Girl With A Glass

My Mom is in the girlwithaglass spirit!  She announced yesterday that each adult guest is invited to bring a bottle of vino and we’ll have a wine tasting on Thanksgiving.

Here are five ways to walk the talk on Thanksgiving Day:

• Show appreciation for your host with compliments. Notice the clean house, the fresh flowers, the pretty candles, the well-behaved dog, etc., stop your host in mid-frenzy and deliver a sincere compliment.
• Play with the children. Bring coloring books, stuffed animals, a board game, something that inspires the imagination.  Spend part of your time on the floor with the kids.
• Say I’ve missed you or I care about you. Start the day off on the right foot by sending love and being loving.
• Talk a walk.  If the weather permits, ask everyone to go for a walk with you.  Those who want to, will, just don’t leave anyone out. Appreciate the fall colors.
• Decide how you want to remember your day before it begins. Be thankful.

Happiness is a Warm Cookie, Charles M. Schulz

Glazed & Stuffed Turkey Breasts

• 2  boneless skinned turkey breasts (about 3/4 lb each)
• 1 tbls olive oil
• 1/2 cup diced white onion
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/4 cup diced ham
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 2 tbls dry sherry
• 1/2 cup cooked shrimp (no tails)
• 2 cups bread cubes (from a baguette)
• 2 cups bread cubes (from corn bread)
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 egg (beaten)
• salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 425° and coat the bottom of a baking dish with olive oil.  Prepare the bread crumbs by tearing the baguette and corn bread** into small pieces to make 4 cups.

Saute the onions, celery, ham and cayenne for about 3 minutes.  Add the sherry and shimmer until nearly evaporated, then toss in the shrimp and season with salt and pepper.  Immediately remove and put in large mixing bowl.  Stir in the bread crumbs, broth, egg and parsley.

Beat each turkey breast until flattened a bit.  Place a pile of stuffing in the middle of each turkey breast then roll up like a jelly roll.  Place the “rolls” in the baking dish, with the pretty (breast) side up, and the rolled part hidden underneath.  Lightly salt & pepper the breasts.

Put remaining stuffing into another oven proof dish and bake alongside the turkey.

Rum Glaze

• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tbls dark rum
• 1 tbls brown sugar
• 1 tbls molasses

Simmer all glaze ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat for about 4 minutes. Baste the turkey rolls and put them in the oven for 30 minutes; baste every ten minutes.

Serve each guest a turkey roll with stuffing on the side.  I served this with an herb salad pre-mix with thinly sliced anjou pears and shaved Parmesan.  The dressing was equal parts apple cider concentrate and olive oil with diced white onions, and fresh bacon bits.

**I made home made corn bread before I started and used the recipe on the back of the corn meal box and added 1/2 cup corn. I also used butter on the bottom of the baking pan.  If you don’t make home made corn bread, add 1/2 cup corn to your stuffing.

Wine Pairing

The glaze is surprisingly rich and the cayenne brightens the stuffing considerably. I served an Alamos Malbec from Argentina.  It’s an highly rated everyday wine for about $12.

This recipe was inspired by Cusine at Home.

MY THANKSGIVING WINE RECOMMENDATIONS, by Cameron Hughes

The first rule, and really the only one to really worry about, is that Turkey, being a dry meat, fights with tannin. Tannin is present in different levels in different wines and comes not only from grape skins, but from oak barrels as well. As such, low tannin, fruit-forward reds are highly recommended as are chardonnays with well integrated oak and tropical fruit profiles not to mention off-dry rieslings and fruity roses.

Never get too hungry, angry, lonely or tired (halt).

In the hustle and busyness of the holiday season, it’s so easy to get fatigued, to be grumpy or to feel lonely or put upon.  It helps when I remember to make a choice as often as I can rather then let my life run away from me. When I choose to… take a nap instead of powering through a project, put off an errand to take a walk with the dog, sit down with a snack and leaf through a magazine…I’m training myself to take it easy.

And the best part?  My relaxed, happy mood is contagious.

Serving Rosé with Thanksgiving is always fun because many people don’t pair Rosé with food, especially at this time of year.

When buying Rosé, sparkling or otherwise, I like to try different varietals, but my favorite continues to be Rosés made from 100% Pinot Noir.  One of my favorites is made by Lynmar. I’m seeing quite a few Rosés from Northern California lately that are made from Rhone varietals such as Grenache and Mouvedre.  Renwood makes an affordable Rosé from Syrah that is highly-rated.  For sparkling Rosé, I’m looking forward to opening a Rotari Brut, made from 25% chardonnay and 75% Pinot Noir, on Thanksgiving day.  It is a Best Buy from Wine Enthusiast.

One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions is when my Mom opens the Champagne at noon on Thanksgiving.  It’s for the cooks only!  Here’s what we’ll be pouring this year.

(Picture is Hubby with a centerpeice that someone gave me at the Heirloom Tomato Festival in Carmel.)

Tags: Champagne, Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving– the American Day of Feasting when all Americans look forward to good wine, food and friends/family.  One year, hubby and I were visiting Bonaire, a small island off the coast of Venezuela.  The resort staff gamely served a traditional Thanksgiving dinner to their American guests–turkey, sweet potatoes, gravy and salad.  The only food that stumped our waiter was pumpkin pie.  He thought we were joking.  A pie made out of pumpkins?

Traveling to a foreign country at Thanksgiving is a wonderful memory that still makes me smile.

Tags: Thanksgiving

“I am the Lord of these Vines.  I make wine and everybody has a happy heart.”

Inscription above the fireplace at Castello di Amorosa based on a poem written in the 14th Century, loosely translated.

Tags: castello di amorosa, napa winery

Having an active imagination is one of my real joys in life.  When I act upon whatever my imagination conjures up, I feel happy and my friends and family find themselves smiling too.  As we get older sometimes we forget to be imaginative or worse, we dismiss the feeling before acting upon it.

To reactivate your imagination, visit Castello di Amorosa (Castle of Love) near St. Helena in Calistoga.  Dario Sattui, a long-time vintner, followed his imagination and built an authentic, 8-level (including the torture chamber and subterranean passageways) Tuscan-style castle.

There is a fee for touring and tasting (think Disneyland for adults but the tickets are cheaper and you get wine).  Take your time and play in the four levels of underground passageways.  (Look for the bright exit signs when you’re ready to leave because you will get completely lost.)  The passageways are lined with barrels, filled with small lots of artisan Italian varietals.  Snoop around and look for secret passageways (we found one).  When you get to the dungeon/torture room, be careful, the stuff in there is real!  It’s an eerie feeling; but this may be the only time you’ll ever see the implements of medieval torture up close.

After all the fun enjoying the five towers and playing in 107 castle rooms, I was surprisingly enchanted by the main tasting room. It is very welcoming and charming and the staff was animated and knowledgeable about the wines.  I recommend that you taste as many wines as your budget allows; it’s time for grown up activity, savor it!

Make Castello di Amorosa a destination, spend lots of time and don’t see the fee as the usual tasting fee, this place is one-of-a-kind.  I suggest ending your visit with a stop at Greystone for a meal or a snack to complete your day in another cool, old, stone building.