Shrouded in Mist Sunday

Today, Sunday, it’s that kind of fog that envelopes your being and hides all in its embrace. Reminds me of Mists of Avalon – it is so dense, I feel I should be able to part a path through it at will. Having grown up on the ocean, I expect to hear the forlorn call of a foghorn echoing through this mist. Love the allegories of mists (thus the mists and enchantments blog name) but haven’t yet captured it well on film. Here are a few meager attempts.

My efforts with the camera were delivering lots of muted foggy pictures with no way to get a focal point. Working on the computer by the kitchen window, I’d darted out a few times, also tried shooting from inside through the window but was only rewarded with blurry birds. Finally, a tad of success. With patience, my hummers always come through for me. They’re faster in the winter as the fights for the feeder are more intense – to get this shot I have a multitude with the feeder but no hummer or a blur. Decided with fog the theme to leave top of background tree in view, which meant I couldn’t crop the edge of the roof.

The fog was there at 8, had receded about 10 and came back with a vengeance at 11. At 1pm, I remain shrouded in its impenetrable presence. These are simple records, uncropped, un-manipulated.

 

The sense in gazing at this tree is to be travelling towards the mystical faeirie “Undying Lands”.

But, I am not. I’m in the here and now blogging away with a list of things to do. Sunday is that last chance to completely indulge in my own focus before the work week comes crashing in with all its demands.

On the agenda is some type of sourdough. If you’ve not kept sourdough before, you should know that it get’s grossly ugly in the fridge. As long as it doesn’t turn pinkish, die or mold – it is truly fine. If it’s dead, it won’t spring back to life and bubble and grow when you feed it (sounds like a vampire – feed me and I grow J  ).  The grayish water on top is the hooch – the driving reason that gold prospectors kept their sourdough alive and well cared for, baking simply a secondary benefit. (If you use whole wheat flour, the hooch will be browner than grey).  It is flat coming out of the fridge, but, stir and feed it for growth and yeasty bubbles.

      

Well, things to do so logging off. I’ll close with a thought for the New Year from William James “Begin to be now what you will be hereafter”. 

Murphys, the Sierra’s Foodie Mecca

 My friend Kim and I have been meaning to grab a little holiday lunch plus a few wine stops as she’s a member of some of Murphys’ wineries wine clubs. We’re in the midst of what I’ll call bigger than normal weather – so far rain storms at my level with snow just a few miles north. Although I grabbed my camera, my shots outside were quick as hadn’t grabbed an umbrella and really didn’t want to get my camera lense wet. The shots inside were also point and shoot as folks would step aside for me and I didn’t want to delay and deter the enjoyment of those braving the weather.

 

 

We began our outing at my all time favorite restaurant in Murphys, Grounds. The food is consistently wonderful, the coffee rich and deep (I’m always amazed at how many otherwise decent restaurants don’t serve top-notch coffee) the menu diverse enough to please everyone (veggie through red meat fanatic) and, although I don’t need it, the portions are quite generous. There’s also patio dining and their web shows the very front wide open space.

  

Mike Dunne, who writes the A Year in Wine blog,  recently posted Murphys, Where Tasting is a Walk in the Park  noting “Murphys has the most concentrated and most varied array of tasting opportunities of any wine community in Northern California.” I take that to mean he’s giving it a nod over Sonoma, Northern California’s more well-known wine tasting region. I agree and also agree with Mike on his acclaim for Lavender Ridge 2009 Sierra Foothills Roussanne. Luscious. You should be able to click on any of these photos if you’d like a larger size view.

     

The post is titled foodie mecca as Murphys doesn’t simply attract vinophiles. These shots of Lavender Ridge , where in addition to their superb organic wines you can taste and bottle organic olive oils or indulge in artisan cheeses that they pair with the wine tasting, illustrate my point. 

 

Val du Vino , specializing in handcrafted limited production wines, was out next stop.  Jeannine and Jonathon are always at the counter manning their tasting room. Jonathan is a tremendous flirt – sure to keep the ladies entertained – and Jeannine brings her European grace to the conversations at the bar. Jeannine is also a superb chef and wine club members have the opportunity to attend her wine pairing dinners. Jonathan treated us to a “dessert” that I’ve written up here. Yumm.  I couldn’t resist acquiring more wine than I’d planned to pad a few gift baskets with – I just had to share their 2009 Viognier.

Val du Vino also carries many gifts for the wine lover. My brother, who’s more a fan of reds than whites when it comes to wine (the exact opposite of me) received the lovely blown glass wine aerator you see on the right bottle here last year. They also carry lovely carved wood wine holders and an eclectic assortment of gifts.

 

  

   

I’m also a solid fan of the Viognier at Beau Cheveau where the always bubbly Becky is usually in attendance. You’ll find I’m not writing on the wines’ flavors  as “wine writers” do as I don’t have much of a taste for reds – which most local wineries excel at – so could never do the wines justice. When it comes to whites however, there I know what I like.

Our final wine stop was the excellent Newsome – Harlow , where Christine and Barbara were our happy hosts at the bar.  If you want to try some recipes developed with wine parings in mind – check out the wealth of recipes developed by their chef and posted on their website. For dreary days like the one we braved, they keep their woodstove burning over in a corner of the tasting room. Such a treat!

I’ll close the post with a quick shot having nothing to do with food or wine, Animal Kingdom, Adele’s marvelous little store for all things animals. This is another place you can always frind a gift for someone – the “petless” could get a cute nightshirt, earrings or lovely little napkin rings. 

Normally I just snuggle up on our stormy days, but Kim and I had great fun getting damp and trundling about. For more information, check out the Calaveras Winegrape Alliance page. They often do a bio/story on the different member vineyards that provide a glimpse into the wonderful families running outstanding vineyards.