Image courtesy of Bogle Winery
February 9th-10th, 2008
11:00am – 5:00pm
at the Bogle Winery Tasting Room
With Valentine’s Day less than a week away, why not get a head start at Bogle Winery this weekend where they’ll be celebrating the 10th anniversary of Bogle Port?
More Information
Directions to Bogle Winery
If you can’t make it this time around, be sure to get a taste of Bogle at the “Chocolate, Port and Coffee Tasting Soirée” hosted by Slow Food Sacramento on February 23.
Archives for 2008
Vino in the Park
I just made the big move from Davis (read: comfort, security, mom’s house) to Sacramento (read: new, exciting, intimidating) and my friends/roommates and I have made a pact to explore the city where we now reside. Part of this pact is to try a new restaurant or bar at least once a week. Thanks to Metro Connected , formerly known as Sacramento Young Professionals, we were able to get a taste of The Park Ultra Lounge and Mason’s restaurant last week with an event called “Vino in the Park.” It was a great way to break up the work week and meet interesting locals.
The wine tasting itself was done in the form of a game – we broke up into groups of four or five and were each poured from a ‘mystery’ bottle of wine. The rules were simple; name five characteristics of the wine and ultimately decide what varietal you tasted. Simple for the wine experts maybe! Beyond characteristics such as “fruity,” or “nutty,” I didn’t have much to bring to the table. Who knew that “blueberry pancakes” would be one of the attributes!?! Needless to say, my team did not come out on top. But it did make for a very fun evening!
If you’re anything like me, then you get all too comfortable in your home town and forget there are amazing establishments in every neighborhood just waiting to be discovered. My advice: live your life like you’re on vacation – when traveling, one would never settle for returning to the same dinner hot spot every week, so why not venture out and explore here as well! No matter how long you’ve lived in Sacramento or how well you think you know it, I guarantee you there’s more.
You can start by checking out MetroConnected events here:
Slow Food Sacramento Presents a Chocolate, Port and Coffee Tasting Soirée
Saturday February 23 – 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Old Soul Coffee Company
1716 L Street (rear alley)
$25 Slow Food Members, $30 General Public
GET TICKETS NOW
Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first. We at Slow Food Sacramento echo American writer Ernestine Ulmer’s sentiments and are pleased to partner with three local treasures: Old Soul Coffee, Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates and Bogle Winery to host an educational seminar to learn about the dynamics of chocolate, coffee and port pairings, and to meet some of our area’s finest food and beverage artisans. And, after dessert, port and coffee, why not have dinner at one of Midtown’s excellent eateries?
Image courtesy of the Sacramento Bee.
Chocolate.
Ginger Elizabeth Powers, purveyor of Ginger Elizabeth Chocolate in Midtown Sacramento, will discuss the different kind of cacao beans and the trees they come from, as well as how chocolate is made and how fine chocolate differs from regular chocolate.
See what others are saying about Ginger Elizabeth Chocolate:
Sacramento Bee
TwinSoup
Sacatomato
Vanilla Garlic
Port.
Winemaker Eric Aafedt from Bogle Vineyards and Winery in Clarksburg will share his port-making approach as well as the family’s history and winemaking style. Eric is responsible for crafting Bogle’s unique Petite Sirah Port, sourced from the Old River Vineyard, directly across Elk Slough from the Bogle homestead.
Coffee.
Jason Griest, expert coffee roaster and co-owner of the Old Soul Company, will host the educational seminar and talk about his philosophy of community, using only fair trade and organically grown beans.
Are you a crab picker or a crab piler?
This was the question du jour last Saturday night as the Smith and McGough families embarked on their second annual Fisherman’s Club Crab Feed in Lincoln, California.
In our group of 10 (plus baby Will made 11), the majority of the Smith/McGough clan are pilers: carefully selecting the perfect piece to crack open, cultivating the most meat possible, then creating a pile only eaten once it’s big enough for it to be considered a meal.
Unfortunately I was the odd woman out, as I don’t have the devotion to crab or the patience for the piling process. I’m a picker: crack the crab leg, pull out the meat and eat it. Repeat. I must admit, since my husband is a piler, it’s very convenient for me to have an empty plate between picking as I always get sympathy bites from his pile!
Whether you are a picker or a piler, crab feeds are fun way to really get into your food. How many other opportunities do you have to wear a bib and get messy unless you’re under the age of three? And it’s not just about the crab, we enjoyed appetizers, shrimp cocktail, coleslaw and clam chowder. Half the fun is taking part in such an elaborate production in which you must be prepared with wine and wine glasses, butter warmers, special sauces, and crab crackers and pickers. The ill-prepared will still have a good time, but going bare bones once will teach you to build up your crab feed experience with all the trimmings next time!
So whether you’re a picker or a piler, crab lover or just plain crabby, you are sure to enjoy a good time with family or friends at a crab feed.
Super Bowl, Super Food
Ah, the Super Bowl. There are the much-discussed commercials, the irreverent half-time shows and – of course – the game itself. More and more, though, the Super Bowl has become about the food. Let’s be honest: Do we ask ourselves what we’ll do at the Super Bowl party? Nah. The question is always, “What will we eat?”
Some of you might be surprised by this admission, but I throw a Super Bowl party nearly every year. Yes, I know, it’s weirdly true. I have no favorite team; in fact, I don’t really follow football. Truth be told, I’m somewhat perplexed by the reverence most everyone I know shows for the Super Bowl. But, the fact of the matter is I’m married to a guy who’s a huge sports fan and whose birthday almost always lands on Super Bowl Sunday.
This year, my husband celebrated a milestone birthday, so I decided we needed to nice up the noshing a notch (try saying that three times fast!). Enter Chef Jerrad McConnell of Ashley Catering by Mandango’s, who produced the most mouth-watering BBQ menu that presented a little bit of something for everyone:
Honey and Cilantro Slaw
__________
BBQ Pulled Pork
and
Garlic and Rosemary Grilled Sierra Steak
________
Grilled Corn on the Cob with Bacon Butter
Baked Three Beans with Ancho Honey BBQ
Roasted Baby Herbed Yukon Potatoes
Grilled Seasonal Vegetables
_______
Fresh corn muffins
He grilled the perfectly seasoned steaks so that they literally melted in the mouths of the birthday guests, who filed outdoors for seconds. The pulled pork was intensely flavorful and tender, and the corn on the cob – usually a summer treat – was an unexpected winter surprise. Tiny hands from the littlest birthday guests snatched corn muffins from a football-shaped dish, and the ladies in attendance scooped seemingly endless helpings of crisp salad, sweet coleslaw and seasoned grilled veggies.
I’m happy to report that the birthday boy could not have been more delighted – a spectacular game and delicious food – another perfect Super Bowl birthday.