I Did Not Fall Down a Well....

...but I did go dry.

As in, I stopped drinking. BUT WAIT...before you call 911, I started again.  Drinking--- so it's all good.

But for two weeks-OK, 13 days- I stopped drinking, eating sugar and bread. Yeah, I know, it was as miserable as it sounds. But, I did it to lose a few holiday pounds and to prove I could do it. So I did it. Big whoop. How much fun is to write about drinking water and eating eggs and Canadian bacon and low-fat Swiss cheese? No fun- and that's why this blog has been dark since the World's Best Sandwich. (Which is posted twice by mistake..or is it?)

Anyway, it just so happened that the last day of my purge, was my birthday and we had friends and family over and I cooked and we ate and we drank- oh THANK GAWD!

It was a beautiful day and I dove headfirst into entertaining. I whipped up a giant bowl of Cali-Mex guacamole, and a fantastic dip made from Plum-Rosemary jam Ms. Lydia sent me for Christmas poured over cream cheese- oh yummy

I served a spicy and hot albondigas soup I made early in the morning, Salad Nicoise with grilled tuna which I  Tossed on the B-B-Q, Dutch Boeter Koek (that's butter cake if you can't figure it out) some other stuff and, well, lots and lots of wine.

After dinner we headed to town where they celebrate my birth every year with something called Fire & Ice- wine walks, ice sculpturing, a parade- ha- and fireworks- lots and lots of fireworks. Which is how every one's birthday should be celebrated, don't you think?

“I went on a diet, swore off drinking and heavy eating, and in fourteen days I lost two weeks” Joe E. Lewis

 

Albondigas Soup (Mexican Meatball)

Ingredients

Servings: 8

Meatballs

• 1/2 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2 lb chorizo sausage, casing removed (not the fully cooked kind)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 carrot, minced
• 1/2 cup cooked rice
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaf, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

Albondigas Soup

• 6 cups chicken broth 
• 1/2 cup onion chopped
• 3 stalks celery, cut in chunks
•   2(16 ounce) can diced tomatoes-Ro-Tel is the best
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 1 large zucchini, sliced
• salt
• pepper 
•  
•  

Directions:

1. 1 Make the meatballs first: Combine everything and mix thoroughly.
2. 2 Form meatballs and roll between your palms (Otherwise, meatballs will fall apart in the soup).
3. 3 You should make around 20 to 24 meatballs, set aside.
4. 4 Combine chicken broth, onion, celery, tomatoes and their liquid, cumin, oregano and cilantro leaves in a large pot.
5. 5 Bring to broil, and reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. 6 Drop meatballs in the soup (Make sure the soup is slightly boiling, the meatballs need to be cooked quickly).
7. 7 Return to simmer and cook another 10 minutes.
8. 8 Add zucchini and cook 10 minutes.
9. 9 Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
10. 10 Serve with cooked rice, or just by itself.

It's a Hard Row to Hoe to Good Karma

Lots to do today.

Had to drive 20 miles to town to do some shopping at the Ace Hardware- where I discussed football with Jim and bought some more pepper/bear spray for the husband's hiking adventures. Then it was off to the Radio Shack where Kevin answered my questions and fixed my cell phone- for free. Yep, then I wandered over to the gas station where the guy who also works in the gourmet cheese shop pumps gas, and he sold me a few lotto tickets to boot. (I never used to say, "to boot." I do now.")

Damn, I love small town living!

When I moved to Chelan, WA from San Diego last year, I had never heard of it, but guess what? It has the third deepest lake in the country- the COUNTRY! And it's one of the cleanest lakes around.



We only have 2500 people but...wait for it.... we have 21 wineries. And counting. That's like... one winery for every 1000 people. And it's crush season. Fruit flies, the smell of fermenting grapes, tourists for the most part- gone- and lots of fun activities.



We actually have one winery where you can drive down a dirt road and over the railroad track ---or you can arrive by boat--- where John Little and family will pour you some tasty Rio Vista wines, their grapes grown along the banks of the mighty Columbia.

You can bring a picnic and sit under giant weeping willow trees and toss sticks to the family dogs. (Seriously though, the dogs will not stop playing catch, so be aware before you throw.)

We have other top-of-the-line wineries such as Hard Row to Hoe, Tssilian Winery, Karma and Lake Chelan Winery and many of them have great food to go with the fantastic wine.

 Tssilian Cellars has an authentic Italian restaurant,( the chef is from SF. His dad was a baker from Italy. Sooo Italian) and they serve Chicken Marsala, along with a large, garlicky, eclectic menu.

Karma- one of my  favorite wineries in the area- and it has a fancy French cave-- dishes up a Caprice Salad that goes perfect with their chewy, creamy Chardonnay. I love it!

Lake Chelan Winery cooks up barbecue baby back ribs grilled up over grape vines and the husband actually produced some of the wine last year...that's right- he worked his ass off for your drinking pleasure. You're welcome!

Things happen for a reason. I had to sell my home in California last year and move to a place like Chelan to find work and happiness. Woe is me, woe is me.
Cheers!