Smoking Hot Chef

There's a new Chef in town... and he's easy on the eyes.

(Okay, he's my husband)

Check out his new blog here.

It's really good. I promise.

Two Thumbs Up For $2.99 Wine

About a month ago, several Aldi stores opened in the Tampa Bay area. The last time I was at an Aldi's was in college. The chain prides itself on very low prices, with streamline operations with cashiers, but no baggers because customers must bring their own bags or boxes. Getting a cart at the store requires a quarter deposit to encourage shoppers to return them to corrals.

Tim and I stopped by after looking at some very interesting foreclosed homes. This includes one in a rather shady neighborhood. Hoodlums had kicked in the door several times and left spray paint messages. We spotted a few crack pipes inside and someone had actually left their weave on the front steps. Seriously?

Anyways, on the way back home we stopped at Aldi. Along with lunch meat, bread, chocolate eclairs, and flour we spotted Winking Owl brand wine. I'd never heard of it before but it cost $2.99 a bottle. I picked up merlot and shiraz. The merlot is good. It doesn't taste like typical cheap vino. Winking Owl honestly tasted as good as $25-$35 bottles I've had in the past few months. Tim thought it was better than the $5.99 wine we also bought at Aldi.

I'm excited to try the shiraz, and the cabernet sauvignon, which the store did not have while we were there. In other good news, another new Aldi store opened up even closer to my apartment!

Unwinding on a Tuesday Night

Red wine. It's become my new friend. My vice. I love the savory, salty, sometimes spicy taste of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and shiraz. It rolls over my tongue like a warm comfortable embrace. Finally, I've gotten to the point where I can have two glasses and not tip over. Maybe I'm actually becoming less of a light weight.

It's the perfect way to start off the evening after work. This week I've been getting home around 5:15 instead of 7. Today was a bit tense at certain points, so on my lunch break I went grocery shopping. Beringer's wine was on sale for $7.99 a bottle. Since I've had decent luck with the zinfandel, I decided to go for two bottles. (In my journey to Publix I also picked up Gouda cheese, milk, eggs, sushi, soda, juice, thinly sliced chicken breast and pita bread)

And I had a glass of wine with a microwaved hot dog. Now that is the art of sophistication. It is technically a red meat after all. To match the entertainment to the meal, I watched the latest episode of In Plain Sight on hulu.com. Yes... on my computer.

Very fittingly, I produce wine television segments called Wine 101. It's hosted by one of our head honchos and a man who owns a local liquor store. In fact, I've seen both of them recently. The store has the best prices imaginable and a great selection. The owner has never steered me wrong on what to purchase. He's extremely nice. Just remember that 2005 was possibly the best year ever for wine.

The weird thing is -- I'm not much of a grape fan.