Monthly Archives: December 2015

Wine

Conte Priola Pinot Noir

Conte Priola Pinot Noir

Conte Priola bottle

This wine is an explosion of flavor and none of them are harsh or bitter or bad.  I was so impressed by this wine because it wasn’t average.  It didn’t overdue it.  It was just an exciting wine.

This wine is also very easy to drink.  I wouldn’t describe this wine as smooth, but only because the flavors make it so much more than that.  Yes, it goes down easy.  Yes you will want several glasses.

Serve this wine at your dinner party and your guests will be impressed.

I give this one a 5/5.

Cooking, Desserts

Apple Crisp

Apple Crisp – my favorite dessert of all times

Gather the following ingredients:

3 cups of apples – about 3 apples – I used honey crisp
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 cup oatmeal
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup butter softened

Small glass pan
2 bowls

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Soften the butter and let it cool.

In one of the bowls mix the 1 cup sugar, 1 tbsp. flour, and 1 tsp. cinnamon.  Cut up the apples into bite sized chunks.  I cut them into half and half again from top to bottom.  Remove the core of the apple.  Cut those quarters, top to bottom, into thirds and then finally a horizontal cut to half the thirds.  Add the apples to the sugar and cinnamon mix.  Coat the apples with the sugar.

In a separate bowl mix the remaining oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and the softened butter.  This will become your crumble topping.  You can use more butter than a third cup butter if needed, up to half a cup max.

Dump the apples and sugar mix into the glass pan.  Top this with the crumble topping.

Cook for 40 minutes.

apple crisp

Cooking, Desserts

Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies – a classic

I make this basically like the recipe on the package with one exception and a few technique differences.

Gather the following ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
half a package of chocolate chips

wax paper
sifter
large bowl
small bowl
cooling racks
cookie sheet

Mix the dry ingredients first.  Set out the wax paper.  Place the sifter over the wax paper.  Measure out and add the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Sift these items onto the wax paper.

In a large bowl add the softened butter (leave the butter out for a few hours or heat it in the microwave or on the oven and let it cool to soften it).  Add the granulated and brown sugar.  Add the vanilla extract.  Crack the eggs into a separate bowl to make sure they are OK before adding them to the large bowl.  Mix everything in the bowl.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Slowly add about a fourth cup of the flour mixture to the large bowl and mix it into sugar and egg mixture.  Continue to add more flour and mix it in until all of the flour is combined with the ingredients  in the bowl.  DO NOT ADD ALL OF THE FLOUR AT ONCE AS IT WILL NOT MIX WELL AND WILL TAKE FOREVER.

Add the chocolate chips to the mix and fold them in.

Use a metal spoon to grab a small amount of cookie dough and form it into a ball about an inch across.  Make multiple balls of cookies and place them on the cookie sheet.  Leave enough room between the balls of cookies for the cookies to expand.

Cook about 9 – 11 minutes, until the cookies are a golden brown.  If the outside ring of the cookie is brown and the top is not that is a good thing.  The cookie will continue to cook a little bit after it is pulled out.  Lighter brown equals softer cookies.  Not enough brown equals under-cooked cookies.

Nestle chocolate chip 3

Entertainment, Travel

Shooters Billiard Club

Shooters Billiard Club – 1934 MN-13, Burnsville, MN 55337

Shooters storefront

Shooters is a very nice pool hall without any of the scary stereotypes of a pool hall.  It is clean.  The people are friendly:  both the staff and the other players.  You can interact with others or keep to yourself.  The spacing on the tables is far enough that you will never run into someone else’s shot.

Shooters full hall

Monday is lady’s night.  You pay by the hour and per person, but during certain times you can prepay at a lower rate.  Overall you will pay more at Shooters than at a bar playing per game, but you are paying for the good tables, open space, and atmosphere.  They have tournaments that you can participate in.  You can also join a league.

Shooters supreme pizza

The food is… I wouldn’t go to Shooter to just eat.  It isn’t bad.  It is just  OK.  The pizza is thin crust and it is OK.  The burgers are messy.  There is a separate area to eat if you want.  I like to play, pay, and then grab a bite.  Pizza at the tables isn’t too messy which makes the thin crust a good option.

There are waitresses that come directly to your table.  They can bring you drinks all night.  They can bring you food if you want to eat at your table.  It is a full night or day of entertainment.  Oh, yeah, the mixed drinks are pretty good.

Restaurant, Travel

Jake’s City Grill

Jake’s City Grill – 1288 Promenade Pl, St Paul, MN 55121

Jake's City Grill Storefront

Jake’s City Grill has really good food.  There is no doubt about that.  Although they do occasionally overcook their prime rib, when they cook it right their French dip is very good.  I like trying their specials for the night because the chief is actually good at putting together very tasty food combinations.

Jake's City Grill tenderloin

For instance this is a tenderloin in a mushroom sauce over some sort of hash brown patty.  It was delightful.  My favorite part was the sauce.  A good sauce is hard to find and this one was perfect.

Jake's City Grill tenderloin 2

Jake’s serves a variety of salads, sandwiches, steaks, an Alfredo, battered fish, shrimp, and pizza.  It is basically American food with a few exceptions.

Jake’s is great for happy hour or drinks out with friends as well.  The bar area is straight ahead as you walk in.  The dining area is off to the right.  I have had the basic happy hour here and everyone liked the drinks.  I think my going away party was also at Jake’s and I remember the food being good and of course the drinks.

Jake's City Grill drink

One thing you will want to do is buy a mixed drink or a beer because their wine pours are very small.  The wine they serve is good, but when you get your glass you will say, really?

My biggest complaint about Jake’s has always been the speed at which they serve their meals, or should I say the lack of speed.  I also cannot stand how loud it is.  Saying that the last time I went the food arrived in a decent amount of time and I could actually hear.  I think it really matters where you sit in the restaurant.

If you are going to Jake’s for lunch plan on spending more than an hour.  You will enjoy the food, but if you are pressed for time you may want to eat somewhere else.

If you are looking for a good, not very expensive night out head on down to Jake’s and enjoy yourself.

Restaurant, Travel

Naf Naf Grill

Naf Naf Grill – 13250 Technology Dr, Eden Prairie, MN 55344

Middle Eastern fast food – What?  Yes, that’s right, a fast food Middle Eastern restaurant in Minnesota.

Inside of Naf Naf

You get the feel of walking through a Chipotle in the layout and the way you get to build your own pita or bowl.  How it works:

Naf Naf menu

Start by choosing a pita or a bowl.  You get a pita with a bowl so unless you are planning on eating everything there I would go with the bowl.  In the bowl you can get rice, lettuce, or hummus.  The rice is amazing and the hummus is so good.  I get both.

Next the meat or vegetarian option.  You can choose between chicken or steak shawarma or Falafel.  A shawarma is a way of preparing meat on a spit and cook for an extended period of time, up to a day.  Falafels are chickpeas smash and formed into a ball and then deep-fried.  Falafels are incredible.  I highly suggest trying these.

Next add your salad and garnishes.  You can have chopped salad, purple cabbage salad, sumac onions, and/or pickles.  I have tried and like the chopped salad.  Pick your preference.

Now add your favorite sauces.  The tahini sauce is a must in my books.  They also offer a garlic sauce.  I think you would choose one or the other on these.  You can then get the green sauce s’khug or the red sauce called fire sauce.  When I asked for the hottest sauce they had they gave me the red sauce.  When I asked for hot sauce they gave me the green sauce.  I believe the red may have been hotter and I love hot sauces, but honestly the green sauce gave the whole thing a much better flavor.  They are both hot so get either one.

Side dishes:

Naf fries are kind of like American fries as apposed to French fries in that they are thin slices of potatoes.  They are cooked like French fries and not in a pan like American fries.  Overall they are the best of both worlds.  They are also very salty.  I have found them somewhat overwhelming in their saltiness at times.

Lentil soup is another option.  I have never tried it so I cannot give an opinion on this one.

Basmati rice is your third option for a side.  I can only imagine ordering this if I went with the pita instead of the bowl.  Their rice is very good.

Entertainment, Travel, Winery

Falconer Vineyard

Falconer Vineyard – 3572 Old Tyler Rd, Red Wing, MN 55066

The number one reason to visit Falconer Vineyard is to see what having a true passion for wine making tastes like.  John Falconer loves tinkering with the taste of wine.

Falconer Winery 3

It looks like they have expanded to serving pizza along with their wines since I was last at this vineyard.  John is innovative and knows how please his audience.  I can only guess that his passion for pizza is as great as that for his wines.

Check out the vines while you are there.  Did you know that they all have to be covered every winter?

Falconer Winery 2

Should you visit this vineyard?  Absolutely, I cannot wait to return myself.

Entertainment, Travel, Winery

Cannon River Winery

Cannon River Winery – 421 Mill Street West, Cannon Falls, MN 55009

“Wine is for drinking.”

Cannon River Winery went for drinkable wines in what they produce and enjoyable entertainment in their vineyard and winery.  The winery is in Cannon Falls while the vineyard is out of town.

You can help with the picking and watch as they bottle the wine depending on when you arrive.  They offer wine tastings in general and in a formal setting.

Cannon River Winery 10

They had a French wine maker come in to help them figure out how to do it right.  This made their wine better than most that I have tried in Minnesota.  They did not go for flashy, just a good drinkable wine.

Cannon River Winery French wine maker

I like this winery.  I have unfortunately had one bad experience with their wine and one bottle was their error.  The cork was damaged.  The rest could have been a storing issue on my part.

Should you check out this winery?  Yes, I would say it is worth a stop.  And when you finish at the winery pop across the street and grab lunch.