Mmm.
Garnatxa

So my family and I decided that we all love this dee-lish wine from Italy. It's a Chianti Fiorentini, year 2006, from Fattoria di Lucignano. It went absolutely perfect with our pasta and marinara with meatballs. Rich, dry, refined and full-bodied, a perfect blend and not too bad a price at $13.99.

I wanted to share this in the community because I'm not a big wine connoisseur (and neither is the rest of my family), but we all have very different preferences in wine as far as taste is concerned, and yet all agreed on this one as the top pick. I picked it up in my neighborhood liquor store so hopefully it's available everywhere. Enjoy!

Also: This is what the label looks like, for possible future hunters:

Hi!
I am having a holiday party and would like to make a spiced wine. I know a dry red works best for this, and since its going to have a lot of spices in it I dont want to use something to expensive, but I dont way it to taste awful either.

Any suggestions for a cheepsih decent red to use? I live in Southern CA if that makes a difference (since it can be hard to find some wines in some places)

Thanks

For the "oh why the hell not" factor of it, I'm going to drink my way through Barefoot's offerings. Tonight I had the Chardonnay.

Color: light straw
Sniff Test: Lots of green apple notes and a hint of vanilla.
First Impressions: Very fruity green apples upfront, some peachy and pineapple notes on the middle that drops off suddenly and leads to some tartness with a bit of vanilla creaminess on the end. Mouthfeel is not thin nor is it particularly lush or creamy. I'm guessing that this is a blend of wines both oaked or unoaked, or that it's only lightly oaked.

Mid way through, as the wine got a little warmer, there was a tart, slightly metallic taste on the back end.*

It did pair pretty well with the chicken cordon blue-ish dish I made for dinner.

While this is not the worst Chardonnay I've had, I will say that it was clearly Chardonnay. I think it would be better if it were properly oaked or completely un-oaked. Right now this middle approach means it's got a bit of a split personality -- and the intense green apples up front don't really jybe with the vanilla on the end.

But for $6, it's a pretty decent everyday table wine.

---
* This is an issue I have with many dry whites, especially champagne.

More at my blog HERE

Dinner tonight is a pork loin roasted with a glaze of molasses/honey/soy sauce/garlic...I have a few miscellaneous whites, some reds (mostly cabernet)...can't decide whether I want red or white! Thoughts?

**FINAL EDIT Thu Dec 10 02:15:47 UTC 2009**

So there is the final update... Over the past day we have processed around 11 million jobs out of the 12 million that were in queue at that time. Please bear in mind that over this past day, more jobs for notifications are also created. So while the queue has been dropping, we are still not fully caught up at this point, due to backlog and new jobs. We have roughly 3 million jobs still pending that involve the notification system in some manner. We had hoped we could have fully cleared the queue in a day, but unfortunately we can't clear it too quickly, since we need the rest of the site to operate normally. From our current perspective on the amount of jobs that are left in queue, and how many it has processed thus far, we believe it will take around another 8 - 12 hours to process everything.

And finally some answers to some questions:

( Read More and Get Some Answers... )

i need some ideas from you guys! i love to bake gingerbread cookies for christmas and give them out as gifts. every year i try to outdo myself and make them cooler than the year before. last year i made hula dancers, hippies, and kings and queens. this year i want to try to make some of them look like they're tattooed. and here is where i need your ideas. how can i make this a really cool effect? i don't want to use the normal frosting i use because i feel like it'll come out too blob-ish. then i was thinking about how you can transfer pictures onto cakes and thinking maybe i could somehow do that (i don't know how i'd do that though, i'm not a cake decorator!) and stick the images i want to use as tattoos onto the cookies arms and legs. i was also thinking about those decorating markers, but i've never had any luck with those.

so, any cool ideas?! i'll take ideas for different ways decorate them too. i was thinking about maybe making some naked ones this year! :)
thanks in advance!!

Title: Progression
Author: rinhail
Pairing: None. Hinata Hyuuga, appearance from a OC and mention of Hiashi Hyuuga
Rating: PG for character death and OOC.

She was kneeling, ear softly pressed against the thin paper of the door. The shadowy winter twilight cast a faint shadow against it, no doubt alerting the inside occupants of her presence. But they did not heed her any interest. The grave moans and sound of fingernails raking against tatami floor, kept their focus on the being causing the ruckus. She was free to move as she pleased. For she would be, in few months time, until the days of her life end.

Title: The Unpleasant Reunion of Idiots
Author/Artist: Tiasha aka sexytaka
Pairing: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto
Theme: #21 - “BAKA!” (stupid, idiot)
Done for 50_shinobi

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimers apply! Naturally any character that is not associated with the show belongs either to someone I have permission to use or to me. Please ask permission to use any character that I own should you desire to do so. Thank you. If there are any similarities between my work and another author’s then I apologize. I suppose great minds DO think alike.

---

( Reunion )

---

cross-posted at: 50_shinobi, naruto_fanworks, fanfic_no_jutsu, and sakura_chyan

---

hello all! i just joined this community because i have a few questions. a friend of mine is graduating this week, and we're having a party for him. i wanted to bake chocolate chip cookies (which are his favorite) and petit fours (which i just wanted to try and make since it's kind of a fancy-ish cocktail party).

1.) awhile ago, and i'm not sure how, i would bake chocolate chip cookies and they would come out nice and puffy, almost cake-like. i would be following the exact recipe on the nestle chocolate chip package EXCEPT i would use baking powder instead of baking soda. the last time i made them, they came out flat, not puffy, and i still used baking powder. any idea what could be going on there and what i can try to make them puffy again? i seem to remember reducing the salt when i used to make them...would that affect it?

2.) i enjoy baking a lot, but i am by no means a pro. am i going to be in way over my head if i attempt to make petit fours? i mean, i realize it will be time-consuming, but other than that, can your average everyday person who enjoys baking make these? or is it just a pipe dream that i should not even attempt?

thanks a lot!!! :)

This just popped up through one of my feeds & it was too funny not to share!

Bought this about a year ago (with as snobby as they are, they gave me the evil eye when I hopped in randomly from my bike ride on the Silverado Trail near my home. And they also aren't part of the "Napa Neighbors" program, so they refused to give a free tasting or any discount to locals... lame. But they did end up pouring after we convinced them we would buy a bottle if they wouldn't charge us their ridiculous $20 tasting fee)

It's been a long week and I was really craving some good cab to celebrate surviving it, so I popped this open last night.

Very, very good (as well it better be for $75/bottle.) Complex but subtle flavors, tannins present but oh-so-silky smooth. This is not your typical "claw your face off" tannic cab. (I have definitely noticed that, when it comes to cabernet, you get what you pay for; in fact, most cabs under $50 are not so good, and almost all of the ones under $20 are horrendous. I can deal with Liberty School -- a good buy at $12 -- but this Chimney Rock is in a whole other league. However, I've also noticed that cellaring makes a huge improvement on many of the cabs, as well. They usually seem to be released too young)

I don't want to wholeheartedly recommend Chimney Rock, because their tasting room prices and policies are ridiculous, and their wines are expensive (in my mind, I'm still on the fence about whether any bottle of wine is worth spending more than $50 on), but I can say this is easily in the top 5 cabs I've had (and definitely the best that I've ever actually owned a whole bottle of.) If you don't mind parting with the $$$, you might want to give this one a try, even if (or especially if) you are not normally a cab person. Also, I remember their 2004 was also good, so that would be another safe bet.

For what it's worth, my gf said it was on par with the $30 glass of Caymus (also very good, and very expensive) she had at Ruth's Chris Steak House.

more at my blog HERE

If you have not seen this website, enjoy:

http://www.willamettewines.com/

The world of beer is expanding, in both flavor and appeal. Craft brewing has taken the beer-drinking community to new heights and innovations. The time to learn about, explore, enjoy, and appreciate this sacred beverage has never been more exciting. But how does it all break down? How can one begin to decipher the differences between styles and sub-categories of beer? How can anyone truly appreciate beer without a basic understanding of beer’s ingredients and flavor profiles?

Have no fear, LifeEpicurean’s Beer Battles: 101 series will break down basic concepts such as the difference between ales and lagers, highlights of various beer styles, proper pouring and tasting process, and the appropriate glassware for different brews. Pay attention-–class is in session. READ MORE HERE.

LiveJournal: The First Decade

Just in time for holiday shopping, we're thrilled to announce the release of our ten-year anniversary anthology. Published by Blurb.com, the book showcases a decade of extraordinary talent drawn from LiveJournal users around the world. This must-read compilation features stories, memes, photos, comics, editorials, graphic content, and more, including:

1. Excerpts from Oh No They Didn't (a/k/a ohnotheydidnt), the largest community on LiveJournal, covering celebrity gossip, entertainment news, and pop culture
2. A look at post-Katrina New Orleans from the journal of Poppy Z. Brite
3. Gripping narratives, including a poignant reverie on a blind date
4. Photography that spans the globe, ranging from old-fashioned Polaroids to underwater photography
5. Mouthwatering dishes from food_porn

What began as a late-night inspiration back in Brad Fitzpatrick's college dorm in 1999 has grown to encompass nearly 25 million users worldwide, with journals and communities covering every conceivable hobby, passion, and topic. To get your copy, please visit the Blurb Bookstore. For updates and entries from book contributors, please join lj_turns10.

Tweaks and enhancements

• You can now ban a user from all of your communities and journals at once. To access this feature, hover over the person's userpic and choose Ban user everywhere from the drop-down menu.
• Follow LiveJournal on Twitter!

Give a little to help a lot!

In honor of National AIDS Awareness month, we've added a new charitable vgift. For each red ribbon you purchase for $2.99, we'll donate 100 percent of gross proceeds to IAVI.org (the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative) to support the development and global distribution of an affordable HIV vaccine (we'll cover credit card fees). You can read more about IAVI at lj_cares. While we're on the subject, we raised $740 from our November fundraiser for Love Without Boundaries, which supports emergency healthcare and adoption of Chinese orphans. We thank you for helping us help others.

Photos of the week

We're back with more incredible pictures from our super-talented LiveJournal photographers. Congratulations to ilya_gorokhov, who is the winner of our very first lj_photophile poll.

We hope you'll continue to post, vote, and comment! A gentle request: Please post only one photo at a time and limit size to 350x350 (so images display properly on friends pages). And now, without further ado, get ready to cast your ballot and view more awesome user content after the jump!

( Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. Stay safe and snug out there!

I've been told countless times I should post more in my lj, but every time I end up having the need to post something here, it's to either rant or take things out of my system, so it's always in a negative way -well, other than posting my fanfics, I guess.

(usually I only post inside communities, if anything at all).

anyway. I might as well try to post things for my friends that I cannot talk to a lot. even those that are absent from lj at the same time... and all those new friends I've made, that are not properly entertained... XDD

( Language )

Title: Aesthetics
Pairing: Sai/Hinata
Rating: M/R- a.k.a failed attempt at artistic erotica XD
Theme: Ink
For: SunnyLore
–
( The butterfly wings along Hinata's back tasted like strawberries )

where is a good place to buy cheap (no more than $3), really good quality cookie cutters? christmas in particular.

i'm also having a hard time finding unique sprinkles and such. :(

Notes: I love theme and prompts. So, since one is never enough; I'm creating my own 'theme set'. All of these are snippets of lyrics taken from random songs. This is for my own personal inspiration, but if someone else wants to use these prompts they are free to do so.

So, without further ado...

( Music tells a story. Tell your story with the speakers on. )

Salty, poofy, chewy, and delicious.


These are amazing dipped in mustard. And even better with a nice cold pint.

( Recipe under here! )


I also think this would be a fun baking activity to involve kids in if you happen to have any around! Kids are really good at making dough ropes. :)


See more at The Cast-Iron Darling!

As this is a confectionary group I wanted to share with you my comedy kitkat song. I always wanted to record an album and I finally got the courage to record one and so decided to make a stop animation film for a music video for my kitkat song. It took 9 kitkats and over 500 pictures over 2 full days of none stop working. My husband luckily ate most of the kitkats of which all of them were harmed during the making of the film

I'm new to livejournal so i'm sorry if this is in the wrong place. I am just so pleased with myself at having finished a life long ambition to sing some of my songs properly onto a real CD that I wanted to share it.



It would really mean a lot if you let me know what you think

While I would very much love to turn my entire dining room wall into a nice walk-in wine closet, well, that just isn't going to happen. I have a 1-BR place and the amount of floor space is great, it's the storage capacity that leaves something to be desired. I've been using a small 6-bottle rack, but liked the idea of a more visible display rack in a more sensible location - close to the kitchen.

As I started painting and reorganizing my dining room/living room, and I realized I had collected quite a bit of wine over the past two months. I haven't taken the plunge to invest in one of those 35-50ish bottle size wine fridges, so this was the best I could come up with:
A) on short notice,
B) a small budget (this costs $49),
C) that integrated really easy with my existing decor.

I used an Ikea "Benno" CD/DVD rack which integrates with Ikea's "Billy" bookcases (which I already had). I cut small pieces of cushioned anti-slip shelf liner for each nook. At the configuration pictured (click on the picture for a bigger view), I can fit two regular-size wine bottles side-by-side on each shelf, or at least three half-bottles per shelf. (For this picture, I just put single bottles in the slots and tilted them sideways so the labels could be more easily read.) The shelves are adjustable, but I really wouldn't put anything bigger than a regular-sized bottle in there. It may not the most gorgeous of wine racks, but it'll do for now!

I would LOVE to see what other folks have done to creatively display, organize, or store their collections (no matter how big or small). I especially love seeing items that have been "repurposed".

**EDIT Thu Dec 3 23:24:15 UTC 2009 **

Hey Everyone, we are about to run the last alter job that we need to on our database servers. This will effect userpics / scrapbook / vgift images for the next few hours. Have no fear, your images aren't lost, there is just a really intensive process running on the servers which store the information for mogilefs. Thank you for your understanding and all the LJ love...

Hey LJers,

I just wanted to let you all know that we are going to be performing some mogilefs maintenance over the next few days. We will be upgrading our current version to latest stable as well as changing some db config information to better handle the amount of files we are currently hosting. This shouldn't cause a big impact on site stability, but you may see some minor delays with userpic / scrapbook images appearing or other requests associated with our mogilefs. We would love to not have that happen, but unfortunately with some of the steps we need to take we have to cause a delay with images. I figured this was a better solution than taking down all of LiveJournal because well lets face it, we all need our daily LJ fix ;)

Thanks,

Kicking off my 12 days of cookies with these lovelies!
More at my blog HERE

Perhaps in Ten Years and with the Grace of God: Trapiche Tasting

As you know if you read this blog, I spend a lot of time sampling, thinking and writing about Texas wine drinking, but also focus on another topic: Wine drinking in Texas. Today, I am thinking about what things might be possible in Texas in ten or more years in and around its developing wine industry. What might it be like?

What got me started on this mental juggernaut was a recent opportunity to sample a selection of wines from a far distant land. The land was Argentina and the wine producing area was the region they call Mendoza (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendoza_wine). It is a land of high, dry plains not too much different from our own Texas High Plains (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_High_Plains_AVA). The Mendoza was originally tamed by men of true grit and determination making their livelihoods on horseback. The legacy of the Argentine Gauchos recalls many of the same attributes of our Texas Cowboys.

Texas and Argentina are also linked in history by an ancient grape called Criolla that was brought from Spain to Argentina in 1550s. During the next half century, this grape made its way up South and Central American into Mexico, making changes along the way up north. In this process, Criolla evolved into the hearty red wine grape vine of choice for Spanish missionaries that settled the new Mexican frontier land they called Tejas. What I saw in the Argentine wines that I tasted was a vision of what Texas could become in ten years, maybe more, if we might have the grace of God on our side.

Linked in Time: Trapiche to Texas

More at: http://vintagetexas.com/blog/?p=1286

Here are some pics of the cake commissions I have done over the past few weeks:

The "IncrediCake" I made and delivered this weekend.
Backstory: the 2-year old in question has a love of both the Incredibles movie (his nickname is Incrediboy), and his room is decorated with a pond and froggies scene, hence the mashup.

Vanilla cake with strawberry jam and vanilla-bean buttercream filling, covered in vanilla bean buttercream icing. Froggies and turtles hand made with coloured molding chocolate. Incredibles logo made by frozen buttercream transfer.
I actually smoothed down the logo more after these shots were taken, as I could see the swirls in the natural light when I photographed them, whereas I couldn't when I was decorating.

I really need to work on smoothing my icing on the corners and edges...they look like crap :o(


Last weekend, amidst the insanity of school, work and volunteering, I also made and delivered a batch of bite-size treats (double chocolate brownies with Espresso-Chocolate ganache, and Cranberry-Apple Mini Tarts with Ginger-Graham crust) for my boss who was having a party that weekend. No pics of the brownies (which would have been boring anyway), but here is a pic of the mini-tarts, from a recipe I cobbled together myself:

I drizzled on some untempered white chocolate so it would stay "gooey". They turned out pretty well, though I would change a few things up next time I make them, like make the crust thinner (difficult to do when there are chunks of crystallized ginger in it, but I digress...), and also put a bit more spice in the filling that goes well with apples - nutmeg, maybe?

Lastly, here are a few pics of the Twilight cake I made for last Friday; this thing nearly caused me to go insane, but I learned a lot and I look forward to my next book-style cake, so I can implement what I learned!


Vanilla cake, split and filled with homemade strawberry puree and vanilla bean buttercream, crumb-coated in VB buttercream and covered in fondant. Animals and apple made from marzipan; books, chess piece, chessboard, hearts and fork all made from fondant. Ribbon made with...well...ribbon. ;o)

So, three things:
1) Aren't those little dudes the cutest ever?? My friend made them while I was working on the cake books, but I'm totally bogarting their design for any future Twilight cakes...and if someone wants me to make a little Jacob-werewolf for New Moon, I'd better get crackin' on design ideas!
2) Not shown in the closeup picture (but if you look closely at the cake pics you can see it) is that the lion is *sparkly*... bwaahaahaa!
3) Does anyone get why there's a silver *fork* on the cake? ;oD

List, in no particular order, 12 of your favourite Hetalia characters and answer to the following questions :D

1. Austria
2. Poland
3. Canada
4. Belgium
5. America
6. N.Italy
7. S.Italy
8. France
9. England
10. Switzerland
11. Korea
12. Hungary

( Click meeee, you know you want to... )