Homemade Dandelion Wine

Ever since I read "Dandelion Wine" by Ray Bradbury long ago, I've been intrigued by the novelty of making wine out of dandelions. Would it taste like summer? Like liquid sunshine? I had forgotten about it until I dined at Creekside Grille - Wilson Creek Winery - Temecula. While reading about the beginnings of the winery, the brochure mentioned that Rosie Wilson, the family matriarch, used to make dandelion and rhubarb wine when they lived in Minnesota. I asked her if she still made dandelion wine. She chuckled and said, "No."

Intrigued nonetheless, after I got back, I Googled for some recipes. Many of which called for a gallon of dandelion petals. A gallon! I don't know where to go for a gallon of dandelions. So I went into the backyard (not the front, which was at the mercy of stray dogs doing their business on my lawn) and gathered a handful of dandelion petals. I plucked the yellow petals, being careful to pick out the green parts. Saved them into a little container in the freezer. Instead of pulling weeds, I cultivated the dandelions that grew in my yard. A flower here and there, maybe a half dozen plucked on a lucky day. For six months, I kept saving and saving until I had a quart of dandelion petals.

After steeping the petals, adding lemon juice and peels, yeast, sugar, and chardonnay, I had the beginnings of dandelion wine. A few weeks of fermentation later, the wine was poured into bottles and left in the back of the pantry to age. Every few months, I'd periodically rack the wine -- pouring it into a fresh bottle and leaving the yeasty residue behind. At six months fermentation I tasted a bit. Nope. At nine months, I uncorked it for my annual holiday party and it tasted slightly grassy, slightly sweet, very reminiscent of the bottle of dandelion wine from Hidden Legend Winery in Victor, Montana that I ordered as a taste comparison. Tasted again at the 10 month mark, chilled in the fridge, and the dandelion wine was even sweeter, pretty close to a moscato, which is my favorite wine.

Making dandelion wine wasn't difficult at all. It just required a lot of patience.

Red, White, and Blue Sangria

With temperatures hovering above 90 degrees for most of the week, I really wasn't in the mood for cooking, much less baking. I debated whether to make something to bring to Johannes' third birthday party, and while blogging the Red (Lingonberry), White (Brie), and Blue(berry) Puff Pastry Mini Tarts I made the previous year, got me thinking about what else I could with patriotic colors. I'd have to run to the store for strawberries and blueberries though and was feeling decidedly lazy. Plus, the party was in the early afternoon; too early to start drinking perhaps? It was just as well I came empty-handed as my cousin ordered quite the Armenian spread.

I couldn't get the thought of a red, white, and blue sangria out of my head so afterward, I stopped at the store to get the needed strawberries and blueberries. My neighbors invited me to a barbecue later that day and a pitcher of sangria was just right for sipping beside the pool.

Of course, you're not limited to strawberries for the red, watermelon or raspberries would work too. I used a pear and an apple for the white. And there's really few other readily available substitutes for blueberries, but if you can get your hands on some huckleberries or salal berries or Oregon grapes, those would work too.

AltaMed's 8th Annual East LA Meets Napa & Beyond (Union Station) - Los Angeles

It's that time of year again for my favorite food and wine event, AltaMed's 8th Annual East LA Meets Napa & Beyond. The "Beyond" is a new addition to the title since the event now encompasses more than just East LA and Napa, but the focus has always been on Latino food and wineries. I wasn't able to make the previous year's event, but did attend the media preview for AltaMed's 7th Annual East LA Meets Napa. The highlight for me was when Chef John Sedlar took small groups of people on the roof of Playa Restaurant to check out his garden.

You can see previous posts of the 4th, 5th, and 6th Annual East LA Meets Napa events since offerings vary each year. With 60+ restaurants and wineries, all included in the ticket price, there is always so much to try. I noticed a lot more wineries this year too.

Dessert first! I couldn't resist the gorgeous display and had to check out Flantastic. I can't remember all the flavors I tried, but they truly were "flantastic"!

Media Preview: AltaMed's 7th Annual East LA Meets Napa - Playa Restaurant - Los Angeles

I was invited to a media preview luncheon at Playa Restaurant in Los Angeles for AltaMed's East LA Meets Napa 7th annual food and wine event. It's my favorite food and wine event, not only does it benefit underserved communities in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, but East LA Meets Napa brings together mostly Mexican, and other Latino restaurants, and wineries. It's a great way to explore regional Mexican cuisine, and even sample pre-Hispanic dishes.

Check out my previous posts of the 4th, 5th, and 6th Annual East LA Meets Napa food and wine events.

Playa Restaurant is owned by John Rivera Sedlar, of Top Chef Masters Season 3 fame who also owns Rivera Restaurant, known for its flower-pressed tortillas. While waiting for the others to arrive, I checked out how the flower tortillas were being made.

Oh My Pan Bakery & Tea - San Gabriel

So, as I was saying, when I went to visit my new nephew, I wanted to bring my sister-in-law something that her parents were unlikely to have brought. Remembering that she likes the black sesame soy milk from VP Tofu - Monterey Park, I figured black sesame cream puffs seemed like just the thing.





My first visit to Oh My Pan Bakery and Tea in San Gabriel was in the late afternoon on New Year's Eve, lil' sis and I went with the oldest '87 and the older '88, since the latter two were skipping out on my brother's party that evening. The oldest '87 said Oh My Pan was her newest favorite tea house, pushing out her previous favorite, Half & Half Tea House - Monterey Park.

Flying Cauldron Butterscotch Beer

Shortly before Halloween, I was contacted by Emily Straubel of Reed's Inc. asking if I'd like to sample its Flying Cauldron Butterscotch Beer. I'm a fan of Reed's Ginger Brew and Virgil's Root Beer, so I eagerly agreed to sample its butterbeer, I mean, butterscotch beer.

While Flying Cauldron Butterscotch Beer isn't affiliated with Harry Potter, there are plenty of allusions. The flyer said, "Taste the magic of a wizard’s buttery, vanilla, cream soda brew. Since 1374, the Flying Cauldron has been making this magical brew for under-aged wizards, and wizards who are young at heart, at their brew pub in Hogsbreath, England."

Not Hogsmeade, but Hogsbreath. Not the Leaky Cauldron, but Flying Cauldron. Not butterbeer, but butterscotch beer.

It's not affiliated with Harry Potter. Got that?

Le Arbre Tea House - Rosemead

Back in March, Tony of SinoSoul and his missus went to check out the mango shaved ice at Le Arbre Tea House in Rosemead. They invited me to join them since the shaved ice will be too big for the two of them to finish. So off I went, looking to find another tea house to replace my usual spot at Tapioca Express Inc. - San Gabriel.

This next photo is pretty hilarious, but if you're easily offended, just bypass it and go down to the third photo.

Half and Half Tea House - Monterey Park

After dinner at Noodle Guy Vietnamese Restaurant - Alhambra my brother wanted to try Half & Half Tea House in Monterey Park because he had heard us talk about it.


Mostly because the tea is fresh-brewed, comes in giant cups, and is cheaper than Tea Station - Alhambra. Those are my and my siblings' pudding tea, passionfruit tea, and milk teas above.

Those are Half & Half Tea House's normal size cups.

Really.

Volcano Tea House - Las Vegas

After lunch at Pho Kim Long Vietnamese Restaurant, we went over to the neighboring strip mall for some boba tea for the road.


My passionfruit green tea, $2.99. So yummy. I saw them put in a huge dollop of passionfruit syrup so it was very passionfruity.

Cook's Tortas - Monterey Park

On my way to meet my cousin's new baby, I decided to grab some sandwiches from Cook's Tortas - Monterey Park to bring to the new parents. I had first visited the restaurant last summer with oldest nephew and lil' sis before we went to see Casablanca at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. I don't know what possessed us to order the sandwich we did because it was so spicy that the three of us couldn't finish it, nor did we enjoy it very much. So Cook's Tortas stayed on the periphery as a place I should revisit at least one more time before I could blog it, but not as a restaurant that I had to eat at again right away.

So a year went by and I decided to try their food booth at AltaMed's 6th Annual East LA Meets Napa event. I liked my sandwich bite and agua fresca (Mexican fresh beverages) so much that I figured it was worth revisiting.

AltaMed's 6th Annual East LA Meets Napa (Union Station) - Los Angeles (Downtown)

After the fun I had during the 4th and the 5th Annual AltaMed East LA Meets Napa event, I was excited to be invited back again by Nerissa of NRS Public Relations. No +1 this time though so I was on my own. Not that that mattered too much since I ran into a dozen LA food bloggers. I told ya, it's a popular event!

And not just with food bloggers as you can tell by the crowd.

Nuoc Mia Vien Tay - Garden Grove (Little Saigon)

Before this past weekend, the last time I was in the area and stopped off at Boulangerie Pierre & Patisserie (Garden Grove) was in February 2010. It was another day of exploring too many Little Saigon eats starting with Ngu Binh Restaurant - Westminster, then Thanh Tam Bakery - Garden Grove (Little Saigon), before grabbing desserts and fresh sugarcane juice for the drive home.


Nuoc Mia Vien Tay in Garden Grove really started the whole fresh squeezed sugarcane movement in Little Saigon long ago. What? You didn't know there could be such a thing as a fresh squeezed sugarcane movement?

Stumptown Coffee Roasters (SE Division St. Original Location) - Portland - Oregon

After brunch at Random Order Coffeehouse and Bakery - Portland - Oregon, Gourmet Pigs and I decided to get some work done at Stumptown Coffee Roasters.


Of course, I insisted that it be at their original location on Division Street.

Random Order Coffeehouse and Bakery - Portland - Oregon

Let's backtrack a little to the beginning of my trip. While looking for some places to take Gourmet Pigs, a quick Google search for Portland and pie turned up this Travel+Leisure article on "America's Best Pies" mentioning a vanilla salted caramel apple pie. 

Pie! In Portland! I was all over that. Since it was on the northeast side of town, I figured we'd stop off for a late afternoon snack after a morning chasing waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge.

Of course we had to order the aforementioned vanilla salted caramel apple pie.

The Tao of Tea - Portland - Oregon

After dinner at Toro Bravo - Portland - Oregon, I suggested one last stop before we finally ended the night. In the late 1990s, a college friend introduced me to The Tao of Tea when we were looking for a place to just sit while catching up.


I really enjoyed the quaint tea house with fresh brewed teas, including a foamy matcha green tea shake before it became so popular and ubiquitous. I've gone back a few times over the years, and even visited their tea house at the Portland Classical Chinese Garden. So, a nice calming cuppa seemed just the thing to end what was a long day of too much out and about.

The Secret Society - Portland - Oregon

After round two of drinks at Teardrop Cocktail Lounge - Portland - Oregon, we headed across the river for dinner at Toro Bravo. There was a bit of wait, so Dylan left his phone number and we went upstairs to The Secret Society for more cocktails.





Although, it's not much of a secret any more if there's a big old sign pointing the way. :P The Secret Society is a 1907 Victorian-era hall that once housed two men's clubs. These days, it's a lounge, ball room, and recording studio.

Teardrop Cocktail Lounge - Portland - Oregon

After the first set of drinks at Clyde Common - Portland - Oregon, Gourmet Pigs and I took Wandering Chopsticks reader Dylan's suggestion and hit up Teardrop Cocktail Lounge for its old-fashioned cocktails and homemade bitters and tinctures.

The bar was pretty small, with some stools at the counter and along the wall. So we sat at the bar, overlooking the array of Teardrop Cocktail Lounge's homemade bitters and tinctures.

Clyde Common - Portland - Oregon

After leaving Hawks View Cellars - Sherwood, Gourmet Pigs and I made our way to downtown Portland to cross off #3 on her list of things to do in town -- cocktails. Actually, we ended up hitting up three cocktail bars this evening. And yes, if you were keeping track, that's after two wine tastings.

I should preface this post, and the subsequent drinking ones, by telling you that since I was driving, I merely took a sip to taste and handed off the rest of my drinks to others.




Gourmet Pigs wanted to check out Clyde Common because the bartender/bar manager, Jeffrey Morgenthaler, has gained quite a bit of renown for his old-fashioned cocktails. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the day we visited.

Nonetheless, even without the famed bartender, one of the best parts of going to Portland bars during happy hours and late nights is the cheap eats. Seriously. I'm talking $2 to $5 for appetizers and desserts. So I was really more excited to try the food than the drinks anyway.

Hawks View Cellars - Sherwood - Oregon

After our sparkling wine tasting at Argyle Winery - Dundee - Oregon, Gourmet Pigs and I took the wine guy's suggestion and visited Hawks View Cellars in Sherwood, Oregon. As we approached the winery, row after row of grape vines spread out in front of us. If only spring didn't come so late to Oregon, I'd love to see the vineyard in full bloom.

Isn't it just so gorgeous? And we hadn't even gotten to the tasting room yet. Trust me, it got even better.

Argyle Winery - Dundee - Oregon

After lunch at Thirsty Lion Pub and Grill - Tigard - Oregon, we continued making our way along 99W. Our first stop was Argyle Winery, which Gourmet Pigs chose for its sparkling wine tastings.




Since I had never gone wine tasting in Oregon before, I asked cousin T if she had any recommendations. She hadn't been either, so she asked a coworker, who emailed her a list of recommendations. I forwarded the list to GP, who looked them up and narrowed down our choices. I was armed with an old wine guide from the Oregonian and some pamphlets put out by the tourist information office from when I stopped in to ask for the cross street of the smallest park in the world, but it was still nice to have a list of wineries to work from.

We passed a lot of wineries along 99W, so I was pleased to see that the tasting room for Argyle Winery was in a quaint converted house. Sparkling wine is great, but the aesthetics make it better.