sparkling wine

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First, before I forget, guest posts! I need 3 guest posts: 1 Friday Foodie Feature and 2 posts on anything from recipes to wine reviews to travel photos. We are leaving for Napa and Sonoma a week from today, and while I do plan on some blogging, I would love to have some guest bloggers as well. Going to so many events recently and meeting so many great bloggers has totally reminded me of what a great community we bloggers have, and I want to keep promoting that.

Speaking of events, last night I attended the launch party for the Crave Boston book.

CRAVE boston innovatively connects urban gals to the sassiest, gutsiest, most inspiring people they need to know in Boston. Our modern marketplace of soirees, gatherings and online networking serves as your ambassador to everything there is to CRAVE about the Walking City.

Since much of my blog focuses on my life as a city girl, I could not wait to get my hands on the Crave book and to learn more about it.

I walked from my office all the way to the event and enjoyed the GORGEOUS dry, sunny day that we had yesterday. It was perfection.

view from Fort Point Boston

The event was held at a funky artists’ studio in the Fort Point area, a refreshingly different event space.

image Fort Point artists studio

Two of my favorite things in the event space were this poster and Oscar the dog who was friendly and fluffy and knew how to sit and shake. Love.

I love blogs and coffee Oscar the dog

There was beauty everywhere.

image image

There were chunky chocolate chip cookies from Harvard Sweet Boutique, and they were awesome.

Harvard Sweet Boutique cookies

Vianne Chocolat

And I sampled some more chocolate from Vianne Chocolat, the lovely chocolatier that I reviewed earlier this month.

Once again, Valerie outdid herself with her gorgeous creations, and I tried a new one, a chocolate with goat cheese strawberry balsamic filling.

Holy chocolate heaven.

Vianne Chocolat

The perfect burnt caramel cups and lavender infused chocolates were also on display.

Vianne Chocolat

Throughout the evening, I sipped on an Honest Tea and Segura Viudas cocktail. It was yummy AND healthy!

I also sampled Joos fresh juice which was fresh and life-giving. From the Joos website:

You can expect any combination of dark, leafy greens (e.g., kale, chard, collards, etc.), other green vegetables (e.g., celery, cucumbers, fennel, etc.), herbs (e.g., cilantro, parsley, etc.), roots (e.g., ginger, turmeric, beets, etc.), fruits (e.g., lemon, apple, cranberries, pineapple, kumquats, etc.), carrots and so many more exciting and delicious fruits and vegetables.

Joos fresh juices

I love this stuff and hope that it becomes available in places around my office. I love my kale and spinach smoothies, and I often CRAVE them during the work day. Joos is an awesome solution to that craving.

I had to leave the party a little early and know I probably missed even more fun, but I was go glad to have a chance to check out Crave, and I look forward to learning more.

Right now I am craving rest and sunshine. I want to spend a day this weekend just sitting on the beach quietly with no technology, work, or worry.

What do you crave?

I am also changing the name of the blog soon, after a year it has evolved and has been confused far too often with Eat Pray Love, a book that I did not even finish because I didn’t like it! I am thinking Boston Wine & Dine or Travel, Wine & Dine, something that more accurately reflects the writing I have been doing. Stay tuned!

Tags: book launch, Boston, chocolate, CRAVE, events, green juice, Harvard Sweet Boutique, Joos, sparkling wine, Vianne Chocolat

A typical Friday. Summer Fridays leave me toting around bags of kale, herbs, and lettuce wherever I go, thanks to the gorgeousness of the Copley Farmer’s Market. It’s a really awesome look that goes great with most outfits 😉 Carrying a large bag of greens is also a great conversation starter. Do you know that none of the ladies that I was out with has had a green monster smoothie?! I think I need to convert them!

Work was uneventful, and with my computer virus disaster from earlier in the week, I was glad. I snuck out for lunch and spent the time wandering the farmer’s market, wishing I could work there instead. How fun would that be for the summer?!

This week I checked out the baked goods at the Tatte Bakery booth. Everything looked full of buttery deliciousness.

Tatte Bakery

I still need to get myself to the actual Tatte Bakery in Brookline.

Tatte Bakery Cookies

I stopped to smell many, many flowers.

Copley Square Market Flowers

My heart was once again captured by the booth from Sofra and Siena Farms.

Siena Farms Rainbow Beets Siena Farms Garlic Scapes

Fun rainbow beets and garlic scapes caught my eye. I love watching each week to see what new veggie or herb is growing in New England.

I left with several huge bunches of purple and green kale for salads along with some dill for a pasta dish I am making this weekend. It’s an old favorite, and I am really excited to share.

My after work fun began at Splash where I went to attend the Boston Sports Woman event. Before the event, I wandered around a little. Splash is definitely an interesting space with a Miami-like roof deck. If I wasn’t there for specific event, I would say maybe it’s not my scene.

Splash Boston roofdeck

The inside is spacious and modern. Our group had its own room and bartender.

Splash Boston Lounge

There were some delicious bites available including this lobster salad in phyllo pastry shells.I had many of these!

Lobster in Puff Pastry, Splash Boston

I didn’t sample this prosciutto, but I thought it made a nice photo!

Prosciutto Splash Boston

I DID have some of these tuna tartare and seaweed cups. I love eating seaweed!

Tuna Tartare and Seaweed in Puff Pastry at Splash Boston

I paired it all with a Roederer Estates Brut. A little bubbly is the perfect way to kick off a weekend! This Brut had a nice crisp pear flavor with a bit of nuttiness, almond maybe? It is from the Anderson Valley where I wish I was right now 😉

Roederer Brut at Splash Boston

I had a great time meeting up with Kathy from Boston Sports Woman and the other ladies in attendance at the event. I think that Boston Sports Woman is going to do some really fun things for women writers in Boston, and I love that they also pair up with charities for women and girls like Glamour Gone Good.

Kathy from Boston Sports Woman

Dinner at Les Zygomates post to follow. . . I think this recap of Friday afternoon is long enough!

Tags: Boston, Boston Sports Woman, Copley Square Farmer's Market, Farmer's Markets, Food, sparkling wine, Splash, wine

Last night I had the opportunity to attend yet another great event at the  Morton’s Back Bay location. The Uncorked series gives attendees a nice glimpse into the wines of the evening, and last night featured my favorites, Champagne and sparkling wine. On the menu, a Lunetta Prosecco, an Iron Horse Vintage Brut, a NV Graham Beck Brut Rose, and a 2008 Moscato d’Asti.

wine tasting notes

Lisa from Ruby Wines gave us a nice background on Champagne, the bubbly made only in the Champagne region, which is about an hour outside of Paris vs. the Method Champenoise which creates sparkling wine in the same method of the Champagne region but can not be called Champagne because it is made outside that region.

Some of her explanation I had heard before, but I never knew about the dead yeast that results from the fermentation in the Champagne bottle and the process by which the dead yeast is removed. It was so interesting to learn even more about the process of making Champagne, and Lisa described it in a way that was interesting and understandable while we sipped some quality wines.

 

Iron Horse Sparkling Wine

She also showed us how to open a bottle of bubbly. She pulled this off without even a pop, and not a drop was wasted!

Lisa from Ruby Wines

Morton’s provided fabulous food pairings for the wine, as usual. With the Lunetta Prosecco, we enjoyed Morton’s fresh crab cakes which are pretty much 100% crab, no fillers here! Delicious, sweet, and meaty, these paired well with the pear flavor of the Prosecco. Lunetta Prosecco is a great value wine that is easy to drink and like many sparklers, goes GREAT with food!

Mortons' Crab Cakes

Our second wine was Iron Horse Vintage Brut. My first thought? This tastes like Sonoma. I love Iron Horse. Their sparkling wine is toasty, with a lovely sweetness to it. It has been served in 5 White House administrations, and it is actually listed as an icon of Americana. This was probably my favorite wine of the evening and brought me back to my birthday dinner at Scopa in Healdsburg :).

Sparkling wine

We were served a tuna tartare which I photographed the last time I tasted wine at Morton’s. The tuna was as delicious as I remembered! We also had a bit of bruschetta with perfectly reduced balsamic, syrupy and sweet, and delicious with the salty cheese, crust bread, and juicy tomato.

Bruschetta

Our 3rd wine was a South African Rose from Graham Beck, a lovely shade of pink and made of 50% Pinot Noir and 50% Chardonnay, this wine was very tasty, and I love that Graham Beck is still a family owned winery headed up by a passionate winemaker. Visiting South Africa is definitely in our future.

Graham Beck Brut Rose

The final savory course was mini burger sliders which I didn’t try since they were made from beef. My friend thoroughly enjoyed them, and I loved how adorable they were!

Mortons' Sliders

The final wine and food pairing of the evening was a Moscato d’asti with an intense apricot flavor, and a New York style cheesecake topped with fresh and fragrant strawberries. This dessert bubbly was sweet and paired very well with the richness of the cheesecake.

Cheesecake with Strawberries

Morton’s offers nothing but quality events, and this was no exception. I was SO happy I was able to attend and look forward to their next Uncorked event which features Tuscan reds. If anyone is interested in attending, I will be there and would love to taste wine with you! To register, just visit their website:

http://www.mortons.com/events.php?id=680#reservation_form 

For $40 you get a few great portions of delicious food, several glasses of wine, and some great insight into the wine of the evening.

I can’t wait until the next event!

Have you attended any fun events recently? I would love to hear about them!

And don’t forget to enter my Cabot giveaway! AND I have another giveaway starting on Thursday so stay tuned!

Tags: champagne, dessert, Food, food and wine, food and wine pairings, Morton's, sparkling wine, wine

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