Friday, February 13, 2009

Mmmmm.....

We've had some good food and drink in the last week.  Since I can't invite you all to come have dinner with us, the least I can do is share our most recent recipe and wine finds, right?

Pot Roast
My new favorite roast recipe is the CrockPot Lady's Java Roast.  It was so easy to put together.  I didn't even thaw the roast first, and I cut the veggies into big chunks, so that part went quickly.  And the flavor--wow, different than any other roast I've had, and possibly my favorite roast ever.  The Engineer had three helpings!  

Note I made a couple of big changes to the recipe.   I eliminated the mushrooms (since I can't stand them) and added red potatoes.  And I didn't have any cream cheese, so I used sour cream instead, and I loved the tang it added to the sauce.

Cookies
The Cinnamon Sugar Cookies I found on allrecipes.com are similar to Snickerdoodles--especially if you roll the dough balls in cinnamon and sugar, as several of the reviewers on All Recipes suggested.  That's what I did, and I fell in love with these cookies.  The texture is amazing.  I'm glad I froze half of them--let's see how many days I can wait before thawing the rest!  

If you make these, start checking them at 8 minutes if you want softer cookies.  I actually liked the crispier texture since they aren't dense at all.

Wine
I have heard that "boxed wine" no longer automatically equals "poor quality wine," so we checked out the boxed wine section at a grocery store recently.  We came home with Black Box Wines Central Coast Cabernet Sauvignon (2007.)  I'm not exactly a wine connoisseur, but I have to say The Engineer made an excellent choice.  I'm loving this cabernet, and the price is amazing--at $22.99 for a 3-liter box, that equates to $5.75 per 750 mL (the size of a standard wine bottle.)

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Bon appetit!

10 comments:

Call Me Cate said...

Hmm, I've seen the Black Box wine and haven't tried it. But we've been drinking two boxed Pinot Noirs for the last 6 months or so (Pinot Evil and Turning Leaf) and both have been fabulous. Plus, you can't beat the price!

I made pot roast on Wednesday and it turned out so good. This recipe looks like a nice way to change it up though.

Crazy Mo said...

I went to Crockpot Lady's site and printed her recipe. As you know, I'm not the cook in the family, so I'm giving this to The Husband. He's on a bit of crockpot bender right now and I think he'll be pretty excited!

Anonymous said...

I didn't know you were a wine drinker!!! we are stuck on the barefoot white zin... a semi cheap plush that doesn't taste too winey if you know what I mean. I will have to look for the black box!

Dan & Hillary said...

What do you mean we can't all come for dinner? Thanks for the wine recommendation. I've never seen boxed wine- I can imagine the reaction of our friends if I showed up with it, though! It would be worth the few dollars to try it.

Dan Felstead said...

OK...we are doing the crockpot roast this weekend.

Thanks,

Dan Felstead

Kristi said...

The roast sounds yummy and like a nice change of pace from the typical Crockpot roast recipes. However, I'll have to go and get my 1/4 cup of brewed coffee from Starbucks since I don't keep coffee or a coffee maker in my home! If I did, I'd be more of an addict than I already am! Shucks! The sacrifices I make, I tell ya! LOL!

Anonymous said...

Will be trying the cookies with my gf flour mix soon. Yum.

Love that roast recipe. Love any of her recipes actually. She rocks.

Haven't seen that wine...MUST check that out!

*Monica said...

I totally freecycled today. Thanks for posting about it!

A Closet Writer said...

Now I know what to cook this weekend!

C. Beth said...

Call Me Cate--You'll have to let me know what you think of the Black Box. From one of the reviews I read, it sounds like their products have some real quality variations, from variety to variety and from year to year. This is the 2007 Cab.

Crazy Mo--I hope you guys enjoy it as much as we did! Let me know!

Rebecca--We aren't white zin fans, but The Engineer's mom loves it--maybe I'll grab some of the Barefoot next time they visit. Thanks!

Hillary--Boxed wine used to be just poor-quality stuff, but in recent years more higher-quality wineries have done the boxed thing. According to the back of the Black Box Wine box, it's been common in Europe to have quality boxed wine for a long time. It stays really fresh and I love just having a little spout there, not having to deal with a cork!

Dan--Please let me know what you think of the roast!

Kristi--That's too funny!! You could always just buy some instant coffee...unless that would jump-start your addiction again?

Andie--I hope the cookies "work" with GF flour; they are soooooo good!

Monica--Oh, good! I'm glad you're getting into Freecycling!

A Closet Writer--Mmm, I hope you aren't disappointed; let me know!