From the moment I met Natasha from Treasury Wine Estate, I knew that she was the real deal.  Not only is she drop dead gorgeous with the most beautiful complexion I have seen in a very long time, but she looked fit and healthy in her “Penfold’s red” dress.

She was also upbeat and happy about her work and representing the iconic Australian winery Penfolds.  When you think about it, who wouldn’t want to travel the world, sip exquisite wines, taste fantastic food and then talk about it?  The key for me and my “liking” her is that wine aficionados can be pretentious and stand-offish and Natasha is anything but that.  She uses real language to describe her Penfolds wine passion-words like “pencil shavings”, marshmallow” and “lacy”.  As I pondered what made this woman so appealing, I just came out and asked her where she was from.  The answer? Regina-where the humblest and modest people in the world come from (second to Winnipeg, of course).

As mini tuna tacos and shrimp cocktail were presented by efficient Keg servers, we sipped on a Bin 51 2012 Riesling.  I do love a lusciously sweet Riesling and this was dryer than my taste but I will admit that the hints of lemon and apple were a perfect complement to the seafood appetizers.  The first course was a delectable Lobster & Shrimp salad.  The Keg’s recipe including avocado, cremini mushrooms, black beans and corn is just my cuppa tea.  These distinct flavours were enhanced by the Thomas Hyland Chardonnay.  I especially liked the biscuity notes (another of Natasha’s down to earth descriptors).

I was surprised, but more than appreciative when a Bin 2 Shiraz Mouvedre 2009 was served with the second course of the Keg’s Creole Chicken.  I skipped the chicken (trying to pace myself) but loved the shrimp and scallops with the spicy and earthy shiraz.  Natasha thought of it as an alluring “lady” wine with tastes of rosemary, thyme, lavender and cinnamon.

My favourite food taste of the evening was the perfectly prepared Mustard Salmon served with another 2009 wine, this time Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon.  This was when Natasha’s description of pencil shavings came in and she was exactly correct.  The suggestions of blackberry and back cherry were another surprise with how well they magnified the mustard sauce and the salmon.

The best was yet to come when another Shiraz (St. Henri) arrived for us to savour with Beef Tenderloin Medallions accompanied by drizzles of béarnaise and whiskey peppercorn sauces.  Natasha declared that the wine was veiled, perfumed, velvety with aromas reminiscent of Easter Lilies.  I simply took her word for it, not having as sophisticated palate as she, but knowing it was likely the finest Shiraz I have ever tasted.

Grandfather Port, aged 30 years, was lovely to sip with the Dessert course of Chocolate Cake and fresh raspberries but even better when I followed the lead of one of our table companions, who poured his port right over his cake.  He is Sicilian and since we have travelled there, we know that Sicilians know how to eat, so I wasn’t going to challenge his decision.  He was right, the decadent richness of the cake was  put over the top with the baptism of port.

The room and our table were beautiful, as were the guests whom we dined with.  The value offered by both Penfolds and The Keg was nothing short of astounding, with a ticket cost of a mere $100.  A friend in the lobby remarked that he would have happily paid double that amount. Best of all, was that all monies raised went to Special Olympics Manitoba.  In all, one of those memorable evenings that will stay with us for a very long time.

Kath’s quote: “Wine is bottled poetry.”-Robert Louis Stevenson

Love-that is all.

Guess how we started our day?

When our family is with us, we spend a lot of time in Centro but as soon as they depart, we find ourselves drawn to the Colonias for long walks through the neighbourhoods.  On this day, we actually walked into Colonias twice-once to reacquaint ourselves with the exact locale of Deysi & Raul’s and the next time to actually dine there.

I have fun on these walks using different filters and settings on my camera.

Some photos, though, just speak for themselves.

No wonder Isla was dubbed one of the most colourful towns on earth.

I love the sun through the trees and am fascinated by shadows on the island.

These vintage tiles were re-used for a kind of sidewalk.

Aren’t the reflections in the glass fascinating?

These are only half of the photos that I took on this day.  Some have to be reformatted as they are too large.  So, I will post these for now and continue with part two after I do some more work.

In the mean time…..

Kath’s quote: “Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand-and melting like a snowflake…” Francis Bacon Sr.

Can you see the hearts in this sun rise-not one but two to doubly bless our day?

Love that is all.

At the advice of my doctor, I have started taking a medication to reduce my cholesterol.  Subsequently, my dose has been reduced by half as I have been suffering from one of the known side effects-that of muscle pain.  In the mean time, I have stepped up my efforts to reduce my cholesterol naturally through diet.  The first step was eliminating the foods that may be harmful to my levels and making a list of those foods that are known cholesterol fighters.  In addition to kidney beans, pears, grapes, citrus fruits, blueberries, tomatoes, eggplant, nuts, halibut and flaxseed, I found that oatmeal, oat bran, apples, almonds and canola oil were on the list of healthy foods.

I clearly remember when I was a little girl and my Mom would make what she called Browned Betty (apple crisp) for dessert, she would allow me to have some with warmed milk the next day for breakfast. I loved the treat, especially the oatmeal topping and thought that if I could find a way to duplicate that taste, eating oatmeal everyday would not be such a bad thing.

So I have formulated this delicious pseudo “Brown Betty” recipe that incorporates oatmeal, oat bran, apples, almonds and canola oil into one healthy little breakfast bowl.  Once a batch is made up, I keep it in the freezer.  When it is breakfast time (usually about 10 am for me), I put a healthy handful into a bowl with some milk and mic it for 45 seconds or so.

Kath’s quote: “You have to eat oatmeal or you’ll dry up. Anybody knows that.”-Kay Thompson, author of ‘Eloise’

Love-that is all.

I read this book many years ago, almost all in one sitting.  D and I had driven up to our beach house for one last fall weekend and to celebrate our wedding anniversary.  We have a lovely time on this annual weekend, walking the beach, lying on the deck and watching the stars and cooking up delectable little treats to eat.  But it is also the first Sunday in the NFL Season and D is often anxious to make his way over to the “big cottage” that is equipped with satellite TV.  In the mean while, I will make a cup of tea and cozy up on the deck or if the weather is still really fair, down to the beach for an afternoon read.

Tom Stone lived in Greece for twenty-two years and one summer, was partner and cook of a tavern which catered to the fishermen of the area in the mornings, locals at lunch and tourists in the evening and sometime early into the morning.

Here is an excerpt from the chapter entitled “The Main Course”, with the sub-head of “First Lessons” about the weekend before the Taverna opens for business (page 104-105):

That Saturday morning, I unpacked the rest of my things and began making space for myself in the kitchen.

It was, of course, infinitely smaller than the one I had remembered when I was indulging in my fantasies back in Rethymnon.  Barely large enough to accommodate tiny Demetra and myself, much less Memis and the boys, every available space in it seemed to be utilized twice over.  The walls were lined with shelves, cupboards, plates, glasses, flour, pastas, herbs, matches, old lottery tickets, nails, string, and, among other useless items, a broken telephone.  In the center stood a large working table, and another, smaller table was in a nook leading to the glass-fronted display units.  Along the back wall crouched a huge, blackened electric stove with four hot plates on top.  Next to it was a gas-operated three-burner range.

To the left of the stove, also along the back wall, were two stained, stainless steel sinks and a draining board, and leading off that to the rear, a long, narrow space that Theologos had recently added on in one of his attempts at improvement.  It was a bedroom, dressing and storage room, with two narrow cots that were used both for quick naps and for the boys to sleep at night.  A narrow passageway running behind the walk in refrigerator linked it to the taverna’s single toilet, also accessible from the dining area, and barely larger than those you find on airplanes.  In an alcove was a wash basin and a door that led to the outside storage area, mainly used for empty creates and bottles and for washing and peeling vegetables.

I staked a claim to the small table between the kitchen area and the refrigerated display units and set up my food processor and work area there.  Since Memis was apparently also going to help (at no extra cost, it seemed) and had clearly fallen for one potato cutter, I left him to find a space for it.

One of the features of this and many of my favourite stories of living in a foreign place, are the appendices of recipes in the back of the book:

I was going to fashion these around a skewer to grill but the weather turned cold, so I didn’t want D to have to fire up the barbeque.  There were moist and delicious and reminded me of my own time in Greece.

Kath’s quote: Diogenes, the ancient Greek philosopher, once advised a young courtier, “If you lived on cabbage, you would not be obliged to flatter the powerful.” To which the courtier replied, “If you flattered the powerful, you would not be obliged to live upon cabbage.” – Diogenes

Love-that is all.

The 2014 version of the Winnipeg Wine Festival is scheduled for April 27-May 3, 2014 at the RBC Convention Centre.  In conjunction with the public tastings, there are a number of additional events including nine Wine Down events, with five of these events already sold out.

This festival’s Theme Country is Australia.  The Keg Steakhouse+ Bar at 115 Garry St. is thrilled to be hosting one of the Wine Down events: The Penfolds Luxury Wine Dinner, which will be hosted by Treasury Wine Estates, Fine Wine Ambassador Natasha Susylinski.

Penfolds is said to be one of Australia’s oldest and most iconic wineries, dating back to 1844. Christopher Penfold, a physician and his wife Mary, originally opened the winery in the hopes that the could discover a potion that would help cure his patients’ anemia.  I am a strong proponent of the medicinal benefits of wine, red wine in particular and I think that I would have really liked this adventurous couple.

Meanwhile, The Keg has put together an inspired six course dinner including appetizers of Tuna Tacos and Mini Shrimp Cocktails, a first course Lobster & Shrimp Salad, a second course Creole Chicken, a third course Mustard Salmon, a fourth course of Tenderloin Medallions and Dessert of Chocolate Cake and fresh raspberries.  These will all be paired with some of Penfolds most famous wines, including a taste of some back vintages from their private cellar.

The date is Monday, April 28, 2014 with dinner following a reception.  But unfortunately the $100. tickets are completely sold out.  The annual Wine Festival enriches the lives of Manitobans with an intellectual disability through active participation in sport through Special Olympics Manitoba.  The Keg has long been a supporter of the Special Olympians and indeed many not-for-profit and charitable organizations in our province through financial donations and gift certificates that can be used to raise even more money.

Since this event is sold out, please go on line to what other Wine Down events you may be able to support or come out for one of the numerous public wine tasting events taking place. Lucky for me, I’ve got my ticket for the wine dinner already…

Kath’s quote: “Part of what Special Olympics is trying to do is break down stereotypes that still exist for people. There is still a lot of fear.”-Maria Shriver

Love-that is all.