Text 2069, 61 rader
Skriven 2006-06-12 12:42:42 av DAVE SACERDOTE (1:123/140)
Ärende: Tastes of Sunday
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We celebrated my Mom's 70th birthday on Sunday.  Lots of food and drink
as you might expect.  Here are some highlights:

 - Ravenswood California Zinfandel 2001.  This bottle was brought to
   my place by Burt Ford and we never got around to drinking it, so
   I brought it to the party where I knew it would be appreciated.
   Rich chocolate nose with a full-bodied ripe plum opener, long
   summer-fruit finish with traces of acid.  After a little breathing
   time, the chocolate faded and a more grapey aroma replaced it,
   but the flavor stayed fat and plummy.  We opened this bottle before
   the mob arrived so the swillers wouldn't hog it, and it was well
   appreciated by the experienced wine drinkers.  Thanks, Burt.  It
   was a great hit. I owe ya one.

 - Peels Blueberry Pomegranate malt Beverage - Lightly fizzy alcoholic
   soda.  Tastes like chewing a mouthful of ripe blueberries with a
   faint but tart pomegranate background.  Pretty good, but at only
   5% alcohol content, an 11-ounce bottle, and twice the price of a
   beer, not a very good value.  Available in 4-packs.

 - Red Stripe Beer - When I was a kid, Red Stripe was horrid stuff.
   Either they've gotten better, or I'm just more acclimated to beer,
   because Red Stripe isn't all that bad.  Nothing wicked special,
   mind you, but not horrible.  A touch of lemon (not really skunky 
   but still kind of unsuspected) and a nice bitter hoppy finish.
   I guess I'd call it a better-than-average lager, but not stellar.
   Hooray beer!

 - Costco lasagna (Kirkland Signature brand) - I guess Nick got
   lazy this time because he and Lori bought two pans of lasagna
   from Costco instead of making it themselves as they usually do.
   Unlike some cheap frozen laz though, the Costco products were
   fairly decent - good sauce (not too sweet) plenty of cheese, and
   included a layer of spicy Italian sausage (the lame rabbit-
   pellet kind.)  Overall pretty good.

 - Smoked ribs - My trademark smoked pork ribs, big and meaty,
   five hours over mesquite at 250F, then basted with a vinegar/
   tomato BBQ sauce on the grill over low heat to coat and crisp
   the outside.  20 pounds of ribs and no leftovers.

 - Smoked Cornish game hens - Since the ribs hang in the bottom of
   the smoker, I always have room on top of the smoker for something
   else.  I filled the top rack with Cornish game hens (on sale at
   Stop & Shop.)  They were ready an hour or so before the ribs
   and an hour before the guests arrived, so I put them on a platter
   in the kitchen and told The Crew to help themselves to 'em.  We
   ripped off hunks of tender, smokey meat and ate it with:

 - Evans & Tate Chardonnay Margaret River 2003 - Pears with a hint of
   vanilla, long oakey finish.  Nick tasted toffee in there, too, but
   I didn't catch it. Stood up well to the mesquite smoke in the hens,
   but I bet hickory would have been better (not the fault of the
   wine, however, which was outstanding.)



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