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Sunday, September 30, 2012

The Bryan Brothers Wine and Food Tennis Fest 2012!

I was fortunate enough to attend The Bryan Brothers Wine and Food Tennis Fest on Friday evening!

Who are the Bryan Brothers you ask? Well, are the #1 ranked Tennis doubles team in the world, and just won a gold medal in the Olympics!

They have a charity called The Bryan Brothers Foundation that helps support needy kids and other great causes. Here is a link to the foundation: http://www.bryanbros.com/about-the-foundation.html

This is a fundraising event that features a Pro/Am tennis tournament with several professional tennis players as well as over 40 food and wine vendors from California presenting the best food and wine they have to offer. There was a live and silent auction at the event featuring tennis memorabilia from the top players in the world. At the end of the evening The Bryan Brothers Band played a concert!
 The flags welcomed us to the beautiful Spanish Hills Country Club in Camarillo, CA!
 This is a list of the businesses that were participating in the event!
After my friend Valaree and I got our tickets and wristbands, we were given plates with cup holders for our wine glass and we were off to explore the various wineries and food offerings that were available!
We stopped at Rocket Fizz that specialized in sodas and candy! Here are some of their soda offerings!

Here are more of their soda offerings! Valaree and I both had the Pete's Pumpkin Soda! It was as if Martinelli's replaced their sparkling apple cider with pumpkin! It was really that good!

Find out more at their website:
http://rocketfizz.com/
Next we visited Nothing Bundt Cakes! Get it? nothing Bundt Cakes? Anyways they had some of their creative cakes out for display as well as samples!
This was their delicious Red Velvet cake! It was moist and delicious!

Find out more at:
http://www.nothingbundtcakes.com/

I admit that I wasn't going to stop at Cold Stone but Valaree noticed that they had some unusual offerings! Check out the photo above! Two wine sorbets and a hard alcohol ice cream? Thank you for paying attention Valaree! They served us each one and it kept getting better and better! Only available at this location listed above, they are even willing to make you your own sorbet or ice cream for $50 which gets you about 5 or 6 of their small containers. Sorry, I actually forgot to ask them how big each container is!

Here is the address:

2390 Las Posas Road, Suite I
Camarillo, CA  93010, US

805-388-1527 
They also have their own Facebook page: 

The Spanish Hills Country Club Catering department I think out shined everyone there with their Kung Pao Calamari! I love calamari and the combination with the spices and peanuts was just perfect! I admit that I ate about 8 servings of this!
We are looking at one of the beautiful bottles from Artiste Winery. This is their Daybreak wine which is a Barolo inspired blend of Nebbiolo, Barbera and Cabernet Franc. The winemaker works with an artist and describes their vision of the wine they are creating. The art is changed every quarter. The wine itself has a very bold flavor. One of my favorites of the evening.

To learn more, check out their web site:
http://www.artiste.com/
My next favorite was from the Hidden Oak Winery, Their Peitie Sirah was a full bodied wine that had a lovely finish. I could pick up the aroma of cherry ans well as vanilla.

To learn more, please check out their web site:
http://www.hiddenoakwinery.com/

Next on my list was Magnavino Cellars and their Butterfly and Beauitful wines. The Beautiful wine was my favorite. It was a delicate white wine that was blended with six different grapes. These two wines are not found on their web site.

To learn more about them, please check out their web site:
http://www.magnavino.com/index.html

As some of you may know, I am a huge Port fan and this may be my new favorite. The Millesime Cellars is a small operation but they make this wonderful Millennium Nights wine. It was a Portuguese style dessert wine, so similar to a port. I could really taste the blend of cherries, almonds, coffee and a bit of butterscotch.

To learn more please check out their web site:
http://www.millesimecellars.com/
My last favorite was from the Pear Valley Vineyards. Inspiration is a delicate blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvèdre. It was so named to honor friends who are fighting cancer.

To learn more, please visit their web site:
http://www.pearvalley.com/


Oh and did I mention there was tennis? The Bryan Brothers played in several matches throughout the evening!
My friend Valareee and I with each of the Bryan Brothers!
All in all it was a great event that goes to support a great cause! I hope to be able to attend next year!

To learn more check out the Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/BryanBrosTennisFest

and the website:
http://www.bbtennisfest.com/

White Chocolate Fudge-Filled Oat Cups Recipe!

 
White Chocolate Fudge-Filled Oat Cups

Oat Cups
1 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 cups oatmeal
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Filling
2 cups chopped white chocolate
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350° and grease your mini muffin tin.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and brown sugar until creamy. Add the oatmeal, flour, salt, and cinnamon and mix until combined. (my mixer was struggling a bit here, I would suggest using a wooden spoon. Add chopped walnuts (optional) and mix until incorporated. Drop dough by tablespoon into the greased wells of your mini muffin tin. Press down on the dough so that it lines the walls and bottom of the well and forms a cup. Bake for 5-6 minutes.

While crusts are baking make the fudge filling by heating the milk and chips over low heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract. Continue to stir the fudge sporadically throughout the rest of baking these or it will start to harden.

Remove the partially baked crusts from oven (they should not be brown). If they’ve puffed up during baking, gently press them back down using a spoon and not your fingers. Fill each mini crust with fudge. If you miss and get some on the tin, wipe it off before putting the tin back in the oven (it'll burn otherwise). Return to oven and bake for another 3-4 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool at room temperature. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes or until firm.

Using a sharp knife, gently pry the Fudge Cups out of the tin. They should pop out if you greased properly and the cups are firm.
 

White Chocolate Walnut Fudge Recipe!


Walnut and White Chocolate Fudge
=================
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup cream
1/2 cup of butter
pinch of salt
1/4 cup of white Corn Syrup
6 to 8 ounces Callebaut White Chocolate
Walnuts
2 teaspoons vanilla

Add the two sugars, butter, cream, corn syrup and salt into a sauce pan. Place over medium heat.  Stir while bringing to a boil.  Lower the heat and continue to stir slowly while the mixture cooks.   After about
7 minutes, test by pouring a small amount into some cold water. You want it to form a soft ball. (about 235°F to 238°F on a candy thermometer) When it reaches soft ball stage, remove from the heat, and let rest for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, add the vanilla and the white chocolate and stir until the white chocolate melts.  You will notice the the fudge starts to thicken almost immediately.  Stir another minute or two or until the fudge starts to lose its shine. Quickly add the walnuts and pour into a buttered dish.  TIP:  Toast the Walnuts.

Source: http://en.petitchef.com/recipes/homemade-fudge-fid-606525

Who Remembers Ticket Books at Disneyland?

Do you still have any ticket books? A huge piece of Disneyland history that no longer exists!

Ice Cream Truck Wheelchair Costume!

Here is one more great photo of Carter with his amazing ice cream truck costume!

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Giveaway: A Pair of Oswald Ears!

 Win a pair of Oswald ears! These just debuted a few days ago in Disney California Adventure at Oswald's on Buena Vista Street! The giveaway begins today Saturday September 29th and ends on Friday October 5th! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wreck-It Ralph: Wynnchel & Duncan

Any guesses why these two will be my new favorite characters?

WRECK-IT RALPH / New Character Images for Sugar Rush!












WRECK-IT RALPH / New Character Images from Hero's Duty!








WRECK-IT RALPH / New Character Images from Fix-It Felix, Jr.!










WRECK-IT RALPH / New Character Images from Game Central Station!






I can't wait for November to get here!