Cooking with Wine

 Almost since its inception, Wine Club has been talking about having a "cooking with wine" night. Well, it only took four years, but we finally did it! Our menu included: a salad with a homemade red wine vinaigrette...

 Chicken with proscuitto and basil, poached in white wine...

and Red wine-marinated steak bites...

Erica's chicken dish was delicious!

 Jen made a delicious chilled strawberry soup that included wine. This dish would be amazing for summer get-togethers! I'm not sure which recipe she used, but here's a sample recipe.

 She also made a delicious tomato and cucumber salad with wine vinaigrette.

 We sampled a few wines, including Chateau Tour de L'Ange Macon Rouge wine.

 and classic Rodney Strong sauvignon blanc!

 I made...with very mixed success, sparkling wine gelee with raspberries. It was simultaneously beautiful and looked like Halloween food.

And our favorite wine for the night: Sei Amici lambrusco, a delicious sparkling red.

It was the first time we'd ever eaten around the table, family-style, and it was sweet and fun! If you're wondering about the mixed success of my gelee...don't worry, I've got that story for tomorrow.

Sparkling Wine Gelee

I have this terrible affliction where I can never do anything the easy way. When cooking with wine came up as a proposed theme, I thought, a-ha! Time to make wine gelee! How hard could it be, right?

Truthfully, I don't think it's hard, but for some reason I was not completely successful. I personally think the recipe calls for too much sugar and maybe not enough gelatin, but you can be the judge.

First, I mixed raspberries with a 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice.

In another bowl, I combined 1/2 cup of Prosecco and added 3 1/2 teaspoons of unflavored gelatin. The directions said to "sprinkle," and I don't know if I could accurately call what I did "sprinkling." I'm thinking this might be where the trouble began. I let it sit for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, I brought 1 cup of sparkling wine, 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons of sugar to a boil and then stirred it until it dissolved.

The directions then said to pour the boiled mixture into a pitcher and add the remaining sparkling wine, the raspberries and remaining tablespoon of lemon juice. Frankly, I'm not totally sure it needed that much more wine, because my gelee had a very hard time hardening to anything close to a wobble.

I then poured the fancy Jello into wide glasses and a mini bundt pan and refrigerated overnight.

And it was totally still wet and mushy the next morning...not even close to a jiggler. The situation was only worse when I brought the pan to Wine Club...the little bit of hardening had melted back into Jello liquid.

Luckily, Erica had a stroke of genius and put the pan in the freezer, creating a frozen gelee that was quite tasty and kept its form. Ta-da! An edible dessert.

So, it was a disaster that worked out, but I'm open to suggestions on where it might have gone wrong.

Sunday Best v.155

Gloria Vanderbilt, found here.

Whew! Have I been busy! I had back-to-back-to-back events this week, so I'm finally relaxing a bit today. We saw Star Trek, so now of course my Sean has decided it's time to re-watch The Next Generation, which is basically his favorite thing to do at all times.

• I got sucked into looking at all of the historic sites listed as "in danger" by the National Trust.
• I'm sure you've heard about Amy's Bakery's meltdown, but in case you missed it, it's a must-read.
• Never Nudes flock to the Bluth banana stand in NY...omg, I cannot wait for Arrested Development.
• Absolutely INCREDIBLE reader-submitted photos for the National Geographic photo contest.
• Buzzfeed is determined to make me feel really, really old.
• A hilarious satire of the NY Times' culture story on why young people aren't driving.
• The trailer for The Great Catsby.

Things I'm Preoccupied By These Days

Oh, friends. I feel like I fell down on blogging! Here are the things that have been taking up my spare time lately:

Re-Learning How to Design

I spent several years designing newspapers, but that's a very specific type of design. Now, I'm designing a TON in my new position and finding myself obsessed with looking for inspiration on Pinterest, Behance and Design Work Life. I especially love this poster by Carlos Zamora.

Cars vs. Houses

For years, Sean and I have been putting off buying a new car (both of us have 10-year-old cars) and we've saving for our first home. Now we've finally reached the point where we can get moving on that, but we've been feeling kinda overwhelmed about which hurdle to tackle first. One friend recommended applying for a mortgage before a car loan because it would look better....but then there's the nagging knowledge that the car needs more and more upkeep. Ugh! Being a grown-up is tough as hell, isn't it?

Scanning Old Pictures

I finally found the time to scan pictures I borrowed from my dad at Christmastime! This is a shot of my grandpa George back in the 40s. What a handsome fella!

Planning Our First Family Vacay

I haven't been on a proper vacation with my family members since I graduated from college, so I'm very excited because we're planning a trip with my mom, stepdad and grandparents to Washington, D.C. in September. I've been many, many times and Sean was born there, but I'm still pumped not only to spend time together, but see some of the touristy stuff we never get to see and also to play tour guides. What are your favorite less-than-obvious things to do in DC or places to eat?

Sunday Best v.154

Happiest of Mother's Days to you! I'm so grateful for the strong and generous women who have played some part in raising me. I'm also amazed and humbled by watching so many of my friends become mothers themselves. All hail lady power!

• One of the nerdiest things I've ever loved: Geo Guesser!
• So inspired and in love with this mom's photographs of her 5-year-old daughter.
• If you ever watched Star Trek: Next Generation, you will die watching this video of Riker sitting down like a weirdo.
• Was the Great Gatsby broke?
• Damn! They're ruining the American Girl Dolls!
• John Krasinski, lip sync hero.
• Wisconsin family discovers a fallout shelter perfectly preserved.
• What would happen if the writers of Parks & Rec and Game of Thrones traded places.

Burrito Bowl at Home

 Do you guys read Dinner: A Love Story? If not, you should be. Jenny excels at writing in a relatable way, and especially cooking for picky eaters. I was reading her blog searching for dinner inspiration for my picky eater (Sean) and stumbled upon an incredibly brilliant, why-didn't-I-think-of-that idea: make Chipotle-inspired burrito bowls at home!

That way everyone can get the toppings they want, and you can pack in a bunch of veggies. It's also perfect because you can make it as hard or as easy as you want, as Jenny points out. We went with EASY.

 I cooked up chicken breasts in the same seasonings you would use for tacos, then added peppers and onions, along with a few squeezes of lime juice.

And we served it on top of cilantro and lime-flavored basmati rice (honestly, it didn't make that much of a difference...any rice would work). I added avocado to mine ...I'm still trying to get Sean on board with avocado. It was delicious and easy and breezy. Add it to the regular round-up!

Wine Fest in Pictures

It's hard to believe three years have passed since my last spring Wine Fest in Norfolk! We skipped 2011, I was in Ireland in 2012, but I was excited to find I would be free after lunch with my pal Sarah to gallivant around at Wine Fest. For the uninitiated, Wine Fest is a chance to sample the best (and some not-so-great) Virginia wines...OR it's a chance to buy bottles at a discount and day drink with your old and brand new friends. For us, 2013 brought the latter.

Showing off our new floral iPhone cases for spring...Ashleigh's is J.Crew and mine is from Rifle Paper Co.

The AT&T booth gave away free mix-and-match fake Ray-Bans! Everyone was sporting them.

Candid laughing shot!

It was a great day, but I'm pretty jealous of my pals' wine sippy cups. Def. on my wish list!

Sunday Best v.153

Boats by Raoul Dufy

It's spring, but it doesn't feel like it in Virginia. We've had a few pleasant moments of sun, but it's mostly been windy and chilly. I'm going to try to enjoy it, because lord knows the oppressive heat and mugginess will be here before we know it. Lots of fun links this week! Click away:

• Not sure I could do it, but this family saved enough money for both parents to retire at 30 to raise their son.
• Is it possible to inherit the design gene? I think I definitely got some of it from my Nana!
• If all of Seinfeld's girlfriends were combined, they'd look like this woman.
• The next wave of feminism: pooping at the office.
• Inspiring street art in NY.
• New music from She & Him.
• A strange and surreal mystery: a giant (fake) head found in a river.
• Memorize this: 100 Rules for Dinner.
• Lego: Breaking Bad style.
• A great read: How I Became a Hipster.
• My nightmare! Unnecessary quotation marks.

Jams of the Week

Netflix Binge Jam: "The Killing"

It took a long time for Sean to convince me to watch AMC's "The Killing" on Netflix. First of all, I had heard amazing things about the season and then abruptly, the world seemed to universally hate its first season finale enough to stop watching the show. Secondly, I just didn't think I could take another hour-long drama. BUT, I was wrong. The first season was really pretty stellar, and since we were able to just jump right into the second season, the finale didn't outrage me one bit. Don't tell me anything; we still have a few episodes to go!

Reunited and It Feels So Good Jam: "Jeopardy"

Most families have a dinner tradition that involves gathering around a dining table, maybe saying a blessing and definitely NOT watching TV. Not mine. When I was growing up, my little family would eat dinner while we watched Jeopardy, and I wouldn't have it any other way. It was a great bonding time; how else would I find out that my mom knows a strange amount about birds? 

Lately, Sean and I have both been sitting down to eat dinner right around the time "Jeopardy" comes on, and it's so fun to be watching it on the regular for the first time in years. So far, I've learned I definitely need to brush up on my science knowledge!

Snack Jam: Chobani Flip Packs

I picked up one of these Chobani "flip" packs on a whim last week and it was delicious! Just the right amount of yogurt, delicious flavor and the little cornflakes and praline pecans really took it up a notch. I'm excited to try the other flavors!

Routines, Starting and Breaking

Clock found here.

You guys. I've been having SUCH a hard time getting used to my new routine. It's totally strange; my old job had completely unpredictable hours, whereas my new job is a strictly 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. affair, with the occasional work event. It also eliminated my previous 30-minute commute.

And yet. I'm having the hardest time getting a handle on meal-planning, working in time to work out, etc. Do you guys experience this? It's interesting how changing the way I spend a few hours a week has such an effect on the hours I'm not at work! 

This has led to probably more pizza nights than I care to admit. Do any of you have any tips on how you set a routine? Do you set certain days aside for certain tasks? I'll take any advice I can get! Or we can just vent about how being a grown-up is hard. That always works.