Some time ago, we had the pleasure of attending a dinner party where our friend, Andrew was the “sous chef” for the evening. One of the highlights of that feast was Andrew’s role in presenting each course to us, romancing the food in a way that made this evening a stand out gourmet event! His love of all things culinary does not end there…he is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to completing the food experience with a remarkable wine! Pam and i knew this wine enthusiast and connoisseur was the perfect guy to ask for both his tips and his current faves… here is his take:

Food and wine are not Andrew's only passions! An avid outdoorsman, Andrew sumitted Mt. Kilimanjaro recently with his son, Alex

I often get phone calls from friends – Andrew – I’m going for dinner to a friend’s house – what wine do I buy?  I always say – it depends – I need to be standing in the wine store beside you to see what’s in stock.  There are lots of great wines out there.  How can I help you both impress your friend and not break the bank?

Rather than standing blankly in the wine store and picking up a bottle of E&J Gallo White Zinfandel out of desperation (please, just say no), here’s some helpful guidelines of different varietals that tend to be a great bet from various countries – Argentina: Malbec; Chile: Carmenere.  South America is producing great wines at super value price points.  Malbec is unique to Argentina, and Carmenere unique to Chile – great, full, fruity reds – pick your price point and take a leap of faith.   You’ll impress your friend by coming in with something a little more unique.  Moving around the world, as long as you spend at least $20 it’s hard to find a poor quality Australian Shiraz.  My personal favourite wine region is Washington State – their Merlots and Cabernet Sauvignon consistently blow me away.  I think there is hope for BC to grow big reds – the Washington vines are older than those in the BC wine region so once we get some maturity in the roots, we will get some great big reds coming out of BC.  More on this later.

If you are looking for advice a little more specific than this – here are some of my fave’s:  Washington State – virtually anything from Columbia Crest cannot go wrong.  Try to spend at least US $8.99 (no joke) to get their “estate” series (this assumes you are shopping when you’ve popped south – these wines are $25 in BC).  My current favourites from Columbia Crest is the Estate Series Cabernet Sauvignon, or for couple dollars more – the “H3”.  Columbia Crest wines are consistently on the Wine Spectator top 100 list.  (This factoid will definitely impress your “wine snobby” friends).

Columbia Crest Estate Series Cab

 

 

Columbia Crest H3

My favourite Australian wines – Mollydooker bar none.   Molly what you say?  Yes, this is the winery name – another factoid – Mollydooker is slang in Australian for “Left Handed” – so if you have a lefty wine snob friend (they statistically exist), Mollydooker is the way to go.  A little harder on the budget – you can spend $40 ish for “The Boxer” or “Two Left Feet”, or a whole lot more for “Carnival of Love”.  You really have to love your friend for that one.

Mollydooker Image http://lovelypackage.com/mollydooker-wine/

People often ask – what wine should I serve with this meal?  White, red, rose?   There are so many ‘rules’ out there – and you may notice my preferences lean towards reds.  My rule is this:  On a sunny day, when you are sitting on a patio, a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (Kim Crawford for example) is the way to go.  The rest of the time, I prefer red.  Drink what you enjoy – that’s the rule that counts.  Most wine snobs agree, and if they don’t – really!?

BC wines often come up in conversation – it’s great to drink local – particularly visiting the Okanagan in summer, and we have some impressive stuff coming out of the Fraser Valley.   If you want BC, here are some great selections.  Sunny summer day – Mission Hill ‘Five Vineyards’ Pinot Grigio is a super fruity fresh white.   A local wine that surprised me recently is the Mt. Lehman Winery Syrah (your wine snob will tell you that a Syrah is the same thing as Shiraz – but Syrah is aged in French oak barrels, and Shiraz in American Oak – sorry – too much information?)   Anyways, I was out cycling recently and came upon this Mt. Lehman winery – a beautiful estate, and a week later I was at an event that served their Syrah – very drinkable – I was pleasantly surprised.  

Mt Lehman Winery ~ Syrah

Township 7 in South Langley (and Naramata) has some unique wines – their unoaked Chardonnay is fun.   Want a unique port?  Vista Doro, also in South Langley makes “Doro” a very unique walnut port.  Serve it with a chocolate dessert.

Vista Doro Port

  

My last piece of advice that you can debate with your snobby friend (particularly if they are drinking a Pinot Noir) – the movie “Sideways” may have given this grape a bum wrap, but in my opinion the best, most consistent red wine produced in BC right now – Merlot.  Just do it -  and enjoy!  Cheers, Andrew

Thanks, Andrew…i feel more wine savvy already! i’ve got some wine tastings coming my way, i’m thinking…

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Easter and chocolate are synonymous.  Laurel and I both love chocolate, but in the last number of years, we’ve discovered that we really love GOOD, high quality chocolate.  A few days ago, we popped in at ChocolaTas in Abbotsford…our favorite place for divinely handcrafted Belgian chocolate.  We visited with Veve Tas who owns and runs the business with her husband Wim, chocolatier extrordinaire! Veve showed us what they have created for Easter and both Laurel and I left with all our chocolates for our Easter tables!  (er….and maybe a couple of treats for ourselves too, if you must know..)

 

Easter bonbons...

 

The exterior design is so beautiful...they add to the decor of any event...and guests love to go home with a couple of these treats!

 

Wim and Veve came to Canada from Belgium about 10 years ago.  They create beautiful chocolates, each a work of art, out of the finest ingredients.  They are a small operation with about 11 employees between their Abbotsford and Granville Island locations.  This allows them to maintain a very high standard. Wim carefully watches over production and creates chocolate masterpieces while Veve comes up with creative ideas for the business.  We absolutely love their packaging, pretty ribbons and the fact that you can totally customize a gift you are giving someone!

 

we are loving these jewel-toned boxes

 

All of their chocolates are peanut free and most are also gluten free.  They don’t use any preservatives. They also have a special vegan selection.  We so enjoyed chatting with Veve…not only is she passionate about chocolate, but she’s passionate about life.  We loved her positivity and we could have visited with her all day! She’s one of those people that just emits joy….and when you’re around her, you feel like it rubs off on you! Hmmm..chocolate and joy? Sounds like a pretty perfect pairing!

 

Minature works of art!

 

Here are some of our favorites for Easter….

Wim Tas made this giant egg as a labour of love.  What child, or adult for that matter, wouldn’t love to sink his teeth into this amazing Easter egg.  This egg is decorated with metallic paint and edible diamonds. Wim created this egg with the idea that it would bring huge smiles to his “little” customers eyes…

 

We love these adorable nests with Easter egg filled bonbons.  These are going to look amazing on my Easter table!  Veve kindly tied them with yellow ribbon to match my Easter decor.

 

Laurel and I both sampled some of the  filled Easter egg bonbons.  Laurel sampled the egg filled with hazelnut salty caramel and I tasted the hazelnut with cinnamon.  Delish!

 

Not only do these bonbons look like miniature pieces of art on the outside, but the inside matches the artistry of delicate yet richly flavored chocolate.

 

 

My kids will be the lucky recipients of these delicate nests overflowing with milk, dark and white chocolate eggs...the little chickee is pretty cute too!

 

We also seized the opportunity to ask Veve some questions about chocolate…

How long do the chocolates last, as they don’t have preservatives?

The more sugar in the chocolate, the longer the shelf life.  Sugar acts as a natural preservative.  The solid chocolates last about 2 months and the filled bonbons (which contain cream) can last in a Ziploc bag in the fridge for about 3 weeks.  Veve said it’s always best to store chocolate in a dark, dry, and cool place.

You and your kids must eat a lot of chocolate!

Veve  and her family embrace the philosophy of quality over quantity when it comes to chocolate.  Her kids have one chocolate a day.  ”A chocolate a day, keeps the…” Veve herself favors 70% cocoa Valrhona chocolate.  She likes to have just a few pieces a day.

Wine and chocolate…thoughts?

Veve likes to have her chocolate with wine.  She prefers merlot but says it’s really up to your individual likes and dislikes.  Not everyone likes the same chocolate and not everyone will like the same wine pairing.  She suggests trying a few and see what works for your palate.  As a very general rule of thumb, merlots tend to work well with dark chocolate, and dark chocolate ganache with pepper or salt (try their Himalayan Salt and Rosemary Caramel or their Pepe Rose, dark chocolate ganache with Szechuan, pink and black pepper).

 

ChocolaTas currently has a fantastic selection of Easter chocolates for your Easter table and for your kids!  They are two locations that you can visit…

Abbotsford 101- 31060 Peardonville Road., Abbotsford, B.C.

Granville Island In the public market 151 – 1689 Johnston St.,Vancouver, B.C.

Or you can order from their website .

We are promising you…once you try their exquisite chocolate, you’ll be hooked!

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Laurel and I have planned two events in the last month where we have set up at bar. We’ve found it’s a great way to literally break the ice with your guests, especially if you have someone outgoing behind the bar!  With New Year’s Eve just around the corner, we thought we’d share a few tips with you on setting up a bar for your party.

At our blog launch party, Laurel’s husband Scott and her brother-in-law Shawn tended the bar. They surprised us by getting shirts made up to help us celebrate our new endeavour! My hubby Jason wore one too! Thanks guys for the support!

For our blog launch, we converted my den into the bar. I was concerned that we might be tight on space in my house for the party, so why not use the den for the bar and turn a a usually non-entertaining space into something useable!! I cleared off our glass bookshelves and used them for glasses. We used halogen puck light kits just placed on the ground to light up the glass shelves. Our electrician made up a light bar to go under the desk. Jason and Scott zap-strapped it to the underside of the desk and we covered the desk with a somewhat sheer fabric. The effect was to create a cool glow. Thanks so much to our friend Ernie the electrician for his help and expertise on the lighting!! We have learned that having an electrician on board is super helpful when putting a big event together!

We did want real glasses for the cocktails, so Laurel and I both bought three boxes of Entertain All Purpose Goblets from Bed, Bath and Beyond…12 glasses for $14.99!! A friend of ours also had three boxes, so we had 108 glasses in total! We’ve decided that we can always borrow each others, so there’s no need to rent!

Friends of ours mentioned that when they host a party, they put a twist on one of their favorite drinks and name it for the special event. What a fantastic idea! I wish that we would have created a “Sugarplum” for the event, but we’ll save that for next time…

We did offer two mixed cocktails, Barefoot in the Park and Lemon Rose Bellini, red and white wine from Mt. Lehman Winery, a local winery, and sparkling water with limes.

We also included some munchies at the bar….praline nuts from Walmart and cheese straws.

At the Christmas in New York party that we just put on, we set up at bar using my parents dining room. This event was a cocktail party with an abundance of appies and desserts and we’ve found in the past that people rarely sit at the dining room table. So once again,we decided to convert this space to a bar to make it useable. Mom and Dad have a unusually large glass dining room table and at first thought it seemed way too big, but it actually worked out very well, giving our two bar tenders lots of space to work it.

We used the light bar again under the table and just covered it with rented table cloths. It created a really funky effect.

To go with the theme we served Cosmopolitans, that was my drink of choice!! We also served Manhattans, red and white wine and Pellegrino and limes.

Here are some bar essentials you should have…
Shot glasses
A good corkscrew
Muddler
Bamboo picks
Coolers and lots of ice (to keep ingredients cold if you are using a space other than your kitchen for the bar)
Martini shaker

If you are setting up a bar for a party, big or small, use a space or a piece of furniture you have in a different way. You can always cover a sofa table or side table with a piece of fabric or a tablecloth. Use light interesting ways. Don’t feel you have to offer every drink under the sun. Have a signature cocktail or two, wine, maybe beer and water (bubbly or not). And have some munchies too!! Have fun with it!

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