Drink: Green Smoothie - Grapes, Pineapple, Banana and Spinach!

Last month, after months of pining for the Vitamix Blender (I had seen it in action at a few of my friends' homes and was thoroughly impressed) - J and I broke down and purchased one from Costco.  60 smoothies later (we have at least a smoothie a day) - we're still as thrilled with it as we were on day one. I haven't tried to make the hot soup or hummus yet - but have gotten pretty good at making tropical and berry smoothies. Today, I decided to incorporate some veggies into our daily smoothie. I found this great recipe online and wanted to share!

Ingredients (makes 2 tall glass servings)

• 1 cup (160 g) green grapes
• 1/2 cup (78 g) pineapple chunks (I used frozen)
• 2 cups (60 g) fresh baby spinach, packed  (I used the prewashed spinach in a bag) 
• 1/2 ripe banana, peeled
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) water
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) ice cubes

Directions
Place all ingredients into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid. Use tamper if necessary but I did not find I needed it. I used the "Smoothie" preset on the latest Costco Vitamix version. However, if you do not have this option, you can select Variable 1, turn machine on and slowly increase speed to Variable 10, then to High. Blend for 1 minute or until desired consistency is reached. Serve immediately.

Drink: Rosenthal Estate Block M Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

A couple of weeks ago, we had a bunch of friends over for Memorial Day BBQ.  One of our friends brought over this bottle of local wine from Malibu. We decided to enjoy it with our homemade orecchiette dinner. Neither J or I know much about wine, but we do know when we drink something special, and this one was.  We are such lightweights, that we enjoyed this wine with a couple more dinners through the week. Thanks Dave!

It's described on the Rosenthal website as
"Exhibits deep purple-red color, with aromas of cedar and toasty oak. Polished flavors of cassis, and black fruits on the mid-palate with hints of black raspberry, dark cherry, anise, and exotic spices on the long, full finish. Robust tannins soften with aeration."

Drink: Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea

Today's post is short and sweet.  Intelligentsia actually lives up to all the hype!!!  They make one of our favorite mochas in the world. Strong yet smooth, velvety, rich, not too sweet...  Yummmmmm. 

Intelligentsia 

1331 Abbot Kinney Blvd

Venice, CA. 90291

310-399-1233

Drink: Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 2006 Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon

We have many different bottles of wine- some bought, others gifts from friends. Since we don't really have any specialized knowledge about wine pairing other than "reds with meat, whites with seafood", we tend to pick a bottle from random out of our rack to pair with dinner.

Tonight, we choose this bottle to go with our steak dinner. We enjoyed it and thought it made a nice pairing. This is the description from wine.com:

winemaker's notes:

The 2006 Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Merlot.

Focused and complex, the wine opens with aromas and flavors of black fruit—blackberry, currant, and plum—that slowly give way to layers of nutmeg, rosemary, grilled game, and warm pie crust. This firmly structured and full-bodied wine gains depth and richness through the finish.

Enjoy this wine with filet mignon with green peppercorn cream sauce or braised veal shanks with green olives and capers.

critical acclaim:

"Made almost exclusively from Cabernet Sauvignon, this is a deeply colored, ripely rich young wine that shows masses of blackberries. There are supporting notes of pain grillé, anise, violets, anise and smoky oak, with a firm grounding of minerals."

90 Points

Wine Enthusiast

Drink: Haiku Sake

We don't know anything about sake, but we figured it would be a good accompanying drink for our asian themed dinner. We found this bottle at whole foods and thought it was pretty nice.

Here is the official description: "Slow fermentation at low temperatures gives this sake a slightly dry flavor with a light aroma reminiscent of orchard apples. Enjoy chilled or over ice.

Drink: Candied Ginger Martini Cocktail

S made this delightful cocktail. It was so refreshing, different and delicious!

created by Adam Wilson of Beretta San Francisco

Ingredients:

Candied Ginger Martini Cocktail

2 oz ginger vodka

1/2 oz fresh orange juice

1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

1/2 oz honey syrup (combine .25 oz honey, 0.25 oz water)

4 raspberries

candied ginger for garnish

Directions

1. Muddle raspberries in a cocktails shaker.

2. Add rest of ingredients with ice and shake vigorously

3. Strain into cocktail glass and garnish with candied ginger.

Drink: Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon

We wanted a red wine to pair with J's steaks. Tonight's pick off our wine rack (random) was the Robert Mondavi Winery 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon.

It is actually pretty high scoring! Here are the winemaker's notes:

This Cabernet Sauvignon has deep, expressive aromas and flavors of berry and black currant with nuances of mocha, violets and spice. The fruit envelops an elegant structure with firm, velvety tannins and excellent length. The wine's personality comes from the soils and climates of vineyards located in the geographic center of Napa Valley. Fermentation with both native and cultured yeast strains gives layers of nuance to the wine, and extended skin contact intensifies varietal complexity and softens tannins. The wine was aged in French oak château barrels and bottled it without filtration to capture the full flavor profile and lush texture.

critical acclaim:

"A lovely young Cab, rich and balanced, and with the elegance you expect from this producer. Made from all 5 Bordeaux varieties, with a drop of Syrah, the wine is potent in red and black currant, blackberry and new oak flavors, with sweetly ripe tannins. Delicious now, it should develop through 2015."

91 Points

Wine Enthusiast

For more information on this specific bottle of wine, click here.