Bogati Bodega Winery & Vineyard 35246 Harry Byrd Hwy Round Hill, VA 20142 (540) 338-1144 I am happy to announce that I have *finally* written my review of Bogati in all of it's Argentinian-themed splendor. On this rainy September day, I would much rather be at Bogati instead of sitting... Continue reading

Despite being a new vineyard, Dry Mill Vineyards and Winery is easily, my favorite Leesburg vineyard and invokes a fierce sense of hometown pride. I am less than impressed with many of the retail eyesores that have taken over my hometown, but a well-planned vineyard, as Dry Mill is, has the ability to help maintain the beauty of the town that I remember as a kid. Continue reading

I'm ashamed to say that my last blog post was back in December. *gasps* I've been creating since then, just haven't blogged about it. I'm back. Today's recipe isn't groundbreaking or overly exciting but it is a twist (pun intended) on basic biscuits often served with dinner. It's inexpensive, uses ingredients most households have on hand... Continue reading

During the holidays, with everyone being short on time, we all want easy, yet delicious recipes to help continue the Christmas spirit. If that’s what you’re after, I've got your easy and delicious recipe right here, plus, it looks absolutely gorgeous! These fall into the “so-easy-to-make-I’m-almost-embarrassed-to-call-it-a-recipe” category. Continue reading

Awhile ago I had this idea that I should start a wine blog. Not just any wine blog, but one that focused solely on vineyard and winery aesthetics. As with most of my hobbies that come about via a "voila" moment, I dove right in and started after creating an... Continue reading

One of my favorite holiday recipes involves wine (shocker!) and is unbelievably easy to make. If you’re one to enjoy hot, spiced cider, consider mulled wine the adult version with a roundhouse kick to your senses. The smell alone will invoke your holiday spirit. If it doesn’t, sip a little more and wait for it. Continue reading

Brussels sprouts seriously get no love. If I had a dime for every time I’ve heard someone say how much they dislike this vegetable, I’d have enough money to become an Ohio State Buckeye football season ticket holder (Go Bucks!). Continue reading

Invidivdual Salmon & Leek Pies When I'm tired, my mind does crazy things. When choosing a title for this blog post, I could not stop focusing on the word "Two". I wasted at least 5 minutes thinking of alternate ways to spell the word and finally had to walk away from my desk, pour a glass of wine and regroup so I could tackle the last part of this challenge...the blog post. If you've followed me on Twitter or Facebook, you may have learned that I made it past the first round of judging in Foodbuzz's Project Food Blog competition.... Continue reading

I'm a Gemini so I'm considered a great multi-tasker and a master of procrastination which is why, a few hours before the deadline, I'm just now writing my post for the first challenge of FoodBuzz's 'Project Food Blog' competition. I almost didn't write it because, of all days, I've lost my voice, have a fever and I'm tired after participating in a lively grape stomping competition at a local vineyard yesterday with my husband. Three Fox Vineyards' 'Lucy Stomp' I'll begin by saying that I'm not a very competitive person. It doesn't mean that I don't enjoy winning, it's more... Continue reading

Three Fox Vineyards 10100 Three Fox Lane Delaplane, VA 20144 (540) 364-6073 www.threefoxvineyards.com I'm home! I'm home! Those are the words that briefly ran through my mind when visiting Three Fox Vineyards for the first time recently. How do I explain it? You know that feeling you get when you... Continue reading

seriously, i won! let me backtrack a little since i've actually had two accolades recently. one involved being a runner-up in marx foods' reishi tea challenge. my recipe, hot peppermint and honey reishi mushroom tea didn't win the big prize, but it feels kinda good to at least be acknowledged and sometime soon, my recipe will be forever linked on their reishi tea recipe page on their website. hot peppermint and honey reishi mushroom tea thank you to marx foods for sending me the mushrooms to participate in the challenge. it was fun to experiment with something i may otherwise... Continue reading

i signed up, a couple of months ago, to review something called a palm leaf plate from marx foods. this is the second time i've mentioned reviewing something of theirs in recent posts so i feel the need to say that, when sending out product samples, marx foods requests honest reviews. if i love it, say so. if i don't, let 'em know, so here goes. Continue reading

grilled goat cheese & portobello quesadilla w/spicy mango peach salsa i'm sure i've mentioned this before but i'm going to say it again: i love goat cheese! i love its tanginess and, when warmed, it's gooey creaminess. i'm pretty sure, if given the opportunity, i could find ways to add it to every single meal, but my family doesn't share my goat cheese enthusiasm, so i've refrained...so far. the recipe i'm sharing today is one i came up with a couple of weeks ago but haven't gotten around to posting though the tantalizing taste remains in my memory. i rounded... Continue reading

3310 Freezeland Road Linden, VA 22642 (540) 636-6777 Last week I had the delightfully rare pleasure of a weekday winery visit with my husband, David. Weekday winery visits are not unusual for me, but they are for David who usually works during the day. We packed a picnic lunch and... Continue reading

recently, marx foods, the mecca of online food stores for those of us interested in high quality specialty foods, held a challenge to make reishi mushroom tea taste good. reishi mushrooms are rumored to be chock full of nutritional goodness with medicinal values. i like a challenge and i was curious to see if these mushrooms really tasted as bitter as i'd read. upon receiving my packets of mushrooms from marx foods, i opened one and nibbled a mushroom right out of the packet. 15 seconds in, i couldn't see what the big deal was. once the aftertaste hit, i suddenly understood and realized i did, in fact, have a challenge on my hands and set about to create a basic and easy way to jazz up the taste of the reishi mushroom tea. Continue reading

I've noticed recently that, while I obviously enjoy many Virginia wines, the bigger thrill for me comes from getting the opportunity to photograph the winery, the tasting room, the grounds and the noticeable "electricity" that fills a tasting room on a certain day. I want to capture the "vibe". Sometimes it can be a humorous wine-related sign hanging above a door, the broad view of the winery as I approach, the smile on a patron's face when they discover a wine they love, or the way the sunlight touches on a glass of wine on the Tasting Room counter. Continue reading

whole wheat pasta with mussels in spicy red sauce a visit to magnolias at the mill restaurant inspired this dish. i love, love, love fish and shellfish. scallops, crab, crab legs, lobster, shrimp, fresh fish, calamari, oysters...catch my drift? until recently, my experience with mussels had been very limited. i've had dishes with mussels as one of several ingredients, but never as the "headliner" and still in the shell. i sure as heck had never gotten around to trying to steam my own at home. horror stories of illness made me more than a little nervous, so i had always... Continue reading

one of the more fun aspects of having a food blog, other than cooking of course, is occasionally being given the chance to review products from select retailers. csn stores contacted me recently asking if i'd be interested in reviewing one of their products. it took me .03 seconds to respond with "yes!" after browsing through one of their shops. Continue reading

by default, i put mustard on almost any type of sandwich that i make. as a kid, i would eat mustard by the spoonful. yeah, i was weird like that. one of these days i'm going to get around to making my own mustard. i recently made a recipe for sun-dried tomato blt crostini that called for lemon chive mayo and my mayo of choice, was hellmann's. my mother-in-law once told me that if you're going to use mayonnaise, use the best...so i did. imagine my surprise when hellmann's began following me on twitter this week and shortly thereafter gave... Continue reading