Taco Pizza

Crust:
2 boxes Jiffy corn muffin mix (8.5 oz each)
2 eggs
4 tbsp butter
1.5 cups milk
1 cup frozen corn kernels
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Topping:
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp cayenne sauce
salt
2.5 cups cheddar or jack cheese
1/2 red bell pepper
2 scallions, chopped
2 small vine ripe tomatoes
chopped cilantro
taco sauce (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, miz 2 packages of corn muffin mix with 2 eggs, 4 tbsp melted butter, 1.5 cups milk, and frozen corn kernels. Using a large skillet (10-12 inches) with an oven-safe handle, wipe the skillet with olive oil and pour in the muffin mix. Place in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden.

Brown the beef over medium-high heat in a second skillet in olive oil. Add onions and spices and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove the cornbread from the oven and top with the meat, cheese, and veggies. Add pan back to the oven and cook 5 minutes more to melt the cheese. Garnish with cilantro, top with taco sauce, cut into 8 wedges and serve.

This is a 30 Minute Meals recipe from Rachel Ray. I can never actually finish making the meal in 30 minutes like she does but it is relatively quick.

Wednesday

I don't have much at all to post today. Just a typical day I guess... wake up, go to work, come home. Oh yes.... except its FREAKING COLD!!!! When I woke up, our TV told us that it was -5 outside. Im not sure what the high was but it wasn't much above 10 and now its snowing.... again. We got home, I headed to the gym and came back to help Jason with dinner... taco pizza. Then for dessert, an apple with caramel dip.


Sorry I don't have anything exciting to post... I feel like I need to go into hibernation!

I hate days like today.

It is days like today that I wish I could have just stayed in bed. First of all, Jason is sick, never a good thing. Second, the weather was crappy last night, I could barely see the road on the drive home with all the wind and snow. That meant that today, again, Jason and I would have to ride in together. For those of you that are familiar with it, the reason for me having to ride with Jason would be the '94 Camaro that I still drive. It still runs and I don't have to make car payments on it... but on days like today, I curse it. There were the normal stupid drivers and obnoxious vanity plates (seriously, do you have to have 'DBL MPG' on you license plates when you drive a Toyota Prius HYBRID)... just a pet peeve of mine.
It was an all around crappy day at work. I was done before Jason so I had to wait for an hour to go home. Of course I didn't feel like cooking when we got home so we ordered Chinese.... General Tso's chicken and Szechuan Tofu and veggies. Jason is resting and I am praying that I don't get sick too. I hope everyone is staying warm and healthy!

Mushroom, Bean and Barley Soup

2 cans vegetable broth
1/2 cup evaporated milk
2 tbsp half and half
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp black pepper
6 cups fresh mushrooms (mix of white and crimini)
1 can cannellini beans
1 onion
6 oz frozen egg noodles
1 tsp olive oil

Drain and rinse beans in a colander and set aside. Chop onion and slice mushrooms. Heat oil in a nonstick saucepan over medium heat and saute onions until softened, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and continue to cook about 5 minutes more. Add broth, milk, half and half, barley, beans, noodles, and parsley. Cover and simmer until barley and noodles are tender, about 20 minutes. Season with black pepper. About 4 servings.

This recipe originally came from ediets. The original recipe (for one serving) follows and is only about 350 calories per serving.
2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup evaporated nonfat milk
2 oz barley
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 cups fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup canned white beans
1/2 small onion
1/2 tbsp olive oil

Ice Cream Anyone?

Jason and I were a little bored tonight. We had dinner, watched random television shows... didn't really know what to do without football to watch. We both decided that we could use some ice cream. Jason's mom sent me a megaball ice cream maker for my birthday so we thought we would give it a try.













It was pretty easy to use... the bottom opened up and we were supposed to fill this with ice and salt. We ran out of ice so we had to use snow... and we didn't have rock salt so we used kosher salt.
















Then we had to mix up the ice cream. One quart of cream, one cup of sugar, one tablespoon of vanilla, and three tablespoons of instant coffee dissolved in the smallest amount of water possible (I used 2.5 tablespoons of instant coffee in 2 tablspoons of leftover coffee from this morning heated in the microwave).



Then you just pour the mixture into the top opening, seal everything up and mix, and mix and mix.

After 30 minutes of mixing (we stopped after 10 to add more snow.. 15 to scrape down the sides... 20 to scrape down the sides and add more snow) we finally had our finished product!





Scraping the ice cream out was easier said than done, although as the container warmed up, it got easier, I guess we were just impatient to eat!









As a fan of Haagen-Dazs coffee ice cream, I can honestly say that this recipe was just as good, if not better. I think Jason agrees. Now we are just trying to tell ourselves that all of that work burnt off enough calories to negate the ice cream (don't worry though, we have plenty of it left in the freezer).

Rice Pilaf

* 4 green onions
* 4 cloves of garlic
* 8 Tbsp. of uncooked rice
* 6 oz. fresh mushrooms
* 2 tsp. dried parsley
* 1 tsp. olive oil
* 1 onion, small
* 1.5 cups vegetable broth

Wipe mushrooms with a damp paper towel and slice. Mince garlic and finely chop onion. Heat oil in a nonstick saucepan on medium heat, and saute onion and garlic until soft, about 5 minutes. Be careful not to burn. Adjust heat to medium-high, add broth and parsley; bring to a boil. Add rice, return to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Add mushrooms, stir and cover. Simmer 15-20 minutes or until rice is tender and water is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand, covered for another 5 minutes and serve. Makes 2 servings.

I orginally got this recipe when I was doing ediets... it was one of the few recipes I actually looked forward to. Each serving is just over 100 calories and its pretty healthy for you

Meatloaf Supreme

* 1 envelope onion soup mix
* 2 lbs ground beef
* 2 eggs
* 1/4 cup water
* 2/3 cup ketchup
* 3/4 cup dry bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. In a large, shallow baking dish, shape into a loaf. Bake for 1 hour.

This is Jason's all-time favorite meatloaf recipe. Although I thought it originally came from a hospital cookbook that my mom gave me at least 7 years ago, I recently found it on a box of onion soup mix... who knows where it appeared first.

Sunday

Today was a pretty normal Sunday here. Except for the fact that the windchill today barely got above zero. We woke up and had breakfast (french toast... yummy!). Then relaxed a while before going to the gym. I watched the Iowa vs Wisconsin game as I worked out. The discussion of the game ends there.
Then we went to work, went grocery shopping and now its dinner time. Meatloaf and rice pilaf. I think that Jason would eat meatloaf every day if I let him :)

Thank you FedEx man!

I was still recovering from my celebrity look alike lists when the doorbell rang. It was a FedEx delivery. Jason and I asked for a wine rack from my parents for Christmas. Since all they could find were wine coolers, they just gave us some money to buy one. We ordered our favorite last week. This is what we found on our porch.


I forgot that we had to assemble it ourselves... we took out all the pieces... I didn't count but there were many pieces and no instructions. Until we found a little box with all the screws...


And folded up in this tiny box were the instructions.
A couple hours and two completely numb forearms later (thank goodness we have our own tools and weren't required to use the little gadget sent with the wine rack) We have a finished product.






Now we just need more wine:)

Celebrity Look-Alikes

Jason and I were having a little fun on the internet. If you go to myheritage.com, you can upload a picture of yourself to see which celebrities you most look like. My look alikes... well.. the first 4 are ok, at least they are women. Annette Benning and Patsy Cline are beautiful.. I don't really think I resemble Bridget Fonda or Michelle Rodriquez. BUT Dirk Nowitzki??!?!?!?! I used to play alot of basketball but that shouldn't mean I look like Dirk! I'm also a little miffed that half of my look-alikes look like men. Maybe I should wear makeup for the next picture.



This is not fair... Jason only got one woman in his look alikes.... and almost all of the people in his look alikes match him at a higher percentage than my best match. I'm going to look for a better picture of myself.

I found a better picture, at least Jason said, the first match was a really beautiful woman, then there was a man that looked like Winston Chrchill, Gary Busey (seriously), Chevy Chase, Charles Bronson, Wesley Clark, Jason Priestly and wait for this one..... O.J. Simpson. Im going to use a wedding picture.



Ok, this is a little better EXCEPT Dirk is there again AND Jack Osbourne?!?!?!? seriously, do I really look like either of those two. I must look something like Dirk or he wouldn't have shown up twice! Also, Cameron Bright.... didn't even know who he was but I guess I look like a 14 year old boy!



Im not commenting about Jason, I am going to find some ice cream and pout for a while.

*Note from Jason - Why is it that my top match in both tests comes back as the man-whore from Deuce Bigalow?

Hearty Maple Beans

INGREDIENTS

* 6 bacon strips, diced
* 1/2 pound smoked kielbasa or smoked Polish sausage, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
* 1/2 cup chopped onion
* 1 can (15-3/4 ounces) pork and beans
* 1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
* 1 can (15 ounces) butter beans or 1 can (15-1/4 ounces) lima beans
* 1/2 cup maple syrup
* 3 tablespoons white vinegar
* 3 tablespoons ketchup
* 3 tablespoons prepared mustard

DIRECTIONS

In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove to paper towels. Drain, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings. In the drippings, cook the sausage and onion over medium-heat until sausage is lightly browned. Stir in the bacon and remaining ingredients.
Transfer to an ungreased 11-in. x 7-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly. Yield: 8 servings.

Recipe from Quick Cooking Magazine ... although I have made it for so long, I don't know what issue it is from.
The bacon can be reduced. For the picture version, I only used two slices.

T.G.I.F.

Today was one of those days when you are really happy its Friday but you can't believe its Friday already. This week flew by. Jason and I were both pretty tired so we headed home. I worked on a paper while he went to the gym. Then we had dinner.
We are trying to have a salad everynight before dinner, because its good for us. Jason is a great salad maker!
Tonights dinner is hearty maple beans and cornbread. Although I was planning on having leftover cornbread, we ate it all last night (or took it for lunch today) so we just made more... easy fix!










Have a great weekend everyone!

Cornbread

Mix:
1 cup cornmeal
2 1/2 cups Bisquick
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder

Cornbread:
1 jar cornbread mix
3 eggs slightly beaten
1 1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup butter, softened

Preheat the oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine the cornbread mix with the eggs, milk, and butter. Stir until the mixture is just blended. Do not overmix. Divide batter into 2 equal portions, pouring in to greased 8-inch round baking pans. Bake for 25-30 min or until golden brown. Serve warm or cool completely on a wire rack.

This recipe is easily halved and use 2 small eggs or one large egg for the bread, otherwise use egg substitute and measure half

Tortilla Soup

Mix:
1 cup converted long grain rice
2 1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips

Seasonin packet:
2 Tbsp chicken bullion granules
2 tsp. lemonade powder with sugar
1 tsp. lemon pepper
1 tsp. dried cilantro leaves
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup dried minced onion

Soup:
1 jar Tortilla Soup Mix
2 (5 oz) cans of chicken (1 will do)
1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes and green chilies.

Carefully remove the tortilla chips from the Tortilla Soup Mix. Remove the seasoning packet and set aside. Place rice in a large soup pot. Add 10 cups water, chicken, tomatoes, and seasoning packet. Bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Add tortilla chips, cover and simmer 5 minutes more. Serve immediately.

Happy Thursday

I had a great morning today. I slept in.... I felt a little bad for sleeping in... Jason had to get in at a normal time and I just wanted to sleep. So we agreed to drive separately and I slept for another half hour (I know I'm lazy but it was soooo nice). I think we have to take the fleece sheets off the bed.. they make it WAY too comfortable. When I finally got up, got dressed and stumbled down the stairs, I knew I would have to make my coffee and breakfast and pack my lunch. BUT when I got downstairs, I was so happy to see my lunch all packed with a bagel and my coffee all ready to go. Thank you Jason, I love you. It was a great start to my day!

The only bad thing about going out to dinner last night (other than having to pay for it of course) was that I had planned to make tortilla soup. It wasn't the tortilla soup I was really excited about so much as using my new Mario Batali Dutch oven that Jason got me for my birthday. I haven't used it yet but I have been dying to. So, tonight was the night!


Isn't it beautiful!
For dinner we had the tortilla soup which is a mix that my mom made for me. I don't have the recipe for the mix but I will update it when I get it. We also had cornbread.. also from a mix.

Not So Sweet Sophie's

Today was a typical day. Wake up, drag ourselves out of bed. Get to work. I had a relatively good day at work. Nothing went horribly wrong and I got quite a bit of work done. Jason and I rode together again today... more because I am lazy than because of the weather. Anyway, I was jabbering about my day and then I realized that Jason's day had not went so well... just all around crappy. So we got home, I was going to make the tortilla soup but Jason wanted to go out to eat. So we tried a place in our small town that we hadn't been to yet... Sweet Sophie's. We have heard not so good things about it on one of the local radio stations but we thought we would give it a try. The place looked nice. I ordered a glass of wine and Jason got a beer. We ordered a mozerella cheese, tomato, and basil appetizer salad. I really enjoyed it but its not something Jason would usually order. Then, I ordered seafood pasta and tomato rice soup and Jason ordered a burger with a side salad. My soup wasn't so good (pretty bland and there was so much rice, it was more like a rice dish than a soup). The pasta dish was ok, the pasta was extremely al dente, the chunks of seafood (lobster and shrimp I think) were very good but the sauce was a little strong.
Jason's burger must have been good, he demolished it. Then came the redeeming feature of dinner.... dessert. I ordered Banana's Foster Pie and Jason ordered (no big surprise) NY cheesecake. Both were VERY good. All in all we had a good time. We had the whole dining area to ourselves for most of the dinner (I think that is a sign). The bar area was popular since there was a Wisconsin basketball game on. But, the important thing is that now, Jason is smiling.


However, there was some bad news today. I received a letter from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. I knew it was bad because Jason and I file together and his name wasn't on the envelope. My letter says that my social security number was inadvertently printed on our tax booklet that was sent out... leaving me open for identity theft. Wonderful.. and all brought to me by our state government. But... the letter did say that they were extremely sorry and now I have some sort of credit for free credit checks (more often than the free annual ones). I appreciate them trying to make up for it but that should have never happened in the first place! Hopefully everything will be fine.. there was no mention of what to do if there is a problem on the credit check... will they fix everthing in a day... or will my credit be ruined for years. I guess I should end the rant and just do everything I can to protect myself.

Jason's answers

I made Jason answer too... I am inserting the comments that he made when he saw the titles.
What does next year have in store for me?
"Pour Some Sugar On Me" Def Leppard
no comment really, he just started singing... or maybe that was me:)
What's my love life like?
"Kiss From A Rose" Seal
Jason argues that this is my song.. not sure what to make of that
What do I say when life gets hard?
"Better Days" Bruce Springsteen
Silent nod only
What do I think of on waking up?
"Why I'm Here" Oleander
He said he doesn't think this but it makes sense.
Favorite saying?
"Don't Turn Around" Ace of Base
I don't know what's more embarassing, the fact that this was the answer or that we have Ace of Base in our music collection (I said that, not Jason)
Favorite place?
"It's My Life" No Doubt
Jason claimed this wasn't an answer... I said that he must just be happy with his life
Drug of choice?
"Brain Stew" Green Day
Well, he is a neuroscientist :)
Describe myself.
"Only Love" Wynona Judd
Again, Jason claimed this was my song. Wouldn't a comment about loving me have been more appropriate?
What is the thing that I like doing most?
"I'll Go On Loving You" Alan Jackson
By now Jason was complaining that he kept getting my sappy country music.
What is my state of mind like at the moment?
"Pour Me" Trick Pony
To this he agreed and added "for having to do this list of questions"

Magic 8 iPod (or iTunes)

I saw this on another blog and thought I would give it a try.
Instructions:
Go to your favorite music player of choice. Say the following questions aloud and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question. NO CHEATING
What does next year have in store for me?
"Prick" Tripping Daisy. Hmmmm sounds bad. I wonder if that means I will meet one, work for one, or be one?
What's my love life like?
"Hey Jack Kerouac" 10,000 Maniacs I don't know this song but its Jason's... and so am I.
What do I say when life gets hard?
"Smash it Up" The Offspring. I don't know if thats exactly what I say but close.
What do I think of on waking up?
"Same in the End" Sublime
I guess lately I have felt just as tired when I wake up as I do at the end of the day.
Favorite saying?
"Why should I care?" Sara Evans
Hmmm... maybe
Favorite place?
"When in Rome" Nickel Creek
I have never been but I am sure it is wonderful.
Drug of choice?
"Red Headed Woman" Bruce Springsteen
Is Jason taking this quiz, or am I?
Describe myself.
"Who'll Stop the Rain" Creedence Clearwater Revival
I don't consider myself to be THAT dreary... maybe it means I am the one who will stop the rain? Even then, doesn't make sense.
What is the thing that I like doing most?
"So Long - Farewell - Goodbye" Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
This one definitely doesn't fit, I hate saying goodbye.
What is my state of mind like at the moment?
"I got you (at the end of the century)" Wilco

This was from the blog of Viacom.

Mmmmm Dinner

Tonight was a great dinner. Meatballs and cabbage casserole (the pictures for the recipe blogs were also taken tonight.. you will have to forgive me, I am no food stylist). Great comfort food! We made it home from work, started dinner, headed to the gym and came back for dinner. Now we are catching the new episode of Heroes. I can't believe it has been over a month since the last episode!

Weather and Football

Please refer to the pictures in yesterday's blog. You know, the one with the palm trees. Well here is what we woke up to today.



The icicle was beautiful, but just a little scary. It was even bigger when we got home tonight. Here are some pictures from our deck this afternoon.





























As for football, I can't believe I neglected to mention the Colts vs Patriots game last night. Great game and I was very happy with the outcome. I hate Tom Brady. I don't even have a good reason, I just don't like him. I was sort of hoping for the Saints to win the early game but the Bears win prompted a local radio station to play the Super Bowl Shuffle while we were on our way to work this morning.

AND as a bonus... this is for those of you (who will remain unnamed) who would not believe that gas prices in Madison are under $2. Well here is the proof.

Porcupine Meatballs

1/2 c. uncooked long grain rice
1/2 c. water
1/3 c. chopped onion
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1 lb. ground beef
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
1 c. water
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

In a bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Crumble beef over top and mix well. Shape into 1-1/2-in. balls. In a large skillet, cook meatballs in oil over medium heat until no longer pink; drain.
Combine tomato sauce, water, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce; pour over meatballs. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour. Yield: 4-6 servings.

This recipe is from Taste of Home's Mom's Best Meals 2005 p. 230
I received this book from my mom for Christmas

Cabbage casserole

1 large head cabbage, shredded (about 12 cups)
1 onion chopped
6 tbsp butter, divided
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
8 oz. processed cheese (Velveeta) cubed
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

Cook cabbage in boiling salted water until tender; drain thoroughly. In a large skillet, saute onion in 5 tbsp butter until tender. Add soup and mix well. Add cheese; cook and stir until melted. Remove from the heat. Stir in cabbage, salt and pepper.
Transfer to an ungreased 2-qt baking dish. In a small skillet melt the remaining butter. Cook and stir bread crumbs in butter until lightly browned; sprinkle over casserole. Bake uncovered at 350 for 20-30 min or until heated through. Yield: 6-8 servings.

This recipe is from Taste of Homes Mom's Best Meals 2005 pp. 20-21
I received this book for Christmas from my mom.

Conference Pictures

I don't think that anyone would be interested in seeing pictures of posters or talks from the meeting I went to but here are a couple of pictures from the hotel. The palm trees are very deceiving. Although you would think the weather was balmy, the highs were only in the 50s and 60s (Im not complaining too much since it was only 20 something here today) and it got down to freezing at night.

Back from vacation

Ok, first let me say I am just starting this whole blog thing. I have been enjoying reading other people's blogs and I thought it might be nice to start my own.
Jason and I just got back yesterday from sunny San Diego, just in time to receive another 5 inches of inches of snow (and that's on top of the 3 we already had). I guess its nice to finally have winter. Our trip was great. I was at the Plant and Animal Genome conference for 5 days (Sat-Wed) and Jason came Wednesday evening. We rented a car. It was pretty humorous that we requested an economy car and the car Jason showed up with was a Volkswagen beetle convertible. At least it was silver and not some crazy green or sky blue! The trunk was SO small, it barely fit a small suitcase. And the backseat was tiny. We took Steve and Anna along on some of our excursions and I felt bad making them crawl into the back seat.
Thursday morning we went to Mission Beach for breakfast with Anil, Steve, and Anna. We didn't stay long but we did get to enjoy the views.


We spent Thursday afternoon at the wild animal park northeast of San Diego. I highly recommend the park. The zoo is awesome, but the park is even better. We have tons of pictures. We took the monorail first around almost the entire park. We saw two monkeys having sex (I think we have a picture) Then we walked around a bit. We went into a tropical bird area where we took some nice pictures. My favorite is the cock-of-the-rock (it is the orange one in the pics).

I saw this on my trip to Guyana South America during college. It is a beautiful bird but it kept flying at my head so we had to move on. There was also a hyacinth Macaw, and a tree with really cool red flowers.



Then we met a friend of Jason's from college who works at the park. She took us behind the scenes, after we had our picture taken with an alligator. When we were in the holding areas, we saw a cheetah, which they house with a dog, a porcupine, another Macaw that they are training to be around people and many more animals. Then we made our way around the Kilimanjaro trail. The highligts were the Asian elephants (there was a 4 month old baby) and the lion exhibit which included 3 cubs.


We had dinner at at the Old Town Mexican Cafe, I had chicken mole... amazing. We had dinner with Moises, Bill, Steve and Anna.
The next day Jason and I took a road trip to the wine country of Temecula. We enjoy wine from time to time, and thought it would be a cool trip to make. It was a good time but the weather was dreary. We visited two wineries for tastings... something I had never done before and was relatively nervous about. There were so many things that I was worried I would do wrong... but Jason had taken a wine tasting class in college so I figured I would have him to guide me a little if and when I needed it.
We looked for the best deal for our money so we went to 2 sister vineyards and paid $12 per person for 5 tastes per person at BOTH places AND a complimentary glass from each winery.

Our tasting lists follow:
Maurice Carrie winery
Jason:
1. 2005 chardonnay
2. Heather's Mist
3. White Zinfandel
4. Pinot Noir
5. Syrah
6. (they gave us a freebie) sweet christa's

Jason says his favorite was the Syrah which is surprising to me since he doesn't usually drink reds. He didn't care for the Heather's Mist. I thought they were all ok (we shared tastes of course)

Jenelle:
1. Pineapple champagne
2. Savignon blanc
3. Cody's crush (this was a mix of 4 wines.. 3 reds and a white and was served chilled.. smelled like grape juice)
4. Cabernet savignon
5. Merlot
6. Cream Sherry

The cabernet was probably my favorite. I didn't care for the Cody's crush. The pineapple champagne was interesting.. good but it didn't taste as much like pineapple as I thought. The cream sherry was really good but the 'taste' I was given was almost a whole shot so I was really warm afterwards.

La Cereza winery

Jason:
1. La Cereza girlfriends blend - The pourer at the first winery suggested that Jason get this. Although he was leery about ordering anything with the name girlfriends, he liked it. It was pretty sweet for my taste but I could see it being really good on a hot day.
2. 2005 Chardonnay... this one is aged in oak so its a typical Chardonnay
3. Chardonnay 'A Biore'.. I think this was the one aged in stainless.. it doesn't have any oaky flavor but it was good
4. 2005 Viagnier
5. White Zinfandel

Jason says the 2005 Chardonnay was his favorite. I honestly don't remember much about these... the cream sherry had taken its toll.

Jenelle:
1. Peach Champagne - this was amazing, they use whole peaches... it smelled like peaches and tasted even better. I would have bought a bottle of this one if I knew that we had enough space to carry it on the plane.
2. Garnacha La Cereza
3. Shiraz
4. Cabernet Savignon
5. Zinfandel

I don't know that I had a favorite after the peach champagne but I do know that I did not like the Zinfandel.

We headed to the next winery on our list. South Coast wineries. We were disappointed to find a resort and spa. Although it looked like a very nice area, the first two wineries had been very quaint.. almost like we were in the homes of the winemakers and they were showing off their wonderful wines. This place was quite the opposite.. lots of employees and very commercialized. We ended up only having lunch in a very expensive restaurant and not tasting ANY wine there. The wine tasting room was busy, and I noticed that there were alot of barefoot contessa things in the giftshop. I don't know how many of you watch the food network but she is a caterer from the Hamptons, this place seemed like it would cater to people that could afford the Hamptons. The food wasn't even that good (for the price). Jason had a steak sandwich and I had a grilled eggplant sandwich.

Friday night we went to eat at a place called The Yard house. They have 100 kinds of beer, including my favorite, Fat Tire. The food was really good there too.. I had a crab cake hoagie. I also ordered a creme brulee which was interesting since there was chocolate on the bottom and bananas on top. It was amazing.
After dinner we headed to a piano bar called Shout. Fun place but I was so tired, we left at about 11 since we had an early flight.

The trip back was great for traveling all day. No delays, and we ended up with all of our luggage in the end :)
We spent today relaxing, enjoying the snow, and preparing ourselves to head back to work tomorrow:(