicious.

Tomato soup + grilled cheese sandwiches = the perfect Sunday lunch!

Brandon loves chicken pot pie and I’d bet he’d love this too! YUM!

Healthy French onion soup, from Krissie Lee, one of my dear friends and favorite food bloggers.

10 more recipes for soups, in one location

Happy eating! Enjoy the rest of the weekend, and that extra hour you get today.

31Oct2013

Halloween dinner

Posted in Food, Holidays by mszerwo

We celebrated Halloween a bit early this year, so I could share this delicious post with you in honor of “the big day.”

This recipe doesn’t have a spooky name (although I’m open to suggestions!) but it looks pretty eerie.

We love making pasta from scratch and used our favorite pasta recipe with a packet of squid ink that we purchased from Big John’s PFI awhile back, two packets for $2.50. There was a 2011 date on the package and Brandon was able to read (in Spanish) that the ink was good for four years beyond that date. So, we tried it.

We mixed the ink into the eggs and then mixed that in with the flour and salt. Then we mixed and mixed and mixed with the Kitchen Aid. We didn’t get the look we were hoping for (solid black) and instead ended up with a speckled/cookies ‘n cream coloring. Don’t get me wrong, it looked plenty spooky.

Being the students that we are, we wanted to know what we did wrong, so we did some Google-ing to find some answers. It turns out that we were totally on the right track, but we skimped on the ink. Most of the recipes we found used at least three tablespoons of ink. We used the equivalent of 1/2 teaspoon.

While we [Brandon] were making the pasta, we [Me] made the sauce. It’s my favorite spaghetti sauce, which is totally easy. Here it is, in a nutshell: one onion, chopped, sauteed with one package of Italian sausage flavored ground turkey, one tablespoon of minced garlic, a few sliced mushrooms, two cans of diced tomatoes with their juice, some balsamic vinegar and dried herbs. Voila! Delicious sauce.

Don’t worry. We also had my favorite kale salad and the Ghost Pines wine I mentioned in yesterday’s post. Combined? Everything was amazing. Happy Halloween to us! And to you, of course.

30Oct2013

{Wine Wednesday} Cheers to Halloween!

Posted in Drinky drinky, Holidays, Parties! by mszerwo

How will you toast Halloween? As you know, I’ve been scouring the internet for all-things Halloween. And in today’s post, some great (and surprisingly simple) adult beverage options to celebrate Halloween tomorrow.

Check out these recipes, head to the liquor or grocery store and enjoy!

First, the Brain Hemorrhage shooter from the Coyote Thistle blog. This looks so gross, but also looks so easy to make– and I love any and everything with peach schnapps.

Make one for yourself:

1 oz Peach Schnapps
1 teaspoon Bailey’s Irish Cream
2 drops Grenadine

In a shot glass, pour in the Peach Schnapps. Slowly add the Irish Cream followed by the grenadine.

Next, we’ve got the Vampire Raspberry Bite from Alexandra Hedin, one of my favorite lifestyle and entertaining experts in Seattle.

Make one for yourself:

1 tablespoon corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon grenadine
2 oz Absolut Raspberri
4 oz Talking Rain raspberry-flavored sparkling water

Mix the corn syrup and grenadine in a shallow bowl, one that is as wide as the rim of your glass. Turn the glass upside down and cover the rim with the “blood.” Add the vodka and the sparkling water for a “berry” refreshing and slightly scary Halloween cocktail. (Also? I’m planning on making these for our True Blood premiere party next June!)

And in true Megan’s Island and Wine Wednesday fashion, here is a third option, one that we’ll for sure be indulging in: a red blend from Ghost Pines.

About the wine from the Ghost Pines website:

Our Ghost Pines 2011 Red Blend showcases the complexity and balance that the right combination of the right grapes can achieve. The Bordeaux varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot in this blend act as the stoic Dr. Jekyll, while the Petite Sirah, Zinfandel and Sangiovese are a classic Hyde: assertive, aggressive and maybe even a little disturbed. Aromas of blueberry and blackberry pie are framed nicely by salted caramel, spice and truffle notes. Rich and full-bodied, this blend offers chewy tannins and a long, luscious finish.

Spooky. [Spoiler alert: we enjoyed this wine last night and it was quite good. It was incredibly dark and full-bodied. I’d recommend it!]

Cheers and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! What will you be drinking tonight/tomorrow to celebrate?

27Oct2013

Great Plastic Pumpkin Hack of 2013

Posted in Crafts, DIY, Holidays by mszerwo

You know IKEA hacks, right? They typically involve taking a generic, common product and customizing it. I took my own advice and did a last minute, DIY “hack” over the weekend, but not with a table or dresser from IKEA. Instead, I hacked one of those cheap orange pumpkin candy holders from Target.

My pumpkin hack was quick and dirty and I learned quite a bit as I went. I took my pumpkin straight from the store to my spray-painting station– a cardboard box on the back patio. Why was this wrong? I didn’t prep the pumpkin properly, so the paint didn’t really stick and there were a few places where the paint actually peeled straight off. I should have either wiped the surface off with rubbing alcohol or sprayed a coat of primer on, or both. Alas, hindsight is 20-20. And the pumpkin will be just fine for this year. Maybe I’ll hack it again next year, doing something completely different!

Once the pumpkin was painted with a few light coats of Rustoleum’s metallic black spray paint, I took a gold paint pen and filled in the “carved” portions of the pumpkin: the eyes, nose and mouth. While I was spraying the pumpkin, I used my metallic gold spray paint and sprayed “stretchy spiders” (that’s what Target calls them…) Once those were dry, I used hot glue to adhere them to the pumpkin. Another lesson here: it only partially worked: two spiders stayed adhered, two didn’t. I’ll be applying super glue to the difficult ones shortly. Hopefully they will cooperate.

Finally, I snipped off the boring black plastic handle and replaced it with a sheer gold ribbon that I found in the basement. I had just the right amount, which means that it really was meant to be.

So, what do you think of the Great Plastic Pumpkin Hack of 2013?

Finished product!

Plastic pumpkin hack side view | Megan's Island

Oooh! Scary! Gold spiders in search of treats!

Of course you want to know what’s inside, right? We’ve got: Junior Mints, Whoppers, Snickers, Reese’s Pieces, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Hersey’s milk chocolate and cookies ‘n cream bars, and Twix bars. All of our favorite things! Thankfully Megan’s Island sees very few trick-or-treaters, so most of that deliciousness will be kept for us.

Plastic pumpkin hack CANDY | Megan's Island

Nom. Nom. Nom. Think we’ll be able to save some candy for Thursday? Me neither.

Total cost for the great pumpkin hack?

Plastic pumpkin: $1 (Target)
Plastic spiders (4-pack): $1 (Target)
Spray paint of your choice: ~$4/can (I always use Rustoleum)
Paint pen: Varying costs, depending on what you get
12″ of Ribbon
Hot glue (and then crazy glue)

Total for me: $2 and ~ 10 minutes of hands-on time.

Megan's Island

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