May 2011

The first book I read for The Kitchen Reader Book Club was Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky, now I love to read and I love food even more so I was really excited about this book club. Combing two passions is a good thing. Thoughts on the book? I felt like I was reading a grad school text book. Now text book does not equal bad, there was plenty that I learned from this book but it was a bit on the dry side. Ok make that a lot on the dry side.

A few facts about salt

Salt was one of the most valuable things

Dinner plates had a small divot for salt at one time

Having salt on the table was a rich man’s luxury

Salt was taxed very heavily

Most of the salt workers were slaves

In the 1800’s Salt was a common gift, it was hard to come by and always appreciated by the recipient

A primary use for salt was preserving meat

The U.S. is the largest producer and consumer of salt

Most of the salt used in the U.S. is for deicing roads (51% of what is produced)

Cooking with salt has become fashionable again, salt crusted fish, pork or chicken. This isn’t much different than what the Chinese did 1,000 years ago

Salt helped impact China, Africa, Europe, India and America. There isn’t much else that impacts our daily life as much as salt did.

Who should read this book? Those who really want an in-depth history of salt.

Would I recommend this a friend? Not unless I knew that they wanted to be the next historian of salt

I will also disclose that I did skim a lot of this book since it was 450 pages about salt Thankfully the next few books look a lot more interesting.

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One last post about local Minnesota wineries, I am out of time to visit anymore over the next few days and most of the short road trip ones have been crossed off the list. Might need to start planning a few day trips to visit the rest of the wineries.

Winehaven is about a 20 minute drive from Saint Croix Vineyards and was having a Barrel Tasting on Saturday. The wine tasting was free and you even got a sample right from the barrel of their Marquette Reserve.

They had a mix of specialty fruit wines, white wines and red wines available. We started with the fruit, moved to white, finished with the red and the special barrel tasting.

Specialty Wines

Raspberry Wine
Loaded with flavor, this wine contains more than one and a half pounds of raspberries per bottle!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Wine
Fresh Minnesota grown strawberries and rhubarb unite to create a wine with the perfect combination of sweetness and tartness.  Like summer in a bottle!

Stinger Honeywine

A smooth, nicely balanced wine with a crisp, delicious finish that boasts a spectacular perfume of honey which is accompanied by an intriguing array of floral scents.

White Wines

La Crescent

Made from the winter-hardy La Crescent grape, this wine delivers delightful fruity aromas and flavors that are true to its Midwestern roots.  A crisp, delicious finish makes the La Crescent an excellent choice with seafood.

Gewürztraminer

Floral aromas blend with pear and pineapple tones to create a pleasant mix of citrus and spice at the finish.  Excellent with Asian cuisine

Slippery Slope® Ice Wine

A delicious luxury borne of patience and snow-covered hillsides. 
This wine is made from frozen grapes harvested by hand during the pre-dawn hours on our vineyard’s Slippery Slope

Red Wines

Chisago

A highly approachable, low-tannin wine that tastes of cherry and plum. Our newest release from the winter-hardy Chisago grape.

Marquette

Known for its attractive deep red color, our Marquette wine contains desirable aromas of cherry, black pepper, spice and berry.

Merlot

This full bodied wine features toasted oak flavors woven together by nuances of black cherry and berry. The long, satisfying finish makes this wine the perfect complement to beef or pasta dishes.

Marechal Foch

This light and refreshing medium-dry red wine contains berry aromas with a subtle oak finish. Excellent with your favorite beef, pork or pasta dishes.

St. Croix

This soft, medium-dry, red wine from the winter-hardy St. Croix grape offers pleasant berry-like fruitiness in the nose and mouth.  A rare find, this wine is an excellent complement to pork, lamb, poultry, or spicy food.

Deer Garden Red

A semi-sweet red wine with bright cherry aromas and flavors.  One of a kind from our patented Chisago grapes grown on the sloping hillsides of Lake Ellen.

Frontenac

A delicious, medium-bodied wine, boasting deep berry flavors and toasty-oak overtones.

Grapewinds® Port

This rich, premium port offers a seductive combination of luscious blackcurrant and cherry flavors culminating in an intense, lingering finish.  Pairs well with dark chocolate and aged cheeses.

It was interesting to talk to the owner and try the Marquette Reserve right from the barrel using a wine thief. It was the wine that I enjoyed the most with a nice full body and noticeable fruit.

We picked up a bottle of the Honeywine, grabbed two glasses and sat down to enjoy some sunshine and relaxation before heading on a hike.

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Long weekends are fantastic but they make me a bit anxious about all the things that I want to pack in over those 3 days. My Memorial Day weekend has involved catching up with friends at a happy hour on Friday, a soreness inducing workout on Saturday morning, grabbing breakfast, going grocery shopping, running errands, visiting 2 wineries, going for a hike, taking hundreds of pictures, a dinner out, house cleaning and it is only mid-afternoon on Sunday!

Saturday afternoon we had a few hours to go check out the fall in Osceola Wisconsin before needing to be back for a 7:30 dinner reservation. There was hiking, lots of photo taking and just enjoying a beautiful day. I had lots of fun playing with setting on the camera to make the water seem choppy, to flowing to almost blurry with smoothness.

Downtown Osceola is pretty small and quant, just one main street but having the falls right there brings in plenty of outdoor enthusiasts.

I couldn’t resist posing with the statue

After the incredibly full day yesterday a bit of relaxation was needed, mostly in the form of 10 hours of sleep. It has been months since I had gotten that much solid good sleep. I felt like a new person this morning! Not getting out of bed until almost 10 am, having a great breakfast of pancakes, fruit salad, yogurt and tea and then doing some house cleaning feels pretty fantastic.

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