10 Fun Facts About Wine!

1. Thomas Jefferson helped stock the wine cellars of the first five U.S. Presidents!

2. The science of wine is called oenology!

3. Cork was developed as a bottle closure in the late 17th century. It was only after this that bottles were lain down for aging, and the bottle shapes slowly changed from short and bulbous to tall and slender.

4.  According to the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, there are 100 calories in a 5-ounce glass of wine. Plus wine is fat-free and cholesterol-free!

5. As white wines age, they gain color. Red wines, on the other hand, lose color as they age.

6. It is a common misconception that wines improve with age. In fact, more than 90% of all wines should be consumed within one year.

7. The top three imported wines sold in the U.S. are Yellowtail (Australia), Cavit (Italy), and Concha y Toro (Chile).

8. The top three U.S. states in terms of wine consumption are CA, FL, and NY!

9. Owning wine labels is a growing trend in the celeb world! Lil John (Little Jonathan Winery), Madonna (Ciccone Vineyard and Winery), and Dan Aykroyd (Dan Aykroyd Wines) all own labels!

10. 1-2 glasses of wine a day, for women, reduces the risk of coronary heart disease!!!

So go out and buy you some wine people!!! CHEERS!!!

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed

1 cup sliced carrots

1 cup frozen green peas (I use a can of corn because I don't like peas!)

1/2 cup sliced celery

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon celery seed

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

2/3 cup milk  

2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts



Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
2.  In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas (corn), and celery and a little olive oil. Saute until chicken is cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside.
3.  In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
4.  Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
5.  Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Love them!

Blackened Tilapia Sandwich with Jalapeno Slaw

• 3 Tilapia fillets
• 3 Hoagie Rolls
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup mayo (I use Kraft Olive Oil and Cracked Pepper Mayo!)
• 2 tbsp whole-grain mustard
• 2 tbsp pickled jalapenos and 1/2 tsp juice from jar
• 1 tbsp dill pickle juice from jar
• 3 cups of shredded iceberg lettuce
• Blackening spice

Blackening Spice:

3 tablespoons smoked paprika

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp onion powder

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp cayenne pepper (substitute chili powder if you don't want the heat)

1 tsp dried ground thyme

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Combine scallions, mayo, mustard, jalapenos, and juice from jalapenos and pickles in a bowl and set aside. Add lettuce to this mixture to make slaw when you are ready to assemble sandwiches. If you add it too early the lettuce will become soggy.

Coat Tilapia fillets with spice mixture and fry in olive oil for about 4 minutes on either side until blackened.

Toast hoagie rolls in oven.

Put one fish fillet in hoagie roll and top with slaw mixture. Enjoy!!!

(Recipe courtesy of Aaron McCargo Jr.'s Blackened Tilapia and Paula Dean's Jalapeno Slaw)

Random Cool Stuff

My besty Cynthia bought me an awesome cook book for my 30th Birthday last year.

Not only is this cookbook awesome but the author is hilarious! Check out her website www.thepioneerwoman.com


She also just introduced me to Pinterest! http://pinterest.com/  Apparently it's a super cool website where anyone and everyone can post there faves of whatever! Of course I went straight to the food + drink section! And what did I find?? Only the most genius idea ever!!!

Bacon filled pancakes!!?? Why have I never thought of this before???




So if you need ideas for pretty much anything, I recommend checking out these two sites first!!!

Who Cut The Cheese?!

 I do not know a single person who does not like cheese! It is so versatile! It can be served with really anything if you think about it. I figured since I love wine so much I better learn a little about cheese too since it pairs well with it. I love all kinds of cheese but I have never actually eaten cheese with my wine so I had to do a little research. I went to an online school to learn about cheese. You may have heard of it. It's called Google. So far in my research I have learned the VERY basics of cheese and serving said cheese. So for all you foodies out there that want to serve a little cheese with that wine, here is what I have learned....

The first thing I learned at cheese school is that cheese should be served on a "board". In layman's terms: a cutting board so you can "cut the cheese"! hehe! Whether you need one to serve with wine, or to finish a meal, it pays to put a little effort into it.

Choosing Your Cheese

Plan on serving five cheeses in order of creamy/mild to really stinky! So you should serve a goat cheese, a soft variety, a hard variety, a washed rind cheese, and a blue. Goat cheese is really creamy and my personal fave! My daughter loves it as well and will eat crumbled goat cheese straight out of the container! Pick a soft cheese like Brie or Camembert. The hard cheese is easy because everyone loves a Cheddar, Parm, or Swiss. The washed rind cheese is cheese washed in alcohol such as cider or brandy. It's generally stinky so if you are not into stinky cheeses I would leave this and the blue out and just add more soft and hard varieties.

Accompaniments

Put some crackers and bread on the board that are mild so they do not distract from the flavor of the cheese. Also add some fruit like grapes, apples, pears, and peaches. Olives and nuts work well too.

Wine Pairings

Goat and feta pair well with a Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Noir. Soft cheeses can be served with a Chardonnay. Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Burgundy taste yummy with hard cheese. And blue or stinky cheeses pair well with dessert wines like Port.

Serving

Serve cheese on a platter or cheese board large enough to keep them from touching each other. Remove the wrapper but leave on the rind and bring cheeses to room temp before serving. Also each cheese should have it's own knife. Buy a cheese knife set to make it easy!

There you go! Now you are a cheese serving expert!

Get a Good Knife!

Before you decide that you are going to learn how to cook, the FIRST thing you need to do is go out and buy a good knife. If you spend some money and get yourself a good knife it will last forever and you only need one! I guess a real chef has many knives for different things but a Mom who loves to cook, like me, just needs one. I bought my first chef's knife 5 years ago and I remember the day I bought it! We had just gotten our bonuses at work, so I dragged two of my co-workers (Denise and Mark) to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to "hold my hand" as I made this monumental purchase! I use it EVERY day and the only thing I have to do is sharpen it. Technically you should take it to a professional to have it done but I don't. I just use a sharpener!

This is the knife I use. Wusthof is like the Mercedes of knives. This one cost me close to $100.00 but it is an investment that you need to make! My motto is "Go BIG or go home!" So go down to B,B&B and buy yourself one of these bad boys! Trust me it cuts like butta!