A Jeanne in the Kitchen

Malbec is a type of red wine made famous by Argentina, though it originated in France. The Malbec grape is used in making red wine. It is an inky purple, thick-skinned grape that originated in France. However, a French viticulturist and ampelographer claim that the original name of the grape was ‘Cot’ and that it haled from northern Burgundy. Malbec creates such an intense, dark red wine that it is sometimes blended with wines such as Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon.

Though Malbec originated in France, it experienced a decline in popularity in its home country, especially after a frost occurred in 1956, destroying 75% of the Malbec vineyards. Now Malbec is more prominent in Argentina, becoming an emblem of the nation’s wine industry, where it established a strong foothold during the twentieth century. Today, over 75% of all Malbec grapes are grown in Argentina and Malbec wine has gained popularity not just in Argentina but in countries all over the world. In 2011, the fifth largest wine producer in the world, called Wines of Argentina, established April 17 as Malbec World Day.

MALBEC WORLD DAY TIMELINE

~ 1853 – Malbec Grave enters Argentina and the Malbec grapes are introduced into Argentina.

~ 1956 – Over 75% of Malbec vineyards in France are wiped out because of frost.

~ 1990’s – Over 10,000 acres of Malbec grapes are planted in Argentina

~ 2011 World Malbec Day is created by Wines of Argentina on April 17

Malbecs are usually a smooth, fruit forward red, that go very well with steaks in particular, another thing Argentina is famous for, as well as all other red meats.

April 17 was declared Malbec World Day or Dia Mundial del Malbec, by Argentina in 2011. Malbec World Day or Dia Mundial del Malbec is observed every year on April 17 to commemorate the day the first agronomy school was founded in Argentina for the study of European grapes, including the Malbec grape. This took place on April 17, 1853, the same year that Argentina’s president, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, asked a French soil expert to bring new grape varietals to his country.  Malbec got its name from a Hungarian peasant with the last name of Malbec or Malbeck who spread the grape all over France. While Malbec is predominantly known as a red wine, there is a popular rosé variety, which is also a crisp, fresh, and floral in flavor.

Some Fun Facts About Wines and Grapes

~Did you know that depending on the type of grape, it takes between 400-800 grapes to produce 1 bottle of wine?

~A cluster of grapes is somewhere between 70-100 grapes.

~Grapes are some of the oldest foods and fruits in the world, dating back about 65,000 years.

~There are over 8,000 different types of grapes and grape varietals, mostly coming from the Americas and Europe, though grapes are now found all over the world.

~The grape skin naturally produces yeast.

~ Grapes are high in vitamin C.

Is it just me or do these grapes remind you of blueberries? Maybe that’s why a good Malbec is so fruit forward.

I love Malbecs. Malbecs and Pinot Noirs are my favorite red wines. So I am a couple of days late celebrating. Better late than never though, right?!

There is nothing wrong with enjoying the nectars of the gods, as long as it in moderation. Trust me, I pay homage with a little bit everyday. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

I was out driving and stopped for a light when I looked over and saw this tree just filled with birds. I didn’t have my normal camera with me, but I had my cell phone. I just couldn’t resist. I loved this bird tree. It was filled with small little black birds.

These little black birds were everywhere. They even spilled over onto the light posts.

I am theoretically coaching again, though so far, it’s not going how I expected. This is the same team I was supposed to coach last year, but it ended up never happening because there ended up being NO TEAM after all. This year, so far, we are in the same boat, so rather than coaching, I am actually trying to recruit at the moment. HMMMMMM! I am more than a bit out of my comfort zone, but I am pretty sure I can do it. I always say I like a challenge. I was supposed to meet with my head guard this morning, but he never showed. I waited for an hour, but had to leave because I have other plans. I am going to chalk it up to miscommunication this time, but ….. I have to admit, my patience is beginning to wear a bit. All I need is kids in the pool and all will be good. 🙂

I’d be perfectly happy with dogs in the pool too though. 🙂

Just keep swimmin’, just keep swimmin’, just keep swimmin’. Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

I LOVE cookies! Cookies of ALL kinds. So far, I have never found a cookie I don’t like, and believe me, I have tried many cookies in my day too. This latest batch of cookies was a batch or two of some delicious pistachio shortbread cookies.

Once again, I was inspired by our very own My Meals Are On Wheels, Ohio Cook, https://beatcancer2010.wordpress.com/. I get a lot of great recipe ideas here. So thank you again, for yet another fabulous recipe idea. 🙂

I doubled the recipe since I was making them for my weekly church coffee cart. One batch will make about 2 dozen cookies. I also substituted the cardamom for cinnamon. I like cardamom, but when I was looking through all my spices, I couldn’t find it, though I know I have it. So, cinnamon it was. Besides, I like cinnamon more than I like cardamom anyway. They sill came out great. 🙂

Pistachio Shortbread Cookies

2 sticks of softened butter

1/2 cup +1 TBSP sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cardamom or cinnamon

1 egg

2 cups flour

2/3 cup chopped pistachios

Combine the flour and cinnamon together and set aside.

Cream the eggs and sugar together then add the egg and vanilla. Add the flour and cinnamon mixture, 1/2 at a time, mixing in between.

Fold in the chopped pistachios.

Shape the dough into logs about 10 inches in length, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour before slicing.

When the dough is set, preheat the oven to 350* F or 190* C and slice into slices that are about 1/2 inch thick. Place the slices on a cookies sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing them about 1 inch apart.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until they start to turn a light golden color around the edges. Then enjoy with friends or family. These cookies are delicious. Not too sweet, but just sweet enough. I dare you to stop at just one. 🙂

Sweeten up your days as best as you can. Cookies always help with that. 🙂 Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

My pelicans are back. They just started coming back, and soon, hopefully, they will be back in droves once again. We saw the first batch yesterday. They are so beautiful.

While we were out on our walk-about, I had to laugh at this one lady who seemed so sure of herself when she was telling her companion that “she was surprised to see pelicans, because we never have them here”. I responded with a definite “yes we do. They come every year in the spring”. I have plenty of pictures to prove it too.

Sorry about the poor quality of this one. I was zoomed out as much as I could be, abut they were flying high.

The male is following the female. I would love to see little baby pelicans one day.

Here they are swimming with a pair of Ring Necks.

He is staying very close to his girl.

The male

and the female.

And flying in the skies above once again.

I love spring in our neck of the woods. And I love it when our pelicans come home for the season too.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

We got together with Janet and Bob to hear all about their adventures in Israel. They just returned home a couple of days ago. We started off with dinner at a new little Indian restaurant called Spice Of India. Yes, it would have been more of a themed evening had we gone to a Middle Eastern restaurant, or to Jerusalem in Denver, A Trip to Jerusalem, but they had been talking about this new Indian restaurant for months, and we just couldn’t make it happen until now. So glad we could finally go.

Spice of India is a family owned and operated restaurant here in Westminster, just a hop, skip and a jump away from all of us. It has only been open for about 8 months and it is already growing by leaps and bounds.

The owner, Sudip Khanal, is originally from Nepal. He and his staff were very friendly and helpful. They all had big smiles all throughout the evening.

All four of us love Indian foods of all kinds, and we are all very adventurous eaters. We ordered the mixed combination platter that had both meat dishes and vegetarian foods, as well as one more vegetarian dish and another order of onion naan bread, just to make sure we had enough for the four of us. It was definitely a delicious feast. We have discovered that the best way to try a lot of different foods is to order a wide variety and everyone shares the dishes. Combination plates are always a great introduction to many different dishes as well.

Sudip likes to help serve his customers as well. It was definitely service with a smile, or in this case, with three smiles.

The food was just as tasty as it was colorful. Everything was delicious! We all had our favorites, and each one of us chose something different as our favorite dish, but again, everything was fantastic. You can’t go wrong here. Even though we all love spicy foods, we have all learned from past experience NOT to order spicy Indian (or Thai) foods. So we ordered everything at medium spice. You can choose the heat intensity level of all your dishes. Not only did we have enough food, but we took quite a bit home with us too, to enjoy at a later time.

When we first arrived, there were not a lot of people dining in the restaurant. We purposely arrived early though to avoid any crowds. By the time we had finished our fabulous feast, the restaurant was filling up quickly.

This is Spice of India’s mission statement, in their own words:

“Spice Of India is family-owned restaurant in the town. We are here to serve you with the experience of cooking for more than 20 years. We always believe in providing authentic Indian and Nepalese food and to bring a little spice in your life. All our dishes are 100% home styled, and we believe with no doubt that the creation of finest meals begins with the selection of the best ingredients. That’s why we are always anxious to acquire the best produce from the local market and finest spices around the world. We offer Vegetarian, Non-Vegetarian and Vegan options. We are always happy to know and feel you and we also offer customized dishes of your choices. We also offer beer and wines. Our cuisine is rich and diverse, encompassing a vast scope of traditions, tastes, colors, texture, appearance, and delicacy”.

The decor was colorful and fun, with traditional Indian art adorning the walls.

After we finished our meal, Sudip asked us if we had any room left for dessert. We were pretty stuffed, and had to take a breather for a bit before even thinking about dessert, but Janet and Bob had some delicious baklava from Israel waiting for us. When we told Sudip we were having baklava for dessert, and told him all about it, he asked us to bring him some. He had no idea we really would, and was very pleasantly surprised when we actually did.

Israeli Baklava

NO! We all only had small bits of this delicious baklava. We DID NOT eat all of this! Janet and Bob have been enjoying it with family, friends and neighbors since their return home.

Before enjoying the baklava, we all took a much needed break from food and enjoyed the pictures from Israel. We all had a great time catching up, and traveling together, even if only vicariously, to India, Nepal and Israel.

The next time you are in Westminster, CO, and want to take a culinary trip to both Nepal and to India, definitely give Spice of India a try. You will be in for a very festive feast for sure. Spice of India is located at 12025 N. Pecos Street, Westminster, CO. You can drop in or give them a call at (303) 955-7844. You can even order online and pick it up at http://www.spiceofindiausa.com. Either way, bring a sense of adventure, a big appetite and some friends to help make the experience even more enjoyable. I promise, you will have a fantastic evening and a delicious meal.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

We got together with our friends Jonathan and Priscilla last night for dinner. Priscilla made pasta Bolognese, bread and lemon custard with blueberries for dessert. All of it, as usual, was scrumptious. She asked me to bring a salad. Knowing what the menu was, I had to come up with an equally delicious salad to go with the rest of the meal. And I did. My salad was a hit, and paired perfectly with the meal.

I made an asparagus, red pepper and spinach salad with a light lemon dressing. I literally made just enough for the six of us to enjoy. There was nothing leftover at all. Not even a tiny morsel.

As usual, I started off keeping it simple, then it just kept growing and expanding from there. The more I read the recipe, the more the salad kept growing. The recipe itself said to load it up, and load it up I did.

Asparagus, Red Pepper and Spinach Salad

1 red bell pepper, cut into thin matchsticks

1 lb asparagus

1 shallot, sliced very thin

1 TBSP garlic

6 cups baby spinach, stems removed and chopped

6 TBSP olive oil, divided

3 TBSP lemon olive oil divided

2-3 TBSP lemon balsamic vinegar or sherry or champagne vinegar

coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

2 hard boiled eggs, crumbled

1/3 cup toasted nuts – I used slivered almonds

4 oz of either feta or goat cheese,

Get a small skillet very hot and add about 3 TBSP of olive oil and about 1 TBSP of the lemon olive oil. Add the peppers, garlic and shallots, and cook for about 2 minutes.

Cook the asparagus. My favorite asparagus are the smaller, thinner stalks. I like to boil them for just about 3-4 minutes. Get the water boiling, then add the asparagus, bring to a boil once again. Do not over boil, or the asparagus will turn to mush. You want them to still have a little snap left to them and to be bright and vivid green. After the asparagus is cooked, cut it into pieces about 1 inch in size, cut at an angle. You can also saute the asparagus, with the peppers and garlic after it has cooked for about 2-3 minutes. If this is your preferred method of cooking the asparagus, cook it all for an additional 2 minutes and add the salt & pepper.

Toast the nuts. I used slivered almonds this time, but you can also use pine nuts, walnuts, or pecans. I usually toast mine in a dry skillet, just long enough for them to turn a nice golden brown, shaking the skillet often so they don’t burn. But you can also toast them in the oven as well.

Add the nuts and vegetables to the chopped spinach after they have cooled slightly.

Add the remaining oils and lemon balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar. I also added more fresh ground black pepper at this point as well. I like my salads peppery. Gently toss everything together. If you are using the cheese, you can add it to the salad at this point as well, and toss it all together, or you can leave it on the side and have people add it later. I used feta cheese, but left it on the side.

Top the salad with the crumbled egg and serve immediately.

The hard boiled eggs and nuts are optional, but both really make the salad. A lot of Europeans and South Americans top their salads with eggs and/or nuts, and I tend to use both as well. I like the added color and textures that both nuts and eggs bring to the salads. This colorful salad was a big hit with everyone, and as I mentioned above, there was none left.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

We eat a ton of vegetables as well as a very wide variety of vegetables. And I like to prepare them in many different ways. One of the vegetables we eat frequently is broccoli. Broccoli is a very nutritious and much loved vegetable, but sometimes, if it is always cooked the same way, time after time, let’s face it, it gets … boring. That being said, this can apply to anything if there is never any change. We all need to shake things up a bit, get the juices flowing once again and bring new life to things.

I came up with a new way to prepare broccoli that is colorful and tasty and gives it a whole new twist. It’s herb crusted broccoli.

Herb Crusted Broccoli

1 1/2 lbs of broccoli florets

4 TBSP chopped pecans

1/2 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp thyme

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1/4 chopped bell pepper, any color

1 TBSP garlic

2 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP lemon olive oil, optional

1 TBSP lemon balsamic vinegar, optional

coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Get a large skillet very hot and add the oils. Then add all the vegetables, and seasonings and saute for about 5 minutes. Add the chopped pecans and cook for about 3-4 more minutes, or until the pecans are toasted. Add the lemon balsamic vinegar right at the end. Top with the chopped parsley. You can also add breadcrumbs to the mix as well. I didn’t have any at the time, so needless to say, there are no breadcrumbs in my dish, this time.

Serve it up next to your favorite main dish and enjoy. It’s bright, colorful and full of flavor. It’s broccoli that’s all dressed up for a party.

Add as much color and texture to your vegetables and salads as you like. It’s all good. The more colors and textures, the healthier and more nutritious they will be.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

All my spring birds are flying back and settling in for the season. I saw my first Cormorants of the season. There were two, but one was real shy and only stayed around for a minute. The other one was proudly on display for all to see. He was claiming his territory and letting everyone know.

Have a great day and make everyday great. 🙂

Well, it is spring in Colorado, which basically means anything goes. We have had beautiful, sunny weather for the past few days and today the temperature has dropped about 20* F. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain with another chance of light snow in the evening. You just never know what to expect at this time of year. But we did officially kick off salad season at our house. We enjoyed a delicious salad out on our beloved deck before the weather changed directions yet again.

The Verdicchio Wine is from the last batch we bottled, last year, at our favorite winery InVINtions. InVINtions, A Toast to InVINtions! We finished off the last of our Easter herbed popovers too. The salad was a delicious chicken and vegetable salad with a sun-dried tomato lemon vinaigrette.

Sun-Dried Tomato and Lemon Vinaigrette

As with most dressings and vinaigrettes, this was simple and easy-peasy.

1/2 jar of sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, with the oil

2 tsp garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

2-3 TBSP lemon olive oil

2-3 TBSP lemon balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

3-4 basil sprigs

fresh ground black pepper and coarse salt to taste

I just put everything into the food processor and processed it until it was ready, and the tomatoes were cut into very small pieces.

For the salad, well, I like stuff in my stuff. I just loaded it up with all kinds of fresh vegetables. I started off with chopped Romaine lettuce, then added some red onions sliced very thin, shredded carrots, cooked green beans, grape tomatoes cut in half and some avocado slices. Larry’s salad got some cubed Havarti cheese sprinkled around, mine did not. Then I added chicken slices and a sliced hard boiled egg to each salad and topped it with dressing. I like a lot of textures to my salads, so I also added some toasted pepita seeds on top of mine. The result – a very colorful, healthy and delicious salad. 🙂 The more colors and textures added usually means a lot more nutritious the salad will be.

We eat a lot of salads during spring and summer, but we may not be eating any more for a few days, with the weather being what it is currently. Our salad days are definitely fair weather meals. 🙂

Add lots of colors and textures to your foods. Make them pretty and fill them with lots of nutrients.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.