Vynecrest Summertime Red, Pennsylvania

Vynecrest is a winery from Pennsylvania where my family is from. They make surprisingly good wine. This one is their Summertime Red.
It is labeled as a Sangria style wine that is sweet and fruity. It lives up to the description.
Although we didn't have it chilled, we plopped in a couple ice cubes and it was a refreshing wine for early evening. I don't usually like sweet wines, but this one was flavorful and not sugary at all.
Their online price as of this publication is $9.99 for 750ml. When the folks head back this summer for their PA trip, I am going to request this one.

Coppola Rosso

I brought out a few wine choices for a steak dinner with my sister. She likes sweet wines, but I enjoy a Merlot or nice Cab with my steak. One of the bottles she picked was the
Coppola Rosso.
It is a red table wine and was surprisingly good. It is supposed to be a blend of Cab, Syrah and Zin but it had a wonderful fruitiness. There were hints of plum, cherry and berry in the flavor and the wine was a darker red than I imagined a table wine to be.
The web site recommends this wine with burgers, beef or pizza. It worked well with our hickory sirloin.

Peanut Butter & Co Dark Chocolate Dreams

Hovering in what seems to be a vast spread of peanut butter products, it is increasingly more difficult to know which item is the best choice for your family. After picking up some single serve Jif Naturals for lunch boxes, I ran across a brand called Peanut Butter & Co. The store carries flavors such as The Bees's Knees that mixes honey into the peanut butter. The one that grabbed my PMSing eye was a dark brown peanut butter with a name of Dark Chocolate Dreams.
The product reminded me of a quirky little snack place called PB Loco in the Scottsdale Fashion Square that sold their own gourmet PB which has long since closed.
I am always the skeptic and didn't want to fork out $4 for the 14 oz container and noticed the 67 cent individual pack. I grabbed one and was ready for my own dark chocolate dream.
This morning I decided to have it on a piece of whole wheat toast. Serving suggestions on the package includes apples, crackers, bananas, or celery. I really like Nutella on my toast so there you have it.
After kneading the package as instructed, I squeeze out the thick chocolate peanut butter goodness and spread over my toast. I was surprised how easily it came out and spread nicely.
The flavor of the spread is very similar to Baskin Robbins 31 flavors Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream. It isn't too sweet and has a nice balance of chocolate and peanut butter scent and flavor.
The single serving has 170 calories, 13 g of fat - 2.5 saturated. 12 carb, 2 fiber, 7 sugars, 6 protein. It's gluten free, cholesterol free, and vegan.

What?!?! Banana Bread BEER?!?!?!?

Yes, I did say Banana Bread Beer. Oh em gee! Yes, I liked this one a lot. A lot, a lot.
I mistakenly tried to twist off the top...ouch. So, once I cracked open the metal lock, my nose was met with a sweet banana scent that made me want to stick the bottle up my nostril and inhale deeply.
No, not really, but it does smell deliciously banana. The beer is a caramel color with very little head (yup, I tried to make it foam on purpose). The flavor is crisp and medium bodied. The moment after you swallow, you get the banana flavor that overcomes your taste buds. Admittedly, there is a bit of bitter at the very end, but you can solve that by taking another sip. Har har har.

Surprisingly, the banana doesn't taste manufactured. The bottle claims they use real bananas in the making, but the label also states there is banana flavor added. I thought it would taste like candy flavored banana, but it has the flavor of banana after you swallow it and it is lingering on your tongue.
I picked this up at the local HEB grocery store in Clear Lake area Texas for $2.49 for a single bottle. Alcohol is 5.2% by volume. I drank this one with homemade burgers. Definitely one I could drink at night instead of dessert. I recommend trying this one, even if you swear off flavored beer. Click HERE to go to Wells and Young's website to read more about Banana Bread Beer.

Maui Brewing Co. Coconut Porter

I found this at HEB grocery store in the Clear Lake, TX area this evening. I figured since we were having big, honkin' Texas sized sirloin burgers for dinner, this would go great. The beer was the typical medium-dark brown of a porter and smelled toasty and chocolatey. The pour gave me cream colored, foamy head that dissipated quickly.
The packaging is in a can because the company claims, "Cans eliminate light damage and reduce the risk of oxidation, keeping this craft brew fresher than in bottles!
Cans are lighter, chill quicker, and can be enjoyed on beaches and in sensitive environments. Aluminum is the most recycled and most eco-friendly material."
This Coconut Porter is made with six varieties of malted barley, hops and hand-toasted coconut. It is brewed and canned in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii.
I was expecting more of a coconut taste, I guess like Malibu does to rum. However, the beer had a richness and a hint of sweetness to it but it didn't taste like coconut. The beer went really nice with our burgers that were ground sirloin cooked with Montreal steak seasoning and a real dry Merlot. Although it was a porter, not my fave in the beer categories, the flavor was rich enough, but the texture was lighter than I expected for a porter.
Fun can with a tag line I don't quite get: "...like hot chicks on the beach" Let me know if you know about that one...
Picked up a single can for $2.49 at the grocery store.

V-Twin Vineyards Bike Week Merlot 2003

I had to "borrow" this photo since I accidentally threw my bottle out before I took a photo. Kind of wish I kept the bottle because I am having trouble finding this one again.
Bike Week Merlot is made by V-Twin Vineyards in Sonoma, California. It was a FANTASTIC Merlot. It was slightly dry, fruity, full of berry flavor, leaving a tad sweet aftertaste. I enjoyed it with spaghetti and meat sauce and alone the next evening. It was easy to drink and tasted fabulous. I have kept this one around for about the past 3-4 years, saving it for just the right time...it was time to enjoy it!
Check out their web site HERE.

Quady Red Electra wine Madera , CA

The Quady Red Electra is a bubbly surprise of a wine the company created due to customer request for a red version of their Electra wine. The bottle has an angel in a red dress and colorful wings on a black background.
I found out it is an award winning wine. Read more about it HERE.
I was given this wine as a gift and opened it one night with my parents. It was a nice bubbly surprise of a sweet wine. It is a low alcohol wine (5% by volume) and tastes a lot like grape juice. It is refreshing and light.
This is one I will totally buy again, and share with friends.

The Scribbler 2008

Yalumba The Scribbler 2008 Cabernet Savoniogn and Shiraz blend from Australia. I definitely got the plum flavor and chocolate finish. There is a berry quality about the flavor, too. It was rather dry for my taste, and I like Cabs, and Merlots. It burned a little going down. We had it accompanying red meat for dinner.
I decided to keep the rest of the bottle to put over steaks next time we grill, or add to my pot roast. It will make the flavor of the meat divine, but I just can't drink this one.

Lindemans Pomme Lambic

I was given this as a Christmas gift, and finally decided to crack it open tonight. Lindemans Pomme Lambic Belgian Pomme Beer. It is similar to Ace Pear Cider, but a lot lighter, crisper and flavorful. I find APC a bit heavy. This was bubbly and light. I served it in a frosty mug. I really liked the apply flavor and crisp taste.

Free Days at Houston Museums!

I found out that some of the museums in the Houston area offer FREE days. I think this is a fantastic way for families to share some time learning about history, science, art, etc while not breaking the bank. Below are the museums and current free days as of this writing.

General Admission Only

• Buffalo Soldiers National Museum - FREE Monday 10 am - 5 pm
• Children's Museum of Houston - FREE Thursday 5 – 8 pm
• The Health Museum - FREE Thursday 2 – 5 pm
• The John C. Freeman Weather Museum - FREE Thursday 12 – 4 pm
• Houston Museum of Natural Science - FREE Tuesday after 2 pm
• Houston Zoo - Every Month! The Houston Zoo will offer free admission to guests on the first Tuesday of every month from 2 p.m. until closing.
• Museum of Fine Arts, Houston - FREE Thursday 10 am – 9 pm

The following museums are free all the time:

• Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum
• Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
• Holocaust Museum Houston
• Houston Center for Contemporary Craft
• Houston Center for Photography
• The Jung Center of Houston
• Lawndale Art Center
• The Menil Collection
• Rice University Art Gallery
• Rothko Chapel

Pac-man Vintage glass - Get Ready!

Again, another enjoyable vintage glass from my collection. This one is Pac-man featuring "Bashful" nicknamed Inky, who is real shy and may run away. The entire glass is a Pac-man maze with fruit around the bottom.
I love this glass. It is from AAFES (Army and Air Force Exchange Service) in 1980 in conjunction with Bally Midway Manufacturing Company. This morning I enjoyed my Welch's Grape Juice in it. Hee hee.

NYE and Fiorosa Vino Spumante Dolce

Last year for New Year's Eve, we enjoyed a bottle of Raspberry sparkling wine from the Queen Creek Olive Oil Mill. This year we are far from Arizona, so we went searching for something similar.
At our local Specs we found this Vila Rogole Fiorosa Vino Spumante Dolce recommended by the guy at Specs. It is a sweet sparkling wine from Italy. He said it has a good balance without being too sweet. Well, we tried it and it was drinkable. I think it was sweeter than I wanted, and it's hard to match something when you already have a taste in mind from a previous product.
At around $15 a bottle, it was a pretty good alternative to regular champagne. It does have it's downfall, it was horrible mixed with o.j. for morning mimosas. I guess I can't have an easy to drink, sweet sparking wine/champagne AND delicious mixer for mimosas. There's always next NYE.

Yuengling - America's Oldest Brewery

Yuengling! American's Oldest Brewery! This is not my favorite in a can, but when you can only get it East of the Mississippi, you take what you can get! A great, refreshing, clean, crisp beer. I prefer the lager, but the black and tan is fabulous, too!
Now if I could just get someone to mail me some! Yeah!

E.T. Vintage Glass

I own some vintage glassware from when we were kids. This is one of my favorites that I enjoy drinking my morning juice from. It is a 1982 aafes E.T. The Extra Terrestrial drinking glass from Universal Studios. The one side has E.T. dressed for Halloween with "Be Good" written underneath. The other side has the E.T. and Elliot fingers touching with the movie title underneath.
I have seen these glasses sell for $6 each on eBay, but I really enjoy drinking from these more than I would enjoy selling them.

Christian Audigier Syrah 2007 by Montpeyroux Estates

We received this bottle of syrah in October 2009 from some great friends for our wedding. I didn't open it until December 2011. It wasn't that I was saving it for some special occasion, or allowing it to age...I just wasn't sure what Christian Audigier/Ed Hardy had when it comes to wine.
Christian Audigier partnered with Montpeyroux Estates from France to create these wines. It is imported by Shaw-Ross International Importers in Mirimar, Florida.
I was pleasantly surprised. Although it is a twist top - not a deal breaker for me - it was a rich red color with a spicy aroma.
The taste was pleasant and not too dry. It starts with a berry flavor and moves into a little bit of spice. The web site on the bottle (www.myspace.com/thecoolwine) is a myspace page (Really?!? myspace?!?!) and when you go to it, it doesn't allow you to view anything unless you are a "friend." So check out the line of wines HERE.
I am looking for the Chardonnay since the description is "buttery."

Madria Sangria - Modesto, California

Madria Sangria Tradicional Fresh Citrus is a sweet red sangria best enjoyed chilled with cut up fruit added. I like small pieces of apple, pear, orange slices and even watermelon or strawberries. This wine has flavors of orange, lemon and lime and is terrific with fruit or alone.
It is a sweet red wine and I enjoy it alone. This big ass bottle was compliments of Mom. Sangria is her favorite, and she pretty picky about her wine.
Visit their website HERE.

D.H. Lescombes Ratafia - sweet white table wine Deming, New Mexico

D.H. Lescombes Ratafia is a sweet white table wine out of Deming, New Mexico. I have enjoyed this wine before and find it is sweet - it is a dessert wine, after all - but not overpoweringly so. It is meant for pairing with dessert like cheesecake or tres leches, however I have enjoyed it with pork roast, which when paired with the sweetness of fruit, is wonderful. Remember, “Pork chops and applesauce!”?

The bottles are wonderfully different. I have this one with a Dia de los Muertos like skull on the front, but I also have a Koi fish on another bottle. Although they are just stickers and not painted on, the bottles are an unusual shape and the designs make great décor for the kitchen or bar.

Visit them at their website HERE.