Posts Tagged wine

Holiday Giveaway: Mulled Wine Kit from Parcel

I’m excited to announce a very special giveaway on the blog today, a Mulled Wine Kit from the wonderful people at Parcel!

Parcel is a small business based here in Portland, OR. They specialize in curated gift boxes, filled with treasures from the Pacific Northwest. The boxes are thoughtfully and artfully crafted, with a little something for everyone. There’s a Welcome Box for the new homeowner, a Little One Box for the new parent, and a lavish Pendleton Box filled with an impressive array of cozy winter goods. The boxes feature products from some of my favorite Oregon producers – Jacobsen Salt Co., Bee Local Honey, QUIN candy, Woodblock Chocolate, and more! Even the boxes themselves are works of art, handcrafted in Oregon with Forest Stewardship Council certified wood.

For this holiday giveaway, I am partnering with Parcel to give away one of their Mulled Wine Kits! This kit my favorite of the Parcel boxes, as I’m a sucker for a good batch of mulled wine (and this box includes the fixins to make the BEST batch of mulled wine).

The Mulled Wine Kit includes: One bottle of Underwood Pinot Noir, two red enamel mugs, Bee Local Honey, cinnamon sticks, spice satchel, and instructions for making Mulled Wine for Two. Great for newlyweds, neighbors, clients and anyone looking to escape these cold, blustery nights! This kit comes with a custom label and holiday greenery in a signature keepsake box, handcrafted in Oregon with Forest Stewardship Council certified wood.

See below for giveaway details!

ENTER TO WIN A MULLED WINE KIT FROM PARCEL:

To enter, leave a comment below stating your favorite box from Parcel!

Holiday giveaway rules: All entries must be submitted by Monday, December 15th, at 10pm PST. A winner will be selected at random and will be notified by December 15th. Parcel will hand deliver or mail the box to the winner.

ADDITIONAL ENTRY OPTIONS:

For one additional entry (optional), follow Rosemarried on Instagram come back here to leave another separate comment stating you’ve done so.

For one additional entry (optional), follow Parcel on Instagram come back here to leave another separate comment stating you’ve done so.

Wine Weekend

There are so many amazing things that exist beyond the city limits. Portland is a wonderful and beautiful city, but when you leave Portland it just gets better and better. We are surrounded mountains and rivers, trees and fields, forests and farms. When I drive outside of the city, I’m always struck by all the green. As I drive through the fields and forests of Oregon, I see shades of green that I didn’t even know existed. It’s kind of unreal.

With that said, I implore you to drive out of the city. Just take a day and get out of town. I escaped to wine country this past weekend, and it was nothing short of magical. I still can’t believe that wine country exists, just 30 miles outside of Portland.

I drove out after work on a Friday and stayed at my friend Mari’s farmhouse. (Yes, one of my best friends in the whole world lives in a giant farmhouse on a vineyard. It’s pretty fantastic.) If you don’t happen to have a friend with a farmhouse in wine country, I recommend the lodging at McMenamins Hotel Oregon in McMinnville. It’s affordable and has a lovely rooftop bar with a great view!

The next morning, I woke up to the sunshine pouring through the farmhouse windows. (If you are from the Pacific Northwest, you know how important this factoid is: Sunshine in February!!!) I spent the morning lazing about in the quiet of the farmhouse, curled up next to the fire with a cup of coffee and a book. I took my time and soaked in the quiet of the day.

Later on in the day, I met up with a group of Portland Food Bloggers for an afternoon of wine tasting. We stopped by three of my favorite Oregon wineries – Erath Vineyards, Anne Amie, and Soter – and we sampled a lot of wonderful Oregon wine. There was, of course, a lot of Oregon Pinot Noir (which is always amazing). But we also tried quite a few other varietals and blends, such as: Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Rosé, Muller Thurgau, and Cabernet.

It was the perfect day.

Thanks to all of the wineries who so graciously hosted us, you were all so fabulous. I came home with a deeper love and appreciation for Oregon wine (I also came home with a lot of bottles of Oregon wine. It happens.).

With that said, I’ll leave you with a few photos from the day.

The view from Erath:

Tasting Pinot Noir at Erath:

The best dessert wine ever (at Anne Amie):

The last stop of the day, Soter Vineyards (and the lovely Mari):

Foodbuzz 24×24: Cheese, Wine and Swine.

24×24: “Showcasing posts from 24 Foodbuzz Featured Publisher bloggers, the monthly Foodbuzz 24 highlights unique meals occurring around the globe during a 24-hour period. “- Foodbuzz

A few months ago I had one of the best meals of my life. The only problem with the meal was that I happened to eat it all by myself, 1000 miles away from home.

I was in Chicago on business. I’d been told by a number of people that I had to eat at The Purple Pig. When I saw that the restaurant’s motto was ‘Cheese, Wine, and Swine, my mind was made up. I had to go.

Let me just say that I was not disappointed. I did dine at The Purple Pig and I enjoyed every morsel of my meal. There was cheese! There was swine! And, of course, there was wine. It was glorious. The menu was simple, yet unique. Every single dish was spot on. I loved it.

But with every bite came a twinge of sadness: I kept thinking how much my husband would have loved it. Don’t get me wrong – I thoroughly enjoyed the meal – but there is something so special about a great meal that is shared with loved ones. For me, dining is about the shared experience.

But when I got home from Chicago, I was struck with a brilliant idea. I knew that I couldn’t whisk all my friends and family away to the windy city, so I decided to make my own Purple Pig inspired meal (with a twist!). You see, the Northwest happens to have amazing wine, cheese, and pork. And thus, this little dinner party was born. I invited a few friends over and made a meal that paid tribute to The Purple Pig, while showcasing the cheese, wine, and pork (and charcuterie) of the Northwest.

I dreamed up the menu, which was loosely based on the original meal I had at the Purple Pig. I added a few courses, and used local pork, cheese, and (mostly) Northwest wines. I asked a few friends to come over and enjoy the feast – all of whom are wine savvy – and gave them the task of selecting wine pairings. We ended up with a beautiful selection of wines (mostly from the Northwest, but a few French wines snuck in there! :) )

I did a lot of my shopping for this meal at the Portland Farmer’s Market. I must say, I owe all the success of my meal to the fantastic offerings that Portland has to offer. If I’m being honest, my meal began as a tribute to the Purple Pig, but really…I think it ended up being more of tribute to the Pacific Northwest. I had absolutely beautiful products to work it, so it wasn’t hard to make them sing.

All that to say: I had a lovely time dreaming up, planning, prepping, cooking, and eating this meal. I am so glad I was able to be part of the Foodbuzz 24×24 for April!

Please see below for a full description and photos of the cheese, wine and swine dinner party. I will post recipes for these dishes throughout the week!

The Dinner Table.

Playing ‘Chef’ for a night:

And now, the meal! In five acts.

Act 1. Melon skewers with home-cured duck breast prosciutto, Juniper Grove Redmondo aged goat’s milk cheese. Paired with The Babushka (A beet vodka & Prosecco cocktail).

Just for fun, I also decided to serve a Country Paté from Chop that I picked up at the farmer’s market that morning:

Act 2. Roasted Beet and Fennel Salad with Pistachio Vinaigrette and Whipped Goat Cheese (from Juniper Grove Goat Cheeses, Redmond, OR). Wine Pairing: Terrisey Gaillac 2009 Rosé

Roasted Beet Salad

Juniper Grove Goat Cheese

Act 3. Moules Frites. Mussels in Pancetta, Shallot and White Wine (Erath Pinot Blanc) sauce. Served with Belgian style twice fried fries and cremé fraiche. Wine pairing(s): Anne Amie Pinot Gris and a 2009 Domaine du Pas Saint Martin Saumur

Act 4. Potted Pork Rillettes (Basque Farms & Carlton Farms pork) served on crusty bread with Apricot Mostarda. Served with a shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with pine nuts and lemon. Wine pairing(s): Anne Amie (Willamette Valley) Cuvée A Pinot Noir and Laura Volkman Vineyards St. James Estate 2008 Oregon Pinot Noir.

Pictured: Potted Pork Rillettes

Apricot Mostarda

Act 5. Poached Pears with Raw Wildflower Honey and Rogue Creamery Oregon Blue Cheese Wine pairing: Erath 2009 Sweet Harvest Pinot Noir

Poached pears

Rogue Creamery Oregon Blue

As you can see: THIS MEAL WAS AWESOME.

Finally, I must thank my husband for all the work he put into the creation of this meal. He cured the duck breast prosciutto (which was fan-tastic). He cleaned and prepped the mussels. He made the twice fried Belgian fries. I love him for so many different reasons, but he is an amazing cook and his culinary perspective is so unique. He helps me think out of the box and he helps keep me sane in the kitchen. I couldn’t have done it without him. (Oh, and he did ALL the dishes. All of them! Best husband ever!)

Thanks to Mari, Dan, Noelle, Blake and Nicole for being the guests of honor. It was my pleasure to cook for you all.

And now I’ll leave you with photo of our tiny living room, transformed into a ‘formal’ dining room. (With my cat, Penelope, in the window):

Photo credits: Mari Yeckel & Lindsay Strannigan