Virtual Wine Tasting Event Part Deux

Continuing w/ fave, cheap white wines…

Tres Pinons San Luis Obispo 2009 – $6.49 This is another Trader Joe’s fave. It comes and goes and when I ask if they’re getting more, they look mysterious. Odd. It’s also a Torrontes blend. If you find it, buy a bunch. Remember your 10% case discount.

Elsa Bianchi Torrontes 2009 – $9.99 I know, I’m on a Torrontes kick. A bit more than I usually spend, but worth it.

Someone else needs to report in w/ their faves. We need to share our finds!

Well, I think an hour for a virtual happy hour is plenty of time. Please share your wine finds in comments and we’ll try this again soon!

Virtual Wine Tasting Event!

Hey, it’s happy hour, right? Or maybe just “less than morbidly depressed” hour. But whatever/whoever you are, welcome to our virtual cheap wine tasting event. Although this is a Single People’s Grocery Lists blog, all are welcome, especially to drink and report on cheap, good wines.

A couple disclaimers and thoughts:

1. I’m not a pro, I just buy and drink at amateur status.
2. Also, we don’t judge here (kind of like AA only a wee bit more fun) – if you like White Zinfandel and/or box wines, more power to you! I have wine-snobbish pals who have turned up their noses at a nice dry rose (that’s ro-say, but I don’t know where the accent thing-y is.) Hey, their loss!
3. If you go to a wine store or wine dept. and they treat you like an idiot, leave and find a friendly wine person who is willing to educate you.
4. Drink responsibly – no driving, texting, rotating tires or heavy-duty childcare whilst imbibing.
5. Enjoy!

I’ll start w/ some of my faves:

Reds

I’m partial right now to Spanish and Argentine reds. What’s nice is that the prices so far are reasonable.

These are OH prices, so I have no idea if you’ll find these wines OR what the prices will be in your area.

Baguala Malbec 2008 Valles Calcharquies — $6.99 I LOVE this wine. In fact, I’ve ordered about 6 cases of it.  NOT ALL AT ONCE, OK!
Marques De Montana Garnacha – $6.99 You’ve probably had Grenache by itself or in a blend of table red.
Di Majo Norante Sangiovese – $9.99 OK, I know that’s a heady price, but this is a great wine. It’s Italian and try any Sangiovese you can get your hands on. Sometimes a blend, too.
Condesa De Sarabella – $7.49 For some reason I started calling this Spanish red “Condoleezza” and that was before what’s-his-name had the hots for her. Nicely balanced. Not amazing, but good.

These are all wines I found at Trader Joe’s. If God hasn’t blessed you w/ a Trader Joe’s, start a petition.

On to whites after I sign onto the lappie down near the wine fridge. For convenience of course…

Whites

I should have said in the disclaimer portion that I’m really not much of an American wine fan, at least not CA wines. And I am in the ABC club (Anything But Chardonnay). I like different white varietals like Gruner Veltliner. I promise you if you go to work tomorrow and say you tried one last night, they will think you went to a crazy, underground Austrian after-hours club.

Rene Barbier Mediterranean White – Catalunya – $4.99 I know! This is a go-to summer fave. White Spanish blend.

Tierra De Luna Torrontes/Chard blend -$6.99 I know what I said about Chards, but this is an Argentine blend. You may not find it, but I’ve ordered a couple cases of it. Torrontes is an Argentine grape. You’ll see more of this, I’m sure. Yum!

I’m going  to post this now and continue w/ whites in Part Deux. Ewww, did that remind you of Charlie Sheen? Ick.

September Vogue and Cheap Granola

Here’s yesterday’s list. Not terribly exciting since I’m not having people over this weekend. That means maybe eating popcorn and peaches for several meals. It’s what we single people do…

• September Vogue – I actually used to subscribe, but I’m really not a Vogue chick. I still buy the giant Sept. issue, though.
• Granola – I’m trying to stay on budget and granola isn’t cheap. But I did manage to find some that doesn’t look like shredded styrofoam and bird droppings.
• Cat food – his appetite’s off a bit, so he gets a wide variety this week
• Baby food – ditto
• 3 bottles of white wine – @ $4.99 each. Yes, it’s possible to find good, CHEAP wine. Speaking of – Don’t forget the Single People’s Grocery Lists Wine Tasting Event on Wed., Aug. 31st at 6:00 p.m.
• Fat Free Half & Half – yes, I’m aware I’m kidding myself…
• New York Extra Sharp Cheddar – I love the Vermont one, too, but Giant Beagle doesn’t carry it in cheap block form.

Did you notice that there’s very little edible stuff, at least for me, on the list? How does that happen? I meant to buy food. Really.

The Rules – Loose as They Are…

I feel the need to reiterate the SinglePeoplesGroceryLists (SPGL? A pal suggested that looks like a sports team) rules which we very loosely enforce, if at all.

But there appears to be some confusion amongst “The Marrieds” about what they’re allowed to do on here.  I could say they might be confused on more than one level, but that sounds judgmental and we never judge or at least not often.

The Rules, Such as They Are

• Only single peeps can submit their grocery lists.

That’s it. The only rule. The Marrieds can subscribe, comment, act up, protest, rat out their SO or just hang out. So join in, don’t be shy.

Great Birthday Bash – Anyone up for 3 lbs. of Smoked Whitefish ?

Happy to report my cat’s birthday bash was a success. Good food, great friends, lots of laughs and kitty even got a cigar for his 16th. Full of catnip.

Since my grocery lists aren’t always as tantalizing as I’d like, sometimes I’ll simply share the minutiae of my life. My blog – my minutiae. Speaking of – I always have to look up the spelling of that word – it’s a tricky one.

But let’s not stray too far from food or wine.  Here’s the partay food list, some brought by pals, some provided by me:

• Sicilian Pistachio Spread – OMG, pistachios, orange peel, GARLIC and olive oil never tasted so good.
• Smoked Whitefish Salad – I got this at Costco. I know! It’s amazing stuff. The problem is, as all you singles know, can one person really eat 11 lbs. of smoked whitefish salad? Well, I’m so addicted, I’ve eaten it for three days and not even made a dent.
• Whole Food’s Homemade Tortilla Chips – OMG. Trust me – addicting.
• Grilled Pork Tenderloins  – I marinated these bad boys in balsamic, soy, a lemon, garlic and ginger honey, olive oil and sage leaves. Then grilled them over real lump hardwood charcoal.
• Bean Salad (Cowboy Caviar?) – Wonderful stuff!
• Coleslaw – The vinegar kind that’s my fave.
• Peach/Raspberry Crisp w/ Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream – One of my specialties.
• Assorted Wines – Including Prosecco ( less snooty than Champagne, but a nice bubbly)

Do I have some great foodie friends or what?!

The laxative is for my cat. Really.

By now you know how much my single person grocery list reflects what my cat needs/wants. But when I put the generic Miralax on the checkout belt, I didn’t feel the need to say it was for my cat. TMI, right?

Other items on the list:

• 9 Volt batteries (for the next time the smoke alarm has a psychotic episode)
• hot sesame chili oil 
• fat-free half n half ( to put in my coffee when I have that peach/raspberry crisp w/ homemade vanilla ice cream. It’s all about balance.)
• soda w/ caffeine (for when I want to perk up and stay awake past 8 p.m.)
• cat food (doing a seafood medley this week)
• beer (I’m usually a wine girl, but having peeps over for the cat’s birthday party. See above.)

I need YOUR lists, people! I know you have good ones and now you can submit on the “Submit Your Grocery Lists” page. Easy. Do it.

 

I don’t get that “fruit on the bottom” yogurt thing.

I have a thing for Greek yogurt. Not the same kind of thing I have for Jeni’s Salty Caramel ice cream, but if I have to eat yogurt, it’s Greek. Originally, that was because you could find Greek yogurt without sugar and stuff I don’t want. Like FRUIT ON THE BOTTOM!

Okay, explain the appeal of that. “Oh wow, there’s fruit on the bottom that I get to stir into my yogurt! It must be fresh if it’s not all smooshed in already. It’s like I’m making it from scratch!”

I bought some by mistake when I picked up a brand I call (Kurt) “Cobain” because that’s what the spelling looked like. That’s probably TMI about my yogurt preferences, but I have to believe I’m not the only one with strong feelings about that “fruit on the bottom” thing!

Today’s list:

• stuff for peach crisp (Barefoot Contessa rocks!)
• cat litter (is anyone else bothered by those two things so close on the list?)
• 9 Volt battery
• fake butter
• white wine (for cat’s birthday party – he likes a fruity, but dry, white.)
• heavy cream (cancelled out by fake butter above)

If it’s not too personal, please let me know your feelings about the fruit-on-the- bottom issue.

Baby food is not “cat crystal meth…”

Here’s today’s list and a few “off-list” items –

• baby food – For the cat, as you know if you read this blog. (Here’s a note to self – when talking to a woman who is also shopping for her finicky cat, DON’T tell her that “Baby food is like cat crystal meth – my old guy loves it!”)
• fruit
• Jarlsberg dip – Which I have to ask the deli lady to split into a smaller container because I’M SINGLE AND CAN’T EAT IT ALL MYSELF. BTW, Jarlsberg dip IS crystal meth in a tasty form.
• cat food
• baking soda

Not on the list, but critical to purchase –

• puffy top lemon cookies – Really, that’s what they’re called. I suspect it’s a correlation between the cookie and what occurs over the waistline of women of a certain age.
• olive bar olives – See note re: Jarlsberg dip and illicit drugs.

See how fun it would be if you submitted YOUR grocery list and I could analyze it and do commentary?

Wow, the winos unite and “the marrieds” are coming!

I had such a great response to the announcement of my first Special SPGL event – Single People’s Grocery Lists Wine Tasting Event! As I noted, I don’t know if it’s because I know so many winos or that people are actually finding this blog. I’ll have to put my social media marketing team on that one, if they can stay sober.

But I’m afraid that because of unforeseen pressure from the marrieds, I’m going to allow them to attend. Typically, they assume we singles are having all the fun and don’t want to miss out. Yeah, I go clubbing every night. As long as I can have the jammies on by 8 p.m., party on.

So, I’m opening up our event to the marrieds. Maybe with their combined incomes they can afford a $10 bottle of wine?

P.S. I must thank Q for inspiring this event. She’s a married, but I don’t hold that against her.

Single People’s Wine Tasting

Since no one wanted to enter my fab wine-centric grocery recycle tote bag contest, I feel the need to do something bigger to drum up interest. So, here’s the plan:

SINGLE PEOPLE’S CHEAP, BUT REALLY GOOD WINE TASTING EVENT

WED., AUG. 31

6:00 P.M.

I know from my own and your shopping lists that they lean heavily towards popcorn, granola bars, cheese and WINE.

I’m picky about my wine and I do know a fair amount about wines. But I also don’t want to pay more than $10 a bottle, preferably less than $8. Remember, I still have to buy cheese and cat food.

So, let’s all meet here on Wed., Aug. 31, open our fave cheap, but really good wine and share notes, thoughts, etc. in comments (no high-tech crap like Webinars happening here, buddy). What a great way to find out about new, fun wines, right? And you don’t  have to take a shower or mingle with annoying people who use words like “floral” or “chewy” to describe wines.

Hey, you’ll come, won’t you?