The gorgeous weather was begging for some outdoor activities. As I sat completing some work this morning, my mind kept wandering to the sunny outdoors. The fall in all its glory was beckoning me to abandon the tedium of work and enjoy the rest of the afternoon.

A phone call and couple of visits to the websites sealed the deal to go to Stow. Stow is a lovely, laidback, orchard country between Boston and Worcester. I shut down the idiot boxes (computer and tv), said goodbye to sleepy kitties, jumped into the car, and drove off into the colorful blaze of trees along route 117.

I planned to get to Carver Hill Orchard and wander around their apple trees and perhaps do some apple picking. There really was no agenda, except to get out and enjoy fall. Along the way I found there are five farmlands in and around Stow: Honey Pot Hill Orchards, Shelburne Farm, Derby Farms, and yet another (name escapes my feeble brain).

I got to Carver Hill Orchard around 2pm in the afternoon. The sun was bright and warm. Thankfully, I had my summer clothes on. Yep! Summer clothes at the end of October! Donning my straw hat, I tottered away to pick apples. It was fun to wander around apple trees with their arms dropping with the burden of many heavy, ripe, and red, apples. I think I wandered more than actually pick. In about an hour, I had picked 1 peck of apples (Red and Golden Delicious). When I started my wanderings, we had about 4-5 car loads people wandering around. By the time I was done, we had 10-15 car loads of people drive up and share the farm. I was happy to have picked when I did.

It was too early to head home, so, I decided to head to Shelburne Orchard. It was far busier than the previous farms I have ever been too. This farm had loads of kid friendly things to do, a huge apple picking farm, a large pumpkin picking farm, their own food counter dishing out warm donuts, caramel apples, their very own cider and cheddar cheese. The air was brimming with smells of apples, cinnamon, caramel, pumpkins, and hot cider. Ummmmm! Yum! I did wandered around amongst apple trees away from the maddening crowds, and found a little kitty! Goes to show, you never know whom you meet. Back from the wandering, I could resist 1/2 peck of McIntosh apples for sauce! Yummy!

I tried something new: Created a slideshow in Powerpoint 2007. If you don't have the new fangled Office 2007 then, click here for the PDF version.

{Edit: 10/24/2007} And trying something even newer FaceBook Album 10_21. Let me know if the link did not work or it worked and said "access denied" et. al.

As I cleaned my website this evening, some sad truths became very apparent. No one has really posted on this blog! It is journal with my jottings which (perhaps) only I find interesting enough or passionate enough to write up. More than once, I refer back to these scribbles, especially on what is on the wine, travel, schedule for yard or schedule for the month. So, really, I am my own blog reader! On the flipside, placing myself in a reader's shoes, there is nothing in here for most to comment or discuss on either. I think what is making it really sad, is that the entry with celebrating my own birthday, had not one comment. How sad!

This is making me quite blue this evening. Or maybe the overdose of listening to the soundtrack of Last of the Mohicans!

Currently feeling.... like running away! Just don't know where!

Clearly, I am obsessed with the soundtrack and movie! Enough has been written and said about this movie! We don't need another blog entry for it! But....

Last week this movie was shown at least thrice, and each time, I sat glued to the idiot box, drooling over Daniel Day Lewis. Interestingly, I don't think I like him in any other movies. Somehow, the whole cast, the scenery and soundtrack fits like a perfectly baked pie. This week they are showing it again. Just one guess, what I will be doing! Right, I will be curled up on my sofa with glass of wine watching the Last of the Mohicans!

This was not enough, so, I went and bought the soundtrack and DVD release from Amazon. Of course, I realized my mistake! I should have ordered the UK release and not the US release, because US release massacred some of the best shots in the movie. ARRGHHH!  I received the DVD and the soundtrack this evening and I am listening to the soundtrack as I type this entry.

I know, that I am going to reach a saturation level with this movie! Once there, I wonder I am going to be sick of this movie forever! Is that even possible?

Wine and I are good friends. More than imbibing the liquid, I enjoy the research. I love to take an exotic sounding label and look into what grapes, what region, what soil, what weather, and what external factors lead to the liquid gold. I can (and do, grin!) spend hours online, or at my local stores to lookup, read up, and chat with the store owners. During one of these frequent trips, the idea of holding a Wine Tasting with a group of folks took birth.

I pitched it to my boss's boss at work and she was all for it. We fixed a date and sent out a general invite to few colleagues, who we thought, were interested. We asked them to forward to others who might be interested too. We were going to hold it at work after hours with platters of cheese and fruits. I went to work on the selection (rather Bermans Liquor Store, Lexington did all the work, and from the suggestions they made, I researched them as far as I could). Unfortunately, our COO's mother passed away the day before, and it just wasn't right to hold a wine tasting on following day.

Apart from the above wine tasting open to as I call it 'general public' or 'faces', what I wanted to organize was a potluck with a small select close friends to taste 4-5 different wines. I put all my energy into the wine tasting and cheese pairing for this group. It took a while to settle on the wines. After some research, I settled for an All and Only French Wines! Duh! If I was going to hold my first wine tasting then may it be blessed with selections from the country that does it right! More over, kept it all in the years 2004-2005 that has been declared outstanding years

1. Domaine Cauhapé Jurançon Sec Chant des Vignes 2005
Color: Pale straw color
Properties: Very crisp and vibrant, Ripe Grapefruit, fresh flowers
Grape/Varietal: 100% Gros Manseng
Region:  South/West France, just north of the Pyrenees (Spanish border)
Cheese pairing: Basque Shepherds Cheese (Sheep), AOC Ossau-iraty
{EDIT} My personal favorite! Shh! I have two more bottles squirrelled away.

2. Sylvain Bailly Quincy Les Grands Coeurs 2005
Color: Straw
Properties: Dry with typical notes of blackcurrant leaf
Grape/Varietal: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Region: Loire Valley
Cheese pairing: Soft goat cheese (Chevre), Gouda (Cow), Madrigal (Nutty Creamy Swiss)

3. Bourgogne Rouge (Vin de Bourgogne) Domaine Coste-Caumartin 2005
Color: Red
Properties: Dry light bodied red
Grape/Varietal:  100% Pinot Noir
Region: Burgundy
Cheese pairing: Munster

4. Chateau Le Conseiller Jean Philippe Janoueix, 2005
Color: Deep Garnet
Properties: Loads of red aromatic fruit and explosive palate. Ripe currants, blackberries, and Vanilla all abound with a lengthy finish.
Grape/Varietal:  Pinot Noir
Region: Bordeaux (Bordeaux Superieur)
Cheese pairing: Boursin or Roquefort (recommended)I had Gouda which worked just as well.
{EDIT} My second favorite! Shh! I have one more bottle squirrelled away.

Along with the wines and cheese we had plenty of grapes, homemade bread and rosemary breadsticks, antipasto platter, scallops with bacon, spinach+artichoke dips, grilled chicken sausage, spicy meatballs, pasta & orzo salads, fresh vegetables with dip and homemade apple pie.

All about the Apple Pie!
I am quite proud of that apple pie. I broke tradition and refused to stuff apple mix in between two sheets of pie crusts. Instead, I went with a single bottom layer of pie crust, and topped with a crumbly mix of flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. It was almost a cobbler in a pie crust! Using brown sugar made it all the more yummier than just plain old sugar. I used Granny Smiths and Pink Lady apples, both on the crisp side and almost equally balanced between tart and sweet. I chose the crisper apples, because I prefer my apple pie not to disintegrate into mush. It was baked just right with a little mushy, a little bubbly, the rest a bit soft and well integrated with spices and brown sugar. Yumm!

Lastly, I opened the one of my collection wines. We opened the: 2004 Chateauneuf du Pape "Cuvee Etienne Gonnet" Font de Michelle.
Color: Rich Garnet.
Properties: It is rich and smoky, with coffee, truffle and tar notes up front, but also plenty of plum, black currant and fig fruit. Long, rich finish lets the fruit and truffle notes play out nicely.
Grape/Varietal: 70% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 15% Mourvèdre
Pairs with....nothing. Drink it on its own!
{EDIT} Lovely, lovely, lovely...... I wish I had more budget to get another bottle of the same.

It was fantastic evening, with good friends, good food and great wines.

Watch this one for Clive Owen.

It does not help to watch this movie when you are bone tired. I still don't know why the rioting and shooting was going on. Tooo exhausted to write..... must watch it again!

Tonight was Figaro's turn to entertain. My friend and I decided to indulge in an evening with Loeb Drama Center's Figaro. The play was fun! It was an evening with the arts. Every time I go to a play I wonder why I don't do more of the same. Living/Commuting/Working close to some of great theaters, I don't go to see too many plays. Why is that? One perhaps is that the tickets are expensive and can be indulged in less frequently, than say going to the movies or watching TV at home, the other is that, I just don't find the time. There is a solution for the both these concerns. I should (and now have) a little budget planned out to indulge in this form of entertainment and have planned 'mandatory-fun' days. The budget should take care of the entertainment expenses and this is not just plays, but also exploring new cuisines. The 'mandatory-fun' days are days/evenings that I really do take off and exploring the new world (whatever the new world means).

Back to the evening of Figaro! My friend and I met up couple of hours before the play. We had dinner reservations at the Craigie Street Bistrot at 5:30pm and it was just 4:45pm. We wandered around Harvard Square, essentially looking for a watering hole. We stopped at Om, both of us completely hankering for their Champagne with Lavender essence. But, we were disappointed as the place does not open till 6:00pm. Next stop, Z-Square! Downstairs is their full bar and restaurant. As soon as we sat at the bar, and were asked what we would like, we were "Prosecco!" (that's Italian bubbly). They served Fantinel Prosecco, that was incredibly bubbly, dry, elegant, floral, and wow!

From there, we headed to the Craigie Street Bistrot. A small, elegant restaurant in the basement, with excellent French cuisine. It was a tad expensive, but it was worth every penny. We shared the Trois Foies which was accompanied with ground mustard, greens, gorgeously toasted bread and assorted chutneys. I followed that up with their Cheese platter with Fromage Montagne (Cow, Alps), Charollais Fervier (Goat, Burgundy), and Pigouille (Sheep, Pyrenees). I had the hostess write down all the names of the cheese's and accompanying these stunning cheeses, was a shared half bottle of 2005 Pouilly-Fumé Hubert Veneau (Loire Valley, France; Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc). Almost perfect pairing for the Pigouille (as it turns out). What I like about French dining is that the food is exception and so well portioned. We were satisfied, but not stuffed. We were hankering for coffee after all that wine and cheese, but we had to run to the play at the Loeb Drama Center. Wallets being a little lighter made the run easier!

All in all a good evening! All the yummy food (definitely going to go back there for the chef's tasting, when we have more leisure time), and fantastic play.

{Edit} As I researched the wine and cheese online, I came across this site which lists about 500 different cheese and their wine type pairings! Dang!