January 3, 2008

Happy New Year!

My birthday visit to NC wine country was interesting to say the least. No chance of me having too much, because I dumped more than I drank. I think we hit seven of them, and only one came close to having "real" wine. They were winemakers from Oregon. This is a photo of me and my friend Bev and the last winery - Grassy Creek Vineyards, which is where our cabin was as well.

The cabin was adorable and it had a real wood burning fireplace in the living area/bedroom.

We had my birthday dinner at another winery called Elk Creek. The place was very pretty, but the food was not so much. Gordon Ramsay would have lost his mind. I ordered baked ziti with homemade Italian sausage. It was served in a baked casserole, which was fine, but the sausage was obnoxiously laid across the top in one whole piece. It was very tasty despite its lack of presentation. The waiter warned me that the casserole was very hot, so I ate with caution. Was I surprised when my first bite was refrigerator cold. How can you screw up pasta? Well, I guess if I am asking, someone did.

The Redskins won their home game and now go to the playoffs, so Saturday afternoon and night will be all football. Chili sounds perfect!

New Year's Eve was nice, we had a lobster medallions in a cream Sherry sauce with yellow rice and sauteed spinach. We went to my sis' house to watch the hockey game, then went to a friend's party. Got home about 1 a.m.

We had the traditional New Year's day dinner here, which consisted of ham, sweet potato casserole, green beans, gravy, and mashed potatoes. Sis made macaroni and cheese. We experimented this year and make a smoked/cured Virginia ham. It took three days to prepare. Talk about your salty-ass ham!!

Back to work yesterday.

I'm sort of glad the holidays are over - I'm tired.

2008 is going to be great! That's my motto for this year. I resolved to visit more of my old relatives since they aren't getting any younger. I also have two books that I want to have with publishers before the year ends. I also want to have my own TV show - maybe about food and history. I know - it seems like a lot, but hey, shoot for the stars or you'll never go anywhere!