First Wine Workshop at Lily's

It is truly amazing the things I am learning over this year of pause

when I let myself just relax and enjoy who I am in this present moment

Here's something;

I love to throw a party

I'm loving it even more now that I get three days to prep for it,

have time to gather flowers from the yard

and haven't served over 200 people lunch two hours prior to the gig

My spring celebration dinner in May was the unveiling of the wall removal between

the two rooms upstairs.  We had just finished the renovation and people 

commented that the acoustics were a bit overwhelming

So I busied myself before this next event

 hanging quilts everywhere and putting a few rugs down

It really seemed to help and I get to look at my quilts!

 

Last night was the kick off of what I hope will become a new pattern at Lily's

Wine experts; Max from Blue Hill Wine Shop, Michael from Vias Imports and Karolyn from Pine State

came together to showcase 18 varietal wines from 10 regions in Italy

I set long tables,  prepared traditional foods, and served the meal family style

24 people tasted, ate and learned as much as they could take

in about wines from Piedmont all the way to Sicily

A bit of the menu: 

Roasted chicken with parsley pesto and rosemary

Pecorino's from Italy via Max's shop connections

Braised greens from Carding Brook Farm

Marinated chic peas with champagne vinegar and red onion

A real hit was my tomato sauce 

You will find the recipe below

And here's my favorite thing to do with the leftovers!

Polenta "fries" made with yesterday's polenta cut into thick fingers, 

pan fried in olive oil until crispy and served

with tomato sauce for dipping

Yummy!

TUSCAN STYLE TOMATO SAUCE

(I made this for a crowd, so you can easily divide the recipe in half for a smaller batch

just use 3 boxes of tomatoes and remember it freezes well)

5 boxes of Pomi chopped tomatoes

2 6oz cans of Muir Glen tomato paste

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

6 large cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 - 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Sea salt to taste

In a large heavy bottomed pot -I like Crueset for this one-

 heat the olive oil over medium heat

Add the onion and garlic and sauté until the garlic becomes fragrant, about 30 seconds

Add the tomato paste and stir with a whisk to combine

Stir in Pomi tomatoes, season with red pepper flakes and salt

Bring to a simmer, turn down heat and cook, stirring very often

until reduced to a nice, thick sauce

This takes a good hour and a half to two hours

Taste occasionally for salt and adjust when necessary

Serve on whatever you choose, or eat it with a spoon!

Enjoy your weekend everyone, and thank you.

Kyra