Design.Wine.Dine.

Wine Wednesday – Cookies & Corks

Alright… two loves of my life?  Cookies and wine.  Put them together and magic happens. Enter Cookies & Corks – an amazing company based out of Virginia that recognized there is nothing better in life than the above two paired together.  YES.  Gimme, gimme, gimme!  As part of this project that I’m working on, Cookies & Corks sent us some of their amazingness to try and I’ve got to say, they’ve hit the nail on the head.  Anyone who loves wine needs to give this a try immediately.  Seriously.  Now.  Lucky for me, I recently had the chance to try both the red and white wine pairing boxes, but today, I’ll chat about the white because the pairings were so delightful that I couldn’t wait another moment to share.

First and foremost, there are three types of cookies in a box.  The White Wine box consists of Apricot Sage, Peanut Butter Chocolate and Ginger Molasses which pair well with Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc.  Since I didn’t have the middle two, I gave these a try with ONEHOPE Chard and Sauv Blanc and was blown away.

  1. Sauvignon Blanc + Apricot Sage = I was a little skeptical about this one.  The ONEHOPE Sauvignon Blanc is one of my favorite wines ever with its crisp, citrus finish and I was worried that the combination with the Apricot would make the pairing overwhelmingly citrusy.  Thankfully, I was wrong.  The lightness of the Sauvignon Blanc was just enough to create a more full-bodied citrus flavor with the Apricot (without being overpowering) while enhancing the savory sage to a level I never thought possible.  I like sage?!  I guess so.  Delicious.
  2. Chardonnay + Apricot Sage =  What a great combination.  While there was no over-the-top, spectacular or surprising finish, the two together were still extremely well balanced and enjoyable.  I tasted much more Apricot in this pairing than the Sauvignon Blanc + Apricot and a little less sage.  Scrumptious.
  3. Chardonnay + Peanut Butter Chocolate = AAAMAZING.  Wow.  Tasting this together was like putting a piece of chocolate covered fruit in my mouth, enjoying every last second of it and then, BAM!  Peanut butter with a tiny hint of salt.  There is so much perfection going on in this 5-10 seconds of flavor that I ate another.
  4. Chardonnay + Ginger Molasses =  This pairing actually wasn’t recommended on the box, but I’m so glad I decided to give it a shot.  The Ginger Molasses wine pairing suggestions were Gewürztraminer and Pinot Grigio, neither of which I had, but I did have some leftover Chardonnay in my glass.  Since Ginger Snaps are one of my favorite cookies, I gave it a whirl and fell in love.  The ONEHOPE Chardonnay is really well balanced (not too sweet, not too buttery, not too oaky) so it allowed the flavor of the ginger to magnify tenfold without any other obtrusive favors.  Being that I LOVE ginger, I loved this combination.
Bravo, Cookies & Corks!  Can’t wait to try some more for next Wine Wednesday 🙂

Good Fortune

The last few weeks have been difficult to say the least.  The end of my final quarter of design school is fast approaching and before last night, I had yet to really feel inspired about my project.  In fact, I’ve hated the entire process which is completely unlike me.  While I’m excited and invigorated by residential design, the daunting commercial assignment of designing a “flagship store” in Toronto could not seem less appealing.  Whenever I finally feel focused for a split second on the endless CAD documents in front of me, I somehow wind up on Pinterest pinning away all things residential or back in my kitchen baking or cleaning something to avoid thinking about the flow of retail spaces and whether or not my fitting rooms are ADA.  It’s amazing how fun organizing becomes when I’ve got a mountain of homework to do.

Last week, Jake and I ordered Chinese for the first time in ages and I was blessed with the best fortune cookie fortune I’ve ever come across.  I rediscovered it last night while trying to organize something instead of working on my project and while I’m not superstitious by any means, the message really struck a chord with me.  It made me realize that this quarter, I’ve been entirely plagued by self doubt.  I’ve never designed a retail space (to this magnitude) and by second guessing every line I’ve drawn, I’ve become completely exhausted and in this perpetual cycle of trying to find the inspiration to pull me through… My insecurities have in effect built the barriers I’m constantly trying to overcome, putting me at square one week after week after week.

That being said, stumbling across my little fortune last night was just what I needed to get the ball rolling again and I’m finally feeling like I’m getting somewhere with my project.  There is no better feeling than progress and I can’t wait to have it soon completed.  Updates are soon to come…

Valentine’s Day Cookies

For the last two or three years, I’ve had full intentions of sending out Valentines and each year, regrettably, the holiday creeps up too quickly and I simply run out of time.  This year I was determined to get it done and pretty pink frosted sugar cookies seemed too enticing to pass up.  My mom and I made sugar cookies for Christmas and Valentine’s Day or Easter almost every year growing up and since I’ve been feeling a little homesick lately, I decided that using her recipe would be just the tasty pick-me-up I’ve needed.  They turned out just as good as I remembered so I thought I’d share the love <3

Ingredients

4 cups flour
1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup butter
1 ½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
¾ cup sour cream

Directions

Mix flour with the next four ingredients
In a separate mixing bowl, cream butter until smooth
Add sugar to butter, creaming well
Stir in vanilla
Beat in eggs until fluffy
Add flour mixture, alternating with sour cream in 2-3 parts
Mix until dough is consistent
Cover and chill for at least an hour (but I chilled overnight)
Preheat oven to 450, roll dough ¼” thick and cut with desired cookie cutters
Bake on cookie sheet for 5-8 minutes
Wait for cookies to cool before frosting. I used the Royal Icing recipe on this Meringue Powder package.

Let your frosting set before placing them into your Valentine bags.  I used these bags with this baker’s twine and these ADORABLE Kraft Martha Stewart for Staples labels.

Pack and ship… I threw in a bottle of my favorite wine 😉  And of course, save a few for yourself!  Enjoy!

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