Inside My Mid-life Crisis

Thanksgiving is a time when we reflect about how grateful we are for our many blessings. This year is certainly no exception at the Brothers house. We had all four generations of our women at the table. My amazing, patient, supportive and super handsome husband. A good family friend joined us and as usual we had a wonderful, bountiful feast in our lovely home with a cozy fire. We are truly blessed.

Lindsey shared her expertise with the shaker by making us all a pumpkin pie-tini...pumpkin pie vodka, whipped vodka, half & half and a splash of soda..shaken not stirred Moneypenny....and yes it was as rich as it sounds, just one please or you won't be able to remember eating dinner!

We have enjoyed a variety of nice wines over this long holiday weekend, here are a couple of the highlights!

Honorable mention but sadly no photo of the bottle:
2010 Matchbook Cabernet Sauvignon, JL Giguiere Lake Country, Zamora CA
Dark red, blackberry aroma; medium acidity with full tannins and a dusty-chocolate finish.
I have "yum" written on the tasting notes ie the honorable mention!

2007 Steppe Cellars Semillion. This is one of our Club wines from Steppe in Yakima Valley.
This Semillion tastes just like fall to me. Straw yellow with a slightly melon aroma but an apple-pear taste. Creamy  with pleasingly crisp acidity. Nicely balanced but sturdy enough to hold up to lighter food such as the roast chicken it accompanied.

OK- Suezy, Theresa; get ready, this one is right up your ally......

2004 Castillo Clavijo Gran Reserva Rioja; Criadores De Rioja S.A-Alberite Spain
This was a "big red" suggestion to us by the gal helping us navigate our first trip to Total Wine & More. She was dead-on with this one and it may even be worth a special trip to Southcenter to get a couple more bottles.

As you can probably tell by the name, this is a Spanish red. It's an estate reserve (reserve actually means something on "old world" wines unlike here in the US...) red blend.

70% Tempranillo, 10% Garnache, 10% Granciano and 10% Mazuelo.  You may recall hearing me extol the virtues of a big Tempranillo on other wines, this did not disappoint. I read that the Tempranillo and Granche combo is classic Rioja zone blend but what about those other two??
Graciano is a low yield grape specifically used in Rioja Gran Reserva's to give the intense aroma and the ability to age well.
Mazuelo is what Carignan (karen-yawn) is referred to in Rioja region and what brings the tannins and
acidity to the blend.

I got a little nervous with this one as the cork was dry and broke when I pulled it. To capture any cork bits, I poured the wine through the strainer in my splayer and aerated it into the decanter.
I got all warm and fuzzy with the oaky aroma wafting up during the trip into the decanter. I was further buoyed by the brick red color traveling down the glass into a red brown pool...... then the pour into the glass, with oaky anticipation the swirl, the sip, the push of air to send notes to the epithelium...ok I'm down right wine giddy now as the tannins meet the oak, then a cedar-silky long finish, ahhhhhh a keeper.
OK what time does Total Wine open? I have to have a couple more bottles and at about $15 a bottle, not out of budget!

Fall has officially fallen in the Pacific Northwest. The rains have come, it's starting to get a little cooler though it is rather unseasonable warmish still. Fall is actually one of my favorite seasons. Time to get the soup pot and the crock pot out, the leaves are so lovely and best of all, NEW CROP APPLES!  My trip to the pumpkin patch yielded a variety of squash that will eventually become meal participants, but in the mean time a bountiful centerpiece when coupled with some leaves and twigs gathered during a park walk with Blackberry.

The first fall soup of the season was served a couple weeks ago. I found this "lighter" version of pumpkin soup in the Parade magazine. By their recipe, 6 servings at only 110 cal per serving. You don't get into real calorie trouble unless you eat it with pretzel rolls and fresh sweet cream butter....heh heh heh... is it any wonder I can't loose weight regularly!

I served the soup with roast chicken thighs and cauliflower. Cut any excess gross fat blobs off the chicken, score next to the bone to speed the cooking, season liberally with salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning and chopped fresh rosemary (Brita, go snip your plant..) Bake at 350 about 45 minutes while you prepare the soup.
The fat from the skin sends yummy goodness running over to the cauliflower without drowning it in fat. Brant says this is his new fave way to eat cauliflower...

Spiced Pumpkin Soup- my editorials will be in italicized blue...
1T canola oil
1 small onion finely chopped
1 t minced garlic (one big clove)
1 t curry powder (sweet/yellow)
1 t cumin
1/4 t cardamon- I didn't have it, didn't use it and didn't miss it-I was not about to spend $9 bucks on a jar of a spice I would never use for a 1/4 t--skip it.
1/4 t salt (I use kosher of course)
1/4 t black pepper
2 C reduced fat/low sodium chicken stock/broth
1 15oz can of pumpkin (NOT pie filling, pure pumpkin!)
1 12oz can fat free evaporated milk
6 T plain,fat free Greek yogurt
**2/3 C light coconut milk- more later on this

In a large pot heat oil over low for 30 seconds. Add onion and cook until soft (sweat the onions), add the garlic and cook for another minute.
Stir in the spices, salt & pepper. Cook for another minute stirring all the while.

Whisk in the stock and the pumpkin. Bring just to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.


 "BTB-RTS" If you ever watch Chef Anne Burrell, you will here her rattle off those letters, its a basic cooking technique, bring to boil, reduce to simmer....

Add evaporated milk and simmer another 2 minutes.


Using an immersion blender, puree soup until smooth (I didn't do this, it was pretty smooth since my onions were so finely minced.) Add more broth to thin if desired (mine was thin enough as-is)
Ladle into bowls garnish with yogurt and parsley.
**now, I skipped the yogurt (it just sank to the bottom) trade the yogurt for 2/3-3/4 C light coconut milk added at the same time as the evaporated milk-delish and a zero impact on the calories if you skip the yogurt.

We enjoyed this meal with a crisp and clean, apple-y, medium dry 2010 CMS Sauvignon Blanc- Available at Costco for $8 a bottle and it is a WA wine from Hedges.
Happy Fall everyone!