5 Minute Friday: Coffee With Friends

Keeping connected with friends near and far is a challenge. Friends afar we link with easily in an increasingly savvy social networking world.

Friends that we see because they are neighbors or share activities and hobbies with us, are natural connections.  We run into them head on, and chat and smile and catch up on a regular basis.

Friends that we just enjoy spending time with, but they live a little outside of our busy path of travel, seem to be the casualties in this day and age.  Unless you have a hard and fast motivating reason, you can keep your head down and your nose to the grindstone without ever moving from your busy path.

This is when coffee, cocktails, and time spent across the table make such a big difference. We can rush through this multi tasking world without ever really connecting, so we need to make the connections.

Grab coffee with a friend today.  It could be an old friend or a new friend.  It can be lemonade instead of coffee, but renew an old connection or form some new ones.

5 Minute Friday: The Cover Drive, Finally an Australian We Can Cuddle Up To

After all of our wine bottle touring of Australia, we finally found a little tasty gem that's a keeper. The Cover Drive, Jim Barry's 2006 South Australian Cabernet Sauvignon is full bodied without being heavy.  

It's pricey at $17.99 (Bevmo's price, but it seems to sell for less if you shop around) a bottle. However, all you need for a 5 Minute Friday Get-Together is this bottle of wine, a box of crackers (we chose Doctor Kracker's Organic & Artisan-Baked Sunflower Cheddar Snackers) and some good friends.

Enjoy!

Elderflower Champagne Cocktail

There is much to be said for wearing many hats. Yes, there is a time for wine-chugging, vintage slurping, party rocking behavior. And there is also time for refinement and dignity restoration in the form of restrained and elegant cocktails in the late afternoon. While Friday may have spiraled into a wee-hour-close-the-bar-down evening (as rumor has it), Sunday is a new day with spring sunshine on the terrace, some cheese and an Elderflower Champagne Cocktail.

I believe some wise person once said, "You are only as good as your last party." Goodness knows what happened to him.

Elderflower Champagne Cocktail

1 shot St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
Champagne
Lemon slices

Pour elderflower liqueur into a champagne flute. Top with Champagne. Garnish with lemon slices.

Filler Wine: Party Picks for March 2009

If you have ever had the pleasure of throwing a party that has depleted your initial wine purchased for said party, you may be aware of the need for filler wine.  Filler wine is wine that is a little cheaper, and comes in handy later in the party when no one can taste the difference anyway.  

The need for filler wine became extremely clear to me as I saw a party spin out of control and the guests helped themselves to the host's wine cellar.  After the wine cellar was cleared out, guests went on to party at a local bar.  

The hosts shook their heads in disbelief when they realized that all of the special vintages saved for future celebrations were now bottles in their recycle bin. Not a single drop had they personally tasted as they rushed about the party trying to control the crowd.  Expensive bottles had been chugged, wasted in unfinished glasses all around the house and under-appreciated. 

When the wine that you bought to go with dinner or appetizers at the party disappears, bring in the filler wine.  This is still good wine, but not costing you $30 or more a bottle.  

Filler wine requirements:

1.  Inexpensive.

2.  Drinkable.  It must taste good enough that you are willing to drink it if you have a whole case leftover.

Here are our March picks for filler wines:

1.  Old Faithful, er, Castle Rock Pinot Noir 2006 or 2007, approx. $10/bottle

2.  Hogue Cabernet Suvignon Columbia Valley 2007, approx. $10/bottle

3.  Snoqualmie Chardonnay, Columbia Valley 2007, approx. $10/bottle.

A Cup of Tea, Please

I have had 6 cups of this tea already and it's not even 1 pm. It's also Saturday, and we have dinner plans tonight and tomorrow, not to mention the dinner I made last night for guests from out of town and my friend Anna, who is visiting from Italy and expected for dinner this Tuesday. Cooking and entertaining around food is a win-win situation. You get to share time, food and wine with good friends, create a nice environment in your home, or be a gracious guest in someone else's. I can't think of another way I best like to enjoy my social time. That is, except when I've caught the cold my children had this week while running around like a crazy person with endless tasks, appointments, carpools and deadlines. They don't call us Divas for nothing. Let's hope this tea is as trustworthy as it says it is.

d'Arry's Original McLaren Vale '04: Too Much Money for Too Little Taste

I tried another d'Arenberg--d'Arry's Original McLaren Vale '04.  It cost a hefty $21.99 at BevMo, and I've had a lot better for a lot less.  It tasted o-k straight out of the bottle, but as soon as it sat in my glass and decanted, it was flat.  This is definitely a dump it!

The Divas are having no luck in Australia.  Anyone have any good suggestions?

Divas do Guinness

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, this post is devoted to Guinness Stout, the most widely consumed and exported Irish stout in the world. It's distinctive flavor of unfermented roasted barley gives it a rich taste and dark brown color, and drinking a pint of Guinness has been likened to a "meal in a glass." And here is a fun fact: Guinness stout is high in antioxidants and at 198 calories a pint, has fewer calories than a pint of milk or orange juice. Now that just makes us very happy - apparently you can drink your Guinness and eat it too.

Speaking of eating, the richness of Guinness lends itself well to cooking. It is a wonderful substitute for wine in meat sauces and braises. It also works well in baked goods and with chocolate. This multi-tasking beverage gets a thumbs up from the Divas.

Interested in recipes using Guinness? You might like:
Irish Stew from TasteFood
Guinness Gingerbread from Andrea's Recipes
Chocolate and Guinness Cupcakes from Not Quite Nigella
Guinness and Honey Spareribs from You Say Tomato

Or if you are just in the mood for something light, pour yourself a glass and call it a meal.