365 + 1

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

today is one year and one day that Ben and I have been married. we made it!!! ;)
we have been so blessed and we look forward to the next 100 more years...

wine: phase II

well, it's a tad overdue but here is the second phase of the wine making process. we started with the grapes we crushed 7 days before (possibly too long...maybe 5 days of fermentation would have worked as the juice is pretty dry) regardless, there was plenty of juice coming out of the grapes!



we pour the grapes in batches into the wine press and turn the handle to press out every last drop of juicy goodness from the grapes.
in total, we got about 15 gallons of liquid from the pressings. we even re-pressed the grapes, which i highly reccommend as that yielded another gallon or so. we poured the liquid into the glass jugs through a sieve to strain out any bits that escaped.







wally helped with the whole thing, supervising from the patio :)

new generation of wine makers...

well kids, with the economy in the slumps still we have resorted to making our own hooch!!
just kidding!!
we are just partaking in one of ben's family traditions...making wine. we started with about 150 pounds of some beautiful cabernet grapes and went to work crushing them to bits to start the fermentation process.





sweeten the pot...





check out our flickr stream for more pics...we are letting the crushed grapes ferment for about 7 days, then the reall work begins with the wine press. stay tuned...for the next step in the wine process!!
peace out

raindrops keep falling on my head...

...Drip drip the trees for all the country round,
And richness rare distills from every bough;
The wind alone it is makes every sound,
Shaking down crystals on the leaves below...
-Henry David Thoreau

yay for the rain in TX!!

some wally...

just some pics of the Wally...enjoy!


a close up...


wally and his girlfriend Mia


oooohhh the sleepy baby!!!!

Dining in Style

i have gotten my wish...we have a fancy schmancy new dining room table. we can now entertain more than 4 people comfortably in our home!! we found the table at a sale, it was considered damaged by the store so we got a heck of a deal. with ben's handiness and some elbow grease

,

the solid teak table has been restored to it's full glory, Wally can attest to that :)



...so once we get chairs come on over!!
ciao

the rise

i have embarked on another adventure....

MAKING BREAD

this is the real deal, the whole kit and kaboodle....not killing the yeast (weird but true), pounding the dough--nicely of course, waiting for it to double, etc., etc.
while it was a great endeavor, time consuming and slightly frustrating...i succeeded and produced 3 loaves of 'crusty italian bread' guaranteed "just like your grandma made" according to my recipe. i didn't take any pics of the dough process but here's how wally and i coped with the stress of whether my bread would turn out or not:



here's a peak at how my loaves turned out...they smelled delicious but i have to work on the actual taste a bit. but i'll be sure to keep trying!