Cherry Pie with Cold Brewed Coffee

Rainier Cherries backlit by the Sun

Shade in the afternoon is a summer treat

This is the easiest and best way to make a pie crust. Put a cup of water in the freezer to chill. Blend two cups room temperature butter with three cups flour, folding, not over working the dough. Slowly add the very cold water, and roll your dough in a circle on a floured bread board. Use a lovely rolling pin, a cotton cover over it helps.
Stem, and pit 4 cups cherries, mix with two cups sugar. You can go less on the sugar. Add a bit of kirschwasser if you want, to you or the mix.
Bake at 350 degrees for forty minutes.
Lay the crust in a deep pie pan, and crimp the top crust on, or sprinkle the dough like a cobbler.
Serve with cold press coffee. Put coffee grounds in French Press, let sit for ten hours, et voila, less acidic coffee, perfect for summer. This really has a smoother taste.
Now, the sun beckons.....breeze, ahhhh

Columbia Valley Pinot Noir at Bargain Prices

PINOT NOIR is a top selling Grocery Outlet wine lately. The bottles are substantial, the corks just right, the flavor perfect - wine has overstocks like anything else. The black and white labels are a clue you are on to something, big.
Charles Smith of K Vintners, the famed Syrah producer from Walla Walla, Washington, created The Magnificent Wine Company in 2004 with the goal of bringing outstanding wines into people's homes at an affordable, everyday price. HOUSE WINE Cabernet blend and Chardonnay blend is the flagship brand of The Magnificent Wine Company’s Washington wine portfolio, also home to TABLE WINE Merlot blend and Chardonnay blend, STEAK HOUSE Cabernet Sauvignon, FISH HOUSE Chardonnay and The Originals (Syrah, Pinot Noir, Cab & Riesling). HOUSE WINE is the wine you drink anytime with anything…honest, tasty and real. A term that’s as universally understood among wine drinkers as a STOP sign is among drivers, HOUSE WINE with its simple black and white label and rich blend of fruit is the iconic symbol of the wine drinking experience stripped to its core.

Sauvignon Blanc Pairs Well with Seafood

You don't need a wine rating system or self appointed expert  - often a middle aged man in Mom jeans and a shag haircut- to tell you about wine. Learn foryour self, pair wine with a poem, a friend, a breeze, s sonnet, a cello concerto, a nicely set table, and tanned legs. Books and Paker and ratings are silly. Read some Emerson and be your own judge.

Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the  Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage ("wild") and blanc ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in  Southwest France a possible descendant of savignon, or Wild thing, you make my heart sing.

Sauvignon blanc is planted in many of the world's wine regions, producing a crisp, dry, and refreshing white varietal wine. Oregon, Washington, and California produce some very nice Sauvignon Blanc blends that can be found a plenty at Grocery Outlet.
Sauvignon Blanc's crisp acidity, bright citrus, and green herbs call for a sauce or dressing laced with lemon and herbs. This salad is a natural match for Sauv Blanc heavy blends.
Seafod Salad with Creamy Tarragon Dressing
Serve this salad on a bed of butter lettuce or a sandwich on crusty bread.
1 lb peeled shrimp
1/2 lb bay scallops
1/2 lb cleaned calamari
1/2 cup mayonnaise, best when you make your own
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp Dijon
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped butter lettuce leaves
1/4 cup drained capers
1 avocado pitted peeled and diced
Boil large pot of water over high heat. Add shrimp, scallops,a and calamari. Take a sip of wine.
Cover, remove from heat, and let steep until the shrimp are pink on the outside and and opaque but still moist inside. Drain the seafood, immerse in cold water and drain again.
Meanwhile, combining mayonnaise, lemon peel and juice, tarragon, mustard, whisk until smooth, or use a blender.
Combine seafood, lettuce, and capers in a large bowl, Gently stir in avocado, toast yourself with a nice glass of wine.

 

Chenin Blanc and Seviche Tostadas

The weather is perfect this weekend so of course the best course of action is to spend as much time outside.  This morning taking my coffee in the backyard, I heard  neighbor Gabriella singing "It's Raining on Prom" from Grease - no worries, I happen to know all is well with her dress and her date, and her mom said she was a hit at assembly.
I heard three lawn mowers from various houses singing in perfect harmony, and at dawn the sprinklers in the front and back performed a pastoral ballet worthy of Gershwin or Copeland, complete with rainbows across the water sprays.
Grocery Outlet has a wide selection of amazing values in wines. At the beginning of the 1970s, Americans began to discover that California's better-quality wines labeled their bottles with the name of the predominate grape variety, rather than standard practice of the day which was to label with  generic names. Made in a style popular at that time, fragrant and lightly sweet, and also easy to pronounce, Chenin Blanc quickly became the best-selling wine of the era
The first course of action is to open a Chenin Blanc, and think of a leisurely supper that welcomes the sunny season. This fruity wine is lightly sweet, much like a song from Grease on the piano. This supper is spicy, a delicious contrast.
Ceviche Tostadas
1 glass Chenin Blanc - for you, a tiens!
1 lb. cooked large shrimp
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1 jalapeno, halved seeded and sliced
1/2  English cucumber, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1 cup chopped cilantro - such a wonderful scent!
juice of 2 limes
8 tostada shells
1/2 cup crumbled queso or feta
Mix together everything except the tostado shells and cheese, let mixture marinate for ten minutes.
Spoon the mixture onto the shells, sprinkle with cheese.
For dessert, destem strawberries at the time you serve them in parfait glasses, sprinkled with sugar and creme fraiche. Easter chocolates may be stretching it, so any small dark chocolates are always good.

Lemon Cream Pie

Pink Flowering Almond Bush

Pink Flowering Almond Bush

Pink Flowering Almond Bush

Pink Flowering Almond Bush

Suede Frye Oxfords

So many pretty things in the garden, and the berries and summer fruits are still a little ways away. This pie is light an fresh, and a good excuse for a celebration. Have you you read As Always, Julia? It is the correspondence between Julia Child and Avis Devoto - both fun and informative.

LEMON CREAM PIE

10 ounces crumbled biscotti

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs

14 ounces sour cream

3 large lemons - for 1/2 cup lemon juice, zest

1 cup heavy cream

2 tbl powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350. In blender, crumble the biscotti, add butter and sugar. Press into pie pan, bake for 10 minutes, let cool.

Whisk together eggs, sour cream, lemon, pour into crust and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool until at least 2 hours.

Whip the cream and confectioners sugar until soft peaks form, spread on the pie and garnish with more lemon zest. 

Invite some one ot share it, and wear the suede oxfords. Suede is so luxe, it shows you aren't out stomping through rain. And a pot of Earl Grey tea is the best with lemon!