Twitter Tasting: Tales of Two Bloggers

This is the first time that Sister Annette and I did our F&E twitter tasting separately. (Remember these?) Since we live nowhere close to each other, I thought it’d be more convenient to just do it at our own home. Annette didn’t have as much fun. And while I was in good company of friends who don’t tweet, it was kind of weird not hearing Annette’s Chuggability™ rating live.

In hindsight, I guess we could’ve done at Google Plus hangout. Hrrm.... [Annette: Next time!]

Anyways. Here are our comments and recaps.

Dreamstone Pink Moscato

Quick Hits:

• Annette: Very chuggable. Better than chuggable, even my non-wine liking significant other liked it. If I didn't have to try two others, or get up the next morning …
• Oakley: The only bottle that got finished that evening. And quickly too!

Chuggability™: A bottle for you, a bottle for me... (A: Two for me, one for you. This is definitely a go-to for a champagne substitute, a light dessert wine, or a sparkling summer or holiday wine).

A: I was drinking alone but wished I had some port cheese and fruit to go with it. I think it might have gone well with the citrus chicken fajitas we had the night before.

O: My party is having dinner of flavorful broasted chicken and potatoes with sides of macaroni salad and barbecue baked beans. (Broasting is essentially deep frying in pressure cooker so the chicken is crispy and moist without being greasy.) The moscato went splendidly with our summery dinner. General comments from my party were: peachy, fruity, and gimme more of that.

Ma Cherie White

Quick Hits: Oakley: Is it me or that doesn’t taste like anything?

Chuggability™: Will cook with it but won’t really enjoy sipping this.

O: Perhaps the chicken threw our palates off, but we didn’t much care for this mixed white. My friend Heather said it’s too oaky for how she likes her white. Lee, being scientific about it, tasted the wine with all the component of dinner and concluded that it was good with the barbecue baked beans. For me, I didn’t get any fruit or floral. All I tasted was a slight tang and the oak.

A: After reading everyone else's tweets about it I wasn't too inclined to try it. I think the tasting would have gone better if we had started with the Ma Cherie - you know, go from white, to pink, to red.

Doon Buggy Red

Quick Hits:

• Annette: This would be great with a steak and was good with chocolate -- which I usually reserve for port.
• Oakley: At least the label is entertaining. (See below. Thanks Annette for the pic.)

Chuggability™: Oakley's went straight to the sink. Definitely not for chugging for Annette, more for sipping.

A: I opened it at 7 as suggested by F&E to let it breathe. I think this helped a lot. @suki also suggested dark chocolate, of which I had a square or two left over from Ghirardelli Intense Dark Pairing tasting. I'm not a big red drinker, the tannins give me a headache, but I was able to get one glass down and enjoy it. I enjoyed the smell as soon as I poured it, so that was a bonus.

O: Oh, Doon Buggy. We wanted to like you. I wanted to like you. Given, we skipped the breathing part and totally forgot to use the aerator, we didn't care much for this wine at all. The first sip I had, I was taken aback by the buttery-ness. I made a face Brandon called it “Is that a spider in my wine?” face. Then I got the oak...or was that a smoke? Brandon--who already prefers juicier wines--flat out refused to take another sip. Lee then proceeded to do a dramatic reading of the label.

Sure, we had enough wine in us by that point that everything seemed funnier than it is. But seriously, who writes this stuff? [A: Someone who's already had a few glasses and wanted to keep the Napa theme going?] Like I said, that's the only thing we enjoyed about the wine.

And of course, the colorful description of Doon Buggy from Oakley's Peanut Gallery: troll blood, zombie food, dune buggy's exhaust, and grapes crushed by a dune buggy. Sorry! We really didn't like the wine!

All in all, this went from good to worst for my dinner party. We even revisited some wine after dinner just to make sure. While Ma Cherie gained a bit of favor back, Doon Buggy was a lost cause. All in all, though, it was a great night.

Thanks F&E for the tasting party. Sorry we didn’t like all the wine this time around!

[Annette: Pssst - pass the moscato!]

5 F&E Items I Always Have On Hand

1. Jasmine Brown Rice

Alright. I'm an embarrassment to my heritage. Which Thai person doesn't buy rice by the 5 lb. sack!? This one. There are only two of us and we don't eat rice every night like, say, my aunt's household. I bought a big bag of rice once and at some point I got bugs in them. Since F&E sells smaller bag of rice--brown Thai jasmine, nonetheless--it makes better sense for us.


(Okay this photo the focus is on Long Grain White, but Jasmine Brown is right behind it! I called this "My Family Portrait". Hee.)

2. Big bag of Shredded Cheddar Cheese

I come home and split half into another zip-top bag and freeze both. 4 things I always have in the freezer so I never run out of: shredded cheddar cheese, apple wood smoked bacon, Irish Butter (which F&E also sells), and home made limoncello. :)

3. Assorted Dried Pastas

I raid the pasta aisle every 6 months or so to stock up on rotini, spaghetti, penne, and egg noodles. My last trip, I even picked up a bag of gluten-free pasta, just in case my gluten-free friend decides to drop in for dinner some night.

4. Montcadi Cava Rose

Love at first taste with this one and the affair continues. There is always a bottle of this chug-able rose bubbly in the fridge. After a long day at work. Friends happen to pop in. Hot Sunday afternoon. Whatever. I'm ready!



5. Chocolate/Strawberry/Key Lime Mousse

The Mousse Madness has taken over the house. The husband insists our fridge can no long be without the mousses. We do now have 4 chocolate, 2 strawberry, and 2 key lime in the fridge.

...make that 3 chocolate.

What about you? What are your 5 F&E products you cannot go without?

Let the wine flow

Last night, Oakley and I had the pleasure of attending a wine tasting that sampled four of Fresh & Easy's 27 new California wines at the very green SmogShoppe in Culver City.

How much is that bottle?

The wines range in price from $3.99 to $19.99 -- and let me tell you, the Open Field Pinot Noir is worth it!

Greenery at the Smog Shoppe - a LEED certified, converted smog shop.

Of course, we live tweeted it along with other food bloggers, wine lovers, and F&E enthusiasts.

The night began with hor d'oeuvres prepared by Chef Cynthia Perez.

And progressed onto making new friends. At first Oaks and I thought we were being avoided, but we are so glad to have met Vianessa and Rachel.

@vianessa and @theartmuse, whom we shared a table with

Before the actual tasting started, we watched a short intro video on the background of the winery.

Allen was very informative later in the night when he explained how the pinot noir acquired its exceptionally sweet taste. It's almost as sweet as a port, but without the aftertaste. By far my favorite of the evening and I am not a red drinker.

Speaking of the actual tasting ...

The first wine, the pinot gris was a bit acidic to me. Using our (practically) patented chug-ability scale it was given a 0. Not chuggable at all. NEXT!

2nd wine: Cloud Valley Chardonnay. Chug-ability: Will sip with chicken or fish dinner.

The chardonnay needed to breathe a bit. The chug-ability from freshly poured to about five minutes later changed from "This isn't sweet enough to be a chardonnay, but would be good with chicken or fish" to "this is chuggable".

Fresh and Easy Wine Tasting: 3rd wine: Open Field Pinot Noir

The pinot noir was next and I was pleasantly surprised. I am not a fan of reds at ALL, though Oakley is. We both agreed that this was a very tasty wine and worth chugging. Slowly. To enjoy the taste of course. And maybe have with that Hunk.

The final taste was a Cabernet. Vianessa and Oakley both agreed that it was their favorite and the best tasting of the evening. Needless to say, I traded my cab for her pinot noir.

4th wine: Barrel Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon. Chugability: Easy to drink, favorite wine of the evening.

We also had a favorite server of the evening

Cody of Colorado. Great personality and awesome service!

Richard - the wine expert - was kind enough to give us a quick lesson on whites

After all that, we were asked to guess the prices of the wines. Team Fabulous is obviously of the frugal sort. There is nothing wrong with the Big Kahuna and wines in that price range.

Fresh and Easy Wine Tasting: Obviously, we are cheap.
Inside the box is our guesses for what the prices for the wines were.
Whoops.

And a raffle in which Oakley won a gift certificate and a bottle of wine

After wining us, we were dined. We absolutely ADORE Chef Cyndi and what she whips up. (All recipes provided by Fresh & Easy)

Goat Cheese Stuffed Artichoke Hearts - Recipe

Lobster ravioli from the Gourmet line.

Steak and Vegetable Skewers served by Chef Cyndi herself - Recipe

Shrimp ceviche - Recipe

Pear and Brie Crostinis - Recipe

Dessert

And of course we were sent home with a goody bag

View all the photos

---

Related Posts:

• Fresh & Easy Buzz stalked us while we live tweeted the event
• Fresh and Easy Blog
• Vianessa's Soundbites
• Kaitlin with Honey

Party in the Kitchen

There’s a party in my kitchen. So bitchin’ So bitchin’.

Sing to the tune of Yo Gabba Gabba. (And yes, I do watch Yo Gabba Gabba with my friends’ kids.)

Well, it wasn’t OUR actual kitchen, but the experience can definitely be duplicated easily with the recipes and ingredients from Fresh & Easy.

Annette and I were once again invited to a F&E cooking demonstration and party at Epicurean in Anaheim. We were greeted by these blushing beauties:



…and F&E staffers Stephanie and Allison too. ;-D

Oh, this Cava has a very special place in our hearts ever since the first Twitter Tasting. We love seeing it at F&E event!

This party was to celebrate the launch of two new stores in Laguna Hills and Lake Forest. Joining us was a full house of folks. Us bloggers were surprised to meet many non-bloggers there like our new friend Chantal who was a good sport when Annette and I, joined a little later by Catalina, ran around taking pictures and tweeting.


(Sorry for blocking your face, Chef Cyndi!)

I decided to be the photographer for the day. So it was agreed that everyone would partake in the making of the shrimp ceviche, the apricot chicken tenders, and the make-your-own pizza—all with ingredients from Fresh & Easy, of course—while I take photos that I would gladly share and that I would serve the dishes up to them.

Chef Cyndi’s recipe for the shrimp ceviche is totally money. Combine F&E cooked shrimps, F&E sun dried tomatoes, fresh lime and orange juices, red onion, jalapeno, avocado, cucumber, cilantro, and extra virgin olive oil and a little salt and pepper, then chill. Serve with chips. Done!



However, Team Awesome might have been a bit overzealous in our mixing as our avocado was quite mashed. We unexpectedly create a delicious creamy effect and surprised everyone, even the chef herself.



Pizza was what slowed down Team Awesome. We were ahead of everyone. Not sure what went wrong there but ours came out of the oven later than everyone else’s and therefore our apricot chicken were also late coming out. Whoops.



The pizza came out great—that sauce was absolutely delicious. We were a little sad about the chicken we put so much work into making. First you make the sauce with F&E Apricot Preserves, F&E Sweet Hot Mustard and F&E Whole Grain Dijon. Save a bit of that for dipping sauce. Now you dunk F&E chicken tenders into the sauce, then roll those in bread crumbs.

One thing we didn't think to do was to season the tenders and a little bit in the bread crumbs too before we started dunking. While the chicken was moist and has some good flavors going for them, they were bland. So much work, Chantal didn't even wait to wash her hands before celebrating.



All of this was paired with either a Chardonnay (I don't remember what was served now) or the Napa Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon. I gotta say the Cab’s chugability is totally drinkable and paired well with the ceviche.

Richard the Wine Expert was on hand for us to ask questions and harass about putting on a wine maker type dinner event. (ETA: We are going to a wine event tomorrow, after all!)

Oh and there were desserts too. Glorious Banana Cream Pie! Delicious tiramisu! And the new dark chocolate raspberry sorbet bonbons!



/squees. /dies.

And of course, the gregarious, vivacious, beauty-licious staff handed us each a goody bag we can talk about. Being prolific, our little table went through the bags and did some swapping of stuff so no one went home with stuff they didn’t want. LOL

There’s a lot to be reviewed here, y’all. These bad boys were filled to the brim!



Thanks again for a good time and for introducing us to your new products like the Gourmet line of grab-and-go—you can’t beat fancy eats in 3 minutes, I tell ya—and simmer sauces. I’m already impressed by the Burgundy Simmer Sauce, I can hardly wait to try the Tikka Masala when my clear braces come off in 2 weeks!

Here's the entire album. Enjoy!

6 Girls. 3 Wines.

F&E was at it again with twitter tasting. And of course, I said yes.

Last time, we had 4 girls to attack 3 bottles of wine. Those who caught wind of the last gathering wanted in this time around. So, here we were on a Wednesday night with 6 girls to split 3 bottles of wines sent to me from F&E.

The lovely wine-drenched evening was held at Ana's (@anaperiodista) place.

Sister Annette (@dananner) and I (@oakmonster) carpooled, picked up yummy barbecued stuff from Beachwood Barbecue in Seal Beach, and headed to Ana's. We arrived at 6:30 and set up for the shindig.

7 p.m. rolled around, it was just the three of us still. So we got started anyway. Vickie (@torie007) arrived next, followed by Vanessa (@vbesack) and Tina (@sendchocolate)

Ana let me commandeered her boyfriend's laptop. Unfortunately, it was on mobile modem and the connection wasn't all that great. Annette and I took turn tweeting through TasteLive and my account. At some point, Annette managed to get me thrown into TasteLive jail-- "You've tweeted too many times. Please wait."

Also, how many girls do you need to open a bottle of wine with a corkscrew? Two. Me for knowing roughly how it works and Annette for Amazonian strength. Well, we wouldn't need the strength if we knew what we were doing! Hahaha! Let it be noted that next time we go to Ana for wine tasting, we need to bring her a modern wine opener as a hostess gift. Or make sure her boyfriend was home.

We had so much fun with the wine and the talking that at some point we almost forgot we were doing a tasting! But then again, our group is no Jim Cahill of Fresh & Easy Wine Reviews! No connoisseurs over here, just 5 moms and a married woman who had had a long day and looking forward to some wine, conversation, and manic tweeting. ;-)

Here you go with our nonsensical review! (As always, we'll add commentary from Sister Annette herself later.)

Napa Family Vineyards Chardonnay 2008
Sister Annette's Chug-ability rating: "I need a refill!" - Heavenly

First wine for everyone after a long day may have something to do with why we enjoyed this wine quite a bit as a starter. Sister Annette mentioned that it would go well with a salad and promptly asked for another pour. I'm not a white wine drinker but I found myself enjoying a cold and crisp but full body in that warm evening. The other ladies agreed with this assessment. It also went swimmingly with the wild mushroom stew and blue cheese grits I was having for day-after-orthodontist dinner. Retails at under $12, this is a great buy.

Re del Castello Chianti Classico 2007
Oakley's Chug-ability rating: "If I have nothing else to drink, this will do." - Earthbound

We were all taken aback at first taste. Everyone thought it was sour/tart to start. After a few minutes to breath, it bloomed a bit and it was drinkable again. The peppery loveliness mingled with the smoky barbecued meats. Vanessa, a fellow red lover, didn't think much of this wine either, but since it's opened, we'd drink it. This one retails under $10.

The Vine Yard Late Harvest Riesling 2008
Ana's Chug-ability rating: "I don't even like wine and I LOVE this!" - Nirvana

*DINGDINGDINGDING* We have a winner! The riesling went over extremely well especially as a "dessert" for the evening. Sweet and fruity without being all syrupy about it. To quote Annette's tweet, Ana's expression said it all. Our "I don't like wine" hostess' face lit up "like Mikey in Life commercial." The wine also went well with Tina's brie and lingonberry jam.

What makes it taste even better is that $1 for every bottle sold is donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Oh, and it retails under $8. WIN!

At the end of the evening, we were all eager to polish off both of the whites. I did try to go back to the Chianti but my palates were shot by the point. Feh...

You can read the Twitter thread for the evening here and see what everyone else thought of these wines. Because, you know, when you mix 6 girls with plenty of wine, we can't really be trusted. ;-)

Summer Tasting

A big box of F&E goodies arrived a few weeks ago. My apology for not getting too it sooner!

The thing is, before I even get to take a picture of the loot, SOMEBODY started in on the Cranberry Oaktmeal Cookies with Walnut ...and I haven't seen the rest of the tub since. *sigh* Verdict: Nirvana ...judging by the fact that it has disappeared in a few days after arrival.

Then there were the condiments: Organic Ketchup, Yellow Mustard, and Barbecue Sauce. Haven't tried any of them yet but their mere presence led me to find out that the ketchup and yellow mustard I have in the fridge expired in 2008. Whoops.

The Il Fornaio Gourmet Wheat Hamburger Buns arrived just in time for my LOST finale dinner! The original idea was to get a bucket of fried chicken and pretend they were from Hurley's Mr. Cluck. But now that I had the buns, we switched up the menu to a pineapple-ginger-soy glazed sirloin burger (flavored with pressed garlic, a squirt of Sriracha, and salt and pepper) with butter and rum caramelized onion instead.

The soft, tasty buns grilled up beautifully nutty. No structural integrity failure here when you take a bite (yes, we used that term for our food stuff in this geeky household). Verdict: Heavenly.

Now, I'm not a huge white wine drinker, so I past along the Vine Yard Pinot Gris to Sister Amanda (from Four Girls Three Wines episode) after said LOST finale dinner. She said she enjoyed it very much and it went very well with her mango chicken salad a few days later. Verdict: Heavenly.

Malt Vinegar & Sea Salt Kettle Chips is waiting to be tested. My boss is a big salty snack fan so I'll let her review that one. :)

The Box O' Joy also came with an apron, the crowd-favorite $5 of $20 purchase coupon, and a gift card.

Also in the box was a list of their grill events with award winning grill expert Neil Strawder (aka Bigmista) with special grilling tips. The first 100 people will receive a free reusable bag.

• Friday, June 4: 5 p.m. at Eagle Rock location on, well, Eagle Rock.
• Friday, July 30: 5 p.m. at Norwalk location on Rosecrans.
• Saturday, August 21: 4 p.m. at Alhambra location on Main.
• Saturday, August 28: 4 p.m. at Northridge location on Nordhoff.

The irony in this is that I just went to F&E to restock a couple of days before the box arrived. While there, I did go a little crazy as I always do after a few weeks of not haven't been to F&E. Ah...the binge cycle! I came out with a few new items I haven't tried before.

Barbecue Pasta Salad was a surprise. I bought that to eat with the veggie dogs I picked up for my meatless Tuesday and found myself serving it again with the LOST Burger and it was divine. Pasta, corn, black beans, and red bell peppers tossed in mayo-based barbecue dressing that is just sweet enough with a subtle kick of poblano chilli. It doesn't taste like a pasta salad mixed with barbecue sauce, if you're thinking that's what it is. It's more of a sweeter and smokier pasta salad than your plain ol' stuff.

Your meal having barbecue sauce already on it or not, this pasta salad will still kick your traditional pasta salad's ass. Verdict: Nirvana.

Organic Chocolate Soy Milk was new to me. Sister Aurora (the Provider of F&E Coupons...since she lives in Long Beach and getting all the F&E mail) told me about it but I haven't picked it up. And I was a little disappointed that it seemed more watery than the Silk counterpart. I don't know what are all in it that makes the difference but it tasted like a glass half full of Silk Chocolate Soy with another half a glass of water mixed in. Verdict: Purgatory.

Eat Well Creamy Basil Chicken was quite disaster. The whole wheat pasta was overcooked and was grainy in texture. And, a trend with Eat Well line, the sauce was under-salted. Having been to the Eat Well tasting event and talked with the chef, I knew why the salt level was low. But this thing just lacked flavors altogether. If there were more tomatoes, I think I might have been okay with it not having the salt. But I *did* eat it all, so it wasn't completely inedible. Verdict: Purgatory.

Tons of products at F&E for the summer grilling, you guys.

And of course, keep your eyes out for the great deal that are the Grill Pack: nearly 5 lbs. of burger patties, Italian sausage, and seasoned chicken pieces. The normally $9.99 deal usually go on sale for something like $5.99 during the high grilling season so keep your eyes peeled and stock up!

Four Girls. Three Wines.

When I got words about the Fresh & Easy Twitter Tasting of their wines on Tuesday, a party was instantly planned. Having volunteered to participate in this, F&E sent me all the three wines for the occasion.

I (@oakmonster) rounded up Sister Annette (@dananner), and my friends Ana (@anaperiodista) and non-tweeting Amanda for dinner, wine, and girl talk.

Well, Ana doesn't drink wine but she took a sip of each for a taste anyway. That's the spirit! :)

And boy, did we all had a day from hell before we got to the wine.

Note here that the Twitter tasting was supposed to start at 7 p.m. PST. We didn't chime in until 7:45. And here's why.

Amanda was taking the usual commuter bus we usually take together except that the bus got in a fender bender up in Downtown LA. So she was late but still first to arrive. Ana has a 2-year-old son who was sick and wanted no one but his mommy. She came in after Amanda. I wasn't home to receive either one of them as I was on my way to pick up Sister Annette from the Blue Line station. Annette hauled in from Burbank on the Red then Blue Line just to find herself stuck on the train one station away from final destination due to police activity.

So by 7:45 when Annette and I got back, we got back online and on with #fandewine hashtag and hell bent on catching up to everyone. They were almost done with their Malbec by this point.

However, we were being complete and total clowns about this whole thing.

Everyone was talking wine: "smooth and oaky," "lemon on the nose," "acidity balanced with bright zesty fruit."

The reviews from our corner? "Yeah, I'll chug that." And we continued to tweet off topic as the evening progressed and more wine was poured.

Hey, when you put 4 girls who all had a bad day with 3 bottles of wine, you can't expect any professionalism out of that!

Now, on to the wines.

Montcadi Cava Rose – under $6
"Let's finish this sucker off." - Heavenly

I have been on a bit of a bubbly kick since Thanksgiving. So I was excited to try the Cava.

It didn't disappoint. A little fruity, but not too much. I can see myself coming home to this every night of the week. This was the obvious choice as it was the only bottle that got polished off that night.

We thoroughly enjoy this with the F&E Gourmet Swiss Truffles , which by the way is made with CRACK I tell you--Nirvana. Especially the milk chocolate ones. Oh my god. Sooo soo good!


Boro Hills Sauvignon Blanc – under $11
"Where are the bubbles?" - Earthbound

It was not love at first whiff for this screw top. It has this funky little smell at first pour which dissipated by the time you swirl it around a bit. For a second there, Amanda and I almost didn't try the wine based on that whiff alone. It turned out to be the tail end of that passion fruit/grape fruit note so prominent in the wine.

Amanda said this would be the wine she can imagine drinking by the poolside on a hot summer day. However, we agreed that we kept expecting to taste some bubbles. All the flavors that would benefit from the bubbles are there. It tasted like a sparkling wine that had gone flat.


Matuco Malbec 2007 - under $10
"We'll totally chug this." - Heavenly

Annette was the one to initiate the chug-ability rating for the evening with the Malbec. Full body, tasty treat that went quite well with the barbecued baby back ribs from Maderas Steak & Ribs and went gangbuster with their mac and cheese. Although we also agreed with folks in twitter that steak and chimichurri should be the best match.

Amanda did like this one best of the bunch and took the half of it home.


So, the Twitter tasting was a lot of fun. I couldn't have done it on my own. 3 bottles to taste with just little old me would take 3 weeks to polish off.

Thank GOD for girl friends. :)

Holiday Under $10

I haven't been grocery shopping in AGES. With, first, Thrill the World, then my work's Big Gala, I barely had time to eat, let along to cook. The last time I was at the store, we were stocking up before Brandon had his nose surgery, so that he'd have something ready to eat while he stayed home.

Naturally, I didn't think I'd be updating the Temple until I get back from Thailand at the end of November.

Well...surprise!

I came home yesterday to two big boxes from Fresh & Easy. There were in it.



Namely, Cranberry & Nut Popcorn Clusters ($4.99), Sweet Boutique Gourmet Belgian Chocolate Biscuit Collection ($7.99), Sweet Boutique Gourmet Swiss Chocolate Assortment ($7.99), Ogio Prosecco Non-vintage ($8.99), the Vine Yard Cabernet Franc 2007 ($7.99), and ChocChoc Mint Thins ($1.99).

According to the note included, "a few items from our new chocolate lines that recently launched on November 11 along with a couple bottles of our award-winning wines."

Well...I am totally surprised!

So...a few items came out of my suitcases and in went the minimum melting potential items of the biscuits and popcorn. The chocolatey stuff doesn't do well in the average temperature of 85F. Heh.

The bubbly? That'll come in handy when I get back. :)

So, thanks F&E for an early Christmas present!

Y'all take great care over Thanksgiving and have tons of turkey and stuffing for me. (We don't do turkey in the Big Mango.) I'll see you in December!

Bargains found at my Fresh&Easy

Tonight I picked up a small Tri Tip roast at my local Fresh&Easy. It was on crazy sale and cost $4.00! I'm planning to season it with garlic and black pepper and rosemary and serve it with roasted red potatoes. The leftover tri tip can be sandwiches and salads for the next few days.

Another great and delicious bargain is the $3.99 The Harbor Pinot Grigio. It is crisp and slightly fruity and very very delicious!

Demo-licious

Yesterday Brandon looked up at me after his first bite of Fresh&Easy banana cream pie. Intently, he looked into my eyes.

"They put crack in this."

I looked at him, bemused.

"Banana cream pies should not taste this good."

And I couldn't have agreed with him more.

Verdict: Banana Cream Pie: Nirvana.

*

Flashback to Thursday.

F&E invited a handful of LA mom/dad bloggers and one of its biggest fan over for an evening of wine tasting and cooking demonstration with Chef Mike himself at Sur La Table at the Original Farmers Market in Los Angeles.

We noshed on lovely snacks of dips and crackers, cheeses and meat, and crudites, while the wait staff brought us La Gioisa Prosecco to start. Nothing memorable about this one but it definitely didn't suck.

Verdict: La Gioisa Prosecco: Earthbound

I had the honor to meet Chef Mike. I know that I'm a blogger and that I put myself out there in the world, but it still freaks me out a little bit when Chef Mike told me he read my blog and wanted to know what I thought they should do about the tortilla soup situation.

Wow. I mean, WOW.

From then, we got to the hands-on demo. Each of the 4 stations attacked different dishes on the menu for the evening. All the while, the wait staff continued to pour any of the 5 wines on the tasting menu for us while we got our hands dirty.

I couldn't really eat that day since that very same morning I had a visit with my orthodontist. I managed to sample a few soft items that evening. And, of course, the wines to numb my pain. ;-)

My little team made lovely pizzas. My friend Lupe, one hell of a cook, even tossed the pizza dough for good measure! And then our group were tasked to make avocado sauce (fresh avocados + ranch dressing ...and a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon if you like a bit more flavors) for the heat-and-eat steak fajitas Chef Mike was cooking up in front of the class. A jar of the spicy bean dip also accompanied the meal.



The other teams made apricot (and mustard) chicken fingers with dipping sauce with (instant) brown and white rice and veggies with herb butter (heat-and-eat); and baked salmon with peanut sauce and soba noodles stir-fry with frozen Asian veggies.

Oh yeah, the peanut sauce. As I am a Thai, I don't put peanut sauce on anything but my satay so I'm a little wearied of people applying bottled peanut sauce to everything. But I must stay, F&E Peanut Sauce actually tastes pretty darn close to the real thing.

Verdict: Peanut Sauce: Heavenly (...or at least this Thai approves of it)

At this point you MUST understand what had already transpired at this demo.

You add free flowing wine to a room full of women (okay, there were a couple of men there, but surely out-numbered) who love to cook and eat and, well, drink. What you got by the time we arrived at dessert samplers was something just shy of total debauchery.

I must confess that at some point, I stopped watching Chef Mike's demo altogether as I was too busy sipping wine, noshing on whatever Chef Mike already dished out, and chatting with the other ladies, stopping occasionally to take some photos.

Lots of giggling. Lots of joking around. Lots of, I hate to admit it but it's true, that Sex And the City girl-talk. By the time dessert samplers were served, we were dying to try them.

Out came from all corners of the room, different moans, groans, and squeals of delight.

One word. Foodgasm.



We fell all over ourselves with different component of the sampler. The banana cream pie got the most moans and was quite a surprise to everyone. Sallie who usually doesn't eat banana cream pies that were not her mother's gave this pie a seal of approval. We have photographic evidence of Jennifer stuffing her face with almost the entire half of chocolate cupcake. Oh, and the tiramisu wasn't too shabby either although much overshadowed by the pie and the cupcake.

I know someone was taping part of the demo on the Flip Video (custom made with F&E logo by the way...adorable!). A play-back of the dessert tasting would probably be rated R.

Verdict: Chocolate Cupcake: Nirvana
Verdict: Tiramisu: Heavenly

I sipped the last drop of my Les Capages Pinot Noir (went great with dessert, oddly enough) and had all the intentions to lick my dessert plate. Darn super efficient wait staff took what he thought was empty plate away before I could have my way with it.

Then again, I couldn't chew much of what were made. Cream pie, tiramisu and super moist cupcakes were the only things I could eat that evening.

Verdict: Les Capages Pinot Noir: Heavenly

And finally, another star of the evening was the St. Helen Riesling. Just sweet enough for a hot evening in the kitchen and so drinkable I could see me sipping through the entire bottle by myself through out the course of the day. (Hey, I'm a light-weight! That's probably the best I could do without getting totally frakked up.) At $4.99 a bottle, darlings, buy a case and invite the entire neighborhood over to drink it with ya!

Verdict: St. Helen Rielsing: Nirvana

We left the joint with our bellies full and a goodie bag slung over our shoulders. More F&E products for us to experience on our own good times.

F&E should do more of these wine tasting/food pairing events everywhere. BevMo's $5 Saturday tasting seems to be popular. I can't see why F&E couldn't do something like that at other local collaborating venue or somewhere in the store itself.

You know, you'll have room once you clear out the clutter. ;-)



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Quick bargain bin clutter update: I ran into the Spring Street store on Saturday afternoon to fetch the banana cream pie and I noticed the bargain bins in the produce sections were gone. I haven't gone through the entire store but that alone was a massive improvement. Thank you for listening, F&E!

New stores near you?

Now, you can track and see when the new F&E stores are coming your way.

Hey, when is that rumored Cypress store coming?

Also, on Earth Day (that's next Wednesday, April 22) stop by F&E and get a free canvas bag with $10 purchase. Plus buy a bottle of ONEHOPE Wine, 50% of the profits will be donated to the nonprofit organization American Forests – so for every bottle of ONEHOPE Wine sold a tree will be planted in an area recently devastated by wildfires.

You too can save the world. :)

Review: Pinot Evil & Barefoot Champagne

Oh you guys! On New Year's Eve I went to Fresh & Easy for wine, champagne and the F&E cheese plate.

Have you tried the cheese plate? It is in the refrigerator case in the front of the store with the sandwiches and salads. It is just under $5 and has a little slice of brie, some cheddar cubes, some swiss (I think) slices, red grapes, apple slices and dried apricots. It has become one of my favorite snacks.

I picked up a bottle of Barefoot Champagne for around $6. This champagne was really good. Better than many champagnes priced far higher.

I was wandering the wine aisle thinking "what can I get that is good but also kind to my wallet?"

When what to my wandering eye should I spy but:


Pinot Evil! With the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil monkeys on it. How could I resist buying this? I couldn't. Especially since it was only $4.99.

Pinot Evil! The BEST NAME EVER.

Verdict: Pinot Evil, Barefoot Champagne and F&E Cheese plate: Heavenly