A fun find

I have started cooking again a bit. Stress seems to wipe out any desire to cook, but lately I have been having fun with it again. Meals have been made, food pics have been taken, no posts have been written. I promise to fix that in the near future. A few of the meals actually turned out quite good.

The reason for my writing today is food related, but not cooking related.

A little over a year ago, after a relationship I quite enjoyed came (sadly) to an end, I decided I needed to focus more on my friends. I always seem to feel that way after a breakup. While I may not have been smart about the dating decisions I made after that, I did make a smart decision by starting what has become a bit of a tradition. Once a month I host a movie night. I cook an entree (usually something big and meaty) and everyone else brings a side dish, dessert, appetizer, etc. It is a big old potluck. I baked my first ham, made chili, created a taco bar...among other themes. A few moths back I added a new element to our monthly gathering: wine. There was usually at least one person who would bring a bottle along. Month after month I would hear people say "I wish I knew more about wine." So why not? Movie Night became Monthly Movies & Wine. I try to pick a theme for each gathering: West Coast Wines, US Wines (not West coast), and College Wines (nothing over $5). It has been fun and interesting. Perhaps not educational yet, but that may change.

Last week I was watching Nightline. Why? I never watch Nightline. It usually depresses me with all of their child predator stories. I teach children all day, that topic just depresses the hell out of me. For whatever reason, the show was on. They featured a segment about a gentleman on the east coast and his web site. Gary Vaynerchuk owns and runs a wine store that his parents started when they moved here from (I believe) Russia. It is now a monstrous wine superstore. About a year or so ago he started video blogging about wine. The result is Wine TV. He is crazy. A huge football fan, he often talks about the Jets and how terrible they are doing. He is not a wine snob, sounds like your average Joe. He presents wine in a way that is entertaining and approachable for the average person. If you want to learn about wine, whether you are a newbie or a seasoned wine connoisseur, this is the place to go. Check it out. Nd if you have any wine suggestions of your own, pass them my way. I am always looking for a good wine to share with friends.