Wine Tasting - Chalten Reserva Pinot Noir 2008

"Light the candles and pour the red wine into your glass.  Before you begin to eat, raise your glass in honor of yourself.  The company is the best you'll ever have."

 - Daniel Halpern

I tip my glass of wine to you this day my fine friend.  Beware, however, that I only tip my glass.  In no manner am I insinuating that I am willing to share my wine!  Go out, have a fabulous day, be good, attain great, and find your own glass of wine!

One of life's most pleasurable things is to remove the foil, uncork and discover what's inside a bottle of wine.  It's an adult version of a child who opens a wrapped gift.  You really won't know what you have until the package has been unwrapped and the gift tried on for size.  Oh yeah... This wine fits!  It fits like a glove, my friend.

Chucky's Point Score:  88

Tiffany's Point Score:  86

Chalten Reserva Pinot Noir 2008

Appellation:  Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina

Grape Varietal(s):  100% Pinot Noir

Price:  $12.99 at Total Wine & More, March 2011

Vintage: 2008

Producer:  Chalten

Alcohol:  14.0%

Tasting notes as follows.

Chucky's Notes:  "Complexity on the nose is only matched by an equally complex taste on the palate.  High tannin and long-lasting ecstasy in my mouth.  Each sip tastes better than the last.  A very unique color looks like rust & strawberry and the slightly tawny color matched with high tannins mean long shelf life.  The grapes used to produce this bottle did not give up their life in vain!  Yummy x 50!"

Tiffany's Notes:  "Enjoy the cherry notes on bouquet & palate, although the this tastes like a very young wine.  A little watered down for my taste, but it is a pleasant, smooth very drinkable delight!  Very elegant wine, but Pinots are not bursting with that bold dark fruitiness I prefer.  I am looking forward to my second glass to see if this wine opens up more."

From the label:

“A dry, well-balanced red wine with aromas of cherries and violets.  Perfectly suited to accompany grilled meats and pasta dishes.”

This bottle produced a most traditional Pinot Noir taste upon our palates.  Although it's not the big bold reds that we've come to love, Tiffany and I cherished our ability to drink from this bottle and experience the grape varietal.  An elegant and smooth red wine worthy of any dinner party. 

Hi-dee hi-dee wine-varietal-is-the-spice-of-life-ho my friend.

Steamed Omelet Bowl

"When arguing with a stone an egg is always wrong."

 - African Proverb

Hello my friend.  It's Friday!  It's Friday!  If you take the proper perspective every day can be your Friday.  Now, there's something to ponder.  Have a terrific day and add a smile onto someone's face along your way.

What is one of Chucky's favorite foods?  The one that may prevent him from every becoming a future vegan?  Yes ~ it's the egg.  Just behind an egg over easy, just about any other combination of a egg is favored by Chucky.  This includes the omelet.

Steamed omelet with green salsa on top

Ordinarily Tiffany will get out the cast iron skillet to make our omelets.  Of course, there is nothing wrong with this and they're quite delicious.  Then comes a bamboo steamer into my life.  I truly did not understand what I was missing until I read a blog which promoted bamboo steaming over any other kind of steaming.  The blogger promoted the benefits of bamboo over my conventional metal steamer pans and the electric appliance type.

Wow was this blogger ever right!  Life has not been the same in the Tiffany & Chucky household since our first bamboo steamer purchase about a week ago.  Steamed veggies simply never tasted the same before.  No oils, no sprays, and no frying.  Just pure essence of whatever is placed into the steamer basket with all of its glorious nutrition!

Being the inquisitive one I began searching the Internet looking for things to make in my new steamer.  The variety of foods is incredible.  I suppose that's why the Chinese have stuck with this most wonderful cooking apparatus for more than just a few years ago?  It cooks, it keeps warm and it serves perfectly cooked foods that are not mushy, overly-wet or having nutrition completely removed. 

During my searching I noted numerous egg and omelet meals.  Why not, huh?  This contraption is supposed to be so good.  So here goes one of my quick 'n simple creations using our new bamboo steamer.  Get up early, toss the ingredients into the bowls, prepare the steamer, let it go, and get dressed while you wait for your breakfast to cook!  SUPER easy clean-up too.  Food never actually comes into contact with the bamboo using this method.  Clean your bowls and clean your wok.  Absolutely delicious!

Think about the variations.  Onion, pepper, asparagus, zucchini, squash, broccoli, olive, jalapeno pepper, potato, etc.  It's limitless.  What do you have in your fridge that needs to be cooked before it spoils?  

Later on I will try a vegan variation using Ener-G egg replacer.  I'll keep you posted once I have tried it.  Until then, please enjoy this mornings most fabulous breakfast in the pictures below.

Step 1 - Add water into wok and turn heat to HIGH.

Step 2 - Add first bamboo steamer rack.

Step 3 - As water heats, add fresh spinach into bowls that have

been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Step 4 - Add sliced mushroom.

Step 5 - Add diced celery.

Step 6 - Add diced bread.

Step 7 - Add crumbled blue cheese.

Step 8 - Add 1/4 carton egg beater into each bowl.

Step 9 - Salt & pepper and place first bowl onto steamer tray.

Step 10 - Add second tray and add second bowl.

Step 11 - Cover steamer trays.

Step 12 - Set time to 20-minutes.

Step 13 - A healthy and scrumptious breakfast is served!

As surprising as it may seem, the bread crumbs were not mushy.  Instead, my diced rosemary bread cubes were delightfully chewy and a perfect accompaniment to the the omelet.  This is a very low calorie concoction.  Only 30-calories for the Kirkland (Costco) Egg Starts.  The only real calories are in the single slice of bread and approximate ounce of blue cheese used in each dish.  Because I can toss in whatever I want each time, the variations to this omelet are endless.

This steamed omelet tastes MUCH better than it's fried counterpart.  Because the entire dish is contained within a bowl and because it's steamed instead of fried, the juices of every ingredient meld into a perfect melody of taste.  The juices of the fresh spinach, the creaminess of the melted blue cheese, and the juices of the mushroom perform the River dance of delight upon my tongue.

Hi-dee hi-dee yet-another-reminder-how-simple-can-be-so-healthy-and-delicious-ho my friend!

State Road A1A Road Trip to St Augustine, Florida Outlet Malls

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."

 - Saint Augustine

Hello everyone!  I hope that you had a eco-friendly and pleasant Leap Day.  May the beginning of March be as good, if not better, than days past.

Let's take a road trip up State Road A1A along the Northeast coast of Florida, shall we?  As we traveled up A1A to St. Augustine a few weeks past, Tiffany snapped pictures as I drove.  Please enjoy my friend.

Florida State Road A1A goes right along the Atlantic Ocean coastline.

Look at all of the parking!  Psst... it's a weekday in February.

"Hey Tiffiany!  Let's go surf fishing instead?"

Beverly Beach, Florida welcomes us!

"Look Chucky!  It's World famous Marineland!"

"Are these Atlantic Ocean shoreline homes even insurable???"

"Look!  Flock of seagulls!"

"No.  Not that Flock of Seagulls.  The birds, Chucky."

Chucky sees water.

Tiffany sees kayaking territory!

Pulling into St. Augustine Premium Outlets.

Now we're pulling into St. Augustine Outlets.

Hi-dee hi-dee we-pass-beautiful-things-every-single-day-without-even-noticing-ho my friend.