Texas BBQ at the Wade's

My mouth was watering in anticipation of this one, and I wasn't disappointed. But first we had to be properly welcomed to the Wade Family Ranch by their 4 year old granddaughter, Mina. She had us sign in on her Frozen magnetic drawing board, then she escorted us outside to the "dining area."

They had called for a Red Wine Blend so I dragged one from the cellar from the cabin :)

Rustic Cheese Board with Assorted Crackers
Texas Sweet Tea (This was a cool idea of putting the tea in mason jars with the lids on, in a bucket of ice... clever)

DWs Texas Smoked Brisket

Mom's Potato Salad

Southern Coleslaw with Granny Smith Apples

Mom's Best Baked Beans

Sweet Corn Bread

Sloughhouse Corn-on-the-Cob

Ol' Fashioned Peach Cobbler A La Mode with Haagen Daz Vanilla Ice Cream

The Shetler's won with a bottle of One Armed Man  The Wades came in second with their favorite wine, Stephanie. We trailed in last with Hatcher Meritage. That tells you how good the wine was if a Hatcher came in last!

Dinner at the Shetler's

This time we experienced "Food on a Stick". Mark got a new barbecue for his birthday, so of course the men had to inspect it.

We started with assorted cheeses: Fontina, smoked chili Cheddar and Havarti on pretzel sticks.

Assorted Italian meats wrapped with creamy cheese around bread-sticks.

Greek Sticks: Kalamata olives, Jerusalem feta & marinated mushrooms.

Spinach and lobster ravioli on a stick.

Grilled shrimp on a skewer.

Meatballs on a stick.

Seasoned corn on a stick.

Grilled veggies & potatoes on skewers.

Sundried tomato chicken sausage & Andouille chicken sausage corn dogs with dipping sauces.

Frozen yogurt-covered blueberries on a stick.

Apple slice on a stick with salted caramel dipping sauce.

Cheesecake with chocolate ganache on a stick.

The numbers represent the carafes not the winning order

They asked us to bring a Tempranillo which turned out to be a difficult wine for the huge variety of flavors we experienced. Of course the Shetlers won with their 2011 Hatcher Tempranillo out of Calavaras County. The Wades came in second with a 2005 Prado Enea Muga Rioja from Spain. We came in dead last (not bitter am I?) with a 2003 Parador from Napa.

Mexican Fiesta

It was our turn to host the Wine Tribe Dinner, so I pondered long and hard, and decided to fall back on food from our last vacation . . . Playa Del Carmen. I came up with three tacos I’d had in various parts of Mexico; a Basil Shrimp Taco, a Chicken Fajita Taco and a Pork Carnita Taco.

For our wine competition we had the idea to have them blend their own from at least two different bottles. It was harder than you’d think!

Appetizer:

I started with a California-Mexican favorite; Guacamole and Tortilla Chips.

Next I did an “every town in Mexico” favorite; Mango, Papaya, and Cantaloupe sprinkled with Chili Powder.

Salad:

The salad is popular along the border (I purchased from the local Mexican tienda); Spicy Pickled Veggies. A must at any taquería.  

Dinner:

No photo of my favorite . . . the Caribbean Coast classic; Shrimp Tacos with fresh basil and sliced endive.

Another general all-over-Mexico taco; Fajita spiced Chicken, sliced Peppers Duros, and melted cheese.

For the last taco I went to central Mexico; The classic Pork Carnitas with an added twist of chunks of Butternut Squash.

Dessert:

Dessert was simple with different bars of Dark Chocolate, the most unusual being the Tabasco Dark Chocolate. It was very good actually. World Market carries it.

Wine:

Dan and Denise took home the coveted medallion. They combined Crankcase with Bella Piazza Reserve Port.

We came in second with a purposefully odd combo of Apothic Red with a bit of Hatcher Voignier.

Mark and Melissa mixed two Bjorn wines; Barbera, and a Zinfandel Reserva.

The next day we went wine tasting and met the new puppy at Hatcher Winery. That evening we all chipped in and chowed on pasta salad, corn soufflé, and BBQ pork ribs, followed by poor man’s strawberry short cake. The wine didn’t go to waste J