Tummy Tuesday : Z is for Zinfindel

Tummy Tuesday : Z is for Zinfindel

Tummy Tuesday Food Blog Hop

(I hope you’ll join me for this round. Add your link at the bottom of the post to the blog hop if you’ve got a food-related post or pic.)

I thought Z would be a tough one but for cooking it’s not so bad. There is zucchini, zest, and of course Zinfandel. And since I love the lighter reds like Shiraz, Merlot and Zinfandel, I even had a bottle I could photograph

This is a bottle of Blackstone Zinfandel 2014. They say it has notes of mixed berries, cherries, vanilla and spices.  Honestly when I read things like that in wine magazines and then taste the wine, I can taste the cherries but I never taste vanilla and spices unless I add them in myself.

With wine, I’m more of an impulse buyer unless I’m buying my favorites.  I pick them up on sale or because I like the name or the look of the label.  I am not a connoisseur but I do okay in the tasting department.  I went to a winetasting once.  We each brought a bottle and it was covered in a cloth bag and everyone had a blindtasting.

My bottle was a Ravenwood that I got on sale for $4.99 at Bev & Mo. I’d gotten it before and had been impressed with it.  When I found out everybody else brought bottles that were in the $20-$50 range, I thought uh-oh. After we all tasted, you know what? My bottle came in second out of 8 bottles.  I think that is pretty darn good. They were shocked when I told them the price afterwards.

About a year later, Ravenwood won some award or something and with their new popularity, their prices went up and I moved onto my next new low-priced favorite, Smokey Loon. Then the same thing happened to Smokey Loon.  Currently my favorite is an Australian wine, Yellow Tail.

Since coming back to Tucson, I don’t drink as much as I used to.  In California, it was much more of a thing.  You brought wine to a dinner invite or popped it out when friends came over.  Here some of my friends are older and alcohol doesn’t mix with their meds. A few other friends don’t drink alcohol except occasionally for some reason or other.  I seem to be drinking a lot more tea here which surprised me. A variety of tea too like black, green or herbal so it’s not just the South’s ubiquitous sweet tea. Since most of the time if I drink wine, I’m drinking alone, I rarely drink it these days.  Mostly just when I make pasta.  Red wine and pasta still go together in my mind.

I forgot I even had the Blackstone until I went looking for Z for today’s post.  I thought I had a Yellow Tail Zinfindel.  Now I’m a bit curious as to how the Blackstone tastes as I haven’t ever tasted it.  This one was given to me.  So maybe I’ll make an angelhair pasta with tomatoes and basil and pop open the bottle.  That’s carbs and sugar.  Sighs. Maybe I won’t.

Meantime on the cooking side of things, Betty Crocker’s blog has posted this recipe of Provençal Beef with Zinfandel for folks who like to use their slow cooker. It’s from their Betty Crocker More Slow Cooker Recipes: All-New Recipes Easier than Ever. I got that cookbook at a local church rummage sale along with a whole slew of Weight Watcher Cookbooks.

#AtoZChallenge 2019 Tenth Anniversary badgeAnd speaking of books, the James Beard winners for media have been announced on April 26th.  In the beverage category, Wine Folly: Magnum Edition: The Master Guide by Madeline Puckette and Justin Hammack. It was a little strange because it was not among the three books I saw listed as the best 3 beverage books of 2019. Those finalists I saw were Apéritif: Cocktail Hour the French Way, The Aviary Cocktail Book, and Cocktail Codex: Fundamentals, Formulas, Evolutions.

Z is the 26th letter and day in the A to Z challenge.  Yay! I have finished the challenge.

Book text links and images to Amazon. Amazon disclosure: “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.” Your price remains the same.

Roundup of last week’s Tummy Tuesday (4/23/19-4/29/19) :

Ladylee Manila Blog's photos of breakfast
Lady Manila: Breakfast, food photos
Slice of Mexico's photos of Mexican Style Rice
Irene: Mexican Style Rice – A Popular Side and Staple, recipe
Cactus Catz: Thug Kitchen 101, cookbook review

 

This week’s Tummy Tuesday (4/30/19-5/6/19):

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Amazon disclosure: “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”

9 Replies to “Tummy Tuesday : Z is for Zinfindel”

  1. Your pasta and wine combo sounds delicious! Go ahead and make it — perhaps add some Parmesan? Mm.

    Ronel visiting with the A-Z Challenge music and writing: Zigging and Zagging

  2. I must admit I’m not a wine person, but I do like the sound of the Blackstone one with mixed berries, spices & vanilla. The wine tasting you went to sounds good, and it just shows higher prices don’t necessarily mean superior taste! xx

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