Wine and Cheese

I visited Georgia's idea of culture this weekend. The Georgia Winery and Sweetwater Valley Cheese.

I have never been a big fan of wine, or alcohol in general, but I must say that I had a good time wine tasting! I bought four bottles of very good fruity white wine and a fruity grape wine....it is not as good as grape juice, but maybe I can grow to like it. I am such a wine novice. The Chattanooga Blush is my favorite!

Right in front of the Georgia Winery is Sweetwater Valley Cheese. The cheese is made just hours from the store in Sweetwater, TN. I usually like the milder, simple cheeses, but the garden blend was so great that I bought it instantly! So unusual but not so overpowerful that you taste is hours after you eat it.

So yesterday I sat down with my wine and cheese and had a picnic in my room...it is not Lake Lucerne, Switzerland but it will have to do until I can at least pay off my last trip!

Gnocchi

I made this last night and it was so super easy and so super good! I got raves! Recipe Summary Difficulty: Easy Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Yield: 4 to 6 servings User Rating: Gnocchi with Cinnamon Butter Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis 3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks) 1 cinnamon stick 1 package storebought gnocchi Salt 1 tablespoon sugar, plus more to taste 1 teaspoon ground cinnamonMelt the butter with the cinnamon stick in a heavy medium skillet over medium heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside. Cook the gnocchi in a large pot of boiling salted water until all the gnocchi rise to the surface, about 3 minutes. Discard the cinnamon stick from the butter sauce and reheat the sauce over low heat. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked gnocchi to the hot cinnamon butter in the skillet. Sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon. Toss to coat and add more sugar, to taste. Spoon the gnocchi and butter sauce into shallow bowls and serve immediately.

Episode#: EI0909
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Alaska Treat

One of the best things about going to Alaska was the espresso. I have never seen so many in one place before! They are like Starbucks or something. And they were all in these cute little one room drive thrus. And the taste was most excellent....and highly needed when it gets 40 below in the winter time.

Espresso is a genius thing really...all of that great coffee taste without all of the calories. And it is the strongest stuff I have found on this side of the Atlantic.

Top 3-Chicken Salad

In honor of the almost end to Summer, here is a top 3 of my favorite Summer sandwich

Stone Cup, North Chattanooga-with the croissant
Chases by the Beach, New Smyrna Beach, FL-on a spinach wrap
Udder Creamery, Miller Plaza Chattanooga-on honey wheat bread

Afternoon Tea

Haselnuß

Current obsession: Hazelnuts

Usage: Cinnamon rolls, Hazelnut crunch cake, Chocolate hazelnut tart

Best use of hazelnut in a product: Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)

Best used: Chopped, shelled, and toasted.

Hazelnuts are so awesome and different. Down south we are always using pecans or even almonds, but hazelnuts are very Italian and can add a touch of international umph to any cake, pastry or chicken recipe.

Yummy, yummy, yum!

Foodie Blog

Hello! Cheffette here...(kind of like the chef version of smurfette if you were wondering about the name). I had a blog then lost a blog...so I thought...why not a fresh start:

A Food Blog!

Here I will not only post cool new recipes, but I will also post about new restaurants and current food obsessions...and anything else I might want to blog about. It is all in fun!

So enjoy!