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The Sokol Blosser family has another new member: Anna Katharine Blosser, born to Nik Blosser and his wife Deborah Kafoury. Anna was born December 30th around 9:30 in the morning. A healthy 8 lbs 5 oz, we're all thrilled to welcome the first third-generation girl into the family. There are now five third-generation children in our family; which one's going to be a winemaker?
Another Christmas has passed and what fills up my home more than anything else? The baked goods, cookies, cinnamon rolls, chex mix, sugar twists, butter cookies, you name it…. I have it. Between the two families that we visit every year, my husband and I often get bogged down with multitudes of goodies. Of course, they are delicious and we enjoy them, but there are only two of us so these goodies tend to have a reverse effect on us. We start to eat cookies more than nutritious meals, gain our holiday weight and miss them entirely too much once they are gone. So, I decided that I would make a nice nutritious meal last night to pair with some Sokol Blosser Pinot Gris.
I got the idea from a place that we stopped at while visiting Lubbock, Texas earlier this month that served breakfast burritos. Hmmm, breakfast burritos and Pinot Gris? Well, that is what I thought at first until I put the two together. The combination of the spicy chicken and buttery potatoes with a little bit of hot pepper sauce and scrambled eggs went perfectly with a citrusy, crisp glass of Pinot Gris.
Once I bit into the tortilla wrapping, I knew it was the perfect alternative to a night of more baked goods. Try out my recipe and see what you think!
Patty’s Breakfast Burritos for Dinner
First, cut 2 large bakers potatoes into 1� cubes then boil in a pot. While they are cooking:
Heat 2 Tbsp. of butter in a large skillet.
Sauté about ¼ cup onions and 1 Tbsp. garlic in the butter.
In a separate bowl, whisk together 4 eggs.
Add to the skillet.
Once the eggs have scrambled, add a dash of “Evolution Cajun seasoning�, a dash of hot pepper sauce, and a little salt and pepper for flavor.
Once your potatoes are nice and soft and you can easily break them with a fork, strain and add them to the skillet.
Stir this together.
Add ½ cup of chicken broth for flavor and to prevent the mixture from sticking.
Stir in ¼ cup salsa, optional
Stir in 3 Tbsp. green chilies, optional
Stir in about 2 cups of shredded chicken. ( I used a pre-cooked chicken that I bought at the grocery store. These are great because there is already some seasoning added.)
Cover and let simmer until proper temperature is reached.
Now, you can serve them on some warm tortillas with some cheese of your choice. I used Havarti. Wrap them up and enjoy!
Having a birthday on Christmas day was always so much fun when I was younger. To me the day was all about my birthday and Christmas was just an added bonus. My parents worked very hard on keeping the two holidays very separate. We would celebrate Christmas in the morning and my birthday in the afternoon – no exceptions. No birthday gifts could be wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper and no gifts were allowed to be both a Christmas and a birthday present. One year I noticed that my brother was receiving gifts on my birthday and so I thought it was only fair that I should get presents on his birthday as well. My parents agreed to this for a few years before it fizzled out, as most whims of small children do.
Over the years celebrating my birthday means less and less to me – as I do not particularly enjoy aging. I find myself more embarrassed than overjoyed with the extra attention I get on this day. So I have declared this year to be my first non-celebratory birthday. I do not want a cake. I do not want gifts. I just want to enjoy Christmas with my 2-year old son and not have it interrupted with the frivolities that birthdays can bring. I want my son to begin his Christmas traditions without having to cut his Christmas short so his mommy can get extra presents.
However, I need to do something to acknowledge my extra year in this world. So I think I will start a new birthday tradition. This year I will buy myself my first bottle of really incredible wine. I will be treating myself to a bottle of Sokol Blosser 2003 Old Vineyard Block Pinot Noir. I plan to save this bottle for 10 years until my next big birthday and then toast myself for the 10 years in between. I’m sure I will have deserved it by then.
In early November, Alex and I spend two glorious days in the November warmth of San Juan, Puerto Rico visiting. There has been an amazing change in the restaurant scene since I lived there in 2000-2001. At that time there were very few fine restaurants and what they offered was pretty standard fare. Now, there is an explosion of adventurous and creative cooking in new (and some old) restaurants all over town -- Trois Cent Onze, Migas, Tropical, Ropa Vieja, Panza (not open yet), Kudeta, Sofia, Parrot Club, among many others. There also is a great expansion of wine offerings and very interesting wine lists with wines from all over the world. So, if you are in San Juan, look for Oregon wine at the major hotels and independent restaurants.
We made a side trip to the nearby island of Vieques and found several wonderful restaurants there, too (Uva, Bili, Media Luna). On Vieques I did one of my all-time favorite things: swimming at night in the warm bioluminescent bay with the folks from Island Adventures. Until recently most of Vieques was not visitable because it was a Navy bombing range. But the Navy has now left and, as they get things cleaned up, more and more places are opening up, especially the pristine beaches. We snorkeled at Red Beach and got a great taste of what must be awaiting at all the other beaches.