For all of the Women Who Wine in Washington, Oregon and Idaho this is an event that you won’t want to miss.

The Grape Cup

Location: Seattle Washington
Date: September 16, 2010

We are all familiar with the Apple Cup.  It is the annual rivalry football game between University of Washington Huskies and the Washington State University Cougars.

Here is the note from the organizers:

Description Enjoy an exciting array of wine and ales — and feed your school spirit all while benefiting the Washington Farmworker Housing Trust. Half of the participating wineries and breweries will be Husky and the other half Cougs. Chef Tom Black will serve plates of tailgate food at the event! Attendance is open to the public. Must be at least 21 years old to enter; identification verified at the door. Support local farmers and rural communities across Washington by reserving your ticket today.

NOTE: No one under 21 years old will be admitted.

It sounds amazing! We’re In! Join us at this awesome event!

Tags: events, GNO, wine

Return to Paris by Colette Rossant

PROVISO:  Read all the reviews before you read this book.  We are including this book on our Book Club list on a recommendation from one of the Women Who Wine in the San Francisco bay area.

The reviews on Amazon or completely split.  People either LOVED and adored this book or they HATED it.  There was no middle ground.

What comes through from the reviews is that it is a memoir of an interesting time in Paris from the perspective of a women who was growing up in challenging circumstances.  Through her challenges came a love of, and description of, the local cuisine with recipes for the reader.

So, be warned, you will either love this book or you will hate it but apparently the recipes and description of the food is great.

We would love to hear from you.

• What do you love most about french food?
• Have you read this book and what do you think about it?
• Or, do you have a favorite book that can be paired with a nice glass of wine

Tags: book club, cuisine, french food, gourmet, Paris

More and more people try to homebrew alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages in their own homes. And as in the commercial market, the beer is the most bought alcohol so in the household brewing, beer is the most brewed beverage. Of course this is due to the fact that many people choose to create a unique beer style which best fits their taste. Different beers have different beer styles and beer styles differ on the producing method and ingredients used. And from different producing methods and ingredients each beer receives a unique aroma, taste, palate and other characteristics that a good beer possesses. Palate however is the most appreciated characteristic. It basically means the feeling you get from drinking the beer, how hard it hits you and other such indications.

However there are other important characteristics. For instance bitterness is determined by the amount of bitter ingredients added to the beer like hops or other herbs. The sweetness is determined by the sugar amount, the strength is determined by the amount of used fermented material and of course the appearance of the beer – Its color, matte, clarity and aroma which give the first impression about a beer to the customer.

There are many different beer styles, but two of the most widely spread ones are Ale and the Lager. While lager is a simple beer the ale is much more complex and expensive. The producers of ale use only yeasts of the highest quality which are fermented at high temperatures. Due to those high temperatures the yeasts are influenced to release more flavors, aromas and colors thus giving the beer its unique palate, aroma, matte, taste and color. However if you want to produce ale you will need to spend more money and time on finding the correct ingredients.

The lager beer on the other hand is the most commonly drunk beer. It is cheaper than the ale and is easier to create. The first people who started to produce lager beer lived in Central Europe. The yeasts used for the lager are of decent quality and ferment at lower temperatures and afterwards the beer is stored at 0-3C. When the second stage of storing begins the lager will clear and mellow. The cooler temperatures will increase the production of products from the herbs used thus giving a softer taste to the lager. The modern lager beer has usually a light color and is highly carbonated and many people enjoy drinking it more than ale.

Beer is surely one of the alcohol beverages which have been around us for the past centuries. Many of the modern commercial beer producers follow old traditions in the beer producing method. However the homebrewing of beer can result in top quality flavor depending on your taste thus allowing you to enjoy the beer even more. Of course ale and lager are just the main beer styles there are also many others which differ by production method, herbs and fermentation processes.

It is easy to brew your own beer at home, but a little brewing knowledge is required. Visit BrewingKB.com, check out our home brew recipes and learn more about home brewing.

Tags: alcohol, beer, brew, brewing, cooking, drinks, homebrew, spirits, wine, wines

We just added the blog to the networked blogs.  Click on the link on the right to follow this blog so we don’t look so lonely…

Stay up to date on great events and awesome wine pairings.

Everyone enjoys eating! If you are want to add some zest and flavor to your otherwise boring bank checks then you might want to try incorporating your finances with images of your favorite food!

One of the best things about checks that contain images of food items is that you can basically discover every kind of food that’s out there so you know that you’re going to find some design that appeals to you. There is almost certainly a check series for you, whether your enjoy fresh fruits or tasty candy.

For example, if you like big appetizing apples then you will totally love those checks that have striking photographic images of this splendid fruit. The photos are so detailed and lifelike that you’ll think you can reach right into the image and pull out the apple in the middle and take a bite out of it.

The same goes for the checks that contain lovely images of ripe red cherries. These designs are so detailed that you can almost smell the sweet fragrance of the cheery tree as well as taste the tartness that they are known for.

Conversely, if you’re more interested in the cooking aspect of food, then you’ll almost certainly enjoy those checks that contain images of recently baked breads, hand-canned fruits, and fresh vegetables lined up on the cutting board, ready to leap into a container of homemade soup.

Occasionally, food is more than just nourishment for our bodies. This is mostly true when it comes to specific beverages like wine and coffee. The dramatic wine inspired checks feature a way of life that goes alongside with consuming fine wine. Conversely, the coffee checks show reverence to the appreciated respite and reprieve that coffee can give to those with harried demanding lives.

For people that don’t like spending a lot of time in the kitchen, but still enjoy eating, then the pizza checks might be the ones for you! These amazing designs have images of hot and searing pizza slices. Just take a look at one of these pictures and you’ll want to call up your favorite pizza delivery service.

Bear in mind, too, that the majority of the series can be obtained with matching accessories at an additional cost. You might, for example, like a coordinating checkbook cover or corresponding address labels to harmonize with your new checks.

You may have hesitated in buying personal checks in the past because you found them too costly but now you don’t have to worry about price. These days, when you use a highly regarded site you can save as much as 50% off the price of your new checks.

It typically takes approximately 5 days for your checks to get to you in the mail. This could be even sooner than your local bank was able to get them to you when you bought your checks from them in the past.

Before you purchase food checks, go to FoodChecks.net to find coupon codes and to save 50% off your next purchase of food personal checks.

Tags: checks, cook, cooking, eat, eating, finance, food, food checks, wine, wines