Eclair Cake

I got this recipe from a friend in choir who brought it to one of our rehearsals.  During a rehearsal break a few weeks ago I kind of went a little nuts over the cake and she admitted that it was embarrassingly easy and passed along the recipe.  It is embarrassingly easy, but soooooooo tasty!

Ingredients for Pudding:

• 1 lb. box graham crackers
• 3 1/2 C milk
• 2 small packages of instant vanilla or french vanilla pudding
• 1 (8 oz.) tub of Cool Whip
• Optional: add 1 tsp. of either orange or almond extract

Ingredients for Frosting (Beat all ingredients until smooth)

• 2 squares of unsweetened bittersweet chocolate, melted
• 2 tsp. light corn syrup
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 T. butter
• 1 1/2 C powdered sugar
• 3 T. milk

Instructions

1. Spray 13"x9" pan with non-stick cooking spray.  
2. Line the bottom with a layer of graham crackers.
3. Mix pudding with milk, beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.
4. Blend in Cool Whip
5. Pour 1/2 the mix over graham crackers
6. Place 2nd layer of graham crackers over pudding.
7. Pour remaining half of pudding
8. Cover with the final layers of graham crackers
9. Refrigerate for 2 hours
10. Frost
11. Refrigerate overnight

And that's it!  Make it lighter by using low-fat or fat free ingredients.  Make it easier by buying a can of frosting at the store rather than making your own.  Stays good in the fridge for several days afterwards.  :-) 

Caramelized Onion Dip

This easy-to-make caramelized onion dip was well received at the Garrett's Wine and Dine last weekend. I hope you enjoy it too!


Ingredients:

• 1 & 3/4 C mayo (I use the reduced fat olive oil mayo)
• 2 C swiss cheese 
• 1/2 sweet onion (about 2 cups)
• 1 T butter
• 1 T paprika

 Instructions:

1. Thinly slice your onion into about 2 cups. 
2. Melt the butter in a frying pan and sautee with onions until caramelized.
3. In a medium bowl, combine mayo and cheese. Slowly stir in the caramelized onions.
4. Spread into a pie pan or 8x8 baking dish. 
5. Sprinkle paprika on top.
6. Bake for 30 minutes at 350.

It's really that easy. Serve with crackers and enjoy!

May Sauvignon Blanc Wine & Dine

We had a great time hosting the May Wine & Dine!  Good food, great company, and of course wonderful wines!  This month we tasted Sauvignon Blancs exclusively.  When grabbing a white wine from the store shelf what do you usually grab?  For us it wasn't usually a Sauv Blanc however when we tasted a certain Sauv Blanc at a local wine tasting we wondered why weren't we grabbing the Sauv Blanc?!  They're great!  So we set out to have a wine and dine where we could learn more... :-)

We started out by tasting two Sauv Blancs side by side - Capitello's Walnut Ridge (Oregon) and their Marlborough (New Zealand) varietals.   We tasted these side by side to fully appreciate the difference!  These two wines were the same year, and made in the same style by the same wine maker.  The real difference is where they were grown and they tasted very different!  The majority of us preferred the NZ varietal to the Oregon one.

We then moved on to another New Zealand SB by Nobilo.  This wine is highly rated by Wine Spectator and was very well received, many named it as their favorite of the night.  NZ is quite well known for their Sauv Blancs and this bottle clearly shows why.  

 Next was the Foucher LeBrun Sancerre Le Mont.  Sancerre, much like a Champagne, must be grown in a specific region in France in order to have this label of Sancerre.  The Sancerre region only grows grapes for two types of wines, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.  Much like Champagne is a specific sparkling white wine, Sancerre is a specific Sauvignon Blanc.  This wine was well received and also more difficult to find in stores because it is so specific.

Next was Los Vascos from Casablanca, Chile.  Unlike the other SB's that were grown at 40-47 degrees latitude this wine is grown at 33 degrees latitude, a bit different than your typical Sauv Blanc.  This one was also quite good and well received.  SB's are Chile's second most produced wine and are quite tasty!

We finished off by circling back around to another New Zealand SB, by Kim Crawford.  This wine was also highly rated by Wine Spectator. 

Technically our last wine, although we didn't have an official tasting of this, was Trader Joe's Coastal Sauvignon Blanc.  Honestly it's hard to give an opinion of this seeing as everyone was 6 tastes in at this point... although, I think our general impression was that it was okay but clearly not as notable as any of the others.  Fun fact - TJ Coastals are always distilled in steel barrels -not oak- and from California.  If you find a TJ Coastal you love read the label carefully to find out which CA winery it's from! :-)


We had some great dishes brought as well that very nicely complimented the wines.  We had some cream cheese/humus wrap appetizers, an onion dip appetizer, lots of tasty veggie sides, creamy chicken alfredo pasta, a delicious layered eclair dessert, and chocolate cake.

I hope everyone was able to find some good Sauvignon Blancs they liked as a result of this tasting!  I know we did.

April "A Taste of Italy" Wine & Dine

As promised in a December blog post, we shared a few of our delicious Italian wines from Gianelli Vineyards, where we tasted in Jamestown, CA over the Christmas holiday.  We supplemented with a few other Italian varietals I picked up at Trader Joe's because, let's face it, after a few tastes, you can't really tell if you're tasting a "good" wine anymore.

We hosted the wine tasting a little differently this time (inspired by a recent party at Annie and Aaron's) and tasted the whites while sitting and mingling in the living room, munching on appetizers.  After that, we had everyone find a seat around the U-shaped hodgepodge of dinner tables and mixed linen collections (we had to accommodate 19 people!!)  We sampled the reds while slowly eating our way through a 4-course Italian feast - Caesar Salads, an amazing Pasta Fagioli soup, Chicken Cacciatore, and Tiramisu, to name a few of the dishes. 


(If you're not familiar with some of the Italian grapes, follow the links to learn more from wine-searcher.com)

We began the evening with 4 of the wines from Gianelli.  We started with the 2009 Vermentino, which is likened to a Viognier - I found it to be dry, buttery, and citrus.  The 2009 Fiano followed which was slightly sweeter with subtle notes of honeysuckle.

After a palate cleanser of the house Pinot Grigio (I mean cheap, Trader Joe's Pinot Grigio) we moved to reds.  We sampled the 2009 "Nino"  - my personal favorite! - which is a blend of Grenache, Primitivo, and Petit Sirah.  The "Nino" is slightly sweet for a red wine and tastes of candied fruits.  The last of the Gianelli wines was the 2009 Aglianico - my second favorite and rated 89 points by Wine Spectator.

For those Trader Joe's enthusiasts, we filled in our Italian selection with some pretty tasty wines (all imported from Italy!)  In case you'd like to pick up a bottle for yourself, here's what we got:

Di Majo Norante Sangiovese and Tommolo Montepulciano d'Abrozo

D'Aquino Chianti

Villa Sonia "Piave" Pinot Grigio

And just for fun, here are some other photos our resident photographer-in-training took during the party! 

Wine Win Wednesday: Cherry On Top

Wine: Cherry On Top Sweet Red Wine

Why it's a win: This wine is the perfect kind of sweet with intense berry fruit flavors (hence the name), aromas of bright red cherry, smooth vanilla and a very smooth, silky finish. It's also versatile, pairing well with many different kinds of food.

While I'm already a fan of red wine, I think those that prefer the sweeter whites would also really enjoy this wine.

Where you can find it: Albertsons

Price: $12