March Madness - NCAA Team Napkins

Are you into Basketball?  Do you have a favorite NCAA team?  To round out your game-day parties, Sociale has folded napkins for your favorite teams.

Here are a few samples.

Call Donna (336-705-6888) or drop by the shop at 380 Knollwood Street in Winston-Salem.

Wine Lover's Club - March Meeting

The Wine Lover's Club held it's March meeting at Sociale on Tuesday the 16th.  It began on a somber note as we bid a fond but sad farewell to one of our members who passed away rather unexpectedly.  He loved French wine, so we toasted with a Bordeaux after a heartfelt tribute to him and what he meant to all of us.

As with all meetings, we handled the business end of things first, or in this case, second.  We decided on a design to represent our chapter of the American Wine Society going forward, and chose a new e-mail address that reflects our name change.  The minutes were read and the treasurer gave her report.

Now down to the real business of tasting wine!  Tonight's presentation was on Spain, and in particular, Tempranillo.  All wines tasted were 100% tempranillo, and in the $8 - $15 range:

Egruen Tempranillo Vino de la Tierra de Castilla -  2007 $7.99

Ercavio La Mancha Tinto Roble - 2007 $11.99

Venta Mazzaron - around $15

Volver Tempranillo La Mancha - around $13

Paso A Paso Tempranillo La Mancha- 2008 $9.99

I liked all but the first one.  The Egruen seemed a little harsh compared to the rest.  The Ercavio was much smoother and well balanced (my favorite).  The Venta Mazzaron was much more fruit forward with an almost sweet taste.  It was still a dry wine, but the fruit gave it sweetness.  The last two were smooth, easy drinking, but less fruity.  They all paired well with the food.  As you'll see below, we had a lot of different type of food to pair with.

 Here are the wines being opened for tonight's tasting.

Lots of good munchies to go with our wine.

One of our newest members prepared a fruit and dessert platter.  Doesn't that look pretty?

Everyone pitches in to clean up.

Meetings are currently held at 7 p.m. on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at Sociale, on Knollwood Street in Winston-Salem.

Awesome Olives

I first had marinated olives at a party, and I thought they were so good, I just had to find a recipe.  After pouring over dozens of recipes on the internet, this is what I came up with.  They're always a hit.
 
Marinated Olives

1 sm. jar pimento-stuffed olives (5.75 oz.), drained

1 large clove garlic, minced

3 TB olive oil

1 TB red wine vinegar

1 tsp. (scant) dried oregano

1 tsp. (scant) dried thyme
1/3 cup diced feta (approximately)

Mix all ingredients together in a non-reactive bowl with tight fitting lid.  Refrigerate overnight or up to several days to allow flavors to blend, and watch 'em disappear.  

Note:  Bring to room temperature before serving.

St. Patrick's Day

Photo Credit: Puzzler 4879

St. Patrick's day is coming up this week, so let's talk a little about the "green" holiday, and why and how we celebrate.  St. Patrick's Day (March 17) is a Public holiday in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and is widely celebrated in many other areas, but is not an official holiday.  St. Patrick's feast is on the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church - it is a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics, and  usually falls during Lent.  On the occasion that the 17th falls during the Holy Week, it is observed on another day.  The last time this happened was in 2008. 

Now for some history on St. Patrick, whose life we honor and celebrate on this day.  He was born in the 5th century in Roman Britain (the portion of Britain controlled by the Roman Empire).  His father was a deacon in the church as was his grandfather. St. Patrick was kidnapped at 16 and held in Ireland somewhere near the West Coast.  After a time he had a dream in which God told him to escape his captors and return to Britain.  There he joined the church and studied to become a priest.  In 432 he was called to return to Ireland as a bishop to save the Irish.  He died on March 18, 461 AD after 35 years of spreading God's word.  He is held in high esteem as the Champion of Irish Christianity.

Although blue was originally associated with St. Patrick, he used the 3-leafed plant known as a Shamrock  to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish people.  The displaying and wearing of shamrock-inspired objects symbolized this, and green became the color associated with St. Patrick.  This is how the phrase "wearing of the green" came about.  As to the stories of St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland, it is likely that is a metaphor for bringing Christianity to Ireland.

St. Patrick's Day, once only a religious holiday, became a public holiday in 1903.  Law required that all pubs be closed on March 17, (horrors!) and this was not repealed until the 1970s.  The first St. Patrick's Day parade in Ireland was held in Dublin in 1931.  Parades have been held in the U.S. since 1737, when the first one was held in Boston.  St. Patrick's Day remains a religious observation for the Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church.  Traditionally, Irish families would attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon.  The no-meat-during-lent restriction was waived, and people would dance, drink and feast on Irish bacon and cabbage, the traditional Irish fare.

For the rest of the world, Irish or not, it is a reason to celebrate with St. Paddy's Day parties.  Things tend to turn green everywhere.  Chicago has been dyeing its river since 1961.  Savannah dyes its city fountains green, and Indianapolis dyes its main canal green.  There are green beers, green-iced cakes and cookies, and you must always wear green or risk being pinched.  The pinching is actually an American tradition started in the early 1700s, and is not related to either St. Patrick or Ireland.  At the same time that St. Patrick's Day became widely celebrated, it was also thought that wearing green made one invisible to Leprechauns.  This was good because the Leprechauns would pinch everyone they could see.  Pinching, therefore, became a warning and reminder to watch out for Leprechauns.

So, how do you celebrate the "green" holiday?  

Quote of the Week

A blessing for you all in honor of St. Patrick's Day!

May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.

- Irish Blessing