Cheers to You!

A while back, around Halloween maybe, I mentioned our Cheers group, a bunch of friendly, wine-loving folks who get together about once a month to share wine, food and friendship.  I promised to tell the story of how we all came together.  I think it was late in the year 2004, a small wine shop called Carolina Winesellers opened in Lewisville, NC and they specialized in North Carolina wines.  That wasn't all they sold, but it was their primary focus.  This came at a time when, although there were local wineries that had been around for some years, the bulk of the North Carolina wines were just arriving on the scene.  As with most wine regions, it takes a while to get started.  The vines need some maturity  before they produce grapes that make good wine.  We tasted a lot of local wines over the next two years, much of which we found utterly lacking when compared to more mature areas such as Napa, and Europe.  Now, we wanted to support our local wine industry, but  the price point was far above the quality of wine being produced at that time.  That, I am happy to say, is changing.  There are now a number of fine wines being produced around the area. 

Anyway, back to the wine shop.  On most Saturdays there would be a tasting at the wine shop.  The owners are great folks and have become friends,  We would go quite often on Saturday afternoons and hang out around the tasting bar meeting people and talking about wine or whatever else was on our minds.  Unlike most retail shops, occasionally they would host wine dinners, and/or have other entertainment such as live music or movie night.  I think one night they showed Sideways (we'd already seen that, and while we enjoyed it, we didn't feel compelled to see it again).

I guess I should really get to the point.  After about 2 1/2 years they determined that they really weren't "making it".  The shop was essentially breaking even or paying for itself, but not contributing to the family income.  Since they had two boys still in school and were looking at college, they decided to sell the business or close up shop if they found no buyer. They sold wine by the glass and people started gathering there on Friday evenings.  During their last month or so of operation, they decided to have potlucks each Friday night.  Folks would bring appetizers, and buy wine.  We would sit around and get to know each other over wine and food.  Food always brings people together, and add a little wine (or more) since you always got your money's worth at Carolina.

As the days counted down to the close of the shop, we were filled with sadness because we had all come to love the shop and had made friends there.  Memorial weekend in 2007 was the last days of business, and on Memorial Monday, we all got together at the shop for a farewell cookout with hotdogs, hamburgers and everything imaginable to go along side, plus all the wine you could drink (within reason and legal limits of course).  It was on this day that we decided we wanted to stay together as a group.  This was just too good to give up, so we passed around a paper to collect e-mail addresses, and thus our group was born.  I don't know exactly who to credit with giving us our name, but several people remarked that we were like that group on the TV series Cheers.  It stuck!  Our get togethers are referred to Friday Night Cheers, although many times now it's held on Saturdays which is more convenient for some of us.  

Tonight was one of those nights.  Everyone (or couple) brings a bottle of wine and something to eat, either savory or sweet.  It is like the box of chocolates right out of Forrest Gump, because you never know what you're going to get, or who you're going to see.  Not everyone can come every time, but we are die hards and are there pretty much whenever the call goes out.  Tonight there was a selection of dips and crackers, smoked turkey (from Honky Tonk Pig on Jonestown Road), ham, rolls, a broccoli & cheese cornbread, shrimp, chips and salsa, and pecan pie.  I took pecan pie mini muffins that I made from a recipe I found on southernplate.com.  These were a hit, and I brought home an empty plate - always a good sign.  Wine wise, our theme for tonight was Pinot Noir and Gewurtzaminer (is it possible I spelled that correctly?)  There were a lot of Pinots, but I think only one Gewurtz.  There was a tasty Albarino.  Not holding with the theme, but very good nonetheless.  There is no right or wrong at Cheers...it's all good! As always, a good time was had by all, and that is how we came to be.  
Edited to correct spelling - it was a late night!

Thanksgiving Day and the Twice-Baked Turkey

Thanksgiving is a day of feasting, family and friends, and being thankful for all that we have.  It is a day steeped in tradition drawn from years of living, loving and giving.  Although we gather but once a year to celebrate our humble beginnings, we should live every day of the year with an attitude of gratitude.

One of the most memorable, or at least interesting Thanksgivings I can remember was at least 30 years ago.  My aunt, uncle and great aunt came down from New Hampshire as they always did - nothing unusual there. What made it interesting is that this is the Thanksgiving when we cooked the turkey two or three times.  Yeah, not the greatest plan I know, but it was a big turkey, probably 20 lbs. or so.  I don't know why we needed a turkey that big for six people.  However, when we were ready to dive into the feast, all the sides were hot and ready, and everyone was salivating over the thought of a scrumptious plate piled high with stuffing, mashed potatoes and all the other goodies that make this day different from the other 364 days of the year, the star of the show, Tom Turkey wasn't.  Parts of his parts were still undercooked.  Now what did we do with everyone waiting...we ate, of course.

We sliced off what was cooked and safe to eat, and put the rest back into the oven to cook for the next round of feasting.  Now I don't suggest using this method of preparation but it all worked out, and no one got sick.  I think that the third cooking involved the walkers and flappers (legs, thighs and wings) as the dark meat takes longer to cook.  Did I mention that this was a really big bird?

I'd love to hear your about your Thanksgiving adventures or traditions.  Please feel free to share.

Wine Lover's Club Monthly Meeting

Do any of you drink wine?  Maybe you enjoy a glass with dinner or like to share a special bottle (or several) with friends.  If you do, then maybe you'd enjoy being part of the American Wine Society by way of a local group of like-minded, friendly, wine loving folks known as the Wine Lover's Club.  We started out as the Lewisville Wine Society with meetings held at the former Carolina Winesellers shop in Lewisville.  We were soon the largest chapter in NC with 40+ members, although our numbers have diminished somewhat in part due to economic times and personal circumstances.  We would love to have you join us for a meeting to see what we're all about, and how much fun we have (you are allowed 3 visits before becoming members).

Here is a little about what went on tonight.  Since it is the week before Thanksgiving, we had the traditional turkey, stuffing and several versions of cranberry salad (made with cranberries, apples and other goodies), which I thought of as dessert since it was sweet.  The official dessert was raspberry brownies.  We were served 4 pinot noirs from California, Oregon and New York.  The objective was to taste each wine with each type of food and determine which we thought paired well.  That is not my strong suit, so I pretty much just enjoyed the food, wine and camaraderie.  I don't know, maybe my palate is just not as fine-tuned as a lot of folks.  I will say that I enjoyed 3 out of 4 wines and thought they went well enough with the food with the exception of the brownie.  I just don't care for a dry red wine with chocolate in most cases. 

In light of the fact that we had hot, tasty food to enjoy, we held the meeting in reverse in that we had our food and wine before attending to business.

Meeting information:
We meet on the third Tuesday of each month at Sociale located at 380 Knollwood Street, Winston-Salem, NC at 7:00 p.m. [update:  this location information no longer valid]

Quote of the Week

I decided I wanted to blog because I thought I had something worth sharing. However, you are only sharing if people are reading. 

Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. 

- Cyril Connolly

I suppose this sums up my writing up to this point.  An audience must be earned, so I'll continue to post whatever moves me at the moment and see where it leads me.

Saturday in the Park

Yesterday friends and family gathered at Tanglewood Park to celebrate a birthday.  The birthday boy was a whopping 6 years old.  It was a beautiful day considering it is the middle of November, and we were just out of a mini-monsoon season courtesy of Ida.  Birthday-boy's Dad made a wonderful devil's food cake with homemade praline & chocolate icings.  It was rich and wonderful and oh so filling.  It hit the spot and was sure to cure any sweet tooth for miles around.  He claims not to be a cook, but you know when he's in the kitchen there will be something delicious on the table.  BDB's Mom made him a round brownie color wheel cake.  BDB doesn't eat just anything...

We were the only ones not directly related to BDB.  Others there were his grandparents (Dad's side), his other grandfather, his aunt, uncle and two cousins, Mom, Dad and older brother. We watched him open his presents, and play with a radio-controlled car that belonged to his grandfather.  After everyone had had their fill of cake, soda and playtime, we packed up the stuff, and toddled off for a walk to look at the Christmas lights.  I'd never seen the lights at Tanglewood before.  After breaking off and going in separate directions, we all eventually met back up at the cars.  By that time it had gotten dark, and the lights were really pretty.  We made a slow drive out enjoying the scenery.  We decided to forego the pizza we had planned for dinner in favor of a quick dinner out at a Mexican restaurant in Clemmons.  We hadn't eaten at Cozumel in years, but we used to like it a lot. We split a 3-enchilada plate with extra rice and beans.

Not to worry that we were deprived, however we had the pizza tonight. Yum!