Monthly Archives: April 2019

Wine is divine

I wanted to incorporate wine in my food blog because, well…. wine is divine! Two of my daughters and I absolutely love wine!

My oldest daughter and my husband love good beer… not cheap beer, good beer. They love the local crafted beers and we have plenty of those near here!

The whole family enjoys a good cider now and then. We prefer them on the dry side. Not too sweet.

I will be sharing about all of those things we love, wines, beers and ciders, along with mixed drinks, liquors and even bubbles with you!

I am in no way a connoisseur of wine, I just like to drink it! Nor am I an expert on craft beer and I am not a bartender. I just wanted a way to share the wines and drinks that we love with others and have a way to keep track of them as well!

Today I want to share a wine with you that we have enjoyed for a few years now. My husband and I went to a local restaurant called The Porch for a date night dinner a few years ago. We ordered a bottle of wine at the suggestion of the server. We were NOT disappointed! It was a Townshend Red Blend, T3. Oh WOW! It was incredible!

As soon as we were done with dinner we went directly to the grocery store to purchase another bottle. We were unable to find the same one but found this one. Townshend Vortex Red. It is amazing as well!

Townshend Vortex Red, Red Wine

It is a $15 bottle, which I feel is pretty reasonable, especially given how wonderfully rich and deep and smooth this wine is. We buy it often for a nice dinner on the weekend.

I did just check on Townshend’s website and they are sold out! It is really that good!!

Townshend is a Washington Winery, not far from us, established in 1998. Their tasting room is in Green Bluff. If you are local then you know what that is! It is a huge area of growers of pretty much everything. It is a super fun place to go to pick your own fruits and veggies and pumpkins and even get your Christmas tree! Green Bluff turns pumpkin and apple picking into a party and makes memories that will last forever!

Click here to check out Green Bluff and all the exciting events they have coming up this year!

By the way, Townshend not only grows grapes, they grow Christmas trees too! You could pick out and cut down a Christmas tree and do a little wine tasting before heading home! Sounds like a tradition I could get behind!

Check out their website and all their wines here.

I haven’t been to their tasting room yet but that is going to change this year for sure!

Cheers!

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Best Banana Bread Muffins!

Ahhhhh….It’s Spring in North Idaho, which means sunshine, rain, hail, snow, more rain, and a teensy bit more sun, all in one day! Never a dull moment!

This week has been particularly rainy and dreary so I decided to do a movie day with my daycare littles. While they were occupied with “Angelina Ballerina”, I decided to do a bit of baking!

I had four slightly over-ripe bananas in the fruit bowl so I decided to make banana bread. I got that started and then reached for my loaf pans, but then thought of the beautiful giant mini muffin pan my sister in law gave to me for Christmas!

Giant Mini Muffin Pan…. isn’t that an oxymoron?! It is a beauty though!

Change of plans! I am making banana muffins! I made 60 banana muffins while the kids were lying on the floor in a heap of blankets and pillows, having popcorn and thoroughly enjoying their morning!

What a great way to spend a rainy April morning!



Best Banana Bread (or Muffins) Ever !

Best Banana Bread Ever

Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 min
Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

by Elizabeth

3-4 very ripe bananas
4 eggs
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup broken walnuts or Pecans (opt)
brown sugar
cinnamon
sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
Grease 3 small loaf pans or 2 small loaf pans and a muffin pan, or one giant muffin pan! . Sprinkle the bottom of the pans with brown sugar, sugar and cinnamon.
In a blender, puree bananas, eggs and vanilla. Set aside.
In large bowl, beat shortening and gradually add sugars. Stir in banana mixture. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt blend into batter. Add walnuts if desired. Divide between the prepared pans. Sprinkle the tops with more brown sugar, cinnamon and sugar.
Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Muffins, depending on size will bake 40-50 minutes. Check with toothpick for doneness. Mini Muffins will bake 25-30 minutes. Makes approximately 60 mini muffins.


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