One can of tomato soup ( I use low salt)
Salsa of your choice (today I had Herdez's verde)
Red pepper flake
1/2 can of milk
Mix these and cook until warm. Add shredded sharp cheddar on top. Crush tortilla chips in the soup. Voila! Good broke food.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Cannon River Winery
Last weekend, we visited Cannon River Winery in Cannon Falls, MN.
When you go there, there is a mini self-guided tour of their showroom space that covers their wine making process. Actual tours of the vineyard, which is located a few miles away, are sporadic.
Of course, we tasted wines here. For tasting, you have two choices. You can taste their basic wines for $5, or you can pay $7 and taste their reserve varieties as well. Because they were out of one of the three reserve wines, I decided to just do the basic taste. An interesting fact is that this winery creates a white and a red wine for Mancini's Char House in St. Paul. However, you can buy them at the winery too.
I won't comment on every wine I tasted, but I will give you my overall opinion and highlight my favorites. All in all, I enjoyed their white wines more than their reds. This winery, like many minnesotan ones, uses a lot of Minnesota frontenac and foch grapes. These add a slight bitterness that I am not very fond of, which is especially noticeable in red wines because of their higher tannin level.
My three favorite wines:
1) St. Pepin: This one uses a Minnesota St. Pepin grape. Its very light, and has a nose of citrus fruits. The flavor is dry with a citrus flavor as well. This is very light and pleasant to drink.
2) Sogn blanc: This uses the Minnesota Edelweiss grape, which I think is my new favorite! The nose of this wine is sweet like peach and mango, and the flavor is very soft, delicate and sweet in the mouth. I have never had anything like this. I can't even describe the pleasure I had in drinking it.
3) Gunflint red: This red is sweet rather than dry. However, the thing that I remember the most is that the nose of the wine smelled to me like caramel. This was nice when mixed with the sweet wine in my mouth. Very unique.
Overall, this winery puts out a great series of wines that I would recommend you try.
When you go there, there is a mini self-guided tour of their showroom space that covers their wine making process. Actual tours of the vineyard, which is located a few miles away, are sporadic.
Of course, we tasted wines here. For tasting, you have two choices. You can taste their basic wines for $5, or you can pay $7 and taste their reserve varieties as well. Because they were out of one of the three reserve wines, I decided to just do the basic taste. An interesting fact is that this winery creates a white and a red wine for Mancini's Char House in St. Paul. However, you can buy them at the winery too.
I won't comment on every wine I tasted, but I will give you my overall opinion and highlight my favorites. All in all, I enjoyed their white wines more than their reds. This winery, like many minnesotan ones, uses a lot of Minnesota frontenac and foch grapes. These add a slight bitterness that I am not very fond of, which is especially noticeable in red wines because of their higher tannin level.
My three favorite wines:
1) St. Pepin: This one uses a Minnesota St. Pepin grape. Its very light, and has a nose of citrus fruits. The flavor is dry with a citrus flavor as well. This is very light and pleasant to drink.
2) Sogn blanc: This uses the Minnesota Edelweiss grape, which I think is my new favorite! The nose of this wine is sweet like peach and mango, and the flavor is very soft, delicate and sweet in the mouth. I have never had anything like this. I can't even describe the pleasure I had in drinking it.
3) Gunflint red: This red is sweet rather than dry. However, the thing that I remember the most is that the nose of the wine smelled to me like caramel. This was nice when mixed with the sweet wine in my mouth. Very unique.
Overall, this winery puts out a great series of wines that I would recommend you try.
Little Oscar's
Last weekend I visited Little Oscar's Restaurant in Hampton, Mn.
This is a great little diner located of highway 52. Its a small place, with all the accoutrements of any small town diner, PLUS, a little electric train that goes around the dining room. It also reminds me of the mom n' pop places of my childhood in Iowa, with those little wooden and peg brain teaser games on the tables, except now all those games have their website listed for purchase.
But I digress....
The food we has was spectacular. I ordered the crispy chicken wrap with a cup of chili. The chili was sweet and thick. Tomatoey and very tasty. The wrap was excellent too. Used chopped rather than shredded lettuce, and it had the right ratio of lettuce to the other ingredients. And a good price too, only 7.89 for all of that.
I cannot remember the sandwich my husband ordered, but it came with mashed potatoes. They were GOOD. Real mashed potatoes with the thick beef gravy that comes standard at any roadside diner.
This was a great experience! I will totally return here again when I am on the road.
This is a great little diner located of highway 52. Its a small place, with all the accoutrements of any small town diner, PLUS, a little electric train that goes around the dining room. It also reminds me of the mom n' pop places of my childhood in Iowa, with those little wooden and peg brain teaser games on the tables, except now all those games have their website listed for purchase.
But I digress....
The food we has was spectacular. I ordered the crispy chicken wrap with a cup of chili. The chili was sweet and thick. Tomatoey and very tasty. The wrap was excellent too. Used chopped rather than shredded lettuce, and it had the right ratio of lettuce to the other ingredients. And a good price too, only 7.89 for all of that.
I cannot remember the sandwich my husband ordered, but it came with mashed potatoes. They were GOOD. Real mashed potatoes with the thick beef gravy that comes standard at any roadside diner.
This was a great experience! I will totally return here again when I am on the road.