This weekend was the first in about two months where I didn't go into the studio once. Unless you count that 30 seconds when I ran in for a pair of scissors, I stayed away all weekend.

No work; all play.

Fall is in full swing in the mountains. It's chilling off, the leaves are already a myriad of autumn hues, and festivals are abounding.

This weekend we took the opportunity to enjoy mountain life a bit. Saturday we headed off to the farmer's market and coffee shop - our usual Saturday routine - and then packed up for a little road trip.

About an hour from our house is the whole of Yadkin Valley, the wine-producing region of North Carolina. As a bit of a wine snob, I'm well aware of the cold shoulder NC wines usually get. But this trip wasn't for a pinot. This was a trip for hard cider.

We visited McRitchie Winery this spring (I'll never forget that crazy llama) and I now get their email newsletter. The latest newsletter announced the release of this year's hard ciders. David and I knew we had to go.

So, go we did. We drove over to McRitchie, enjoyed some great food, a live blue grass rendition of "Brick in the Wall" that completely changed how I look at that song, and watched Lily entertain the crowd with her self-proclaimed "smooth dance moves."

And then we walked away with a case of hard cider, pressed from fabulous local apples.

Life in the mountains.

But that wasn't all. After leaving McRitchie we drove about 20 minutes to the Yadkin Valley Pumpkin Festival, where Lily posed beside an 1100-pound pumpkin. Not quite as big as last year's, but still a giant.

It was a good weekend. A work-free, all-about-family weekend was just what I needed.

What did you do this weekend?

I am counting down the days (less than 40) until I leave for my trip. It's almost all I can think about. I'm being consumed by excitement, an overwhelming Type-A need to plan the hell out of this, and a little bit of worry. Just a healthy bit.

One thing I'm fretting about is my grasp on the French language, or the lack thereof. Or am I just being too hard on myself? Or am I really going to get terribly lost?

See. And I can't help it.

I have several years and an ok amount of French language experience under my belt. Three years of high school French (and I'm learning more and more that that old bat was a seriously wonderful teacher), four semesters of college French, including a summer in various regions of France. By the end of that trip, I was bafflingly proficient at understanding others, and getting better and better at using it myself, but that was years ago, so I dare say that doesn't much count anymore.

I have found in the past weeks, however, that I haven't completely lost it. I've been filling my head with, what is to me, French nonsense. And it's coming back really well. I'm fairly certain I can ask for and receive directions, order food, buy a ticket (to the Louvre, metro, etc), and scream for help. I feel as long as I have those down, that's a pretty solid foundation for just a week of culture shock.

I've been immersing myself in a couple of ways: French classics (think Edith Piaf - I've had La Vie en Rose in my head for weeks), Coffee Break French, streaming French radio programs, and Netflixing French movies. I'm considering ordering some French cartoons to watch with Lily, in hopes that she starts to pick it up too.

Side note: I love languages, though I don't speak any more than English (yea, really), some French and very basic Spanish. There was a short time in college where I actually considered becoming a Linguistic Anthropologist. I think I made a financially responsible decision there.

And there are videos like this that just make me want to shut it and leave now. Right. Now.

EF - Live The Language - Paris from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.

At the end of the day, what do I really need to know more than "je voudrais beaucoup de vin, s'il vous plaît."

Prepping for Paris: Part 1 - The Decision
Prepping for Paris: Part 2 - The Shopping

Shortly after moving to the mountains last year we went to our first ever wine festival, and what a unique festival that was. Last weekend we went to the festival again, because it was just that much fun.

A local winery doubles as a homemade wine supply distributor. One we frequent for our own winemaking supplies. In accordance with this other side of their business, they do a yearly festival/showcase of other homemade winemakers (just regular joes, like David and I) and invite everyone to come taste what you can do in your own home.



The festival this year was surprisingly not as big as last years. Last year David and I tasted almost 70 wines, and were admittedly a little more intoxicated than we had planned to become. We had to hang out and carb-load for a couple of hours so that we could get ourselves safely back home.

This year there weren't as many, at about 40 or so wines, but that doesn't mean it wasn't any less fun. And the weather was phenomenal.



Just another reason why spring/summer in the mountains is my own personal heaven.

David and I are creatures of not-very-habitual habit. We like to do/see/eat the same things, but from different locations. And not in an obsessive or afraid-to-be-uncomfortable way, but simply to satisfy curiosity.

We do this with hummus, wine, electronics and restaurants. And probably other things too if I think on it hard enough.

For example: 6th and Vine. We first ran across this restaurant back in February, and recently returned. We have similar restaurants that we enjoy in Florence and Mobile. Small, border-line kitschy, restaurants with great food and an even better wine list. A place where we know the service will be good, the mood will be relaxed and we know that we can count on the daily special to hit the spot. And in Winston-Salem, that place is 6th and Vine.





Winston-Salem is a city I could totally see myself living in, and I'm pretty sure I would have to find a studio space right next door to 6th and Vine, or perhaps I could just see if they'd rent me out a table.

So, while I'm stuck in the mountains, I'm dreaming of places like this in our varying cities around the South. We'll have to make plans for Winston-Salem again soon, we all but have a table booked at our favorite place in Florence during our impending trip, and I'm wondering if we can skip over to Mobile while at the Gulf.

There's nothing wrong will planning vacations around cheese plates, right?

This past weekend David and I attended a wine festival in North Wilkesboro, NC. The day started with us going to the Saturday morning Farmer's Market, then we packed up and drove east.

We've been planning to attend a wine festival since we moved here a year ago, but something always got in the way. As soon as I heard about 'Shine to Wine, I made a sincere point to attend. At being only about an hour away, it was the closest we've had, so I knew I had to make it.

We got to North Wilkesboro, had lunch, and started our rounds with our wine glass held out.

For a bit of NC alcohol history, North Carolina - before Prohibition - was quite a wine-producing giant, even if it was mostly Muscadine. (And don't hate on Muscadine, though it may not make premier wine, we owe European varietal success in North America to this musky grape, as their root stock saved vinifera vines from the pesky phylloxera.)

Come Prohibition, NC became a moonshine-producing giant.

Then, post-Prohibition, those NC-ers who still had any taste buds, returned to wine-making. And now here they are, on their way to being a wine-producing giant again.



So, to celebrate this bit of wine-making tradition, we traveled to the wine festival and had our fill of wines, most of which were Muscadine and fruit wines from very small, local wineries. 

I will sincerely admit the spread wasn't of my usual liking - this girl can only take so many cranberry Cabernets - but it was a taste bud adventure. We ended up heading home with only two bottles of wine: Green Tea (yes, fermented green tea - no fruit juice at all) and a bottle of peach wine. I will confess that I have a very large soft spot where peach wine is concerned.

Lily had a blast, and even got to try non-fermented Muscadine juice. Which she dribbled down her shirt, making her look as if she'd been boozing too. We're fantastic parents.

So, I marked of LOTS from my NC winery list, and can't wait to finish it up!

Mother's Day around here is less about breakfast in bed for me and more about extra excitement for everyone, and this year we spent mother's day shopping. For Lily.

We planned a whole day of being out and about in the fabulous mountain weather, taking a trip to Blowing Rock to go shopping, stopping in Boone for more shopping, and heading home for yummy food.



My treat? Wine. That's all I ever really want anyhow. And my Mother's Day wine was a local sparkling white blend. Spring in a stemmed glass.

And what a fabulous Mother's Day it was.

This weekend we made last minute plans to have a lot of fun. A whole lot.

Saturday morning we woke up, got ready and headed to the farmer's market. Like most Saturdays. However, a bit unusual as of late, was the weather. It was perfect.

We left the farmer's market and I wanted more. Wanted to be outside more. Wanted to do more. So I proposed a winery trip.

We dropped off our farmer's market goods and headed towards Yadkin Valley, the big wine region of North Carolina.

Our intended destination was Raffaldini Vineyards, a place about 45 miles from our house. And it is breathtaking. We grabbed some yummies from the deli, having a lunch of artisan bread, fresh mozzarella and salami, before enjoying a wine tasting. A pretty impressive wine tasting.





We had every intention of stopping at the one winery, I mean we were lugging around a 3 year old, but we were told of another winery about fifteen minutes away with a promising port and miniature sheep. Come on, who can say no to miniature sheep? And good port.

So we headed to McRitchie Winery and Ciderworks. (I'm in love with their branding, by the way. Especially their bottle labels. Yum.)



McRitchie was unexpectedly good. We sampled several, including a Chardonnay which I fell in love with. And before you judge me, you should know that I loathe Chardonnay. If I had to rank my wine-likes, Chardonnay would normally be at the bottom. Give me a robust red anyday and save your Chardonnay for the cat. But theirs was good.



On the other end of the spectrum was their blackberry wine, which smelled like rotten eggs and tasked like feet. Assuming I know what feet tastes like.

We also sampled their ciders, which were wonderful. Their semi-sweet is definitely the way to go.

And we took home a port. It really was amazing.



And where to the sheep come into play, you ask? McRitchie has miniature sheep. Very adorable, short, plump sheep. I wanted to hug one, but couldn't. Because of the llama. The ruthless, clucking guard llama. Not kidding.



So, our first truly spectacular spring weekend turned out to be a winery and llama adventure. David and I got wine, Lily got clucked at (and thankfully not spit on) by a guard rott-llama. Two very good thumbs up.

And that's two more wineries checked off my list.



*ROXY UPDATE: She's home! She visited the park across the street and played with lots of children before some little girl took her home. It was a bit weird how we ended up getting her back, but as a result I think I have reason to be softened to the fact that we live in such a garishly small town.

I know. It looks nasty. But it smells and tastes amazing.

I made this Black Bean Soup this weekend for three reasons:

1.) We love black beans. It's that simple. We eat them often, mostly in place of meat in burritos and tacos and dips, but sometimes we just eat them. As beans.

2.) I got a new food processor for Christmas. I have been looking at them for a while. We chunked my old mini one when we moved, because I never used it, but then we moved and I found a million reasons why I needed one. So, for Christmas, David's brother got us a super awesome, full-sized processor. I was thrilled. And I've been dying to use it.

3.) I also got a new cookbook for Christmas. It has recipes from regions of the US and this recipe was inside. When I ran across it, I knew I had to try it, and I was excited to see that I had all the ingredients already in my panty. It was meant to be.

So, this weekend I cooked up this soup with quite a bit of anticipation. As it simmered away, it smelled amazingly, but I must admit that I was a bit wary. I mean, look at it. But I was so happy with the results. Even David loved it, and he doesn't like soups too often.

Here's the recipe, quite a bit altered from the original in my new A Taste of America Cookbook:

Black Bean Soup

1 cup dried, soaked & cooked OR 1 can well-drained and rinsed black beans
1 cup dried, soaked & cooked OR 1 can well-drained and rinsed pinto beans (Original recipe called for kidney beans, but I had pinto on hand. Feel free to use what you have.)
2 T olive oil
3 carrots, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 T cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 T oregano
1/3 cup red wine (I used a Garnacha/Syrah blend)
2 pints stock (I used half vegetable and half beef, because that's just what I had)
sour cream (for topping)
salt and pepper

Heat oil in pot. Add carrots, onion, celery and garlic. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Stir in cumin, cayenne and oregano.

Add wine and stock. Add beans. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer for about 20 minutes.

Transfer half of the soup (most of the solids) to food processor and process until smooth. Return to pot and combine well, reheating.

Serve hot and top with sour cream.



Now for the yummy crunchy tortilla strips for the top.

We tend to keep corn tortillas in the refrigerator for impromptu snacking, so when I saw the recipe for this soup, I thought how wonderful it would be with crunchy tortillas on top.

So, I took those soft corn tortillas from the fridge and put them to work.

Crunchy Tortilla Strips

enough oil to fill a pan to about 1/4"
soft corn tortillas, cut into strips
salt

Heat oil over medium-high heat. When hot, drop tortilla strips a few at a time, cooking for about 30-45 seconds. Scoop out and drain on paper towels. Top with a bit of salt.

These were way yummier than regular tortilla chips. Well worth the trouble.



Now for the wine that I used to make the soup. It was a Garnacha/Syrah blend that I picked up at the grocery store last week. It had a pretty bottle with a dancer an a polka dot cork wrapper. I should have known better. Because it was not so great.

David and I are really into the bold reds these days, particularly Zinfandels and Garnachas. I had high hopes for this Spanish blend, but was turned off by how much it's flavor reminded me of jumping in a pile of leaves as a kid and coming up with a mouth full of dry oak leaves. David agreed. 

Better luck next time!

What about you? Did you have any good, or not so good, food or wine experiences this weekend?

The Monday morning after a holiday weekend is always the hardest Monday mornings. Mondays aren't generally fun anyhow, but precede it with an insanely fun weekend and it's just the pits. There's no getting around it.

But, I won't be talking about my hard Monday morning - I really am finding it hard to get motivated this morning - I will instead talk a bit about my New Years Eve. It's the reason today is so hard.

I'm not still feeling hung over. It wasn't one of those holidays, though that photo suggests otherwise.

David and I decided at the last minute that we would be going to Alabama for New Years, since we had decided at the last minute that we would stay in the mountains for Christmas. We packed up last week and headed for flatter land, and a holiday weekend with family.

New Years Eve we decided - again, very last minute - to let Lily spend the late evening without us and David and I would spend a grown-up night out. That's something that never happens. Ever.

We got dolled up - or I did - and took leave. Our original idea was to meet friends at a bar to listen to a local band and yell at each other all night. At the last moment we changed our mind - do you see a pattern here? - and we went to our favorite little cafe downtown, The Sweet Magnolia Cafe, complete with white table cloths, water goblets and baked brie appetizers.

We ordered ourselves a bottle of Zinfandel off the right side of the wine list - yes, the right side - and just sat and chatted all night, without the necessity of yelling. It was perfection.

We shined off the bottle of Zin and moved on to a bit of Champagne. Followed by helping the manager, a friend of David's, finish off the half bottles in the back: the house merlot, a questionable cab, and finally a delectable port. I was in heaven.

While gussing ourselves up we chatted about New Years past - as this was our 8th New Year celebration together - and discovered that this was the first that David and I had ever spent out and about at a legitimate institution. The past couple of years have been spent at home, as I do hate leaving Lily with sitters, even if they're family, and the years before that were spent at house parties, either of our own making or someone else.

Sadly, this was the one night in months that I decided to leave the house without my camera. Oh, how I would have loved to take some photos of this cute little cafe, those Champagne desserts with lit sparklers and our first toast of the new year. Alas, I did not, but I do have the image above of what I got to see all night. Good enough for me.

So, David and I rang in the new year in a perfect way. And the next morning, I didn't even have a hangover. I'll take it as a sign from fate, telling me this will be that most fab year ever. Thanks, fate.

I think it's pretty basic knowledge around these parts that I love wine. A lot. Sometimes in a thirsty kind of way, but also in a borderline academic kind of way. I'm not going to get into the psychology of my love of wine, just know it's there. Big time.

Moving to NC has been a boost in my wine love. I live close to LOTS of wineries, and it's my mission to taste them all.

I am so excited that not only do I get to share these tastings with you guys, but also now with the readers of SavorNC, a new magazine in North Carolina focusing on the unexpectedly chic world revolving around NC wine, food, travel and decor.

So, go have a read!