Skype Wine Night - November

We may have failed a little in keeping this blog updated. Don't get us wrong, we've been drinking wine, but we just haven't been writing very much. However, there is a new feature we're going to start (at least for a few months or so) where Crymson and Miranda will have a monthly skype wine night. Basically we're trying to catch up and drink some great wine 2,000 miles away.

And as all things necessary in a civilized society there are a few rules:

1) We each drink the same type of wine

2) We each prepare a recipe

3) Guests are both welcome and encouraged

This past weekend we had our first organized Skype date and we decided that we would also try to cross of one of the wines on our 'Wines To Try' list. It's surprisingly harder than you would think to be able to find the same wine to try in Illinois and California. We resorted to the Internet and UPS to be able to help us out. Now the one downside to ordering wine online (if there can even be such a thing) is that the price of shipping can be nearly as much as the bottle of wine. So we'll have to do some good searching to make sure we're both drinking the same wine.

The Details:

Wine - One Hope Winery's Pinot Noir (featured on Drinking for a Cause post)

Amy's Recipe - Brie En Croute

Miranda's Recipe - Apple Crisp with Dried Cranberries

Amy's take: It was a nice wine, a lot lighter than the pinot noirs I'm used to. But the flavors were nice and smooth and sweet. It went down fast. I'd probably give it 4 stars...any other wine would have probably only gotten three but since this was One Hope and it's a charity that ups it. Kinda fun that we ordered the wine too. At least until we noticed the shipping rates. I made baked brie or if you want to get fancy like Paula Deen, Brie En Croute. It was good and super easy to make. It was more than the three of us could handle though, very rich. I'd bake brie again for a bigger group and I think I'd use an unusual jelly to top it instead of the candied pecans.

Miranda's take: I really enjoyed the wine. It was not nearly as dark red as I thought it would be, but it still had a pretty rich taste. So two thumbs up for One Hope. One for donating 1/2 the profits to charity and one for having a yummy pinot. Overall I'd rate it a three star wine.

Now let me just say that my apple crisp is freaking delicious. I accidentally misjudged the recipe and the size of the pan it needed. I thought a pie plate would be enough so I had to make two batches. And I had nearly finished the first batch prior to wine night. Oops! But seriously I give the recipe like 4 stars.

Does anyone else have skype dates? Any suggestions on a good, but readily available wine? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Academy Awards Wine Night

Miranda often credits me on her blog for getting her addicted to things like photography, cooking, and sometimes even wine. Although the wine thing is silly we each got hooked on that together. When she lived in town we had a wine night every week. We'd buy based on label, price, or at one time whether or not the bottle had a real cork.

Well the road goes both ways and she's left her impact on me as well. She's gotten me hooked on Liberty of London scarves and their target collection. She's officially hooked me on West Wing, Six Feet Under, Project Runway, and Brothers and Sisters. And she's gotten me hooked on watching the Academy Awards. Now I'd always been kinda interested and would watch here and there. But the last few years I've found myself seeking out date, times, and channels it will air on. And now I can't watch it w/out watching at least an hour of the red carpet before hand. What makes this event even better is a bottle of wine. This year we are stepping this up a bit and watching it together through skype. It's a cross country wine night with lots of wine and red carpet celebs. I'm super excited about tonight. I have no idea what I'll drink but I went wine shopping so I'd have a selection to choose from.
Do you watch the Academy Awards? Does it involve wine? Are there any events worth cross country skyping to watch together w/ a bestie?