January Wine Night

In January our wine club studied sparkling wines.  This was a fun month!  We tried Cava, Prosecco, Spumante, Champagne, and a few other sparklers.  I think we liked them all, although we each found a favorite.  Again, one of the most interesting parts of the sampling is discovering how well certain wines go with certain foods.  We continue to enjoy wine club and would encourage any of you to start up your own club with friends.  You will learn a lot and have fun in the process.  :)  (I'll post links to the resources we use at the bottom of this post.)

Jennifer, Dana, Andrea, Janet, Megan, Brianna,
Laura, Barb, Melinda, Judy

Andre Sparkling Moscato #9 on wine tasting sheet

Gancia Moscato d'asti from Italy - #6 on Wine Tasting Sheet

Asti Tosti from Italy - #5 on Wine Tasting Sheet

Cava Gran Campo Viejo from Spain - #2 on Wine Tasting Sheet

Champagne Veuve Monsigny Brut from France - #7 on Wine Tasting Sheet

Astoria Prosecco from Italy - #10 on Wine Tasting Sheet

White Knight Prosecco from Italy - #4 on Wine Tasting Sheet

Risata Moscato d'Asti from Italy - #1 on Wine Tasting Sheet

Stone Hill Winery Blanc de Blancs - #3 on Wine Tasting Sheet

I completely forgot to take any photos of the food before we ate it all up!  It was all so good!  :)  So here are photos of (nearly) empty dishes (and one completely empty dish!)

Strawberry Tiramisu

Spicy Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

Cherry Glazed Brie

So sad... no Creamy Onion Tart left!!  (It was super yummy!)

Bowl of potato chips.
Yes, they actually were good with sparkling wine!!

dark chocolate and strawberries

Laura's sparkling wine sheet

This is the book we are using.  It is out of print but we have been able to pick up used copies for about $5 each.  It provides all the info we need including which wines to study each month, what types to purchase, recipes to go with... and etc.  Great resource!!

The Wine Club:  A Month by Month Guide to Learning About Wine with Friends
https://amzn.to/2MEfurk

This little wine tasting kit has been a good investment.  It provides the bags we use to cover the wine bottles so that we are 'blind tasting'.  It also has nice laminated sheets that give an overview of what we are looking for in each wine and the pages we use to record our tasting notes.

Wine Game Kit
https://amzn.to/2Trtp6Y

This book is by our favorite 'wine lady' of all time.  :)  It is a great resource to have on hand and is chock full of charts and graphs and information.

Wine Folly
https://amzn.to/2WuYLeJ

Finally, here are links to video clips we watched for the sparkling wines month.

Learn About Sparkling Wines





Champagne and Cava Faceoff




Champagne vs Prosecco  (we didn't watch this one but features our favorite wine lady)  :)





Sparkling Wine 101




Champagne 101: How to Drink it Like a Pro

Post Christmas

Just a few miscellaneous photos from the days after Christmas.  First up, a VERY special event!!  We were SO HAPPY to be able to FaceTime with Rojina's family!  Not only did we get to visit with her family in Nepal, we also got to add in her sister in Canada!  What a treat!  I so look forward to the day when we can all be together in the same place.  :)

Facetiming with Rojina's family

There we all are!  :) 

What a wonderful experience!

Embarrassed to say that this photo shows some of James and Rojina's gifts from LAST year!  I never did get them mailed out... but at least I knew where they still were!!  :)  (hanging my head in shame)  :D

Mama, Daddy, Brianna, and Jackson 

Our last day all together.  This was taken after lunch before James and Rojina (and Julie) left for the airport.  Bittersweet....

Jonathan, Daddy, Mama, Rojina, Marvin, James, Julie, Susanna, Kerry, Candace

Laura, Daddy, Mama, Rojina, Marvin, James, Julie, Susanna, Kerry, Candace

Jonathan, Rojina, and James

Susanna, Rojina, and James

Ham and Pickle Rollups

These are SO GOOD!!

Ham and Pickle Roll Ups
8 oz. cream cheese or whipped cream cheese
16 pickle spears
16 slices ham

Lay a slice of ham on a cutting board.  Spread about 1 Tbsp. cream cheese over the slice of ham.  Lay a pickle directly in the center of the ham slice and roll it up.  Slice into equal bite sized pieces.  Refrigerate if not serving immediately.

Deb's Apple Dip

This yummy dip is actually called "Apple of my thigh" dip but I think of it as Deb's Apple Dip.  She first brought this to one of the bonfires Jackson used to host back in high school.  I vividly remember standing at the table heaping this on the apple slices and hoping no kids would come inside to eat!!  :D  hahaha!!  Boy, is it good!  Deb is the origin of a lot of my favorite recipes and this is just one more to add to that long list.

Deb's Apple Dip
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup white sugar
¾ cup caramel ice cream topping
3 (1.4 oz.) bars chocolate covered English Toffee (Heath bars)
      - or you can use the Heath bits that are sold in a bag near chocolate chips
5-7 green apples, cored and sliced

Mix together the cream cheese, sugar and ¼ cup of the caramel sauce in a medium bowl.  Spread onto a serving tray or a plate. (I use a pie plate)  Drizzle the remaining caramel sauce over the top and sprinkle with the Heath pieces.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (but can for longer).  Serve with the apple slices.

Cream Cheese Peppers

Cream Cheese Peppers
1 ½ pound mini bell peppers, sliced in half lengthwise
12 oz. cream cheese or Allouette spreadable cheese (garlic and herb is good)
Bacon Bits


Spread the cheese in the halved and cored mini peppers then top with bacon bits.  You are done!  Quick and tasty appetizer and oh so pretty.

New Years Eve

After being sick for most of the holidays last year, and completely missing New Years Eve, we were all pretty excited to be back in business this year.  We enjoyed the evening with family and dear friends and look forward to all that 2019 has to offer.

Brianna came early to help me get everything prepared -
her stuffed peppers are a work of art!  :)

Jackson, Brianna, Taylor, and Tyler

Let the games begin!

Alayna and Susanna

Rojina and James

Rojina and James cutting their wedding cake topper from two years ago
(James was deployed a year ago)

Marvin, Laura, Anne, Scott, Jennifer

Anne, Scott, Jennifer

Rojina, Daddy, Mama, James

Matt and Matthew

Anne, Scott, Julie

Happy New Year!!!

So funny!  Melina made these t-shirts... if you know the M family you know all about their (intense) White Rabbit competition each first day of the month... and you also know that the New Years Eve/Day one is especially serious!!!  :D   ha!