Bonjour dear friends! How I have missed you all! I have been a busy busy bee the past few weeks. First June flew by, now August is already here?!! What happened to the dog days of summer? Okay, I am going to stop dwelling on it because thinking about how quickly summer is flying by only makes me depressed. Let’s focus instead on the fun things that have caused the last month to zoom by.
Like a night at the Global Wine Pavillion downtown during CherryFest.
It was Greek Night! Upon entry to the tent, everyone received a sample of either a greek red or white. I went with the white. It was….just okay.
The Global Wine Pavillion was arranged in a U-Shape, with each booth representing a different region/country. My first stop was South Australia!
Yum! Juicy & Fruity…just a tad dry. The kind of red that would be excellent slightly chilled!
Mucho tasting then ensued….sometimes double fisted, because….why not!? 
Hands down, this was my favorite of the night!
Time to test out some of the food being offered. We were drawn immediately to the pulled pork tacos by a restaurant I have been DYING to check out- The Cooks House.
Seriously….these were OUT OF CONTROL. SO fresh, so well seasoned, so juicy….AHH! Niki and I were licking every last morsel from the plates, our fingers, our hands. This place is ranked number 1 on my to-do list now!
We toasted to a beautiful evening, enjoyed some pear hard cider, and watched the beautiful sunset. A great night 
More weekend fun & good food at The Tuscan Bistro, a long time favorite of mine- unique DELICIOUS food, great wine, good drinks, beautiful setting.
Started with an extra dirty Kettle One martini, up, with gorgonzola olives.
Two shared appetizers- The mussels, done with lots of garlic, white wine, and served with delicious cripy, doughy bread for soaking up the incredible sauce.
And the summer vegetable packets- fresh Bistro made mozzarella, wrapped with grilled vegetables, roasted red peppers, capers & balsamic glaze.
More warm squishy bread with fantastic pesto & a delicious cold white wine- the Ruffino Orvieto Classico Trebbiano. Say that ten times fast.
This past weekend was spent camping out on the lake, celebrating WoodStach 2010- a joint birthday party with a grooooovy theme Serious silliness ensued in the form of bean bag toss (corn hole??), ladder ball (golf ball rodeo??), drinks, bonfires, pig roasts, homemade bounce (fruit infused vodka), puppy play time, handdrawn tattoos and other shenanigans. I feel tired just thinking about it.
Not a lot of cooking going on in my kitchen…hoping that changes soon?? But so MUCH coming up in the next few weeks! More camping this weekend, a concert/wine/food event the weekend after that, CHICAGO for the HLS!!!. Phew. Oh well. I can rest when I am old
