6 posts tagged “gadgets”
You know that I have to do this but I have to. It’s an unwritten rule that every writer must do a Christmas gift list......
If you have drawn the name of a wine lover for Christmas, allow me to give you some ideas.
1) wine well this is a no brainer but fraught with danger. Give a white lover a red and you could be expelled from Christmas dinner. Give a big red lover a Grand Cru Alsatian and you will just get a puzzled look and a mumbled thanks. Try to not get too far from their comfort zone. I mean really close. If they like Yellow Tail....well get them a real wine. But you’re eukered as a real wine has taste so well ...don’t bother.
Try a better bottle of the type they like or something similar. Big Reds..well try a local Meritage or maybe Bird Dog from Sanson. Or maybe to give them a mind**** get them a bottle of D’Angelo Pinot Noir. That will mess them up as they will go “oh a Pinot..isn’t that nice (oi a foofoo wine)” then when they open that monster...hahaha!!!!! jokes on them. For white wine drinkers it is easier. There doesn’t seem the snobbery so I may suggest one of the local oaked Chardonnays.
Actually a better choice would be bubbly and if you want to give a good one get some Mastronardi...its fabulous and it will surprise them and make you look like a connoisseur.
2) gadgets if you are buying for a guy go for a gadget. We just love em...
corkscrews- I may have too many, but there are some really cool ones. You can get antique reproductions that have all kinds of moving parts and brushes, brass ..nice..or that one that looks like a torture device
bottle sealers- you get a pump and some nifty caps with valves....multi parts valves pumps....what else do you need, I never seem to need to recork a bottle but someone may
cooling sleeves- give the joy of advanced thermodynamics to you friends and allow them to keep their white wine cool. There are many styles and I find that yes they do work well. Not a great present but one that they will find useful
thermometers- a wine bottle thermometer does nothing for me...don’t give it
drip rings- I was given one a while ago and soon lost it...I found it again and do find it useful....when I can find it.
3) books here is a good idea. A nice wine book makes it look like you really care about your friend’s hobby or it can actually try to help your friend if they drink Yellow Penguin....think of it as a kind of intervention
4) glasses this one is another good one. Buy some expensive glasses and then every time you go to the home.....check the glasses to see if they are used or if one is broken. This will give you loads of guilt ammunition and if used properly can get you banned from both gift giving and the family...both good things to me.
Well there you go. I’ve given you my best advise. Have a Merry Christmas!!!!
Like everyone else. I'd like to give my advice on Thanksgiving dinner. Really, I can cook and I have endured so much awful turkey and frozen corn that I think that I can be of help.
Start with the turkey.....me I avoided my own advice as I went to Farmer Jack after last Thanksgiving and bought several birds at 22 cents a pound, but if possible get a fresh, free range bird. The stories you hear about Amish turkeys are all true. They are simply amazing and worth every cent. We lack Amish here, but one Harold Wagner sells free range organic birds. They tend to be large so I can't even think about one. Get a strudel there too and wine as he is the man behind Wagner Estates and he makes superb Ice Wine from fruit and a great cider...I won't recommend the white because I want some more (it won my Sauvignon Blanc battle).
Now, once you have the bird of choice, brine it. This really makes a difference. There is a chemical reaction which occurs and makes the bird way juicier. I use cinnamon and cloves and sugar and salt and peppercorns and whatever else I feel like in mine. This 24 hr bath just will make things much much better.
No.2 ..bag the oven and do it one of three ways...I) smoked II) turned on a spit or III) deep fried. All these methods require a rub so either make one or buy one. I am currently using Butt Rub which Allen Park Pete smuggled in from Alabama, but I also swear by the Cajun Rub from Rafal's in Eastern Market.
Smoking takes a while but is worth it. I would and plan to, but that means it will be twenty below zero Sunday (it always is when I try to smoke a turkey) so I have a backup ... the spit. Turning meat is the old way to do it and is a good use for children. They can turn the spit all day which makes them feel oh so important to the meal. Mine, alas, is electric, so Miles has the day off. This takes time, ~ 3-4 hrs but is wonderful. The flavour is great and it really self bastes. The only downside is the lack of crispy skin. I don't mind so this is my usual method.
Deep frying is fun, tasty and really really dangerous. Remember that our ancestors poured boiling oil over invaders and 20 + liters of boiling oil is an accident waiting to happen. DO NOT do this in the house, near the house or around pets and small children. The oily steam, not to mention potential fire makes indoor cooking verboten, but I also have safety issues with the propane rigs sold for outside use. We do it on a wood fire so we limit danger. It's fun, very fast and best..tasty. This would be my method of choice if I didn't have a dog.
Now the wine. Doing the meat my way allows a veritable cornucopia of wine choices. I keep reading on how hard it is to match wine to turkey. Spice it up and that goes away. Trust me it is almost impossible to overpower a deep fried turkey with any white wine. A spicy bird.. then get yourself a Gewürztraminer, wee bit less go for a Riesling or a nice Chardonnay. I would forgo a really good oaked one (Muscedere comes to mind) and stick to an unoaked one. Remember that Aunty likes her Mad Dog 20-20 so don't waste the good stuff on her.....just keep it in the kitchen. If adventurous I would try a Pinot Noir like Sprucewood's which is nice and light and won't overpower the bird. I just question serving a Sauvignon Blanc as it may overpower.
So my choice in descending order is: Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. We make good ones of all and they would certainly suit the job. One other suggestion would be my old favourite; Vinho Verde which I find likes turkey and is so cheap, you can serve it in volume without crying, but it isn't locally produced.
Now sides. Of course I will be serving frozen corn (not). But take a run in the county Saturday and see what you can turn up. Brussels Sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes and oodles of squash abound. And don't forget the lowly pumpkin, magical things can be made from them. I beg you to try to keep the food local as our ancestors did. This is Thanksgiving to the harvest here, not California. I just think that there is so much good here that we should try to do a 20 mile meal.
Bon Appetite.
Since I've gotten a few new readers lately let me go over a few things that I think are important for the upcoming summer. As the summer arrives, we will tend to eat and drink lighter and as good Canadians, we will spend as much time as we can being mosquito food.
Wine temperature.... White wines need to be chilled, but not to Bud levels. Too cold kills the flavor and to warm is not too nice. I tend to use a cool sleeve on my whites and this works well on the deck. It maintains a cool temp without having to start with frost on the bottle... Reds....well here is where I really differ with a lot of people, except Mario Batali (which means I am correct). Reds should be cellar temp ie: cool, not room temp. Remember that a wine cellar is deep in the ground, like in your Burgundian castle (of course) and it is rather cool, not 90'. This will smooth the wines out nice and take the alcohol taste away.
Aerating... please aerate your red wines. That really smooths it out, softens them and basically makes them taste better. Treat yourself and get an aeration funnel and a carafe. You will enjoy your reds so much more. You may even find it changes the mouth feel of the wine. Some manage to actually feel like they grow in volume and become physically softer. The two that really came to mind were the CREW and the Mastronardi Cab Sauv. These just changed dramatically. They were/are good to start but they became really good after aeration.
Glasses...I wish I had the money to have specific glassware for each type of wine. Well even if I did, I'd rather spend it on wine. I've recently discover the wonder of box wine glasses which look like the 'designer' ones. Now if my friends demo a few, I really don't care (other than the glass I always seem to step on) and just go buy more. Face it, they hold wine and don't leak so they meet my needs. A nice bowl-type, ie:Burgundy type for reds and a nice white wine glass. Simple. OOPS.. remember nice Champagne glasses. Its a shame to serve Champagne in Dixie cups, so I found some 'cost effective' hollow stem glasses. They are a pain to clean, but they look really nice. Also, remember the classic Italian Bistro glass which is nothing more than a little juice glass, quaint, but it really doesn't work for me. I really like to smell my wine and it can't be done with one of those.
Wine choices....its summer and the time for Rose, Vinho Verde, Sangria and lighter reds. Trust me and go and get some Vinho Verde, some seafood for the barbie and enjoy. You don't need the expensive stuff as the $8 stuff is wonderful. Make Paella and just enjoy. I know I have friends who don't drink whites but this is the time of year for them.
And this one really irks me. I read wine reviews and everyone seems to drink wine in an isolation chamber. I don't know about you, but my best wine has been drank with friends, over meals and conversation, or on a deck with Tso. Its there to enjoy and be part of something. I had a marvelous time at a wedding Saturday and I drank a wee bit of wine. It was marvelous and I've had that wine several times. Well, we were at the winery and the wine tasted the best it ever did. Same wine, but the event, the people, the lovely setting and food made it way better. You couldn't make me trade Saturday's Pinot for a bottle of Opus One, Nuff said. Share your wine with friends and enjoy. Wine is made to drink, not be an investment.
All in all have fun and raise a toast for the great wine we have been given.
Well you think that a vintner has it easy. You think that you can do it better. Try again. These guys are not amateurs and work really hard.
As you know TSO and I endeavored to make cider last weekend. Well was it easy? Was it fun? Am I a budding Cider maven? Well it was hard work, was kinda fun, was educational and wasn't too easy.
I had made beer for years then stopped when I moved to Toronto. I was rather good at it, but grain and hops are a lot easier to deal with than fruit. Be it apples, grapes, watermelon it doesn't matter these things are tough. We bought 3 bushels of apples from Simpson Orchards which they mixed to give me a good cider(if I managed to get it right). Well that helped as I had no idea what the English equivalents are, so they did it for me. I appreciated that and when we finally got there they we just waiting for us to load up. I give them kudos and if you want to destroy your kitchen burn up a fine German appliance and test its grounding, go see them, they are really nice.
We took them to Tso's and got on our way. I am too 'cost effective' to buy a press so we used a juicer I had found at my mother's. It worked rather well, but I think we may have killed it. We filled the carboy after 2 bushels, so we stopped until I could get another carboy from my mum's. That was Wednesday and the juicer started to spark after a ½ bushel or so(maybe it had to do with the water/juice mixture all over the counter...maybe I should have cleaned it up, but the juicer is grounded) and finally blew the breaker with about 10 apples left. Well hopefully the poor thing survives the next batch as it worked rather well. I found a part source on the web,( so I can 'improve it' ) but on top of this I found it interesting that the model # was very close to the famous German machine gun from ww2 and this juicer was made in Germany.....what did they make during the war??????? “I know nothiiiing”...
Then I checked the specific gravity(no way was I going to get to 1.007 which is ~ 15% of potential alcohol...bloody English drunks cos that is where I was supposed to get to...maybe if I added 50lbs of sugar) but my wonderful hydrometer is almost unreadable and I really think the amount of pulp affected the reading. Well I am looking at ~ 5% so that should be good. Why can't they make a hydrometer which is readable?????????????? I want the digital one....yup that would help me. All I can say is that it tasted really good as cider and with some alcohol and carbonation it could be killer. I don't expect Woodchuck quality, maybe Scrumpy.
Well Monday I got a frantic call from Tso. The pulp had risen to the top (beer doesn't do this) and she was afraid that it was about to explode the carboy. Oi, it was going thru the air lock thus not allowing the CO2 to escape thus pressurizing the carboy. As I was in a meeting, she made an executive decision and removed the pulp...she said it tasted good....it looked awful as she saved it to show me.....day saved. It looks good but...........
I really don't know how one does mega batches...cleaning is a pain, its hard work and it makes a real mess. Remember, I'm an old beer maker and I get Mt. Cidersuvious. What did I learn from this life experience???? I know nothing about making fruit stuff and its way tougher than making beer. I also got was a deeper respect for what these winemakers go thru. Will I do it again......HELL YEAH!!
it transformed the Mastrnardi Merlot and makes D'Angelo's Baco-Foch drink far better than the price they give it away for. i think its so important that i am reprinting this one.
tootles, here we go again:::
well i tried to use ms word for the post but i gave up as it was making me capitalize things and i couldn't get rid of that damn paperclip. i just wish wp could be used here.
so here we go.
anyone who knows me knows i love my toys. when it comes to enjoying wine, why not?? well i'll give you my favourite, but first a little rant.
glasses: why do i need a separate glass for each wine??? i fully understand that it would be bad to drink dom out of a dixie cup, but i find it hard to believe that a glassware company can design a glass specifically for each wine. i love the marketing but come on. we lived for years with red, white and champaign glasses. i guess i'm missing something. i manage to break so many that my table would look like an orphanage. i like the stemless glasses but i really like the knockoff brands who are 2 bucks a glass.
now for my fav. it the airation funnels. seen one of these??? tso found them when we went to niagara last year. i scoffed at the idea until i tried the difference. i bought one on the spot.
the basic concept is to airate the wine just like you would if you decanted it for several hours but you do it instantaneously. for a wine pig like me this is great. i'm kinda impatient.
there are several styles so i will try to discuss the ones i've used.
welfare mother: take a freezer bag and use it like a pastry bag. pick a corner and poke several holes around the corner, pour wine in it and watch the sprinkler. this works remarkably well but you need a pitcher to cath the spray. this is a great way to test the theory and/or shame the boyfriend into buying you one.
i have a wmf stainless steel one. it resenbles a funnel with the base blanked off and holes put around the perimiter above the blanked off end. mine has a short tube, but this is great for my decanter. mine is a modern type and as such it doesn't have much of a neck so i wanted the wine to be spayed to the side of the decanter asap. it works great
if you have a captain's type decanter a longer stemmed funnel can be used. i ended up buying tso a french one with a real small diameter tube and it works really well-- better tham mine and half the price.
there are avariety of style, from pewter to glass to stainless and the price is all over. i would avaoid expensive ones as i'm cheap and i just don't see the added utility. try to find one with multiple holes rather than a slot -- holes create more surface area therefore more airation therefore more smoothing out.
there is another variety which i own and one which i would definitely have if i ran a restaurant or winery. its called final touch and its a glass device which goes into the bottle like a pourer and airates as you pour. its real handy but does about 80% of a funnel/carafe combo.
for red wine the results are amazing. it improves the enjoyment of the wine about 75%. you can drink cheaper wines and better wines are just so much better, i just won't drink a red without airating it first. if you doubt me go buy a bottle of inexpensive red(or anything you have on hand) and make a welfare mother funnel. pour off a glass then decant the rest thru the freezer bag and taste the difference. you can thank me later, enjoy the wine and all your potential savings. do this on a tuscan and life is very good.
i've shared a secret of mine, enjoy.
well this is a reprint of a previous post. its about aeration which to me transforms a wine. i would never willingly drink a red without aerating it. if i can decant it for 4 hrs good or use an aeration funnel and drink right away.
it transformed the Mastrnardi Merlot and makes D'Angelo's Baco-Foch drink far better than the price they give it away for. i think its so important that i am reprinting this one.
tootles, here we go again:::
well i tried to use ms word for the post but i gave up as it was making me capitalize things and i couldn't get rid of that damn paperclip. i just wish wp could be used here.
so here we go.
anyone who knows me knows i love my toys. when it comes to enjoying wine, why not?? well i'll give you my favourite, but first a little rant.
glasses: why do i need a separate glass for each wine??? i fully understand that it would be bad to drink dom out of a dixie cup, but i find it hard to believe that a glassware company can design a glass specifically for each wine. i love the marketing but come on. we lived for years with red, white and champaign glasses. i guess i'm missing something. i manage to break so many that my table would look like an orphanage. i like the stemless glasses but i really like the knockoff brands who are 2 bucks a glass.
now for my fav. it the airation funnels. seen one of these??? tso found them when we went to niagara last year. i scoffed at the idea until i tried the difference. i bought one on the spot.
the basic concept is to airate the wine just like you would if you decanted it for several hours but you do it instantaneously. for a wine pig like me this is great. i'm kinda impatient.
there are several styles so i will try to discuss the ones i've used.
welfare mother: take a freezer bag and use it like a pastry bag. pick a corner and poke several holes around the corner, pour wine in it and watch the sprinkler. this works remarkably well but you need a pitcher to cath the spray. this is a great way to test the theory and/or shame the boyfriend into buying you one.
i have a wmf stainless steel one. it resenbles a funnel with the base blanked off and holes put around the perimiter above the blanked off end. mine has a short tube, but this is great for my decanter. mine is a modern type and as such it doesn't have much of a neck so i wanted the wine to be spayed to the side of the decanter asap. it works great
if you have a captain's type decanter a longer stemmed funnel can be used. i ended up buying tso a french one with a real small diameter tube and it works really well-- better tham mine and half the price.
there are avariety of style, from pewter to glass to stainless and the price is all over. i would avaoid expensive ones as i'm cheap and i just don't see the added utility. try to find one with multiple holes rather than a slot -- holes create more surface area therefore more airation therefore more smoothing out.
there is another variety which i own and one which i would definitely have if i ran a restaurant or winery. its called final touch and its a glass device which goes into the bottle like a pourer and airates as you pour. its real handy but does about 80% of a funnel/carafe combo.
for red wine the results are amazing. it improves the enjoyment of the wine about 75%. you can drink cheaper wines and better wines are just so much better, i just won't drink a red without airating it first. if you doubt me go buy a bottle of inexpensive red(or anything you have on hand) and make a welfare mother funnel. pour off a glass then decant the rest thru the freezer bag and taste the difference. you can thank me later, enjoy the wine and all your potential savings. do this on a tuscan and life is very good.
i've shared a secret of mine, enjoy.
