Vineyard Views

Thought I'd take me and my handy camera into the vineyard for a few pics. First up, a few baby Cab Franc's. They've just finished blooming and are forming itsy bitsy tiny grapes:


Here's a cluster a little further along:


And of course, no vineyard would be complete without .....

To Merlot, Or Not To Merlot

I had previously mentioned that I would tell the Merlot story, so here it goes .....

So ... I make wine. Last year I order 200 lbs. of Merlot grapes from the Rutherford bench of Napa Valley. These particular grapes were harvested, fully ripe, just before a series of rain storms hit northern California and assaulted wine grape quality. In other words, these grapes came in virtually perfect. And as luck would have it, the wine maker (me) actually did a good job fermenting them. The young wine was full of fruit, had a deep crimson color, and was most tasty.

One of the final steps in wine making is to "rack" the wine. In racking, wine is moved from one container to another, leaving behind any "lees" or sediments thus helping clear the wine. Racking the wine is done several times, but the final racking is especially important to set the final chemistry of the wine. So MsJan and I were getting ready to rack and I tasted the merlot, expecting a luscious, deliciously aging wine. What I got was .... vinegar. Thinking I was being overly critical I gave a swig to MsJan and she smelled .... vinegar!

There are a lot of reasons why this could happen and I won't go into the details just now. Let's just say that the reasons all have to do with lousy wine making technique. I immediately hit the wine with a whopping dose of sultfite (a sterilizing element used to preserve wines), but that's a little like closing the proverbial barn door. After grumping around the house for a few hours, I moved the 4 gallons of soon to be high quality vinegar to the vinegar making area (do you know how much vinegar 4 gallons is?).

The next day, MsJan and I racked all the other wines which were tasting fine, but not nearly as rich as the merlot. We finished, cleaned all the equipment, and were ready to go to lunch. I was positioning the aforementioned wine vinegar to start it's fermentation when I decided to give it a taste ... one. more. time.

Low and behold, the wine gods bestowed a wonder on my poor wine making! It had returned to it's previous wonderful state. I immediately tested it to be sure the sulfites weren't so high as to sterilize any drinker, and the sulfites were fine (without getting into a lot of chemistry, the sulfite had "done it's job" and bound with the acetic acid, neutralizing it and leaving very little free sulfite). I must have caught the acetic acid fermentation in very early stages. I added a bit more sulfite to the proper levels, and put it back with it's other wine buddies.

In July we bottle. We're keeping our fingers crossed that Mr. Merlot stays ok and makes it to the final step, which will be my mouth in about 18 months!

I Lied

I promised I wouldn't do it, but I did.

I couldn't help it, Greyhair bought me a new camera and I was playing around with it yesterday. Here are the two-day-old babies, and they are looking hungry! They remind me of how my kids acted when I'd get home from work and they wanted their dinner. Now!

If you look closely at the left picture, you can see Mama or Papa watching me from behind the other lemon tree. She/He kept flitting from deck rail to chair and back while I was watching the babes.

Meanwhile, I think we may have another nest in the Night Blooming Jasmine, as I saw a bird jumping from the jasmine to the compost heap and back. If so, it isn't a very smart bird, because the dogs have access to that area. They are firmly locked out of the lower deck area where my garden and the other nests have been.

Nest Building

Greyhair and I have always described ourselves as "Nest Builders" in that we love our home, not in a prideful way, but as a place where we express ourselves and snuggle in. There are few places we'd rather be than in our home, wherever that may be.

We love to cook, we keep a pretty clean home and we love our yard and gardens. Sadly, both of us were married previously to people who did not share our passion for home and hearth. Luckily, we found each other and the connection we made on that level was almost instantaneous. (We cooked dinner together on our third date, but I digress)

This random stream of consciousness was brought on by the fact that Greyhair found another bird's nest in our potted lemon tree yesterday. We'd seen on of the species of bird that parented our previous nest in April, (Oregon Junco, I think) loitering about, but I couldn't find the nest when I looked. Well, find it we did with another 4 eggs, just like the last one and they hatched yesterday. Boy are they naked! I was afraid I'd killed them because I watered the tree not knowing about the nest, but all are fine. Here's a picture of Momma Bird, having a cow because I was checking on the kids. Now that I have a picture of my second batch of bird-babies, I'll leave her alone.

Know Your Pigs

Mmmmm.

Just ordered up a pork belly, pork butt and pork loin to cure. The belly will go for pancetta and bacon, the butt will be a coppa and the loin will become a lonza.

And I didn't just order up any ole' pig. I got a forest foraging Ossabaw which was bred by the Spanish specifically for cured meats.

Glad I don't have to catch the sucker ......


Meanwhile, I'm still planning a bit more about the vineyard and the story of the Merlot rescued from the vinegar pile.

LaDolceVita ... Back Quarter

Today I was trying to take some photo's of our new babies in "the Vineyard", but alas MsJan's camera just isn't quite up to the task. This was the best of the bunch:


After a seminar last weekend on vineyard management techniques, all the vines got a serious haircut. Now the clusters are all bathing in the beautiful Sonoma County sunlight, ready to develop the extraordinary deep purplish-red color I expect from a Cabernet Franc. Last years was noticeable pale, and like humans, grapes need sun exposure to develop a nice tan!

BTW, the little gate is up to keep the Gate from attacking MsJan's vegetable garden.

More Charcuterie

Before jumping in, a note. The directions and processes given here are a quick overview. For more details, check the web, books or simply email me and I can provide more on recipes and details.

One of the motivations for curing my own meat, aside from the pure enjoyment, is that many most of the meats you buy in the stores contain dextrose. Dextrose is a corn derivative and causes the greyness to itch. So given my carnivore tendencies and propensity to itch with a good store bought salami or lunch meat, it's time to make my own. By the way, there are some brands sold commercially that are safe and I use them as fill-in occasionally, but I also like to make artisan products that I can adjust to my taste, including using local, organic meats from unusual animal breeds that in most cases is exceptionally good and not generally available.

I've made salami off and on for some time. But it wasn't until I learned of Jason Molinari and his efforts that I really dove into it. The greatest discovery was that there are a whole lot of meats that you can cure without any grinding. These are the so-called "whole muscle" meats like bresaola, coppa and lonza. I've also now cured and prepared my own bacon and pancetta, both of which are extremely simple and even easier to do. What I found is that virtually any cut of meat can be cured and flavored. For the most part, all of these require very little special equipment, particularly if you cure during the winter.

This is a picture of a bresaola in the early stages of curing. You simply trim an eye of round of fat and silver skin, rub it down with salt and spices, and let it sit in the fridge for a couple of weeks. Some folks use sodium nitrate as a preservative. I have learned that in whole muscle meats the nitrates aren't necessary (as opposed to ground cured meats like salami).


After the curing period, the meat is put into casings readily available here, tied and hung until it loses approximately 30% of it's weight. You can spray the outside of the meat with a curing mold, or let nature take it's course.

This would be my curing chamber which consists of a cheap wine cellar ($175, any enclosure with a modest refridgeration unit will work), humidfier ($50), and a temperature controller ($28). The bresaola is the smallish piece of meat without any mold in the left/center of the pic. To the right is "bra spice" salami and the left is the below referenced coppa.

This is a pretty deluxe setup. As I said earlier, if you do curing in the winter you can simply hang the meat somewhere in a cool spot with an pan of water underneath (for humidity).

Finally comes the good part. You slice it and eat it (h/t Jason Molinari, here one of his drizzled with olive oil, lemon and herbs). I'd put a picture of the finished products of the greyster, but it seems to disappear a bit too quickly to get the camera out .....

The entire process takes about 6-8 weeks, or longer if you choose. The cure time affects the taste with less time equaling a milder flavor and more time adding more punch. The bresaola's I've made thus far have had minimal hang time resulting in a very delicate meat that it hardly distinguishable from a good proscuitto .... and a whole lot cheaper btw.

That's a quick overview. Perhaps as meats come to maturity I'll post more pics and tasting notes.

Not Our Friends

Pacific Gas and Electric.

For the last few days in La Dolce Vita, and the greater San Francisco Bay area for that matter, we have been enduring record high temperatures.

Our new plants are wilting. Our dogs are panting. We are cranky and hot.

Yesterday at 7:30 pm, we'd just settled in to watch some Savage Planet on PBS and the power went off. We've lived in our home since it was brand new, and as one of the first dozen homes on a hillside with over 100 homes, we experienced numerous outages over the years as the newer homes down the hill were being built. For some odd reason, the computer panel for our double ovens blows every time the power goes off and surges back on. We've had to replace it about 4 times, but that's another story.

It was still 85 F inside and 89 F outside when the power went off and since we were enjoying the 2 fans we have in the bedroom rather than air conditioning, we were doing OK. We wait, we wait, we wait, and no sign of electricity, so we take our battery operated radio outside and listen to news-talk for a couple of hours and voila--the power returns, only to die again 15 minutes later.

Long story made short, everyone down the hill got their power back by 10:30, but we didn't. We could hear the utility trucks cruising the 'hood and opening the electric vaults in the ground, but no joy for us. Power wasn't restored until 7:30 this morning.

I tried not to feel bitchy and deprived because there are many, many people in this world who have no fans, ice or fresh water to cool them. Americans are incredibly spoiled, and perhaps a few blackouts will remind us how lucky we are. Worked for me.

Guess who didn't sleep much last night? Guess who took a looooong nap?

Happy Birthday to US!

One of the nice things about having birthdays very close to each other is being able to celebrate together a bit. His Greyness recently celebrated his 54th on May 13, and I will be 56 on June 14th. Not to mention that his birthday is always close to Mother's Day and mine is close to Father's Day, and since we have no children in common and also we are not each others' mother or father, the whole thing just seems to complicated to sort out.

My dear friend Kathy B. planted a suggestion that our favorite performer, Sheryl Crow would be performing in June at Ironstone Vineyard in Murphys, California. She is....on June 13th.

Guess who's going?

I know, it's only Rock 'n Roll (But I LIKE It)
Mick Jagger/Keith Richards (1973)

Eeeeewwww

Alrighty. Let's talk charcuterie

The ugly mass of stuff is called a bresaola.
A bresaola is a cured meat made from the beef eye of round. I had never heard of it before the last month or two, but I'm glad I found it (with a little help from MsJan, always on the lookout for new stuff). Essentially, you take an eye of round, strip it of all fat, cure it (more later) and let it hang until it has dried. The white stuff is good mold that enhances flavor .... like the mold on good salami. When completed, you cut the bresaola paper thin like proscuitto and eat it much like you would proscuitto, i.e. with melon. We eat it sliced thin with a drizzle of specialty olive oil, fresh herbs sprinkled on it, and a spritz of lemon. Trust me. It's to die for. And, unlike much of charcuterie, it's very very low in fat.

Later, more pics and explanations of the process from beginning to end (rather than in the middle like this one).

Happy Mother's Day!

It's Mother's Day, and while my Mom is gone, my beloved Mother-in-Law isn't and she's coming to visit this afternoon for a few days so we can celebrate the birthday of someone special.

Here she is, way back when, smooching on His Greyness.

Vis-a-vis the object in the mystery photo:

Even though the photography left a bit to be desired, it is clearly a needle. I'm at a loss to explain how it migrated to this location, far from where I sew, but I have my suspicions......


Gator. That's right, Gator. Further photographic evidence reveals that she is jealous of me, her primary competition. Clearly, she planted it to get me in trouble.
Mystery solved.

Case closed.

I was framed.

Pop Quiz

I took this picture earlier today. I apologize that the image is less than clear .... didn't want to get out the better camera. But then again, it adds to the challenge.

So the question is, what is it?


Bonus Questions for extra points: where was the picture taken?

This contest is particularly aimed at those who may be regulars MsJan's blog. Double extra points if you get the right answer and you're not from MsJan's.

Why?

Well, as my lovely wife mentioned, we have a number of self-indulgences that keep us busy. Many of them are culinary. Now mind you, neither Jan or I have ever been ones to miss a meal. But I think we've managed to cross over into the land of "foodieism".

I know for me (and I am pretty sure for Jan as well although I'll let her comment), quality food and food prep has been a part of my entire life. Whether it was experiences like my Oakie/Arkie roots including the ubiquitous taters, beeesquits, and graaavey, my mom's awakening via Adelle Davis (telling my dad "you can't have biscuits and gravy), or my dad's pickle and olive making, I've grown up with an interest in making good food.

My interest in quality food prep has been further motivated by the recent discovery that I'm allergic to everything. Well, not everything, just wheat, corn, soy, walnuts, sesame to name a few (what doesn't have corn in it?). I'll write more on this whole experience later. Needless to say, since virtually eliminating these allergens, my life has improved dramatically! But alas, no more olive loaf sandwiches or store bought cured meat (most have corn in them). So I've recently increased a lingering interest in charcuterie. To make your own really isn't that difficult and we have access to some very high quality ingredients, so off I'm running.

Next up, some charcuterie stuff in the works ....

Another Country Heard From

He may be first, but my post is on top....

This is our place to talk about our life, home, dogs, winemaking, gardening, cheesemaking, charcuterie, kids and grandkids and all the other stuff that isn't political or quilt related.

As His Greyness said, we are two fifty-somethings, luckily retired in the best place to live on the planet, Sonoma County California. We are a blended family with daughters Kate and Sarah, age 30, who introduced us many years ago, son Scott, 29 and son Daniel, 27. Our extended family includes Kate's children Benjamin, 3 and Alex, 1 and our absurdly spoiled miniature schnauzers, Gator (formerly known as Annabel) and Ace.

We have many interests between us and we never cease to wonder how we found time to work! The photo of us was taken two weeks ago while we celebrated our girls' 30th birthdays in San Francisco.

That's it for now,

ms. jan

I'm First

Sorry Jan.

I'm doing the first post.

Welcome to our own personal guidebook to how 50 something retired folks manage to explore many areas of self-induglence. They're be little if any politics. For that rant, go to Tangled Webs for the nastier side to the greyster. Here, it's nothing but fun and how-to.

In the meantime, Jan and I will argue about the blog description.

Enjoy!