Recent Visit to Wine Country

Above is a picture from the brand new Trinchero Winery location. (The new open kitchen) My husband and I enjoyed a wonderful private luncheon at their new facility.  We had ribs, crab cakes, heirloom tomatoes w/ buffalo mozzarella, Caesar salad...and of course, wine. 

Below is the view of the vineyards from their new location.

 

Trinchero purchased their new winery from two psychiatrists.  The psychiatrist partners (romantic, I think) made their own label of wine and named it "Folie a Deux"...because everyone thought they were crazy for quitting their practice and starting a winery.  It translates as "two people who share the same madness or delusion".  Trinchero liked the wine and the name -  and so they kept it.

From Wikipedia:  

Folie à deux (English pronunciation: /fɒˈli ə ˈduː/, from the French for "a madness shared by two") is a rare psychiatric syndrome in which a symptom of psychosis (particularly a paranoid or delusional belief) is transmitted from one individual to another. The same syndrome shared by more than two people may be called folie à trois, folie à quatre, folie à famille or even folie à plusieurs ("madness of many"). Recent psychiatric classifications refer to the syndrome as shared psychotic disorder (DSM-IV) (297.3) and induced delusional disorder (folie à deux) (F.24) in the ICD-10, although the research literature largely uses the original name.

Too Funny, right?!

 

The Beringer Estate House is exceptional and beautiful. (See Below)

 

We visited a lot of wineries on our trip.  We went to both Napa and Sonoma.  It was so much fun.  Silver Oak was super nice, Chalk Hill, Beringer, St. Francis, Rodney Strong, Stag' Leap,...Oh, there were so many that were unbelievably nice!

Blackstone: 

We met a wonderful woman, Judy Oliver-Rose, at Blackstone Winery.  We tasted everything!  (Here is my new friend, Judy)

We tried a wonderful new wine that I highly recommend.  It is Blackstone Rubric. 

It is a blend of: Cabernet Suvignon, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot, Tannat, Merlot, and Petie Sirah.  And - It is amazing!

Judy was so generous with her time...she took us into the barrel room, with a thief in hand, and allowed us to sample some truly wonderful wines.  

Judy then took a little time off and we followed her to the local Cheese Monger.  I do so love cheese.  

Thanks to Judy for her hospitality and making me a fan of Blackstone!

Here is the Cheese Monger: 

Raymond & Company Cheesemongers in Jack London Village - Glen Ellen, CA.

Oh, and I have to say Cakebread Winery, BV, Rutherford, and Charles Krug were all outstanding!

I totally should have taken more pictures, but, I was too busy drinking wine!

 

Beautiful Flowers from My Husband for Our Anniversary

Zucchini and Turkey Lasagna

(This Recipe Makes a Large Deep-Dish Lasagna or 2 square pans)

You can get a disposable deep-dish casserole pan or the recipe can be used to make two 8 x 8 lasagnas - which I did.

• 2 pounds Ground Turkey
• 1/2 Green Bell Pepper (chopped)
• 1/2 Red Bell Pepper (chopped)
• 1/2 Red Onion (diced)
• 6 Cloves Fresh Garlic (minced)
• 2 TB Dried Oregano
• 2 Cups Loosely Packed Fresh Chopped Basil
• 38 Ounces Tomato Sauce

Cook the Ground Turkey in a sauce pot on medium heat until cooked thoroughly.  Add the peppers, onions, garlic, and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients from above and cover and cook for another 20 minutes on low heat.

• 32 ounces of Fresh Ricotta Cheese
• 1 1/2 Cups of Egg Beaters

Mix above two items together and set aside.

• 1 Package of "No Pre-Cook" Dry Lasagna Noodles
• 1 Package of Fresh Shredded Cheddar
• 1 Package of Sliced Mozzarella
• 5 Medium Fresh Zucchini (sliced lengthwise)

Assembly:

Start with a layer of meat sauce. Top with a layer of lasagna noodles. Then spread on a layer of the Ricotta-Egg mixture. Add another layer of meat sauce and then assemble mozzarella slices to top. Next add a layer of fresh sliced zucchini. Top that with the Ricotta-Egg mixture. Then add a layer of meat sauce. Then add another layer of noodles and more mozzarella and meat sauce. Finish with a final layer of shredded mozzarella.

Loosely cover the lasagna with foil to prevent the cheese from browning too soon. Cook on 325 degrees for about and hour to one and a half hours. Remove foil at the end of the cooking cycle for about 15 minutes to brown the top slightly.

I have also made this recipe with just Zucchini and no pasta. You can also use ground beef or buffalo instead of turkey.