To Aerate or Not to Aerate

Thought we should share some pictures of our, let's call it revelation, on wine aeration. Mom and Dad Ramirez received a Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator for Christmas this year, and Christina and I had the opportunity to experience its amazing powers.

Anybody who drinks wine periodically knows that a bottle/glass benefits from a little time to "breath". When exposed to atmosphere a wine warms; allowing aromas to be more easily released and flavors within the wine, such as latent acidity and tannins, to blend/mellow. More full bodied wines can take several minutes to an hour of "breathing" before they reach their peak of flavor. Well, what wino wants to wait that long? If only their were a faster way...... but wait!!

Christina does not look impressed

The night in question, we were blessed with having the one and only Vinturi wine aerator (crowd roars, angels sing, etc., etc.). This particular device uses quantum physics, thermodynamics, micro biology, and the space aged polymers to fully "open up" a glass of wine the instant it is poured into its respective crystal. Well we just had to place the device in the hot seat and test it.

Jorge preparing to be blown away

Chicky is speechless

Okay, well maybe I'm just bitter because on a blind taste test, I was the only one out of the four of us that didn't choose the Vinturi'd (sweet new word) wine as superior. The true sommeliers in the group could tell the difference; a smoother wine with mellower/fruitier (also....words?)

Even Gidget prefers Vinturi'd wine

Homemade Goodies

I don't have pictures, but Steve & I are still experimenting with homemade goodies - yogurt, mozarella, mascarpone (Italian "cream cheese"), etc.  Our go-to expertise source has been this website - so many things to try!  My favorite, by far, has been the mascarpone (recipe found here).  Mascarpone is the dreamier, creamier, tastier, smoother, yummier version of cream cheese (in my humble opinion).  And it's not cheap.  I think I can find an 8-oz tub in the grocery store for approximately $7-8.  You can use it as you would cream cheese, including cheesecake (yum yum YUM); be sure to find a recipe for mascarpone cheesecake, as I'm sure it has a different liquid/protein/fat content which might change the way it reacts when baking.  I've used a Giada de Laurentis recipe with great success.

And yes, we made homemade mascarpone.  With 16-oz half-and-half, 16-oz heavy whipping cream, & 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, we created an almost identical mascarpone to the store-bought version.  I have yet to use it in cheesecake, but I did use it in a cream cheese frosting & it was DE.LIC.IOUS.  The recipe is super easy & I highly recommend giving it a try.

Christmas Tree Hunting 2010

Christmas Tree Hunting is an epic celebration among our friends.  The tradition began about four years ago, when several of us loaded up the dogs, our snowshoes, Peppermint Schnapps & hot cocoa, and headed up the mountain to find the perfect tree.  Except for one year, we've participated in Christmas Tree Hunting every year - this year was no different.

Last weekend, ten friends and four dogs (only four!) piled into three trucks & spent a good portion of the afternoon having a great time on the mountain.  Only three households were hunting trees but we have so much fun that even those not looking for trees tag along.  We couldn't have asked for better weather - we left a very cloudy & foggy Sheridan, breaking through the fog as we climbed the switchbacks & entered a world of sun, no wind, & mid-20's.  Our backpacks were filled with drink of choice - Coors heavy (pronounced "Kurrs"), Busch Light, buttershots & hot apple cider, peppermint schnapps...  Oh yeah, we also remembered to fill our Camelbaks with water.  :)  We spent the afternoon romping around the trails, laughing, enjoying the beautiful day, & overall madness & mayhem on the mountain.

We capped off the day by having everyone over at our house for elk roast & Italian cream cake...a perfect ending to a perfect day.

She loves snow

Part of the group headed up the trail

Like, really loves snow

One of our many stops

A pup & his bestest buddy

Really REALLY loves snow

WE'RE SO HAPPY!

Curtis, on the left, swears his tree didn't look that big when he cut it down.  Good thing we weren't stopped by tree police - pretty sure he broke the limit of 10 feet.  Georgia, are you pretending to pee on your tree like all our dogs did at one point?

Guinness was tired & ready to go home.

Steven!

The blanket of white fog (Sheridan lies beneath that - the fog is well over halfway up the mountain)

Close up of the fog that we left on our way up & entered on our way down.  It was neat to see it creeping into these draws.

Final product decorated!  It's not the perfect Griswald tree, but it cost us $12 and an afternoon of fun with friends...can't beat that.

Love.

Dog Behavior

Sometimes you're really cold...

Sometimes you really want what your human friend is cooking...

Sometimes you're REALLY HUNGRY...

(I'm reaching for their dog food, kept on top of the fridge)

And sometimes you're really tired after a long day of playing.