I had to work late tonight so Tom made me dinner tonight. The salmon was delicious! I am so appreciative of Tom cooking for me. He never cooked, ever, (except to open a bag of pretzels) but I asked for his help. And, I come home to this wonderful dinner. How lucky am I?

This Spanish Tempranillo is really nice and delicious. Extremely fruity with smooth tannins. I am enjoying it immensely.

I am finishing this bottle of Tempranillo that I purchased at the Plum Market in Ann Arbor. I really, really like this wine and may purchase a case, actually. Although I like to have a lot of variety for my blog, I also like to stock up on the wines that I really enjoy and this is definitely one of them.

I have chicken in the oven for our dinner tonight. I brined the chicken for about 2 hours (in salt water) and then rinsed and coated with bread crumbs and spices. I am also making sauteed carrots (I have a lot of carrots to use up from my food co-op), spinach (also from the food co-op) and potatoes. And, a salad. Meanwhile, we are reading the paper and working half-heartedly on Friday’s Wall Street Journal crossword puzzle.

This Spanish Tempranillo is luscious with a color of ink in the glass. It is bursting with black fruit.  The aroma is fresh cherries and a bit of smoke. You can sink your teeth into these tannins.

So. . .now it is relaxation time. We worked a bit on our Wall Street Journal crossword puzzle. . .had a martini. . .now we are sipping this Spanish wine that Tom purchased at our local Meijer’s grocery store. For dinner, I sliced two sizzler steaks that were in the freezer (from the cow that I purchased as part of the food co-op to which I belong). Then, I whisked together soy sauce, chopped garlic, brown sugar, pepper, and lemon juice. I will start by cooking the steak in a hot cast-iron skillet, then adding onions and broccoli and the sauce for a stir fry. This Tempranillo is perfect for our dinner. I wouldn’t have expected this wine to be so delicious, but it really is.  . . worth buying more, for sure. Lots of ripe fruit. Tom just said, “Big, but dry fruit; it’s big but it is not at all a fruit bomb. It’s very dry and tannic, but still fruity.” I agree. It’s tight and structured. Delicious. We are putting this on our list to get more.

This is a very good value. I only paid $4.99 (and picked up a Cabernet, also, for the same price). It’s interesting. Initially there wasn’t much of a nose, but 30 minutes after decanting, I detect raspberries on the nose. The taste is very fruity — not complex — but juicy and delicious. The finish is sufficiently long with a distinctive flavor. I would highly recommend this wine, especially if you want a full-flavor red at a very reasonable price.

Looking out the window, I see nothing but bright blue sky. It is a beautiful summer night in Michigan. The grass is green, the trees are green and the sky is bright. I really love Michigan.

This Spanish red Tempranillo is delicious. It’s fresh and lively yet complex and spicy. The palate is full of concentrated fruit flavors with a vanilla and oak finish. Love this; a definite reorder. . .

I am going to serve our tuna casserole with fresh tomatoes and green onions from my garden along with garlic toast and green beans. (The casserole has elbow macaroni with celery, cream cheese, a white sauce, onions, dry mustard. The topping is Grape Nuts in melted butter [for crunch]).

This is an opulent, richly-colored red Portuguese wine with a mouthful of black fruit and a balance of acidity and tannins.

We grilled hamburgers for dinner. I picked two warm, ripe juicy tomatoes from the garden to serve on the burgers. I also sauteed asparagus in olive oil. It was a great way to celebrate the end of the work week.

I am finishing the bottle of  Granrojo Rojo 2007, a Spanish blend of Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon, to go with our dinner of a steak stir fry — steak, green onions, fresh spinach, tomatoes — served over pasta tossed with olive oil.

When I first opened this wine (earlier this week), I noted cherries on the nose; but tonight (after having been opened) I do not detect cherries, but instead, waxy crayons. There taste has cherries and basil with a minty finish.

Cheers!

I chose this Granrojo Rojo 2007, a Spanish blend of Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon, to go with our dinner of spaghetti bolognese, fresh-steamed spinach and a salad.

This is a very pleasant wine. It doesn’t make me swoon like some wines do, but this is quite delightful, nonetheless. This vintage is young and fresh, with bountiful cherries on the nose and palate. The wine is light bodied with a fresh and minty finish.

This post was interrupted briefly with a Skype call from our son, Tony, who is in South Korea. It was so good to see him and talk to him. He is just as cute and sweet as ever.

Time to finish preparing dinner. Here’s to a great weekend, everyone. Cheers!

It is Monday night and we are enjoying this Spanish Tempranillo very much. This will be a fairly quick post because I have some dinner preparations to monitor!

Yesterday (Sunday) I made oven-baked ribs; I started the process at 2:00 in the afternoon and took them out of the oven at 8:00 p.m. They were delicious and I will share my recipe with anyone who is interested. It’s definitely a weekend kind of meal if you work during the week.

Tonight I am making a pasta dish with fresh vegetables. I already have yellow and red peppers, leeks and fresh spinach, chopped, washed and ready. . .

The wine is very good with hints of licorice and blackberries.  It is light-to-medium bodied and dry. Lovely!

This is a Spanish wine.  Tempranillo is the primary grape used in Rioja, a well-known wine growing region in Spain. The nose is strawberry jam and vanilla. It is  medium-bodied on the palate with sour cherry and raspberries. The finish is so good: Coffee and chocolate, cloves, iron, and dirt.  The acidity adds just the right amount of bite.

This wine is a perfect choice for our dinner. I started with chicken drumsticks and thighs, which I soaked in a brine of saltwater for about 1 hour. Then I drained and patted dry. I seasoned heavily with salt and freshly-ground pepper and drizzled with olive oil. I then chopped three cloves of garlic and added to the chicken along with some freshly-chopped parsley. That marinated a while and then I threw everything into a hot cast-iron skillet to brown. After it was brown and crispy, I covered and let the chicken cook until falling-off-the-bone tender.

Meanwhile I prepared an apple cobbler for dessert by peeling and slicing apples and then adding a topping of butter, applesauce, brown sugar, flour, and lots of oatmeal, and baking for 30 minutes.

Now I need to finish the dinner with mashed potatoes and a salad of romaine lettuce, avocado, tomatoes and cucumbers with my homemade salad dressing (olive oil, balsamic and red wine vinegar, grey poupon mustard, basil, oregano, rosemary, savory, and thyme).

This morning I woke from a dream about my youngest son, Tony, and I have been thinking about him all day. Love you, Tony!