so much fun

We are just having such an excellent adventure on this trip, I wish I could prolong the pleasure somehow! The entire (supposedly) purpose of this trip was to be present for the running of the marathon yesterday (7/25/10), so we were up to witness the start on the Embarcadero near the Ferry Building a little after 6AM. There were thousands of runners, released in waves, and we luckily saw Ben, Brita and Molly at the start. Then Dan, Bob and I made our way over towards Golden Gate Park and with the help of the tracking system on the Marathon website and some quick math, managed to time it to see all 3 run past us again. Then on to the next place we planned to see them, about mile 22, but had trouble getting there so ended up at mile 25 and got to see them again. Molly was a few minutes ahead at this point, and smiling! Brita and Ben were kind of in a fog at that point, and not the typical morning fog over the city. But even with their struggling a bit, they got through it together, and were all smiles soon after!

In my eyes, they are Olympic gold medalists!

Today finds us up in wine country, staying at a little rental home on a small creek near Cazadero, not far from Guerneville. We drove a little back road this morning to go to Healdsburg and I was so taken with the beautiful scenery around every curve (and there were lots of curves!).

In Healdsburg, we walked around the square, found some fabric (YAY!), and had lunch at a wonderful place recommended by Brita and Ben--Willi's. It was so delicious, I had to take a picture.

What they did to this bacon-wrapped scallop should be illegal, it was that good! Topped with pumpkin seeds, who knew? All those wasted seeds from jack o'lanterns, I should have been cooking gourmet delights!

Wine tastings at 3 vineyards have rounded out the day, and now we are ready for a little hot tub and grilling on our deck overlooking a creek. It's a wonderful life!

a little sip will do

I have been trying to add a post with pictures about my vacation week, but can't get the photos to upload yet so I will postpone that. But in its place, I am offering up a recipe for a tasty winter drink that I served last night and also over the holidays. It is for a mulled wine, which is really perfect for life on the tundra. Even appealing to non-wine drinkers, and I have found that men like it as well as women, so a good way to spread the wine love. I first tasted mulled wine when I was in Sweden, during a trip to Stockholm to attend the Nobel Prize Festival in December, 1971. So it always brings back some memories of that time. Good memories.

Mulled Wine

1 quart of cranberry juice

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 cinnamon sticks

6 whole nutmeg

6 whole allspice

1 bottle of red wine, I have used merlot and cabernet with equal success

Mix the juice and brown sugar in a saucepan. Place the cinnamon sticks in the pan, and the spices in a tea ball in the pan. Heat until it simmers and continue warming without boiling for about 5-10 minutes. Then add the wine and bring back to a simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the spices and serve. When serving to a group, I prepare it ahead of their arrival and put it in an airpot which keeps it nice and warm but easy to serve.