sparkling wine

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Just a reminder to enter my Cabot Cheese gift giveaway and to spread the word to your friends! Only a few days left!

Spring is here, and my legs are no longer sore! I celebrated that fact last night by attending a post marathon/ running club kickoff party at Healthworks Back Bay. I was really excited for this event because it meant that I got to meet other runners and fellow Healthworks members to talk about running while snacking on some yummy treats. I have never belonged to a gym like Healthworks which really aims to engage its members beyond just coming and going to work out. Everyone there is super nice, and it is a beautiful, clean facility which should go without saying, but trust me. . . I have belonged to some other well known gyms that could take a few lessons from them!

The spread was celebratory and offered a variety of options for us hungry runners.

There were adorable, delicious, foot shaped cookies.

Cookies and champagne

Too cute. And yummy. It’s a good thing we all ran 26 miles on Monday!

cookies

There were Pop Chips. Though I had tasted and enjoyed the plain Pop Chips before, at this event I had a bag of barbeque and almost drooled, they were so good. Desk drawer, you need to stock up on Barbeque Pop Chips please.

Pop Chips

And yummy Luna protein bars, which I am saving for a post workout boost.

Luna Bars

There was Boston Athletic Association inspiration. I love that unicorn.

Boston Marathon motivation

And Pearly Bay sparkling wine from Boston Wine Exchange, a great store I visited in this post. This wine was slightly sweet, bubbly, and perfect for a Friday night celebration!

sparkling wine 

I spent a little over an hour mingling with other runners, learning about Healthworks’ running club, which is open to non members as well, and even winning an awesome raffle bag full of fun goodies like vouchers for B. Good burgers and fries. Kind of appropriate considering I ran much of the marathon with the B. Good french fry and hamburger. I really did. I even asked if they were hot, and they were 🙂

After I left the Healthworks event, I strolled through Copley Square and snapped a photo of these gorgeous tulips. Did I mention tulips and daffodils are some of my favorite things about spring? Tina from Carrots N Cake actually posted a similar picture last night! They were just too beautiful to pass up.

Copley Square Tulips

And since I was walking by, I decided to stop in to the new candy store next to Marathon Sports, Sugar Heaven.

Sugar Heaven

Sugar Heaven is chock full of sweet treats. They had a refrigerator full of European chocolate, the stuff my hubby grew up on, so I picked up a Galaxy bar, an Aero, and a Dairy Milk for him.

European candy bars

I loved all of the bright colors! I bought a few things, but I just wanted photos of everything.

gumballs

candy

Chocolate chocolate everywhere!

display of chocolate bars

I needed to get out of there before I spent too much and ended up with a supply of candy that we should not have around.

I walked to meet my husband by Symphony Hall, and passed by the Christian Science center where the fountains were on, and brave people were playing in them.

Christian Science Center

Christian Science Library

Boston is so beautiful this time of year!

We had a great dinner at an old favorite, DBar Boston, in our Dorchester ‘hood. I even spotted Chris Coombs, the Executive Chef and recent Chopped contestant. It was too dark for photos, but I had a glass of Mionetto prosecco, lobster bisque, and tuna ceviche. Every meal I have ever eaten at DBar has been excellent, and tonight was no different. It is a cozy neighborhood place with a sophisticated vibe and upscale comfort food menu, not to mention their awesome cocktail list and amazing brunch.

Not too many plans for today. My good friend Meghan, who was in my marathon photos, lost her wonderful grandfather last night, so I am thinking of her and hoping to see her and her family this weekend. It is so hard to see a friend sad, so send her some good vibes if you can.

Enjoy this spring weekend friends!

Tags: Boston, candy, fitness, Food, Healthworks, running, sparkling wine

Is it spring or summer? I don’t care what they are calling it, it has been warm and sunny, and I love it! Last week, I received a wonderful spring surprise from my favorite wine and spirits PR rep, the same lovely who invited me to the Austrian wine tasting awhile back. (If you haven’t checked out my Austrian wine tasting post, I would love if you did. I don’t consider myself a great photographer, but I love these photos!)

A bottle of Szigeti Grüner Veltliner Brut arrived at my door, just in time for the rain to stop! I even had a little photo shoot out on the deck.

Szigeti Sparkling Wine

Szigeti Austrian Sparkling Wine

Szigeti Austrian Sparkling Wine

Szigeti makes an incredible sparkling wine with tiny, festive bubbles and a crisp, slightly tart, citrus flavor. It truly is the perfect wine for long evenings, picnics, and dinners on the patio, which is what we ended up having.

The warm weather brings a few eating options that are different from winter. Gone are the hot soups and stews, the root veggie curries, and the heavy meals. Instead, we welcome salads, cold soups, quick stir fries, and sushi. On this particular evening, the night before a perfect day off, we opted to order sushi from Teriyaki House, our go-to South Boston sushi spot. It’s quick, it’s tasty, and it’s incredibly cheap!

Sushi

The best part about Teriyaki House is that they offer a huge range of Chinese and Japanese options that are yummy and taste healthier than the standard Chinese takeout fare. Their hot and sour soup is a cold cure, multiple times over, and their veggie curry dish with noodles lasts for four or five meals.

For this dinner, we opted for a spicy and crunchy roll, a spicy tuna roll, a garden salad with ginger dressing, and a hot and sour soup. We get the hot and sour soup even in the heart of summer; it is that good.

The sharp bubbles of the Szigeti Brut met the fatty, spicy tuna and did wonders for the sushi! The flavors really danced around together in my mouth providing a satisfying lightness and richness.

I was so lucky to have another opportunity to drink a delicious Szigeti wine and to share it with my husband on a perfect spring evening. Such a wine brings a celebration to an ordinary weeknight! 🙂 And seriously, after such a long winter, we have reason to celebrate, don’t we?

Have you had nice weather where you live? What spring foods/wines are you loving?

Tags: Austrian wine, Food, sparkling wine, spring, sushi, wine

Following our visit to Rodney Strong, checking into Vintners Inn, and walking around the vineyard, we decided to eat on the hotel property at John Ash & Co. Luckily, although it was last minute, they were able to seat us at a table overlooking the vineyard.

The welcome we received from the restaurant staff was second to none, and the Food and Beverage Manager really made us feel right at home.

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I wanted just about everything on the menu which featured many fresh, local ingredients, and variety of flavors and styles of cuisine.

John Ash Menu

With the hot day that was in it and the celebratory mood of the weekend, I started with a glass of sparkling wine from the Roederer Estate in the Anderson Valley.

Roederer sparkling wine

We were brought cornbread with a creamy, delicious butter. The cornbread had jalapenos in it! Oh my yum. I need to make jalapeno cornbread soon.

butter

 

jalapeno corn muffin

The amuse bouche was a bit of plump, tender crab, topped with whipped avocado.

crab amuse bouche

We also started with Hog Island oysters with three different sauces, a lemon granita, a “hogwash” mignonette, and cocktail sauce. Its so interesting to note the differences in appearance and flavor between East and West coast oysters. I like them all!

hog island oysters

For our main meal, we stuck with a selection of appetizers. They were all light, but together made a healthy, filling meal. First there was the Spicy Salmon Sushi Roll with sriracha, ginger, wasabi, and soy sauce.

salmon roll

Then the Roasted Red & Yellow Beet Salad with fennel, avocado, red wine vinaigrette and Bohemian Creamery capriago cheese.

beet salad

We finished with “Petaluma Poultry Rocky” Chicken Lettuce Wraps with green onions, peanuts, cilantro, and Asian dipping sauce.

lettuce wraps

We were too full for dessert at the restaurant, so we took a piece of Guinness chocolate cake to go and ate it in the big comfy bed. I am SO glad that we decided to stay on the hotel property for dinner. We were on East coast time and tired, plus the food and service turned out to be exactly what we wanted.

In fact, we liked John Ash & Co. so much that we also finished off my birthday there. More on all of the birthday eating and wine tasting later, but since we are on the subject of John Ash & Co., we did go there for a drink in the lounge at the end of my birthday.

I had the “Tiny Bubbles” flight.

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Roederer Estate Brut N.V., Mumm Napa Brut Prestige N.V., and Nicholas Feuillate Brut N.V.

I do love my bubbly! 😉

It was pretty amazing to have such a delicious restaurant on site and within about 3 minutes’ walking distance from our hotel room. It made it very easy for us to enjoy some time out without having to get in the car. Perfect!

John Ash & Co. is another great reason to stay at Vintner’s Inn.

In case you are new to the blog or haven’t checked it out, my ALLY Foundation raffle is extended, but I need to finish my fundraising very soon. I am half way there, and I would LOVE to make my $3000 minimum before April 1. Every little bit counts, and the prizes are pretty great!

http://firstgiving.com/meghanmalloyteamally

 

Tags: Dining out, Food, hotel, hotels, oysters, restaurant, Sonoma, Sonoma County, sparkling wine, Travel, where to stay in wine country, wine

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