Wine Social Dinner Club

Last month a group of us attended the Meditrina wine social. We had a great time and inspired by the fun event, we decided to host our own monthly wine socials. My friend, Liz, hosted the first one at her home last Sunday.

I'll post the menu and pictures and try to get links to the recipes to include in the posts. We divided into teams and each team was responsible for a course and wine pairing.

Appetizer (Whitney & Cooper)

Mushroom, Onion, & Gruyère Pull-Apart w/ Pinot Noir

Salad (Susan & Melissa)

Arugula, Butternut squash & Hazelnuts & Fume Blanc

Main Course (Liz & Diane)

Vegetable Hash with Short Ribs w/ a Spanish red

(Somehow I missed taking a shot of the ribs. Sorry!

Dessert (Jackie & Susie)

Chocolate Fondue & Tawny Port

Finally, here's a little video of Cooper demonstrating how to use a wine key.

Mangia!

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I CANNOT wait for this movie to come out next week! As you may know, I've read the books and seen the Swedish films based on the books. I was very skeptical when I read that an American remake was in the works but I have to tell you, the trailer looks amazing!

The books and movies aren't for the faint of heart though but if you are looking for something intense with interesting characters, you should give it some thought.

The Lady is a Tramp

Tony Bennett still sounds amazing and Lady Gaga is terrific. I'm looking forward to listening to this Duets albums while drinking a glass of wine. But let's be honest, I'm typically pretty excited about doing anything and drinking wine.

Hike: Calf Creek Falls

I spent the last few days in Torrey, Utah. The weather was spectacular with clear, sunny skies and warm temperatures. On Monday and Tuesday I hiked to Calf Creek Falls with some friends who had all done the hike before but it was my first time. It's about three miles of mostly flat trail to the falls (six miles round trip).

The road from Torrey through Boulder, Utah was lined with gorgeous aspen trees with near electric yellow leaves.

The hike and the falls were gorgeous and next time I will pack a picnic lunch to eat next to the falls. A few brave souls swam in the freezing cold water but I only waded around in ankle deep water.

Instead, we treated ourselves to fabulous dinners at Cafe Diablo. The sweet potato and black bean empanadas were scrumptious!

The Great Shake Out

Gulp. I really need to come up with a better preparedness plan than using my stockpile of wine to barter for necessary items if the big one hits.

Movie: Objectified

It's not what you think, Objectified is a documentary about design and manufactured goods. While it sounds rather dry, the film was very interesting. Best of all, if you dropped your DVD option from Netflix recently, Objectified is available to view instantly.

100 Years of Style in 100 Seconds

In honor of Fashion Week! So many adorable styles. ♥