The Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show is This Weekend

Save the date: November 7-8, 2009
www.MetroCooking.com

I had tickets to see Paula Dean last year and had to give them away as my boss jumped ship to another firm the very weekend of the show. I was so bummed I had to spend my weekend working and trying to transition clients to our new firm. However, I’m thrilled the show is back again this year! I’ve already purchased my Sunday tickets to see Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Food and Wine Pairing! Be sure to purchase your tickets ASAP. Many of the shows are already sold out!

Truffle Making Class…Update

Thanks to the girls in the Little Black Dress Club for telling me about the Truffle Making Classes offered at Artfully Chocolate Kingsbury Confections aka ACKC Cocoa Bar. Oddly enough today I was having lunch w/ my dear friend Frankie. Frankie was filling me in on the dating lives of people I knew through him. Turns out another friend Frank is dating the chocolatier of ACKC. What a small world it is!

Great Vintage Shopping Right Under Our Little DC noses!

Today my friend Tammy sent me a link from today’s Daily Candy Report. Click here to be signed up for the daily newsletter. The article is about a fabulous local Vintage Shop set up by a woman who used to work in the same office I do. She started out selling vintage clothing in Eastern Market on the weekends and has been able to launch her business full-time. You go girl!!! In this economy we should all be looking towards some of these vintage bargains. Not to mention the aspects of being oh so green! Repurpose, reuse and recycle. I’ve recently become addicted to the series Mad Men and I must say I found quite a few pieces on Uesa Robinson’s Vintage website. Click here to be directed to her site. In addition to online shopping Uesa offers private shopping by appointment. Call or email her to establish an appointment (202-258-5955 / uesagoods@hotmail.com). The icing on the cake is Uesa donates a portion of all proceeds to a charity helping Kenyan school children.

Here are just a few of the fabulous dresses found in Uesa’s online Gallery. Check out her site – you won’t be disappointed. This girl has a great eye for stylishly timeless pieces!

Wine Nights At The Arlington Draft House

In the category of “Who Knew”…the Washington Wine Academy hosts a Wine Night at The Movies every Friday at the Arlington Cinema N’ Drafthouse. The doors open at 6:15pm. Tastings are $1 for 1oz pour and they typically offer up to eight different wines to taste. Movie admission is only $5.50. What a bargain for a night out! This Friday’s movie is The Hangover.
Click here for more information.

Bowling 100

Last night I went bowling with some friends at the office. Despite the fact that I haven’t played in years I did manage to break 100. However, I did still throw my fair share of gutter balls. If you haven’t been out bowling in a while grab some friends and enjoy an evening of it!!!

Bargain Bordeaux

Much has been said about the 05′ Bordeaux vintages being the greatest vintage since 1961. If you don’t recall the hype look up the March 31, 2008 issue of Wine Spectator. I’ve been interested in trying out some of the Bordeaux, France Merlot’s and Cabernet Sauvignon. I’ve been told the top chateaux of Bordeaux make the world’s finest wines, bar none. The best Cabernet Sauvignon-based red Bordeaux wines come from the district called Medoc. Medoc is in the Northern region of Bordeaux. The best of the Merlot’s come from St. Emilion and Pomerol. The “East Bank” chateau’s grow fantastic Merlot due to the structure of the clay soils. It’s the perfect environment for the Merlot varital. These regions tend to warrant steep prices (good old supply and demand). However I’m on a mission to discover some of the lesser known chateaux’s who produce excellent wines. My friend Karen who is a wine buyer for Costco has told me they still have some of the 05′ Bordeaux vintages in their wine departments. Prices start at $190. However, for a more reasonably priced Bordeaux try the Chateau Bel Air. Karen assures me this is an excellent wine. I’ll have to pick some up on my next trip out to Costco. In the mean time I plan on checking out the Bordeaux Month Kickoff tonight at The Curious Grape. Tonight’s tasting includes wines from the Right Bank region (Saint-Emilion).

Karen’s Baby Shower

This past Saturday afternoon I spent at my dear friend Karen’s baby shower. Karen and her husband Harvey already have a beautiful baby named Sam. For years Karen has been trying to conceive. Well she’s finally got her baby girl on the way! It’s been a long tough road for them and I’m so glad they have a new addition on the way!

My Sunday at Marterella Winery

On Sunday afternoon I headed out to the Marterella Winery to work my shift in the tasting room. We had a nice steady flow of visitors. I prefer the constant tastings to the days when you get slammed all at once and then it’s dead for an hour or so. The weather was just picture perfect. The tree’s surrounding the vineyard have really popped w/ fall folliage. The tapestry of colors is just amazing. I urge you to get out in the country and check it out. It’s really quite breath taking. At the end of my shift my friends Abby, Keith, and Kathy showed up. They brought with them our new friend Ryan (who works in the tasting room at Vintage Ridge) and his friend Cory. I ran through a tasting for them all. Then we bought a bottle of wine and relaxed outside. The sunset was just beautiful. After a bit it got chilly so we decided to head on home. Abby, Keith, Kathy and I stopped off at Denny’s to grab a bite to eat. Some days just call for breakfast for dinner. Last night was one of those nights!

Last Weekend: Out Celebrating Tracy’s Birthday

1st Annual Pumpkin Carving Party

Tonight’s party was a lot of fun. The idea to host this came to me this past weekend. Next year I’ll certainly send out save the date notices. A few of my close friends couldn’t make it due to other obligations. Next year I’ll shoot for a Saturday as well. It’s a bit too much to host a party after working a full day at the office. I’ve already started thinking about some great ideas for next year. As guest arrived I had a mystery cocktail. Each guest was instructed that the cocktail consisted of three liquors. The person that guessed the correct ingredients won a prize (Gift box of Tarantula Tequilla). All ingredients were used from my bar and they could inspect the choices. This was such a great ice breaker. It got all the guests talking amoung eachother as they speculated what was in the cocktail. My friend Jeff was the only one to correctly guess one of the liquors – Godiva White Chocolate. I was shocked that out of all my guests only one person correctly guessed one of the ingredients. The drink I made was a Pumpkin Pie Martini using 4 parts Bols Smashing Pumpkins Liquor, 3 parts Godiva White Chocolate Liquor, and 2 parts Absolute Vanilla Vodka. In the background we had horror movies playing in one room and my IPOD was playing Halloween tracks which Nate downloaded for me earlier this week. Then everyone who brought a pumpkin started the process of carving. Boy I forgot how hard carving a pumpkin can be! When we were done we lined up the pumpkins and awarded prizes for the Most Original, Scariest, and Best Carved. Oh and did I forget to mention food? We had tons and tons of it! Three different versions of chili: mild, medium & spicy w/ all the fixings. Tim created wonderful Pumpkin Pie tartlets and Pecan Tartlets. Super yummy! Then all the traditional stuff: chips, cheese, crackers, spinach dip, veggie platter, etc. All in all this was a lot of fun. I certainly plan on continuing the tradition next year.