Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Wine Tasting/Dinner Party

Time for another one of our Wine Tasting Parties!  Well, in reality, other than casual conversation about who brought which bottles of wine, these gatherings have really turned into dinner parties preceded by wine and accompanied by more wine…


Our kitchen counter was set up with a couple bottles of red wine to get us started, white wine will go into the big plastic ice bucket, as well as wine glasses for both red and white wines.   


The table was set and the Amish butter was in place.  Our group consists of only 5 couples and one couple was out of town so this was definitely a small intimate gathering.


Larry, (aka Big Dude at http://bigdudesramblings.blogspot.com) and his better half Beverly brought a Gruyere based fondue and a platter of bread squares, vegetables and fruit for dipping.  I ate way too much fondue that’s for sure!  The deviled eggs further up the counter are my wife Laurie’s specialty… Of course I had to have Tabasco to sprinkle on the eggs…


Jill and Paul brought this gorgeous fresh spinach and beet salad with goat cheese and walnuts.  It was a real hit!


Our entrĂ©e was an Irish Beef Stew.  It was something totally new for us to make.  We worked together prepping the meat and vegetables, cooking it slowly the day before our party.  When we doubled the recipe, we probably added a bit more water/liquids than we needed so we did have to add some instant potatoes to the mix to thicken it up a bit.  The finished product was well received by our little group!

We basically followed this recipe from simplyrecipes.com.  One of the keys to the flavor of the finished product was the addition of Guinness Extra Stout. (http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/irish_beef_stew/print/)  


I took this photo of our group of party animals… In the photo from the left are Larry (Big Dude), Beverly, Jill, Paul, Dick, Susan and Laurie.  Note the nice crusty bread with Amish butter that accompanied and complemented the Irish stew.  The bread was purchased at Fresh Market, a great source for fresh bread and rolls.


Following dinner, we all sat around and discussed life, world affairs, future travels and a plethora of other topics.

Then it was time for dessert!


Susan and Dick brought this over-the-top luscious and decadent dessert.  She got the recipe from Martha…Irv’s better half from our absent couple.

I forgot to take a photo of this cake-like creation while it was still in one piece.  Fortunately, we had a leftover slice to take a picture of… This dessert had a lady finger crust and featured a mousse-like cream cheese/cheesecake filling.  It was amazing!  I was completely guilt ridden after eating a slab of it…

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave


5 comments:

  1. Good food and good people make for a fine evening.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Look amazing and delicious David. I love yours tasting parties!
    Love your kitchen too!
    I enjoyed looking the pics ! xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  3. I would hop on the plane just to have that luscious dessert! What a swell party David!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good evening Dave, I had to pop over and visit, when I saw your name was Dave, as that was my father's name.
    What a lovely way to spend an evening sharing a table of food with friends.
    We love fondue in this house. I remember my first fondue was when we visited Germany. When I saw the small pieces of meat and bread I remember thinking that this would not be a very filling meal. How naive was I, because it was very filling.
    Best Wishes.
    Daphne

    ReplyDelete
  5. It looks like a wonderful time, Dave! Lovely photos, thank you so much for sharing!

    ReplyDelete