Not Fall-ing Behind

After this is posted I will officially be caught up! Woo-hoo! Once I saw the pictures from the August book club I was so jealous! There was pie involved people!

Let's go over the food first because.. yum! There was KEY LIME PIE what? Sad I missed that it looks amazing and everyone thought it was a refreshing and light dessert. There was also cowboy caviar dip which is a vinegary deliciousness that includes corn, beans, tomatoes, and jalapenos (we have a special nickname for jalapenos in our house, but I won't include them on a public forum) Also to add to the deliciousness provided there was also smoked bacon cheese with crackers. Who doesn't love bacon? That smokiness was the perfect balance to the very fresh ingredients of the other menu items. 

Now time for the wines! These were also very light and refreshing with a fun twist! Doesn't this picture just make you thirsty for a glass? Look at those amazing colors! These three beauties are featured from Barb's favorite winery in Missouri, The Stone Hill winery. Kick'n Sangria, Kick'n Koolada, and Kick'n Berry. The sangria was the favorite of the night although these were all delicious the koolada and berry were a tad on the sweeter side. It was mentioned that the Koolada tastes like what some people would imagine what it would taste like to drink Ban de sole' sun screen  SPF #4 and the oil, this must have brought on some flashbacks ;) 

Last but certainly not least, the book. We read The Vactioner's this month and everyone felt like the description misled us quite a bit. It was a quick and easy read for summer time but our expectations were higher and it was disappointing. This was the first book that had all thumbs down from everyone that read it. Wow first time that's ever happened! Basically we all started out thinking there would be more humor and character development and it ended nicely but other than that it just could have been better. This biggest complaints were unnecessary F'bomb's and crassness. I mean, there are times where this is necessary for the story or for the character, but it just did not make sense here and it brought the story down.

Well in light of that, everyone is still looking forward to the next book which will be, A Man Called Ove by Frederick Backman. "A charming debut...You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll feel new sympathy for the curmudgeons in your life."  Well cheers to the next book meeting or exceeding our expectations! No whining if it doesn't though, each disappointment is a learning experience! I know for a fact that we will still choose to laugh, discuss, and enjoy each other's company even if it's the worst book ever! Choose Wine!

Fall-ing Behind

Do you ever have one of those moments where you write the date and cannot believe that is actually the date? Where has the time gone people, it's already September! As you can tell I am very behind in updating you on our wine and book club, but don't you worry, I will make it up to you with fantastic updated from the past two meetings.

First up is July! It was a hot one let me tell you! All of the wine for July was chosen at Trader Joe's which is extremely popular over here on the West Coast, how fun that I could find them too!

 The Honey moon Viognier was sweet but not too sweet. The Three Pines was a red blend of Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah; It was a little too dry for almost everyone's tasters. The Green Fin Grenache Rose was the perfect blend of sweet and seemed to be everyone's favorite of the night.

Now for the food... I was drooling over this! First up is the Swiss Almond dip which was warm and delicious. Then store bought Garlic Hummus which was yum-o! And to top it off Chocolate Berry Chill for dessert, made even yummier by the host, Cheri, because she added more fudge and more ice cream; how could that go wrong?!

Onto the book... oh the opinions on this one! Ha! It was titled Hotel Moscow by Talia Carner. Our often used quote applies here "well... I didn't hate it." Only 2 1/2 out of 6 likes for the group. Everyone enjoyed the premise, setting and historical aspects, but overall it just wasn't a good read overall. We did come up with a fun reading challenge that would be so great for our book club or any book club! Below is the "book club bucket list"

Read:

1. A book with  more than 500 pages
2. A classic romance
3. A book that became a movie
4. A book published this year
5. A book with a number in the title
6. A book written by someone under 30
7. A book with nonhuman characters
8. A funny book
9. A book by a female author
10. A mystery or thriller
11. A book with a one-word title
12. A book of short stories
13. A book set in a different country
14. A nonfiction book
15. A popular author's first book
16. A book from an author you love that you haven't read yet
17. A book a friend recommended
18. A Pulitzer prize winning book
19. A book based on a true story
20. A book at the bottom of your to read list
21. A book your mom loves
22. A book that scares you
23. A book more than 100 years old
24. A book based entirely on it's cover
25. A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't
26. A memoir
27. A book you can finish in a day
28. A book with antonyms in the title
29. A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit
30. A book that came out the year you were born
31. A book with bad reviews
32. A trilogy
33. A book from your childhood
34. A book with a love triandle
35. A book set in the future
36. A book set in high school
37. A book with a color in the title
38. A book that made you cry
39. A book with magic
40. A graphic novel
41. A book by an author you've never read before
42. A book you own but have never read
43. A book that takes place in your home town
44. A book that was originally written in a different language
45. A book set during Christmas
46. A book written by an author with your same initials
47. A play
48. A banned book
49. A book based on or turned into a TV show
50. A book you started by never finished

How awesome is that list?! I'm proud to say there are quite a few I personally can cross off because of being in book club as well as things we can cross off for a book club as a whole. This would be so fun to try and complete and also easier to pick a book! 

This list is the exact representation of why we chose to do this book club. Pick a number between 1 and 50 and no matter what, you are trying something new and experiencing something you wouldn't have otherwise done. That's what its all about, trying something new, pushing the boundaries and having fun while doing it because you have a group of friends doing it together. Will everyone like it? No. Will everyone at least try? Yes. Will everyone gain something from it? Yes. And that's how the cookie crumbles my friends. Do me a favor and pick a number for us! How much fun! Whoever comments on this post and picks a number for us we will chose a book from that category for November! Ok, Ready, set go! 

The meeting for August/September will also be posted this week so keep your eyes peeled for multiple posts this week! Don't go whining about me being behind, have some wine instead! 

May the Force be with you

Happy May! Yes I do realize that this is June, but unfortunately I am extremely behind in our blog posting. Why you ask? Oh well good news and bad news. I got a job in Portland, OR and moved with about 36 hours notice! Crazy right?! The bad news? I am 2,000 miles away from my book and wine club! But don't you worry no amount of miles can stop our awesome club from gathering and having an amazing time enjoying each others company! So let's play catch up!

May was such a beautiful month! We had amazing weather and we had an awesome night talking about our first ever graphic novel! As well as many other firsts... little did we know there were also a few lasts too. Let's start with the food! We used the mermaid theme as a guide to make some delicious and fun food!













The first of our sea fare is "white trash sushi" Which is actually ham and pickle appetizers; which may sound gross but they're addicting. We also had "seaweed dip" which was a traditional cold spinach dip served with bread and crackers. Now the really fun stuff is below. Crab cupcakes and "fish and chips" The crab cakes were so fun to make and kids would absolutely love them! Also the fish and chips was easy and the perfect mix of sweet and salty. Our very own sea inspired trail mix! The details for all recipes are in the recipes page! Check it out!

Now onto the wine for you wine-o's! We wanted to try something new so of course we went with Port, which fits in with our theme to a certain extent. Sailors commonly drank Port because it brought a lot of warmth to the body during colder months. We also tried mead which is a very interesting old world wine. Then we bought a red blend from a new winery in Illinois. They were all delicious but the favorite of the night was definitely the red blend and the port. The port and the mead were both very strong and had distinct flavors. The port is sweet and silky. The red blend is sweet, light, and crisp. Everyone liked the mead but it's definitely something to drink in small doses. It is a little bit bitter and has a hint of honey and wildflowers.

"Any friend of wine is a friend of mine" Quote of the night fits perfectly with the May wines.

Now onto the book, this had mixed reviews of 3/6 of us liking it. This book turned out to be very deep and complex and some people felt they didn't understand it or didn't pick up on the intricacies of the story. People who liked the book loved the dark/light charcoal drawings and how some characters were drawn darker or more intense than others. The story line was very interesting and captivating. It's surprising how pictures and word bubbles can tell such a deep story. That is truly art.

We all agreed that it was intensely new and something we would have never read if it wasn't for book club. Every time I hear this when we meet it makes me immensely happy because that is the whole reason I wanted to start this; whether its food, wine, or a new book, trying something new is such a positive thing because in the end its a new adventure. Adventures don't have to be big, like moving across the country, they can also be small and just as wonderful.

So to recap, I will still be writing the blog and attending book nights via Face Time. So no worries friends we are all still here and loving all of the new things and new adventures that come along with being in this book club. Our June book was called Against the Tide by Elizabeth Camden and I will be posting our June blog post here in the next couple of weeks! Sorry for the delay as well as the rush! Reach out to me if you feel so obliged :) Enjoy wine-r's

One Year Celebration

Can you believe it's been one year of book club already?! I find it hard to believe! It seems like just a couple of months ago my mom and I found a book we liked and decided to get our friends together to share it with. This April we celebrated in much the same fashion. We read a great book and even got take home wine glasses that were celebratory and adorable!

Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse is the book we enjoyed this April. We had a great time discussing elements of this book. We mostly talked about the characters and what we liked and didn't like. As well as family, deception, and lessons learned. For some, the main character was naive and dumb at times. There were some that felt bad for her throughout the book. There was a lot of hemming and hawing, anxiety, and worry throughout many chapters of the book which  made the beginning very difficult to get through. Most in our group said that once they got to a certain point, they could not put it down. Overall 3/6 Loved it and 3/6 thought it was okay.

Now onto the wine which is where we usually start off the night. We had some pretty pink wines tonight as well as a well known favorite of ours. We had celebratory spumante blush champagne, Red and Blue which is a delicious red blend, and Pink Catawba or as I like to say "Cat-a-wa-ba"

They were all delicious and the Catawba was new for some of us which was really fun to try. It was also fun to try and pronounce it all nigh ;) The champagne was perfect for our one year anniversary and the red blend was sweet and light, perfect with dessert. 

Speaking of food we had some fantastic food fare as usual! We had hot crack dip with crackers which was familiar but more rich and creamy. We tried Gruyere cheese as well as smoked Gouda with crackers. Our hostess read that Gruyere was mostly for cooking but we all thought it was delicious on its own. To top it all off we had eclair cake which was divine. As someone who isn't a fan of eclairs I loved this cake and would definitely eat it again or make it considering it was pretty simple to make and no baking!

Quote of the month: "If I'm gonna get a tattoo it's gonna be about Jesus"

Us girls had such fun and laughter talking about all sorts of things. We enjoyed amazing food, enlightening and hilarious conversation, and delicious wine. Next month we will continue trying new things and enjoying our time together. We will be reading a new type of book with an exciting story line. It is called Sailor Twain by Mark Siegel and it is a graphic novel about a writer, a sailor, and a mermaid.

Until next time wine-ers! Enjoy wine if you want, food if you like, and each other always!

The Luck of the Book Club

Happy March everyone!

Spring is finally here! Not only has spring brought us some warm weather and sunshine; it has also brought us a new member! Her name is Christine and we are so excited to add one more reader, wine drinker, and snack eater to our group!

We started off our very green book and wine night by enjoying some delicious St. Patrick's day treats. We had Shamrock sugar cookies, Blarney Stone Bars, an amazing cheese spread, and Paddy's Reuben dip. 

The cheese spread was from Trader Joe's and its simple delicious flavor got us all talking about how we wish we had a Trader Joe's closer to us. The nearest one is at least 100 miles away. The hot Reuben dip was definitely a crowd-pleaser, it was creamy and had all the classic flavors of a Reuben. 

Of course we all loved these desserts but the Blarney stone bars were new and different from anything else we've tried. They were moist, and rich with complex flavors like brown sugar, pecans, and toffee. You will definitely need to try that recipe! 

Another new thing that we tried was some very interesting beers. There were some really fun flavors to choose from! There was a blueberry wheat and a Chocolate milk stout. Both were fun to try! The blueberry was crisp and fresh with a hint of a fresh picked blueberry. The milk stout was dark and rich with a hints of chocolate and coffee flavor. Everyone really enjoyed trying and tasting!

Now onto the main attraction--the book! Everyone really enjoyed this emotional read. In the beginning almost all of us were worried the  book would be sad and disappointing because of the context, but it was uplifting and emotional. This book has one of those characters that you find yourself caring for and rooting for throughout the entire book. Since the book covers her entire life into adulthood we felt we knew her so well and truly cared for her while reading. The beginning was rough but the overall message of this book is so powerful and uplifting. Family, forgiveness, second chances, growth, and love; The Language of Flowers has it all of these and more. 

We discussed the questions in the back of the book which are located on the books page. We also discussed the dictionary of flowers that the character creates and what some of our favorite flowers mean and which flower we would give to each other based on it's definition. It was really fun to see what some of the definitions were. If you love flowers you have got to check this out it is so neat! 

I will also be posting the dictionary of flowers from the book on the books page. My mom and I posted our favorites below. 

My mom chose Dahlia as her favorite which means dignity. I've always loved peonies so I chose that for my favorite and it means anger.. I might have to choose a new favorite ;) I'm not sure what message peonies and dahlias together would send.

For April we chose a very interesting read, Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse. Here is the overview looks like we are in for another exciting read!
"Hannah, independent, headstrong, and determined not to follow in the footsteps of her bitterly divorced mother, has always avoided commitment. But one hot New York summer she meets Mark Reilly, a fellow Brit, and is swept up in a love affair that changes all her ideas about what marriage might mean.

Now, living in their elegant, expensive London townhouse and adored by her fantastically successful husband, she knows she was right to let down her guard.

But when Mark does not return from a business trip to the U.S. and when the hours of waiting for him stretch into days, the foundations of Hannah’s certainty begin to crack. Why do Mark’s colleagues believe he has gone to Paris not America? Why is there no record of him at his hotel? And who is the mysterious woman who has been telephoning him over the last few weeks?"

Thanks for reading! Please comment or contact me if you would like to reach out to us! I will leave you with a really awesome quote we found in a book club recipe book and remember try a sip of wine instead of whine!

"Some book are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested."
-Francis Bacon

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello Sweethearts! This month we read a romantic comedy book and had valentine's themed food and wine; so fun! As usual we had a great time. We read The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion which everyone really enjoyed; we had a lot of good discussion! The food was amazing as always we had a unique cheese ball, chips and dip, and two delicious cakes to choose from! We also had three wines with very fun names; one white blend, one syrah, and one pink blush.

As usual we dug right in to the delicious food! We had a hot gooey bacon and cheese dip that was too die for! You just can't go wrong with cheese and bacon! The also dug into the cranberry and white cheddar cheese ball that was so unique and yummy!

After devouring the appetizers we had our choice of two delicious cakes. One was a red velvet poke cake with cream cheese icing and the other was a white raspberry poke cake. Some people gravitated towards the rich and creamy red velvet and some people were more inclined to the light and fluffy white raspberry.... and some people had both. No judgment here! They were both absolutely delicious! The recipes can be found on the recipes page! A fun thing we learned about the white poke cake was that it can be any flavor you want to make it!

The wine, like the food, was delicious and enjoyed by all. The syrah was semi-dry but smooth and had a hint of sweet. It went well with our appetizers and we all agreed it would be perfect with a meal. We also realized a syrah was something we had not yet tried and we were glad we did! The white blend was definitely the favorite considering it was almost empty when we left! We couldn't find on the label what wines were in the blend but it was sweet and crisp! The pink was my personal favorite and it went well with our dessert. It was sweet slightly bubbly and perfectly balanced! Also we had a blast with the wine names! They were so cute and fun! Sometimes you just gotta try a wine based on the label name :) Flirty Bird and Flattery!

You have got to read this book!! We all really enjoyed it and definitely recommend it! It was quirky, fun and laugh out loud funny. If you have ever watched The Big Bang Theory the main character, Sheldon, has many similarities with the main character in The Rosie Project, Don. He is lovable, but frustrating and too smart for his own good. The beginning was a little different because we all felt it was hard to get used to the way Don talked/thought and his behavior is quirky to say the least. In the end this book was so fun and cute! We discussed compatibility, bad dates, and many other topics surrounding love and dating. In the book Don watches classic romantic comedies to try to understand love better. Since there was five of us, we all picked one classic romantic comedy to come up with the Book Club top five must watch chick flicks! Here is our list: When Stella got her Groove back, Notting hill, Ghost, P.S. I love you, and Lady and the Tramp. 

It was fun to hear what everyone had to say considering we all come from different age groups. 

And that my friends is why we love our book club :) Buy a bottle of wine for V-Day and don't you dare go whining about it! 

Our next book for March is also perfectly fitting, The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. Spring is coming :)

Who dunnit?!

Welcome to January! It was my mom and I's turn to host for a fun night of wine and food! If you have been reading along with us you know that we love trying new things and experiencing things we have never tried before when it comes to food, wine, and books! This month we had our first Mystery novel which was also our first book that is in a series; as well as some new types of wine that we all enjoyed as usual.

Let's start with food first; we went simple but delicious! One of our personal favorites for entertaining is Bruschetta, we especially love it in the summer when we grow our own tomatoes but it is truly delicious anytime. We also found some delicious store bought meat and cheese combination. One was prosciutto and mozzarella and the other was salami and mozzarella; they were convenient and tasty. 

My mom's favorite candy bar is Snicker's so for dessert we tried a caramel apple snickers salad. It was really sweet but it was a big hit. Little did we know all of our book club friends had all tried it before! oops! We all really enjoyed it though so that's all that matters! All of the recipes can be found on the recipes page for you to try at home!

Now onto the wine which never fails to be gone by the end of the night ;) We decided on two reds and one white. All three types of wines we have never had before; a Pinot Grigio, Italian Chianti, and a very rare Carmenere from Chile. The chianti was a big hit and was really light and flavorful. The Carmenere was very different from anything we've tried, it was a bit heavier than the chianti, but had a very unique and delightful flavor. It was a very smooth, but a little on the drier side. The pinot was also a little dry, but had a light sweet flavor with a hint of bubble. 

 The wines are listed in more detail on the wines page. Now for that exciting book! It definitely was a page turner. The opinions on this were evenly split. Some people loved every page and some people thought it was good but not their favorite. It was definitely a page turner but there were a lot of technical terminology and large chunks of the book where information felt unnecessary and a little bit boring. There were lots of twists and turns that nobody saw coming and that definitely made for an exciting story! We discussed that the books follow the same character, but they don't necessarily need to be read in the correct order, unlike the Bourne supremacy books, we decided if read out of sequence it would not lead to much confusion. If you like suspense, page turner, who dunnit's this book is a must read! I definitely think men would enjoy this one as well especially due to the technical material.

Next month it is at Tricia's house and since it's so close to Valentine's day we picked a romance book! Another genre we have not dabbled into yet. We are all very excited for The Rosie Project ! It sounds very fun and interesting! I can't wait for February one of my favorite months! Stay tuned and feel free to reach out to us on here! Keep on wining!