Stop your wine-ing!

Greetings from Wine Tasting Central, last night was the "Back by Popular Demand" Wine Tasting Celebration.

Twelve close friends gathered together, sat on pillows, and sipped (or perhaps chugged) 17 bottles of wine. We shared conversations about hopes and dreams, marriages that worked (there was one) and the many that did not. We had more divorces than we had people in the room.

My living room was empty of furniture, not because I have not purchased any living room furniture since the divorce, people please haha :).. nothing higher than one foot off the ground. Glass and mirrors reflect the 12 candles which are in a forest of flowers and other greenery. It is a bonding time where everyone has a role from passing out plates to popping corks on the bottles of wine. (This person was rushed to the hospital for exhaustion, but doing well!)

What did I whip up in my spare time for the menu? Well, The main course was a roasted pepper and apple, chicken salad. Also a chorizo sausage with shrimp. Sides were a plentiful with chips and fresh salsa, tuna/mango won tons with a ginger wasabi sauce, assorted fruits, vegetables and cheeses. Chocolate Cherry bread, Parmesan cheese and jalapeno bread which I got at a bakery in Michigan. There was red pepper roasted hummus, an Italian salami platter with chunk cheese and cucumber bites filled with pimento cheese. For dessert, and probably the hit of the night was the heath bar, marshmallow creme topped brownies. The grilled pineapple in a brown sugar glaze seemed to be a hit too. I also had chocolate cups filled with a pistachio whip.

It ended in a great big surprise where my kitchen was taken hostage by four friends who insisted, even though I tried numerous times to stop the guerrilla approach of taking over my kitchen, washed the dishes. This morning I can not thank them enough. It is truly a blessed day! MMHMM