New URL

http://erinblog2.blogspot.com/

That's the place to go for my new and improved blog. Say Goodbye to I'm a Food Blogger and Hello to I'm a Blogger!

More Walmart Wine

Ahhhh, $3 wine. I wanted some wine tonight, but didn't want to open one of my decent bottles, so I stopped by Walmart and thought I'd try more cheap wine, just to see what it's like. I almost laughed when I saw they had a line of $3.97 wines that included a Malbec, which is a wine I usually very much love. So, how is the cheapest Malbec in the world? Well, it's not great. Will probably not finish the bottle, but probably will finish the glass. I mean, I've had worse glasses of wine.

Oh yeah, but not only was it cheap, but it has a cute label. Two signs that the wine may be less than tasty.

Put Your Hands in the Air

Hey! It's Friday morning! Today's plan: work for many hours, stop by the gym, come home and pack to go back to Illinois for the weekend. I'm going back to pack my stuff for moving into the duplex next month.

Right now on the local Fox morning news they're talking to this French hairstylist with a heavy accent, and the female anchor is just swooning. Entertaining.

Anyway, I am taking my camera this weekend. We want to go to that winery that was closed last weekend, play tennis, and maybe go back to our favorite pizza place. Otherwise, I'm really going to try hard to stay focused and pack. I tend to be a major procrastinator when it comes to this type of thing, so I really hope I can just get it done.

Speaking of Old...

Y'all, I'm having an experience I really shouldn't be having at my tender age. I'm 336 pages into this stupid novel I'm reading, and I can't recall if I've read this book before. This book was first published in 2008, so if I've already read it, it couldn't have been too long ago, even. Everytime some big thing happens in the story it kinda seems familiar, but I don't know what's going to happen next, but I kinda feel like after I finish the book I'll be like, 'oh yeah... NOW I remember this book!'

I guess it doesn't matter so much if I've read it before, I like to re-read books, but the fact I have no idea at page 336 is a bit of a nuisance.

Also, storms!!

Old Timey Photo

And look at this! It's me and Phil circa a long time ago. You can tell because, well, you can just tell it's from about a decade ago. Obviously we are at Henry's.

So Ill

Henry and I went back to southern Illinois for Easter weekend, and Henry liked it so much he stayed. We (by this I mean Phil and I) decided it was better for Hen to live with Phil for now, since he's got the big fenced in yard. I quite miss the little dog, but I know he's happier and more relaxed where he is. When I move next month Hen will come back then. So, 'till then, it's just quiet and a bit weird here at this sublet. I will probably not do a three month sublet again.

Anyway, I'm here to blog about the great So Ill weekend. Phil's mom and stepdad came for the weekend, and it was very beautiful and sunny and warm. Phil's mom brought pickled eggs (is that what they're called?) so Phil and I had pickled deviled eggs for lunch Sunday.


After lunch we went out to the last couple of wineries we'd never visited. The first one we went to was rustic and set back off the road and was so gorgeous... too bad they were closed for Easter-- I really wanted to sit on this porch and drink in the sun.


Luckily there's no shortage of decks along the Shawnee Hills wine trail; we ended up at one of one of the larger wineries, Von Jacob. I had a mediocre glass of Chardonel and Phil had a water. It was a lovely, though very windy, day.



We went back home and grilled some delicious ribeyes and a ton of veggies. We had a foil packet of potatoes, onions, and carrots, a foil packet of Indian-spiced sweet potatoes, and a foil packet of bell peppers and mushrooms. Phil'd got a bottle of wine on our wine trail trip that afternoon, so we had a nice local bottle of some red, Chambourcin? Chancellor? I don't remember. Next trip back to So Ill I'll try to remember to bring my real camera, so I won't have to rely on my cell phone. These pics don't look too too bad though, I guess. But here, I'm moving my camera to a clearly visible spot right now.

Oh, the crappiest thing that happened today: I was nuking a bowl of soup at work and when I went to take the soup out of the mike I somehow spilled it all over the inside of the microwave, under the microwave, on the shelf the mike sits on, the counter below, the floor, my clothes... that was, um, frustrating.

The best thing that happened today was that when I got on the elliptical at the gym a good episode of the Office was just starting on TBS, so I got to watch that.

Warning: Blogging May Be Hazardous to Your Health

I'm typing this entry one-handed, because I have what I believe to be a wicked case of tendonitis in my left wrist. I think part of why I'm in such pain is my stupid laptop. I put my wrist in a bit of a weird position to use that little mousepad, and that coupled with recent employment that requires frequent mousing and typing is too much for my little wrist to handle, I guess. I'm seeing an orthopedic doc in a couple of weeks (after that all-important insurance kicks in), at which time my theory may be shot to hell, but I don't really care... I just need relief! FYI: The hardest things to do with my non-dominant hand: teeth brushing and using a knife.

Phil recommended I drink plenty of wine to help the pain. It can't hurt!

Pizza Sauce

I was at my dad's the other week and they had just finished roasting the ingredients for the homemade pizza sauce they use for their Friday night pizzas. It smelled incredible, and I will be making this as soon as I get my own kitchen and kitchen things.

4 lb. quartered roma tomatoes

1 c. chopped onion

4 cloves garlic

2 t. salt

1 t. red pepper flakes

1 t. sugar

1/2 c. olive oil

1/2 c. fresh basil

Preheat oven to 450. Combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, salt, red pepper, and sugar in a baking casserole dish. Toss with olive oil, roast for 40 minutes, 'till tomatoes have softened. Remove from oven, mash with masher, immersion blender, or stick in a food processor, depending on preference. Stir in basil. Use or freeze.

What Happens When a Bunch of Wallaces Get Together?

Three guesses.

Like you need the other two...

Cousin Annie was in town last weekend, so the Indianapolis branch of the Wallace family met at Easley Winery downtown. We tasted many of their wines then took a tour of their little operation. They produce a lot of wines, but their space is remarkably small.

After the winery, Annie and I made fish tacos, beans and rice, and sauteed asparagus for Aunt Sandy and Uncle Phil, but you'll just have to take my word for it, as no photographs exist.

Clean Dog

Henry is not a fan of baths, therefore I do not really enjoy bathing him. He stands there in the tub shaking, afraid to move... it makes me feel bad to put him through such an ordeal. To reward him for a job well done, he got a new toy today.

Henry also does not love to be photographed.