WoW wine of the week

I realize the wine I am about to list is a summer wine, but oh well, label me a procrastinator. Beep grabbed this one at Central Market this summer and we quickly fell in love with it's effervescent citrusy flavor!
I am not sure what I like more, the taste or the bottle. With the simple vertical printed name on the front you peer through the clear liquid to a beautiful painted woman, (plus I have a tough time with names, so the appearance of the bottle is extremely important to me) it is unmistakable.
Drum roll please. . . the wine of the week is . . . New Age. New Age comes from one of Argentina's oldest wineries, founded in 1928 by Italian immigrant, Valentin Bianchi. You can get additional info on this wine from their rep, Quintessential Wine, http://www.quintessentialwines.com. They price it at $9.99, I believe Central Market had it priced at $10, but it could be more, it is Central Market after all. ENJOY! (Summer or not.)

Cabo Review

Sooo . . . as promised here is a quick review and photo story of our trip to La Palmilla. Simply said, it was the trip of a life time. The hotel and grounds were exquisite. It was like being transported to a tropical paradise, 1950's style. From Here to Eternity couldn't hold a candle to the romantic atmosphere of this place.
We were greeted at the airport with cool scented cloths and water by our driver and quickly whisked away to the resort, entertained by a video preview of all La Palmilla's amenities and offerings.
Stepping out of our car we promptly received guava and passion fruit popsicles to enjoy as we were escorted to our accommodations and given a brief tour of the grounds. Our butler was waiting and introduced to us upon entering our room, he courteously described each indulgence our quarters had to offer, from the complimentary tequila with spiced almonds to the daily fruit and appetizer selections. Be it in our room, by the pool or at the hotel's restaurants, I have never been so pampered at any resort.
Cabo was great too, filled our days and nights with food, fun and entertainment and we didn't even hit the water. Places like The Office, Slim's Elbo Room Bar, Cabo Wabo, Squid Roe, and La Golondrina (The Trailer Park) Restaurant are must sees and offer unforgettable experiences. I can't wait for our next visit so we can actually do something besides eat and drink.

Marscapone Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

Here's a yummy fall treat. Honestly, I had some left over ingredients that I needed to use, so I combined two recipes to create this creamy Autumn dessert. You can substitute vanilla wafers or ginger snaps for the crust, but a like the simple graham cracker. The picture is stock from Kraft, I am not a photographer, so when I can steal from someone who is, I do. My motto, "If someone has already done it better, let them."
Crust
1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs
1 T sugar
4 oz. melted butter

Filling
16 oz. cream cheese
12 oz. mascarpone cheese
3/4 C sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 t. ground vanilla
1/4 t. salt
1 C canned pumpkin
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. freshly ground nutmeg
pinch ground ginger
pinch ground clove

Prepare Crust
Mix crumbs and sugar together, add melted butter and pat into a buttered 9 inch spring form pan or a buttered 9x13 square baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool. Meanwhile mix filling.
Prepare Filling
Beat cream cheese and mascarpone cheese, add sugar and beat at medium high speed until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla and salt, mix on low until combined. In a separate bowl combine pumpkin and remaining ingredients. Set aside 1 1/2 C of the vanilla cheesecake and stir the remaining vanilla mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Spoon half of the pumpkin mixture on to the crust, top with spoonfuls of the vanilla mixture. Repeat both layers and swirl with a knife.
Bake at 325 degrees: 25-30 minutes for the 9 inch version and 18-20 minutes for the 9x13 version. The center will still tremble slightly, cool at room temperature then cover and refrigerate 2-4 hours.

Easy Apple Turnovers

Apples could quite possibly be the perfect fruit of the Fall! No wonder Eve was tempted. I should have posted these recipes in October, but in Dallas it just started feeling like Fall. I suppose I am a product of my environment. Smelling the buttery pastry baking is like heaven. A fire in the fireplace, your favorite sweater and warm apples in your belly! YUM YUM
Puff Pastry 1 recipe below, or for the terminally lazy, 2 boxes of
Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets. You can brush finished turnovers with an egg wash and top with large crystal sugar or I like to top them with an almond glaze.
2 Granny Smith apples diced
2 McIntosh apples diced
2 T butter
1 T apple cider vinegar
3 T sugar
1 t cinnamon (Chinese Cassia)
1 tube almond paste


Quick Puff Pastry
1 pound flour
1 pound cold unsalted butter
1/4 ounce salt (dissolve in the water)
8 ounces ice-cold water
Place flour in mixing bowl. Cut the butter, which should be firm, but not hard, into 1 inch pieces. Mix butter & flour on low/med. speed until you have walnut/pea sized lumps. Add water mixture to four mixture and mix only until dough can be handled. There should be lumps of butter. Shape into a square and rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Roll the dough to 1/2 inch thick into a rectangle. Give the dough three 4 fold turns, turning the dough 90 degrees after each fold before rolling back to 1/2 thickness. ( A 4 fold turn means you will fold the outer edges in to meet in the middle, also known as a book fold.)

To assemble the turnovers . . . Saute apples in butter in a skillet over medium heat, 2-3 minutes until they begin to soften. Add vinegar to pan, cook until evaporated, then add the sugar and cook until it dissolves. Remove pan from heat and stir in cinnamon. Set the apples aside to cool, roll out pastry to desired size. I like to cut mine in approximately 3X3 inch squares for a 3 bite turnovers. Pinch off about 1/2 tsp. amount of almond paste to place in the center of each turnover. Prepare a small bowl with water to seal your turnovers. You are ready for assembly. Add cooled apple filling to the center on top of almond paste, dipping your finger in the water bowl, line each edge of turnover with water then fold top left corner to meet the bottom right corner to form a triangle. Press to seal the edges and twist dough to seal or use the end of a fork, pressing edges to seal tightly. You can re-chill finished turnovers and bake, but I like to flash freeze them on the baking sheet and once frozen place them in a freezer zip-top bag to bake on a whim. (I love being able to take a few out of the freezer and bake when ever we want a sweet treat.) Prior to freezing you can brush with water or egg wash and top with sugar if desired.
Bake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, place turnovers straight from the freezer on to a parchment lined baking sheet and bake until golden brown. Approximately 12-15 minutes. If you are baking more than one pan, rotate half way through cooking.

Almond Glaze
1 C powdered sugar
1 T. melted butter
1/2 tsp. almond extract
Warm Water 1 Tablespoon at a time until you reach desired consistency. I always just "eyeball" this part. Add melted butter and extract to sugar, then stir in warm water. Drizzle over warm turnovers.