Wine of the Week - STO 2010 Million $ Eyeful Cab

This cabernet sauvignon from Sort This Out Cellars has a bed of sweet grape juice and some nice, dark anise overtop. This is a fun, easygoing wine.

13.5% alcohol

Wine of the Week - Mazza Vineyards 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon

A simple and tasty wine with red fruit throughout. Quick finish.

12% alcohol

No Guilt Lemon Cookies

Wouldn't that be my luck that my neighborhood bakery that sells gluten-free desserts would be closed the day I need to pick up stuff for my gluten-allergic coworker?! So I had to quickly google some recipes while I was riding the bike at the gym when I came across this recipe from TheVedge.org. I just had to pick up the coconut oil on my way home and I was set.

For some reason, my dough wasn't moist enough with the ingredient amounts posted, so I added a little more of each liquid.

These cookies pack a surprise: They are a little bit crumbly/powdery, but once it hits your tongue, they become a bit creamy (possibly because I added more liquids?). Very tasty, plus vegan and gluten free!

Wine of the Week - Epicuro 2010 Primitivo

This wine's primary scent is strawberry.  There are peppery notes underneath, but that might just be how I was reading the alcohol.  Because, to taste, alcohol is very present.  Also tannins.  Some dark cherry develops on the back of your throat at the end of what is a very slow finish.

After leaving half a bottle corked for a day, it was only slightly mellower, and had a bit of chalkiness to it that I actually enjoy.

All in all, a somewhat harsh wine.  But decent.

14% alcohol

Summer Series: Too Hot to Cook - Part 1: Panzanella & BBQ Tofu

I'm attempting a summer-long series inspired by my lack of desire to do lots of prep work or stand over a hot stove as temperatures hover in the 90s.

Last night, I made a Panzanella salad and BBQ tofu strips (which I just called "BBQ strips" until my 3-year-old declared them a winner) with a side of sliced avocado. Simple, not a lot of prep and perfect for a hot summer evening. Honestly, I would eat just the salad for dinner with some sliced avocado, but for the kid's sake, I wanted to round the meal out.

For the BBQ tofu, I followed this recipe from my BBQ Tofu Sandwiches.

Panzanella Salad
Ingredients:
(all vegetables are approximate)
5 nice-sized tomatoes, cut into a large dice
1 English cucumber, cut into a large dice
1/2 red onion sliced thinly
1 loaf of yummy bread (ideally getting stale, but if it's not, that's okay!), cubed - I used ciabatta
1/4 cup vinegar (red wine or balsamic)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 (small) clove garlic, minced or grated on the microplane
salt & pepper to taste
1 handful basil, chiffonaded

Directions:
If your bread isn't stale, set your oven to 200 and put the cubes on a cookie sheet and let them dry out for about 40 minutes. Once that is done, continue with the recipe.

In a measuring cup, measure out the vinegar and oil, add the garlic and salt & pepper and mix together.

Put the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Add the dressing and toss and toss and toss. Then refrigerate for at least an hour to let the dressing soak into the bread.

Add basil and toss again just before serving.

Blueberry Pie

I've never been a big pie person. Nor have I ever really made pie from scratch. But I decided THIS is the summer where that will all change.

So I started with Google and found a few great recipes from VeganDad:
Blueberry Pie
Homemade flaky pie crust

So yeah, now I'm a pie person. This pie won me over. My crust didn't turn out as pretty, but it was sure damn tasty.