Hermann Chocolate Wine Trail

This past weekend Wonderful Hubby and I went on the

Chocolate Wine Trail in the Hermann, Missouri area. 

 

 Source

 

 

The Hermann area wineries benefit from fertile soil near the Missouri River.

 

Seven wineries along this trail hosted the event, each preparing a decadent chocolate treat paired with one of their wines.  Most samples were desserts but two offerings featured meat and chocolate recipes.

  

 

This was a two-day event but could be completed in one.  We opted to spend the weekend in the area and stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast in neighboring McKittrick, MO.

 

 

As you can see, it's still winter in these parts but the snow was gone and temperatures were moderate.  Luck must love chocolate and wine, too!

 

 Here are some of the treats we sampled. 

Robller Winery paired their Kasselfest Sweet Red Wine with a Double Chocolate Scone and Fresh Strawberry Reduction.

 

 

 

OakGlenn's offering was a Chocolate Mousse paired with their River View Red. 

 

 

Stone Hill Winery served Cayenne Spiced Chocolate Brownies with their Concord wine.

 

 

 Adam Puchta Winery's White Chocolate Key Lime Cheesecake Bars, paired with Vignoles.

  

 

 

 

 

Decadent Chocolate Truffle Cookies at Bias Winery.  (I have to confess, these cookies were so delicious we ate them while sitting outside on their patio before I remembered to take a photograph.  Sorry.  I thought I'd try the recipe and they turned out great!!  I'll post it at the end.  They freeze well, too.)

 

 

 

 

 

The last two offerings were meat dishes.  Chocolate and meat?  Well, we were game.  The first was from Hermannof Winery.  They served Braised Beef Short Ribs with Chocolate Currant Sauce, paired with Norton.  Wonderful!!!

 

 

 

 

 

And the second was Ground Pork and Chocolate Ragu, paired with Cabernet Sauvignon served at the Dierberg Star Lane Winery.  This winery is affiliated with several California wineries.

  

 

 

 

After visiting several wineries, we stopped at a couple of antique shops in Hermann before heading over to Meyer Hilltop Farm.

 

 

This lovely B&B had once been a working farm but the innkeepers are now semi-retired.  They've hosted guests for nearly 20 years and have even been featured in National Geographic!  Maggie's pancakes were the best I've ever eaten!! 

 

 



The next morning we attended church at St. George Catholic Church back in Hermann.   

 

 

 

 

 

We stayed a bit after the service to take a few photos of the beautiful interior.  The German-style woodcarving was so pretty.

 

 

 

 

After hearing the weather forecast for this weekend and it sounds like winter is making an unwelcome return.  I guess we'll stay snug in our home, make a few more of these recipes and enjoy some Missouri wine!!

 

 

 

Decadent Chocolate Truffle Cookies from Bias Winery

 

 

4 (1-oz.) squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped                                6 Tbsp. butter

1 cup semisweet chocolate                                                                     3 eggs

1 cup white sugar                                                                                   1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup all-purpose flour                                                                       1/4 tsp. baking powder

2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder                                                      1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

 

In the microwave, melt unsweetened chocolate, 1 cup of the chocolate chips and the butter, stirring occasionally until smooth.  Set aside to cool.

 

In a large bowl, whip eggs and sugar until thick and pale, about 2 minutes.  Stir in the vanilla and the chocolate mixture until well blended.  Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.  Gradually stir into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remaining 1 cup of chocolate chips.  Cover dough and chill for at least an hour or overnight. 

 

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Roll chilled dough into 1-inch balls.  (I used a mini ice cream scoop.)  Place on ungreased cookie sheets, 2 inches apart.  Bake for 9 - 11 minutes (9 worked for me; you want them still soft and chewy.)  Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing.

 

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

 



 

Linking to:

 

   The Places I've Been

   Seasonal Sunday

   Foodie Friday

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Sauteed Pepper Bruschettas

 

 

Wonderful Hubby and I have had a tradition of sharing appetizers on Friday evenings.  You can read about it here.  This month I wanted to share a simple recipe for one our favorites. 

 

We became aquainted with bruschettas when we traveled to Italy years ago.  Precious Daughter, Favorite Son and Dearest Mother-in-Law were also with us.  While walking by what we thought was a sandwich shop, we noticed these little open-faced beauties, each sporting a different delectable topping.  They were DELICIOUS and I thought, "How hard can they be to make?" 

 

 

 

 

 

I was right. Just brush small slices of bread (baguettes or Italian loaf) with olive oil and toast them on a George Foreman grill, Panini maker or in the oven, then top with whatever suits your fancy!

 

 

For these, just saute slices of red, yellow and/or orange peppers in olive oil for 10 - 12 minutes or until they are soft and slightly browned.  Add one teaspoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of drained capers.  Continue sauteing.  Add about one tablespoon each of minced shallots and basil.  Heat through and you're ready to top your bread.  I add freshly grated Parmesan cheese but I've also added a little blue cheese, too.  (If you add the blue cheese, you might want to put them in the oven for a couple of minutes to melt the cheese.)

 

 

As you can see, we enjoyed some wine and chocolate with our bruschettas!  (Chocolate goes with everything!!)  I hope you give these a try.  They're easy and SO yummy!

 

 

I'm also hope you're staying cozy where ever you are.  We're expecting a little warm-up this next week!  Can't wait for Spring!!!

 

 

 

Linking to:

 

Tuesdays At Our Home

The Scoop

Share your Cup Thursday

Foodie Friday

Home Sweet Home

Amaze Me Monday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rustic and Romantic

With Valentine's Day approaching I had been thinking about setting an elegant and romantic table, complete with gorgeous flowers. But since the temperatures have been so frigid lately, I've been afraid to bring any flowers home.  They wouldn't look very romantic if they had frostbite!


After finding these mugs and bowls, I thought I might set a pretty "rustic and romantic" table instead.

 

 

We're expecting more snow and ice this weekend, so a table in front of the fireplace seems cozy.

 

 

 

I love these bowls and mugs.  The bowls will be perfect for chili or vegetable soup, don't you think?  The mugs' generous size ensures plenty of coffee, tea or hot chocolate!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aren't their handles unique?

 

 

 I love these farmhouse bowls from William Sonoma.  They coordinate with several other dishes I have so I'm using them a lot this winter.

 

 

 

These placemats help set the mood!

 

 

 

 

I used napkins, rings, plates and some vintage spoons to complete the place settings.

 

 

 

Continuing with the rustic forest theme, I brought together some décor I've been using elsewhere in our home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even though this isn't the most romantic table, I may be setting it again for a Valentine lunch with my sweetie this week!

 

  Hope you're staying warm and cozy!  Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

Linking to:

 

Seasonal Sunday

Amaze Me Monday
Metamorphosis Monday

Inspire Me

Tuesdays At Our Home

Wow Us Wednesday

Tablescape Thursday
Bargain Hunting with Laurie

 

 



January in Review

We've had a very long and cold January but there have been some highlights.

 

We ended 2013 and started off 2014 with a delicious New Year's Eve dinner at home.  Several years ago we started the tradition of eating out for lunch on New Year's Eve then shopping for our holiday dinner.  It's so nice to spend the evening cooking and eating together in our own home.  This year, we enjoyed grilled rib eyes, roasted shrimp, asparagus...

 

and salad with parmesan crisps. 

 

I shared the easy recipe for the crisps here.

 

 

 

 

We had blackberry cream tarts for dessert!

 

 

 

January has been REALLY cold here and since we heat our home with a Hardy woodstove, we've spent several weekends cutting wood.

 

 

Wonderful Hubby thought the wood you see would heat our home for about

two weeks of really cold weather. 

 

 

 

We had some help from Precious Daughter and Favorite Son ...

 

 

 

Is that someone checking their messages instead of working????

 

 

 

 

One of the dead trees we cut up was a thorny locust.  I noticed some thorns in a log I picked up and mentioned it.  No one believed me until Favorite Son spied this one.  YIKES!! 

We were all quite surprised to see the size of these 'internal' thorns!!

 

 

We were glad to have the extra wood because we've had

several snow storms ...

 

 

 

 

(Don't know how this snow appeared on the photo but it's pretty cool!)

 

... and some very frigid temperatures!

 

 

 

We've had to keep the dogs in the basement several nights. 

 

 

 

Jewel hates getting her picture taken!  She has Mr. Whale and is pouting.  Champy has Mr. Pillow and Sallie, well, Sallie is just her usual smiling self!

(Please excuse my craft area.)   :)

 

 

 

With all the time spent inside, I was able to complete a couple of projects.  I'd been working on an afghan for Favorite Son for about a year and finally finished it up.

 

 

 

After visiting the Missouri Star Quilting Co. in Hamilton, MO, I was inspired to try my hand at quilting again.  I hadn't done that in probably about 20 years! 

(WOW, that makes me sound old!!   Well, I guess I am!)

 

I made this red Disappearing Nine Patch for one of the spare bedrooms.

 

 

I still need to quilt it, so I guess it's not exactly finished.

 

 

There was also a little time for tablescaping,

a new hobby that gives me the excuse to play with dishes again!! 

 

 

My mother-in-law and I found these pretty blue bowls and the delicate wine/cordial glasses at a local auction.  You can see the whole post here.

 

 

I also set a green table for Precious Daughter's birthday party.

 

 

 

 

 

You can read about that event here.

 

 

 

It also included directions to make the cupcakes she requested.

 

 

 

I also shared my recipe for Eggplant Caponata and how

Wonderful Hubby and I started our "Friday Night Specials."

 

 

We've also enjoyed some other cozy meals this blustery month.

 

 

 

Sautéed pepper bruschettas, chocolate and wine!

 

 

 

 

Roasted Potato and Leek Soup

 

 

We ended the year by attending our local University Extension Banquet where seven local farms, including Wonderful Hubby's, were recognized as Century Farms. 

(Each had been in the same family for at least 100 years.) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even with the chilly temperatures, we've been able to have a lot of fun being together. Wind chills of -15 F seem to make Nature appear cruel but if you take time to look around and enjoy what you have, you can always find something beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(These last two photos were not retouched. 

God needs no help with his artwork!)

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

Linking to:

 

Seasonal Sunday



Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Precious Daughter's 24th birthday Saturday evening. 

Her favorite color is green so I tried to incorporate that color in the table setting.

Since she's a beautiful young lady, I tried to set a more elegant table

than we usually do for birthdays.

 

 

The dinner menu included crab legs, steak, roasted shrimp, green bean casserole and herbed rice.  As usual, when the food hit the table, the camera was forgotten!! 

However, it was delicious and everyone seemed to enjoy it all!

Dinner by candlelight...

Her special dessert request included Amish Sugar Cookies with green sprinkles and Rainbow Sprinkle Cupcakes.  The sugar cookie recipe is an old family favorite but she had a new spin on the cupcakes. 

She found the cupcake recipe on Pinterest.  It's quite simple.  Combine one box of cake mix with a can of diet lemon-lime soda.  I found I needed to bake the cupcakes just a little longer than the box suggested.  Then we frosted them with a combination of prepared whipped topping and a small box of sugar-free vanilla pudding mix.  We refrigerated them until about 15 minutes before serving.  They were quite delicious and probably had a few less calories

than they would have had otherwise!

 

 

Happy birthday, Precious Daughter!!  We love you!

 

 

 

Linking to:

 
The Scoop
Tuesdays At Our Home
Tablescape Thursday
Home Sweet Home
 

 

Wintry Disappearing Nine Patch

Recently, I visited the Missouri Star Quilt Company in Hamilton, MO with a friend.  She had told me about all their great fabrics and live tutorials and what a place it was!!  While there, one of the workers demonstrated how to make a Disappearing Nine Patch.  It seemed fast and easy so I decided to give it a try. 
 

                                                    Source


While taking down Christmas decorations in one of our spare bedrooms, I decided just what color to make that quilt.  In the winter I decorate this room with red and white.  Since there is a wall shelf/quilt rack on the wall, I thought a red wall quilt would be something I could keep up from Christmas through Valentine's Day.

I finished the top last night and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! 

Now, it's time to quilt.

Linking to:
  
   Seasonal Sunday
   Amaze Me Monday
   The Scoop
   Tuesdays At Our House
   Fabric Tuesday 
   Needle and Thread Thursday
   Creativity Unleashed
   Friday Unfolded