A tale of 3 chickens

As some of you may know, we inherited a chicken coop (Casa Huevos) and 3 hens from our friends at Flat Rock Cellars.  It was all Dre’s idea.  I remember the moment that the words fell from my lips…”I don’t mind having chickens as long as you look after them.”  Ah, such fateful words indeed.

I have to admit that I am not 100% sold on the “cuteness” or “quaintness” of our Kardachickens – Kim, Kourtney and Khloe.  There is something mildly creepy about their funny bodies — something that I have learned to overcome in the few months that we have had “the girls” with us.

Our chickens were on the loose among the vines for the first several weeks.  It was a wonderfully bucolic, heart warming, “Little House on the Prairie” moment to see them scratching about.  I had no idea how far these chicks could move.  One day I came out of the cooking school to find the three of them scratching about in the herbs (little did they know a hot stove and cleaver lurked a few steps away).  And then it started in earnest…our girls took the concept of “free range” to new limits….across Lincoln Ave., up the road 8 houses, into our neighbour’s gardens and into the hearts of at least two canines!  It seems these girls were curious and charming.  They made friends with Carola and her dog two houses up and would spend glorious sunny days in her garden.  Every evening at dusk, the girls would return to the coop to be tucked away for the night (away from the clutches of hawks, coyotes and owls!).  Egg production went from 3 or 4 a day to 1 a day as the days shortened and…alas, the flock shrank.

You see no matter how often you tell the girls that danger lurks, they always thought they knew better as the strutted about in their fancy plumage.  First Kourtney went missing.  She and Kim went out and only one returned.  It was a terribly dark, windy and rainy day.  I ordered Dre out to find the girls and herd them home.  Dre went up and down the property and the neighbours backyards with no luck.  Finally, a neighbour 5 doors up arrived with Kim in his daughter’s clutches.  We quickly slapped up some fencing – chicken wire of course! and in went Kim.  All the while, only Khloe played by the rules and respected the boundaries set for her.

Now I have to say, chickens actually do grow on you.  They do have personalities and moods and spunk. Kimberley was soon to show me that!  Now with only two birds left, I was certain that the fence was the answer —  that and better and more interesting feed as well!  The Christmas break arrived and guess who was left looking after the chickens…you guessed it — ME!  Daily I would feed the girls, collect the one or two egg offering and arrive back at dusk to…the horror of Kim OUTSIDE the fencing!  How was she getting out?  With great reluctance I would corner her and pick her up (a major YUK moment for me) and put her back into the coop.  I was determined NOT to loose a chicken on my watch.

Boxing Day arrived and so did a distressed call from my neighbour Carola.  It seems that Kim (whom they had re-named “Gloria”) was spending some quality time with their dog and kids during the festive season.  She had become a family friend over the course of her life at The Good Earth.  Help! Help! What was to be done?  There was a hawk planted firmly on their veranda with its steely gaze fixed on our chicken!  Kim was caught and put into a dog carrier in the garage and returned to the coop.  With some help we fortified the fencing, determined to teach Kim a lesson.

Like every Disney nature movie, this has a weepy ending.  Last Saturday we headed off to freeze at the Winter WineFest in Jordan.  When I returned late that evening I quickly closed up the mini door on the coop and assumed that the two girls were all snug in their straw.  The next morning when I opened the door to feed them I realized to my horror that Kim was missing!  She had hopped the fence and since no-one was around at dusk she must have just pecked about in the cold (Yes, I have asked hard-heartedly why if she could hop out, she wouldn’t hop back in?!).  Just yesterday, Dre made the grizzly discovery.  A pile of feathers and some guts — the remnants of someone’s meal and…our Kim!

Moral of the story, you can street proof your chicks all you want but at the end of the day, they have to make some choices.

Now… there is one chicken standing – the timid, obedient one!

Cleaning out one’s closets

I have to admit that I really like the whole idea about celebrating the arrival of the new year.  That is to say, I don’t like the false joviality of a raucous New Year’s Eve party complete with ridiculous hats, noisemakers and the inevitable drunken slobering idiot.

I like the idea of taking stock, or inventory if you will, of the year that has passed and tossing out the clutter both literally and figuretively and taking a clean slate and making a list of just 3 things that I would like to accomplish or change in the year ahead.  No life altering goals, just little things that are attainable and can make a difference to the quality of one’s life.

Over the next few weeks, I will be attacking all the spaces, cupboards, files, nooks and crannies in my personal world and The Good Earth and giving everything the “once over”.  Gone will be the clutter which I find very hard to deal with (I think it is a sign of mild claustrophobia in my case) and in will come clear space to allow me to breath!  I can’t wait to get started!

They say that what you do on the New Year’s Eve portends what you will be doing for the balance of the year.  So…make certain that you are ready!  I have to dash off and put on some dressier rags to get ready to host our annual New Year’s celebration at the Bistro.  I can’t think of anything better than being with my team and a great group of “earthlings” enjoying what The Good Earth is all about…good food, good wine and good friends!  If this is to be my fate for 2012, I say “BRING IT ON!”.

Wishing you all a great evening and most of all a fabulous 2012 filled with good health happiness and …a little Good Earth!

Cheers!

Angels we have heard on high…

I find Christmas to be a bittersweet celebration for me. I suppose part of that comes from not having a family of my own. The other part comes from the idiotic pace of work that portends “the Holiday Season”! This year I caught myself wishing we could go back to simpler times when Christmas was about a special meal around the table with family and friends and perhaps a new pair of knitted socks under the tree. The whole commercialization of Christmas and the insane hysteria that people whip themselves into just makes me sick. Nerves are frayed, bank accounts are emptied and everyone seems to be worrying about something — where is the “silent night”, “peace on earth” part of this celebration?

Last weekend my mother hosted her annual Open House. As always, she started fretting about not having enough sparkling, food, etc. Most of all, there is always worry about getting the tree up and decorated in time for the big party.

Every December, I go out with my cousin Miki, armed with my handy dandy little saw to cut down a tree. It’s a ritual that we both look forward to.  We have experienced it all — rain, thigh high snow, sleet, glorious sunshine and this year a balmy day! We have trudged around for what seems like days trying to find that perfect tree. My perfect tree needs to be tall with a few pine cones on top if I am lucky and large gaps between the branches. It actually has to be a tad imperfect. Those perfectly pruned trees at Christmas tree lots are not for me. You see, I need space for my angels to fly!

When I was a little infant, my “prababi” in Prague wanted to send me a gift.  Those were in the extreme days of communism so times were tough for those folks.  My mother suggested that she send me a wooden angel — a golden haired cherub with a white little smock and green wings — an angel common to all “Kristkindlmarkts” throughout central Europe.  The package arrived and contained within were three little cherubs.  From that moment on, my love of angels began.  Each year another package would arrive with yet more angels for my tree.  By the time I was 12 my Christmas angels were now a full blown collection!

In  my fourteenth year,(yes, I admit I was already bossy and a full-blown control freak!), I decided to overhaul the family Christmas tree decorations.  I threw out the old strings of coloured bulbs and old ornaments and decked out the tree in small white lights and the first of my angels.  It was a radical change which annoyed my father immensely.  He hated change of this nature.  But it was a glorious sight to behold and a new tradition was born.

Since then, my collection of angels has grown exponentially over the years.  Some, as a result of gifts from friends and many from always being on the lookout.  These are not the garish angels of recent years but rather whimsical, small creations fashioned of wood, stone, glass or any other clever thing.

My most despised part of decorating the tree is stringing the lights.  I often mutter aloud that I would love a man in my world if only for this task (although all my coupled friends tell me it likely wouldn’t be any different — I would still be putting up the lights!).  But as I begin to open the many large boxes with all my glorious angels, my mood changes, my blood pressure drops and a calm comes over me.  You see every little angel has a story behind it; a reminder of a good friend who gave it to me; a child who made it or a trip where I stumbled upon it.  I have lovely gilded angels from Paris which my mother found in a little shop near Notre Dame.  There are the sweetest chubby angels swinging in stars and on crescent moons.  There is the lovely scallop shell angel (just 2 inches in height) with hair made out of the tiniest barnacle shells.  One of my favourites is an angel I bought in Carmel, CA.  Her body is a pine cone, her wings are two oak leaves, her head a bead and her hair and halo the top of an acorn — so delicate and clever. 

Each year, the newest angel is given a place of honour at the front of the tree and hung first.  This past summer, my God-daughter was on a project in India and on her visit to Tibet she found an angel — made of yak hair!  I have a black beaded angel from South Africa, angels inspired from the shells we collected on the beach in PEI, delicate angels made of shavings and goose feathers and down and on it goes…over 400 in all!  Three hours later, when the boxes are empty, I sit in the darkened room with just the tree lights to illuminate the angelic pandemonium.  What a sight to behold — each little cherub and angel twisting and twirling with wonderful abandon on the tree.  I swear I can hear them giggle in glee!  They are a childish reminder of a sacred Christmas tradition before the commercialization of this blessed feast.  They are a reminder of friends and family past and present.  They are a reminder that Christmas is about magic!

Merry Christmas everyone!  I hear my angels beckoning me to sit in silence on this peaceful night!

How to Diet in December

Did you know that as of Friday at 4pm nothing has calories until January 2nd?

It’s true.  Look it up.

December 23rd. I like to give myself the bonus day before Christmas Eve to “stretch” if you will before the big holiday feasting begins.  Like eating pasta before a hockey game, ya? December 23rd is Festivus. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus) A holiday that was popularized by Seinfeld.  It’s always been a big joke to celebrate Festivus in full with the pole, the airing of grievances, and the feats of strength.  But these days it mostly just consists of sitting around with a few friends drinking the best bottles of wine we can find, playing euchre, and consuming half the world’s cheese.

December 24th.  Italian Christmas Eve. One family, one table, one MILLION courses of seafood.  It’s always a challenge to decide what to wear to my grandmother’s Christmas Eve.  Formal wear is required.  Which is fine, but you have to consider this fact, “Will this look good after I can’t suck my tummy in anymore?”

December 25th.  Christmas Day at the Farm. “Cruisiest” Christmas morning ever.  There are only two things I require Christmas morning –  1. Eggs Benedict.  2. Caesars.  This is the meal I look forward to all year.  Don’t get me wrong, I eat Eggs Benedict more than once a year, but my old man has been making me Eggs Ben every Christmas morning since I was a kid and it’s the best. Sweatpants are also a big part of this day.

December 26th-December 30th. The do as little as possible days.  Eat leftover turkey for most meals. Pot of coffee on at all times.  Drop in to visit friends and family that you didn’t see over the two BIG days.

December 31st. New Year’s Eve.  I don’t think I’ve ever actually gone out for New Years.  Usually I stay  in or go up north and ring in the new year with a few close friends and food.  New Years Eve ends this holiday food binge much the way it started.  Friends, the best wine we can find, euchre, and the other half of the world’s cheese.  Cured meat has also been known to make an appearance.

January 1st.  Get up.  Hope to hell the pond is frozen.  Play hockey for 10 hours in hopes that when you get dressed on January 2nd your clothes still fit.

And there you have it.

Have an amazing holiday everyone!

Untill next year….

Dre

A tale of two panty removers…

 “I warned you about that brutally honest trait in Novak, right? OK, here we go. She calls this mainly Cabernet Franc-based rosé The Panty Remover (her words!).‘You can’t only have one glass and with 13% alcohol, it gets you to your desired destination.’ ”

- Rick VanSickle, Niagara wine writer

It’s true, the boss lady calls ’em like she sees ’em and she sees the world through rosé coloured glasses. If you’ve met Nicolette, you will have heard her wax poetic about “The Panty Remover”,  the feint of heart may shudder and exchange sidelong glances (we are somewhat unapologetic about our naming conventions) while others chortle at her candor. If you haven’t met Nicolette you should come to The Good Earth and experience her for yourself – you won’t be disappointed – she will tease, flirt and taunt you with a twinkle in her eye and smile that rivals the Cheshire cat.

So isn’t it just like her then to dig into her vast memory banks and come up with a fitting way to celebrate our rosé. For more than 300 years, at Christmas-time Venetians offer someone they love a pair of red panties. The panties are to be worn on New Year’s Eve and then completely destroyed on New Year’s Day. If you practice this panty removal ritual in its entirety, your year will be filled with good health, good fortune and, sigh, everlasting love.

Sounds fun eh?! We thought so, and for Christmas Amanda has packaged up a bottle of our “Panty Remover” with a pair of red panties and pulled it together with a tag outlining the ritual! After all, New Year’s Eve day actually starts at midnight, so the “Panty Remover” might come in handy! Have fun with it and enjoy these Cranberry and Brie Phyllo Parcels with your Rosé!

Cranberry & Brie Phyllo Parcels on Assorted Greens, with Raspberry Vinaigrette & Spiced Walnuts

Serves 12
1 small wheel of Brie, cut into 12 pieces
1 Cup dried cranberries
1 package phyllo pastry
½ Cup melted butter

1 box mixed greens
4 oz grapeseed oil
2 oz raspberry vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 finely diced shallot
salt & pepper

1 ½ Cups walnuts or pecans
3 Tbsp honey
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp  cayenne
1 pinch salt

1. Cut the Brie into 12 even pieces
2. Melt the ½ cup of butter
3. Place one sheet of phyllo on a cutting board, sprinkle with melted butter, then lay down one more sheet directly on top, repeat one more time so you have three sheets of phyllo together
4. Cut this into 6 even squares, place a slice of Brie in the centre of each square, sprinkle with dried cranberries and pinch all corners together at the top
5. Place parcels on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven until golden in colour (about 6-8 minutes).
6. For the vinaigrette, whisk together the oil, vinegar, sugar, salt & pepper and the shallot.  Set aside.
7. For the nuts, toss the walnuts with the seasonings and the honey and bake on a parchment lined sheet at 350 degrees until golden
8. To plate the salad, bake the phyllo parcels.  Meanwhile, season the greens with salt and toss with the vinaigrette.  Place a small handful of greens on each plate, place a parcel on top, and sprinkle nuts around the phyllo parcel.

Call the winery at 905.563.6333 to order your Panty Remover set. If you live in Ontario and would like to order some wine, we have Free Shipping on half case orders of wine until December 23. Click here to visit our wines. We hope that the holidays are relaxing, safe and fun for you and yours. Merry Christmas and a very Rosé New Year!

Another one bites the dust…

It’s official. The 2011 Harvest at The Good Earth is finally complete.  As of Friday all of the reds have been barreled down and put to sleep. Let me tell ya, 2011 has been a wild ride.  Starting off with the coldest spring on record, then a ridiculously hot summer, then more rain throughout September, and finally a gorgeous fall.  There was a lot of nail biting, rushing to get things harvested, and finally sighs of relief when it was all pulled off.  Now that the chaos is behind me, I have to say I’m pretty damn thrilled with how everything turned out.

It’s been pretty busy down the dusty lane way these days.  Wrapped Up in the Valley blew through the Twenty Valley the last three weekends and passport holders flocked to our doors to snag a sample of our 09 Chardonnay paired with a delicious Alsatian style tart.  We also had the HandMade Market here last weekend so this place was buzzing with thirsty, hungry, and craft happy people! I myself managed to not blow my entire salary at the market as I did in the spring.

In other exciting news, and shameless self promotion, our 2010 Rosé won a Bronze Medal at the Ottawa Gourmet Food & Wine show this month.  Amanda, Michael, and myself all made the trek to Ottawa to pour at the show, and visit licensees.  Can I please mention that the food and wine scene in Ottawa is stellar? We did not go hungry.  Or thirsty.

I am also proud to announce that our 2009 Riesling has been chosen as the official White Wine of the Ontario Legislature for 2012!  We are so absolutely excited and honoured to be picked! I could prove it by posting a video sneaky Chef Pasto took of Amanda and Kara dancing and cheering in the retail store when Amanda received the phone call but I would risk Amanda beating me with her tiny fists.  However, I do take bribes so… if you wanna see it.  Make an offer.

So that is what’s been going on around here!

Gotta go… the winery won’t power wash itself!

D.

From Russia with love? well, from The Good Earth at least!

Smoked Salmon & Caviar on Potato Latke

This is a very versatile recipe – adjust the size of the latke and you can have 24 hors d’oeuvres or serve as suggested as a lunch entrée or an appetizer …all just in time for the season of celebrations!

Serves 12
3 medium sized Yukon gold potatoes – peeled
1 small onion – peeled
1 egg
¼ Cup  all purpose flour
1 sprig fresh rosemary – chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 Cup beef fat (for the authentic version) or vegetable oil

4-6 ounces cold smoked salmon
½ Cup sour cream
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 ounces caviar (optional)
1 bunch parsley (for garnish, optional)

Method:
Using a box grater, grate the potato and onion into a stainless steel bowl.
Squeeze as much moisture from the potato and onion as possible – the drier the mixture the better.
Add the egg, flour, rosemary, salt and pepper and mix well.
Form the mixture into small cakes, about 2 inches in diameter and press together firmly.
In a hot cast iron pan, shallow fry the cakes in beef fat (or oil) on medium heat until golden brown – turning once.  Now they are latkes!

Drain on a wire rack or a bed of paper towels.  Salt with sprinkle of kosher salt.
Spread each cake with sour cream.  Top with a rosette of smoked salmon, a slice of shallot and a ‘dollop’ of caviar.
Garnish with something green and serve with  a crisp glass our 2009 Riesling.

Come by the Good Earth in November for a complimentary tasting of our feature wine: The Good Wine 2009 Riesling!

Pork and Pinot are a perfect pair! Say THAT fast 10 times.

Roast Pork Loin with Mushroom, Leek & Parmesan Bread Pudding
Serves 8

The steamy goodness of a beautiful roast pork loin!

5 lb. pork loin roast

salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F

Trim pork loin of most fat.
Season pork on all sides with salt and pepper.
Roast in 400 F oven until pork has an internal temperature of 165 F.

Mushroom, Leek & Parmesan Bread Pudding
1 cup  dried porcini mushrooms
1 ½ cups hot water
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
3  medium leeks, white and tender green parts, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise.
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound assorted mushrooms, sliced
½ cup white wine
1 baguette, cut into 1” dice
6 eggs, beaten
2 cups 35% cream
1 ½ cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp finely chopped thyme leaves
2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley

1. In a small bowl, soak the dried porcini in the hot water until softened, about 30 minutes. Drain and finely chop the mushrooms, discarding any tough bits.
2. Melt 2 Tbsp of the butter in a large skillet. Add the leeks and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally until softened. About 5 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.
4. Add the remaining 2 Tbsp of butter along with all the mushrooms. Cook over high heat, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms have released their liquid.
5. Add the wine and cook until the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms begin to brown. About 10 minutes.
6. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Lightly butter muffin tins.  Place the diced bread in the bottom of each muffin tin and spoon the mushroom and leek mixture on top.
8. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the cream. Add 1 Cup of cheese, thyme and a pinch of salt and pepper. Pour over the bread and mushrooms, pressing the bread down to absorb the liquid.
9. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 minutes.
10. Discard the plastic wrap and sprinkle the cheese and parsley over the top and bake in oven for about 40 minutes or until the custard is set and the top is brown. Let sit 10 minutes before serving.

This would be absolutely heavenly with The Good Wine 2009 Pinot Noir (bronze medalist at the 2011 InterVin awards!)… just sayin’!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Who stole the cork to my lunch?

Well it’s official.  Summer is over.  As much as I love summer and the heat and the fun activities that go along with it, I have to say… Autumn is where it’s at. Perhaps what I do for a living makes me seasonally biased but you just can’t beat this time of year.  Especially a day like today when it’s 25C and sunny.

These days my life consists of cleaning, wandering through vineyards sampling, and obsessive-compulsive weather checking.  The cellar is now nearly empty after last week’s bottling run, and so clean it resembles an operating room more than a winery.  (All thanks to that power washer I suckered Nicolette into buying me!) Everything that hasn’t been used in a year has been scrubbed down and tested to make sure it is in working order and is now patiently waiting to be used.  Now that everything is so clean and shiny I can’t wait to get started messing it up!

The grapes are coming along nicely.  Every few days I head out into the vineyard sampling.  Keeping a close eye on the brix, pH, and acidity as harvest quickly approaches.  First on the docket will be Chardonnay.  If everything goes to plan, which is never does, by the end of the week I’ll be taking those little babies off the vine and Harvest 2011 will officially be underway at The Good Earth.  I can’t wait!… but I have too.

A few year’s ago Ross Wise, Winemaker at Flat Rock Cellars and our inaugural winemaker, made a Letterman style list “Top 10 Reasons Ross Loves Harvest” so I thought I would do the same only this time, according to Dre.

Here’s tonight’s “Top 10″ list ladies and gentlemen – “Top 10 Reasons Dre LOVES Harvest”:

10. Cold pizza becomes a breakfast food and cold coffee is the perfect pairing.

9. I get to spend the next few months turning a child’s treat of grape juice into an adult’s treat of tasty wine.

8. I don’t have to hit the gym until Christmas.

7. Showering becomes optional.

6. The winery gives me a free t-shirt to destroy.

5. At moments I am literally up to my eyeballs in grapes.

4. I can save money because there is no time to spend it.

3. The smell of new barrels.

2. I forget my car is not a forklift and try to put it in reverse with the blinker.

1. Beer is extra delicious when you smell like wine!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…and no, I am not referring to the back to school euphoria that has so many parents beaming with delight!

With ripening almost complete in the vineyards and bird bangers echoing their sweet refrain in the countryside – harvest 2011 is revving up in vineyards all over Niagara!

Yesterday saw a filthy but totally elated Winemaker Dre buzzing about like a bee in her hive organizing, cleaning and generally feathering her nest or in this case preparing our winery for the beginning of harvest.  As the little tykes headed off for the start of another school year, we were be busy bottling the last of our 2010 wines, making room for the new harvest.  When you are a wee winery like we are, it really is a bit of a dance — making certain that there is a barrel, tank, demi-john for every drop of juice we press.

It’s a bittersweet season for me since I adore the heat and sunshine of the summer months.  I would be lying though if I didn’t admit that I am starting to hanker for a wee slowing of the pace…something that believe it or not happens despite the start of the grape harvest!  I have always thought that working with nature is such a zen-like activity.  Nothing is better than really letting yourself go and embracing the pace of the seasons as they blend so seamlessly from one to another.

Next week we start our 2011 vintage and judging from how things are shaping up (I am whispering this under my breath, hoping to keep the rain away!!), it promises to be stellar.  Winemaker Dre is in her element — dirty, smiling and our winery is as clean as a whistle,( thanks to Dre’s new ultra deluxe power washer which she talked me into purchsing for her!).  New barrels have been purchased, yeasts have been arriving in special packages and soon the excitment will gave way to long, hard days of frenetic but happy activity.

There is something undeniably energizing about the onset of the harvest and particularly the grape harvest.  Yes indeed, it’s the most wonderful time of the year!