Stratus redux

After finding our romance wine corked this past February, I contacted Stratus to find out how to go about getting a replacement bottle. They were sold out, they told me, but would be happy to offer me a bottle from their library and a complimentary tour of the winery for myself and a guest when I came back to pick up the replacement. Greg and I planned a trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake to see a play at the Shaw festival this past weekend and stopped at the winery beforehand.

We arrived at 11am and were started with a glass of Riesling. We were given a very comprehensive tour of Stratus, with details about everything from the winery’s health and safety procedures to their annual natural gas bill (we also learned that the French oak barrels used for aging wine cost $1,000 apiece, hold about 300 bottles worth of wine and are replaced every four years). We ended in the private tasting room and sampled a 2006 Stratus White, 2006 Stratus Red and a red Ice Wine. The white and the red were both assemblages. The white was a mix of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Semillon and Viognier. The red was mix of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Gamay and Syrah. The white was everything I love in a white –fruity and creamy all at the same time, but more complex than just that. The red was good, but could sit another few years.

I’m not that patient, though, and the red Ice Wine was delicious enough for drinking straightaway. So, by noon I was making the sort of decision I often make when feeling a little merry: I decided to buy several $40 bottles of red Ice Wine.

I plan to save this second bottle of Riesling for another celebration and although the red Ice Wine was bought to offer as gifts for friends, I would like to be sure to have some more myself, so I’m likely to find a celebration to anchor a bottle of that drink to, as well.

Turkey; what I loved

Underground cities-



Ballooning in Capadoccia-



The Med-



Poppies, everywhere-



Iznik tiles-



Cities and churches carved into mountainsides-





Drinking tea next to the Bosphorus-



Learning about Roman history at the edge of the empire-



Reverence-

Turkey

I'll Believe in Anything

Many weeks ago, long before the exam panic set in, I bought two tickets for the Wolf Parade show at the Paragon.

This past Saturday, the bf and I studied all day and met up for some take-away before the concert. We headed over to the Paragon just after 10pm, giving us a chance to catch the last three songs played by the opening band. We saw Ellen Page in the crowd (I just found out my dad is a huge fan of hers), a couple of local celebrity musicians, and several of our classmates.

I'm normally a cash in my chips early kinda gal, but I love Wolf Parade, so we stayed until the very very end.

I was very tired the next day and I missed out on some extra desperate hours of studying. But, I regret absolutely nothing. It was by far my favourite concert of this past year.

Things you tend to forget about yourself

I don't like wearing prints, but find I keep buying them when I'm at the fabric store. I suppose it's because fabric is displayed on bolts and prints jump out at you, while solids really kinda don't. Anyhow, I bought a pattern and made myself a dress. I'm feeling sort of meh about it, but I had an award to present yesterday and it was an award presentation appropriate dress (worn with jacket). It has also been a theatre-going appropriate dress, and it will be, I suppose, a brunch-appropriate dress at some point, too.



I made view A:

Why I find my bed unmade when I come home at the end of the day:

She knows that I've now found her out.

Joy of Cooking Carrot Cake

Someone told me that if there's only one way to do something, the method can't be patented. They mentioned both math formulas and recipes. I don't know about recipes, though, because you can most certainly patent how you make a drug, but I'm willing to take the risk. Anyhow, all this preamble is so that I can share the Joy of Cooking Carrot Cake recipe without worrying about infringement. I made it for Aurelie's birthday and it was so well received (also, I still had carrots and pineapple left) that I made it again this past Monday.

Below is the recipe with my modifications:

Carrot Cake
Preheat oven to 350'F. Grease pans.

Sift together:
1 1/3 c flour
1c sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp grated/ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Mix in small bowl, then add to flour mixture:
2/3c veg oil
3 eggs

Stir in:
1 1/2c grated carrots (Seriously not a big deal to grate by hand and takes about one large carrot)
1/2 cup canned pineapple, lightly drained

Put in pan. Cook for 25 minutes in 2 round 9' pans (I used one and kept adding time because 25mins wasn't enough) or put in muffin trays for delicious carrot cupcakes (25 minutes). Basically, cook until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean.

Cool.

Frosting
1/2c cream cheese
2c icing sugar
1 tbsp Grand Marnier or vanilla
Or, modify these amounts to preferred taste and texture.
Using food processor (takes way less time), mix cream cheese, sugar and flavour until creamy.



Frost. Eat.