Farfalle with Yogurt and Zucchini

That's right folks, it's upon us again; zucchini time! Whether you've got it planted in your garden or have a neighbor who will soon be hoping to share his bounty, soon we'll all have too much zucchini on our hands. Here's a great way to use some of it!

Serves 4 to 6

1. 1 pound farfalle
2. 4 medium zucchini (about 1 1/2 pounds), coarsely shredded*

1. 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2. 1 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
3. 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving
4. Freshly grated nutmeg
5. Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the farfalle until al dente; about 1 minute before the farfalle is done, add the shredded zucchini to the pot. Drain the farfalle and zucchini, reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water.
2. Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, melt the butter. Remove from the heat. Stir in the Greek yogurt and the 1 cup of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and season the yogurt sauce with freshly grated nutmeg, salt and pepper.
3. Add the farfalle, zucchini and reserved pasta water to the saucepan and cook over low heat, tossing, until the sauce coats the pasta; transfer to warmed bowls and serve with the extra cheese.

*I shred my zucchini with a box grater or a mandoline. You can also use a spiral slicer.

Tervis Tumbler: A Favorite Thing

I do recognize the irony of following yesterday’s post on plastics with one praising a plastic cup. What can I say? I’ve had two stainless steel water bottles and neither of them kept the water cold for any length of time at all.

Most of my east coast family has been in love with the Tervis Tumblers for a long time. Living the greater part of my life in the desert, I didn’t see the attraction. It’s just a big plastic cup, right?

The Tervis Tumbler excels at this little problem that rears its ugly head in hot, humid climates. It’s called condensation. You might be familiar with it; I wasn’t. What’s the big deal? A little water on the glass? Then I moved east and I got it. It’s not just a little water on the glass, it’s amazing quantities of water running down the sides of the glass, dripping and leaving puddles everywhere. Last week I was having a drink on the patio at a popular downtown Atlanta hot spot when I felt water dripping onto my legs. It was running down the sides of my drink, through the slats in the table and literally pouring into my lap. That’s condensation!

Enter the Tervis Tumbler. Double-walled insulation, built into the glasses keeps condensation to a minimum while ensuring cold drinks stay cold and warm drinks stay warm for an extended period of time. Tervis has inserted all sorts of decorative emblems and designs between the plastic layers, so you can pick the one that suits you best. My 24oz tumbler features a big pink letter M in a script font. I think it suits me.

Tervis sells many sizes of their tumblers plus lids and straws. They also offer ice buckets. There are hundreds of emblems from which to choose.

The tumblers come with a lifetime guarantee against defects. According to their website –

“Tervis Tumblers are made for life. Should your Tervis Tumbler become defective, simply send it to Tervis for free replacement, even if it has been over 40 years since you purchased it! No proof of purchase required – If it says Tervis on the bottom, that’s proof enough for us!”

I know at least one of my sisters has put the famous Tervis guarantee to the test. No receipt necessary, you just bundle up your tumbler and send it to the address on their website. Tervis will send you a new one, simple as that. She got her new tumbler in just a few days, with her now out-of-production original emblem safely entombed between the layers.

Although I don’t agree with Tervis’ statement that their tumblers are perfect for every occasion, it’s a plastic cup after all, here in hot, humid east Tennessee my tumbler is never far from my reach.

Are you a Tervis Tumbler fan? What design do you have?

Single-Use Plastics, Are We Getting Anywhere?

When we talk about single-use plastics, most of us think about those ubiquitous water bottles and grocery store sacks. We recognize the environmental nightmare the use of these convenience products has caused and we want to do something about it. Several countries have banned the use of plastic grocery sacks outright and some U.S. cities have followed suit. California may soon become the first state to ban plastic bags; a bill to that effect having passed the Assembly on June 3.

According to Earth911 Americans buy an estimated 29.8 billion water bottles annually and only two out of every ten are recycled. The rest are simply tossed away and not always into the landfill. We see them along the roads, in parks and floating on the waterways, add grocery store sacks snagged in every other tree and it’s a mess out there.

The problems created by water bottles and plastic store sacks have been widely publicized and a lot of people have given up the use of both. It’s a wonderful thing to see people bringing their own bags to the store and using their own reusable water bottles but is it enough?

I haven’t bought a bottle of water or accepted a plastic store sack in a long time but I’m not sure I’m doing all that well in the war on single-use plastics. A trip to the recycling center this week opened my eyes to my own ineffectiveness. At least 60% of my recycling consisted of plastics. Yogurt containers, produce containers, shampoo bottles; my recycling bin was full of them. These items are also single-use plastics and I don’t think we’re making much headway getting them under control.

Recycling is a good thing but not purchasing the product at all is what we should be seeking to achieve. Unfortunately, not that many options are out there. I love berries and buy a lot of them this time of year. Farmer’s markets or pick-your-own farms are possible alternatives to those plastic clamshell containers at the grocery store but are they really practical for a large number of people? I don’t think so. We could make our own yogurt and perhaps even brew up our own shampoos and cosmetics but that’s not very practical either.

Every little bit helps but we need to be focusing on each plastic-encased product we buy and trying to determine if there are alternatives. Yes, we need to recycle what we do buy but realistically, the war on single use plastics is not going to be won in individual households unless we vote with our dollars. New, environmentally safer containers need to be developed and used on a large scale. That won’t happen unless companies realize that money can be made by offering their products in environmentally friendly packaging. A lot of finger pointing and name-calling is going on lately on the subject of the economic debt we may be creating for our grandchildren; I believe the environmental debt will be much more far reaching.

Where do you stand on the issue of single-use plastics? Have you made some changes in your household? Do you recycle? Have you made any headway in reducing the amount of single-use plastic encased products you buy? How are you doing it?

Solo Traveling: The Cruise Industry Responds

Solo cruising, undertaken for a myriad of reasons, has always been an expensive proposition. Cruise lines base their income structure on an expectation of at least two full-fare paying adults in every cabin. Referred to as a single supplement, solo travelers are generally charged 150 to 200% of the per person fare. So, if the rate is $700 per person, based on two people in a cabin, a single will pay anywhere from $1050 to $1400 for the same trip. If you can’t find a traveling buddy, cruising risks being out of reach for a lot of single travelers.

Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) has just launched a brand new ship that attempts to address this issue. The 4,200-passenger Norwegian Epic features 128 studio cabins for single travelers. At 100 square feet, the ultra modern and extremely stylish cabins are not designed for hanging out in, but with loads of public spaces and lots going on, most cruisers don’t dally in their cabins anyway. Each cabin features a full-sized bed, flat-screen TV and a small desk. One-way windows overlooking the corridor help the space seem larger. They have separate showers, sinks and toilets and a fair amount of storage space. Many of the studio cabins are connecting, which might be great for a bunch of friends travelling together but not wanting to room together. On the downside, all of the studio cabins are inside, so no ocean views.

The studio cabins are located on decks 10 and 11 and share a common central corridor. The studio cabin area is accessible by key card only and features its own dedicated two-story lounge called “The Living Room” where guests can get morning coffee, an evening drink or mingle with other studio cabin inhabitants. If you’re thinking “singles club”, that remains to be seen. As a studio cabin resident, you have access to the lounge but are not restricted to it. You may use it or not, as you choose.

The Living Room

Rates for the studio cabins are still about 25% higher than the per person rate for lower category cabins elsewhere, but that’s still significantly less than what solo travelers pay on any other cruise ship.

The Epic will sail out of Miami and feature eastern and western Caribbean, transatlantic and Mediterranean itineraries.

I love cruising and am excited about the possibilities that the Epic represents. I’m not too interested in cruising on the Love Boat though, so I hope NCL can entertain the possibility that there are a number of reasons that people travel alone and don’t end up making this area of the ship have some sort of “swinging singles” feel to it. Look to see me booked on the Epic, in a studio cabin, within the next 18 months.

What do you think? If NCL’s venture into single accommodations takes off, other cruise lines are likely to follow suit. Do you think that’s a positive trend? Would you be interested in cruising solo if this sort of cabin were available?

How to Save Money Socially with Friends

Guest post by Alban

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The current economy is not exactly conducive to frivolous expenditure, which is what spending money on recreation can be considered.

However, you should remember that there are many ways you can save money while still having fun as recreation is as vital to your well being as work is. Having fun shouldn’t always have to cost an arm and a leg and there are many ways to make social savings while still enjoying yourself

There are plenty of benefits of social savings. Not only can you save money on reducing your expenditure on activities but you can also save even more money with the following ideas in other areas of your life.

Cut Down on Fashion Expenses with Swaps

One great way to increase social savings is with swapping parties. No, you won’t be swapping your partners, but you will be swapping lots of clothes. These parties are becoming more and more popular as people try to reduce the amount of money they spend on clothes and this is the perfect solution.
A swap party essentially involves people bringing clothing they don’t wear anymore and exchanging it with friends and neighbours for their unwanted items. Not only is this a great way to get new clothes for nothing, it’s also a great way to have some fun with your friends with virtually no cost at all, except maybe some snacks and a few glasses of wine.


Borrow Don’t Buy

Another great way to make social savings is by borrowing rather than buying. So, for those special occasions like a wedding or a fancy party, rather than spending a fortune on new clothing and shoes, you can either borrow from friends or family, or, a popular trend now is to rent clothing for the evening. You can get everything from designer shoes, bags, clothes and more at a fraction of the cost of buying them. This way you won’t be making a huge investment in something you are unlikely to wear more than a few times every year. And since designer fashion can cost thousands of dollars, you can make some significant savings.


Swap Homes for Holidays

Getting away from the daily grind is vital to recharging, but the cost of accommodation is something few people can afford at the moment. However, a new trend that is taking the world by storm for even greater social savings is the house swap. People from all over the world are swapping their homes so that they can go on holiday without incurring additional expenses for accommodation.

In fact, one Australian house-swapping agency found that more than 200,000 successful home swaps happen every year. You can organise these swaps with people you know, or sign up for an international or national service. Staying in a home, as opposed to a hotel means you will also save money on food, because you won’t have to eat out several times a day.

Alban is a personal writer. He provides tips on how to save money and helps people to find the best first home buyer loans online.

A Little Reminder from the Universe

In April I bought a new iPhone and a MacBook Pro. Last week I had to take both in for repairs at the local Apple store. I ended up having to go in twice and I faced these two trips with completely different mindsets and as a result, had two completely different experiences. It was a great reminder that what we give to the universe is exactly what we get back.

To say I was in a bad mood when I left my house Friday for my appointment would be an understatement. I purchased my very expensive MacBook because I’d had recurring hardware troubles with my previous two Dell laptops and I’d had enough. The fact that three months later I was dealing with a hardware problem on the Mac really wasn’t sitting well with me.

Running all sorts of possible negative scenarios in my head, I was spoiling for a fight when I left my house. It was hot and muggy out and the traffic was snarled up. Clearly my GPS was plotting against me for some previous slight and sent me on the worst possible routing. I dislike malls and I really dislike the Apple store. It’s hot and noisy and full of teenagers playing on the dozen or so iPads out for display. I pulled into the mall, having no idea exactly where the Apple store was, couldn’t find a parking spot and, as usual, had to go to the bathroom.

As I made my way to the Genius Bar at the back of the store, I was waylaid by a smiling young man who wanted to check me in for my appointment. He had the unenviable job of telling me that due to my being six minutes late my iPhone appointment had been cancelled. I was a bitch extremely annoyed and blamed it on not being able to find their store. He apologized, checked me in for my laptop appointment and, as I left to go find a bathroom, suggested that I get back to the store at least five minutes ahead of my now single appointment. I assured him that since I was lugging my laptop around I couldn’t exactly go shopping.

I had trouble following the signs to the restroom in the nearest big department store and, when I finally found it, it was crowded and dirty. Back in line for my appointment at the Apple store, I continued to fume. When it was my turn, six minutes late, another young man tried unsuccessfully to replicate the problem I was having. In spite of the laptop working perfectly at the store, parts were ordered. I was told it would be two or three days until the parts came in at which time I would have to surrender my laptop for three or four days for them to effect the repair. If I wanted to wait around they would try to fit me back in to the schedule and look at my iPhone. I declined and left the mall.

I stopped on my way home and had dinner and a beer. I stopped at a local nail shop and had a pedicure. I stopped at the movie theatre for an escapist adventure flick. Equanimity finally restored, I went home. Truly a lousy day.

The next morning I headed back to the Apple store to have my iPhone looked at and, good mood restored, I had a completely different day. I cruised down to the mall with almost no traffic and found a parking spot right in front of the mall entrance. Twenty minutes ahead of my appointment, I strolled into a department store, quickly found the empty, clean and quiet ladies room and then proceeded straight to Apple. Not particularly bothered by the crowded and noisy store, I waited to be called. My iPhone acted up for the service person just like it always does for me. He took it in the back room, swapped out the faceplate and gave it back to me, now working perfectly, five minutes later.

I live my life with the belief that you get back what you put out there and I appreciated this little reminder of the validity of that belief. I also took another lesson from this experience.

It’s easy to be in a good mood when you have very few deadlines and no one to answer to but yourself. Next time I find myself taken aback by someone whose stress is showing, I’m going to be a little more understanding!

Gardening Tips for June

This month's Stadler Nursery post is about June!

Cheryl lives with her husband and their three cats in a 100-year-old house in the beautiful state of Maryland. She has a degree in horticulture from the University of Maryland and has been the manager of Stadler Nurseries in Maryland and Virginia for over 20 years. Become a fan of Stadler Nurseries on Facebook to find out what's going on in the garden world!

If you would like to submit a guest post for SimplyForties please check the guidelines here.

My big beautiful hydrangea is in full bloom right now and I love seeing it every time I look out my kitchen window. Did you know you can change the color of the flowers on some types of hydrangea s? Acidic soil will give you blue blooms while alkaline soil will generate pink. The science of it works like this. The color is a direct result of the availability of aluminum in the soil. Most garden soils have adequate aluminum, but in soils where the pH is high (alkaline), the aluminum is chemically bound to other elements in the soil and not available to be absorbed by the hydrangea, causing it to produce pink flowers. In lower pH soils (acidic), the aluminum is freely available and can be absorbed by the hydrangea which then produces blue flowers. To make your soil more alkaline, add lime around the plant two or three times each year. For more acidic soil, add ammonium sulfate. Since our clay soils in this area tend to be slightly acidic, my hydrangea is always blue so I don’t have to worry about it, but if you live in an area where this is not the case, either embrace the pink or be prepared to amend your soil several times a year every year!

I am not a big planter of annuals in my garden. They only live the one year and, while they do flower the entire summer until our first frost in late October, I don’t like having to keep replanting them every year. However, I do have a few areas that always get annuals this time of year. These are areas in which the perennials are “summer dormant”. They have done their big show for the year already and have died back to the ground to rest and wait for next spring. These include the beautiful, vibrant orange poppies that fill my garden in May, the lovely and delicate bleeding hearts, the ethereal Virginia bluebells and the patches of bright daffodils here and there. Planting annuals in these areas keeps me from having bare spots once these spring beauties have died back and, since they are fairly shallow rooted, they don’t disturb the roots of the perennials in that area . It also allows me to try new combinations and colors that my more permanent perennials don’t allow.

June also brings the arrival of the Japanese beetle, scourge of gardeners in this area. One or two beetles, finding something tasty in your garden, send out a chemical signal to other beetles in the area that says “There’s food here! Come on over!” Before you know it, you have hordes of beetles devouring all your prized plants and flowers. Several control methods are available to you. Those beetle bag traps work well, but only if you have enough room to place them far away from their favorite plants in your garden. The pheromone bait supplied with the bags is a powerful lure and will draw beetles that might have been perfectly content munching away in your neighbor’s yard right over into your garden where they will be sure to sample lots of your plants on the way to the trap. It’s also important to change those bags frequently as once they are full of dead beetles, the others in the area get the idea that perhaps that’s not the best place to be and avoid the trap all together. Several sprays are on the market and most work pretty well as long as you keep up with the recommended spraying schedule. The beetle season usually lasts about six to eight weeks around here, so that’s a lot of spraying but may be worth it if you have a number of plants prized by both you and the beetles.

Another possible solution is the application of Milky Spore to your soil. This is an organic approach, employing a naturally occurring host specific bacterium. It is applied to the soil in a powder form and works by killing the Japanese beetle grub in the soil before it emerges in its adult form and begins feeding on the foliage in your garden. The big plus, of course, is the non-chemical approach. The big minus is that while it will control the root-feeding grubs in your lawn and garden and thus reduce or eliminate entirely the adult beetles they would have grown into, it takes at least three years before the bacteria has built up to sufficient levels to have good effect on the grubs. During this time, you cannot apply any sort of grub control to your lawn because you will kill off the food source of the bacteria and inhibit or even halt its establishment in your garden. Also, it has no effect at all on the beetles that can just fly over from your neighbor’s yard and munch happily on your delicious plants. So unless you can get your entire community on board with this control method, it won’t help much with the Japanese beetle problem. Fortunately for us in this area, as far as I know, no Japanese beetles have been sighted yet this season. Perhaps this is a result of our very cold and snowy winter having killed off the grubs in the soil before they had a chance to grow up and become those dreaded voracious flying adults. I hope so.

If you've got chickens you could try this method!

Girls' Weekend in Charlottesville, VA

(Monticello)

Last week I had the great pleasure of spending a couple of days with an old junior high school friend of mine. We were inseparable for a while there and then she went to a different high school and we lost track of each other. Fast forward thirty years or so and enter Facebook. We hooked up, met for lunch when I was living in Virginia and quickly made plans for a longer visit once I got settled in Tennessee.

I got up early Wednesday morning and drove the six hours to Charlottesville, VA., for two fun-filled days of laughing and non-stop talking! Charlottesville is a great town. The home of the University of Virginia, it’s scenic, historic and full of fun things to do. We stayed at the Omni Charlottesville, which sits at the top of a few blocks of pedestrian shopping, eating and drinking places. We spent Wednesday afternoon eating, drinking, strolling and catching up.

(Jefferson's grave marker)

Thursday morning we had an excellent breakfast at the hotel and then loaded up and drove to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. It’s a beautiful place. If you ever get the chance to see it, do! Jefferson was an amazing, inventive man and the best of him is there at Monticello. We took the house tour and strolled around the gardens. Then we walked down the hill, past Jefferson’s grave and ended up at the visitor’s center. No cheesy gift shop at Monticello, the store is filled with books, dishes, furniture and plants from the garden. It’s a great stop in its own right.

Unbeknownst to many, Virginia produces some really excellent wines. My friend and I decided to spend our afternoon on a winery crawl. Although we had discovered that we have a lot in common, we now know we are complete opposites as far as wine is concerned! We started with the Jefferson Vineyard, located just a mile from Monticello. Their wines are also for sale in the gift shop at Monticello and I’m sure their lovely bottles are designed to make nice gifts. I bought an ’07 Meritage, my friend bought the Chardonnay.

(Blenheim's winemaker Kristy Harmon)

Our next stop was Blenheim Vineyards, owned by Dave Matthews of the Dave Matthews Band. Although we went there because we like the band and thought it was neat that he owned a vineyard, we ended up being very impressed with the wine. We were even more impressed by the fact that the winemaker at Blenheim is a woman. Our hats were off to her! Their store/tasting facility is a really neat timber-frame structure. You enter on the second floor, which is inset with large glass panels that enable you to look down into the winery below. My friend loved the Chardonnay, Viognier and the Rose. Their sold out ’08 Petit Verdot was so amazing that I joined their wine club just to get a bottle of it.

(wine tasting apparatus at Kluge)

Kluge Vineyard was our next stop. Badly in need of sustenance by then, we ordered three small plates to eat in the garden area after our tasting. One of the things I love about wine tastings is the opportunity to visit with the winery people. If you’ve never been to one, generally you stand at a counter while an employee pours you successive tastes of whatever they have to offer. These people are usually knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their product and, while you taste, they tell you about their wines and answer your questions.

Kluge was completely different. We paid our wine tasting fee (usually about $5) and were presented with an odd, science-lab series of plastic beakers in a rack; each one containing a sample of Kluge wine, along with a sheet of paper with the wine's description. Upon questioning, the young man who presented us with this apparatus admitted that he knew about the wines. He didn’t appear too busy so I told him that I didn’t want to read the handout and really preferred the usual pithy banter. He laughingly obliged and we ended up enjoying ourselves. Although I didn’t much care for the tasting protocol, I did like their ’02 New World Red and bought two bottles. My friend preferred the ’05 and took that home.

(Sugarleaf Vineyard)

Our next stop was closed so our final stop was Sugarleaf Vineyards. It was about 6:00 pm by that time and the door was locked when we got there. Luckily, as we were walking back to our car, someone rode down on an ATV, let us in and gave us a tasting. I walked away with my only Cabernet Sauvignon of the day.

Back in our room, we decided to go out on the square for a dinner of sushi and a fairly early night. We woke up Friday morning and headed our separate ways. I’m all about re-inventing and re-defining ourselves in mid-life but there is something really comforting and relaxing about spending a couple of days with someone who was a big part of my crazy past.

I’ve invited her to Houston in January. The Virginia winter ought to be wearing her down by then and I hope she’ll hop on a plane and let me show her a Texas good time!

Oat Cake with Warm Mixed Berry Compote

The berries are excellent and the prices are low in the stores right now so my fridge is full of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries. I can't get enough of them!

This is one of my favorite ways to use some of those delicious berries. Give it a try!

Oat Cake -

1 cup rolled oats, not quick oats

1 1/4 cups boiling water

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter and flour a 9-inch-square cake pan. In a heatproof bowl, soak the oats in the boiling water for 20 minutes. Drain well.

2. In a medium bowl, sift the flour with the baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. In a large bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add the brown and granulated sugars and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, then beat in the vanilla. Add the soaked oats and beat at medium speed just until combined. At low speed, beat in the dry ingredients.

3. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake the cake in the middle of the oven for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn the cake out onto a wire rack, then invert it and let cool completely.

Cut the cake into squares and serve with the Warm Mixed-Berry Compote.

Mixed Berry Compote

1. 1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice
2. 3 tablespoons mild honey
3. 1 large vanilla bean, split
4. 1 1/2 cups blueberries
5. 1 1/2 cups blackberries
6. 1 1/2 cups raspberries (or strawberries)
7. 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 1/2 tablespoons water

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the orange juice with the honey. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the saucepan and add the bean. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring to dissolve the honey, about 2 minutes. Add the blueberries and blackberries and cook just until softened, about 2 minutes. Gently fold in the raspberries. Stir the cornstarch slurry and add it to the saucepan. Simmer the compote until thickened and glossy, about 2 minutes. Discard the vanilla bean. Serve warm.

MAKE AHEAD

The compote can be refrigerated overnight. Reheat gently before serving.

Try the compote over ice cream or pancakes. It's pretty versatile!

Summer and Sparkling Wines: A Perfect Pairing!

I’ve recently signed up to attend a three-week course on champagnes and other sparkling wines, sponsored by the University of Tennessee’s outreach program. I attended my first class Monday night and, on the assumption that we are interested in drinking as well as eating (!) I thought I’d share a little of what I learned. What follows is a very basic explanation!

Although we tend to refer to most sparkling wines as “champagne”, technically, champagnes are sparkling wines produced in the Champagne area or appellation of France and are primarily made from chardonnay, pinot noir and/or pinot meunier grapes.

Using one of four methods produces the bubbles in sparkling wines. The champagne method involves first fermenting the grapes in a tank and then bottling the result, adding some yeast and sugar and sealing the bottle. The yeast ferments in the bottle, creating the bubbles. After a period of time the bottles are opened, the sediment is removed and the bottles are permanently corked for sale. When you see “champenois” on the label, it means the wine was made using the champagne method. The champenois method is used for making more complex sparkling wines.

Like the champenois, the cuvee or transfer method, involves a second fermentation in the bottle to achieve some complexity, after which the contents are transferred into a tank to clarify and pressurize the wine before it is re-bottled. The charmat or tank method involves second fermentation in a specially pressurized tank, instead of in the bottle. These wines are also bottled under pressure. This is a less expensive process than the champenois method and is common with proseccos and other light sparkling wines. The charmat method produces a smaller, longer lasting bubble than the CO2 method. Using the same method as making soda, some sparkling wines use the CO2 method in which CO2 is injected into the bottle after corking. This method is the least expensive and produces larger bubbles, which dissipate quickly.

Unfortunately, sparkling wine labels don’t always help you figure out what’s going on inside the bottle. On Italian sparkling wines you may see the term “metodo classico”, which refers to the champagne method. While other bottles created using the champagne method may say champenois but some won’t. “Methode Traditionnelle” also refers to the champagne method. I don’t think you’ll ever see CO2 on a label but price will help you there. A $10 bottle of sparkling wine is not one that was created using the champenois method.

From a taste standpoint it’s good to know that Brut means a dry wine with a sugar content of less than 1.5%. Extra Bruts have less than 0.6% sugar. Extra dry is slightly sweeter than a Brut with about 1.2 to 2% sugar. Secs are 1.7 to 3.5% sugar and Demi-Secs are 3.3 – 5% sugar. Celebration wines are also very sweet.

When you see “vintage” on the label that means that all the grapes used in that particular bottle were harvested during the same year. Non-vintage means the wine is made from grapes (or wines) from different years, blended together. You might see the terms “vintage” or “non-vintage” on the label or you might not. If you don’t see a year on the label, you are probably looking at a non-vintage wine. Vintage wines can be cellared longer than non-vintage wines with vintage wines from “good” years being cellared the longest of all. A good, vintage champagne or sparkling wine can be safely cellared for 15 – 20 years.

That’s a lot of information, isn’t it? The only real way to figure out what you like and what you don’t is to drink some sparkling wines! In this week’s class we tried eight different sparkling wines. It was no surprise at all to discover that the dryer, less sweet wines appealed to me the most. Although I consider myself a red wine drinker, I like lighter, brighter sparkling wines. Did you know that there are red sparking wines? I didn’t. I especially liked a Spanish sparkling pinot noir. We also had an excellent sparkling Shiraz from South Australia. Evidently the sparkling Shiraz is as common in Australia as prosecco is in Italy.

Summer and sparkling wines go hand in hand. Go shopping in the sparkling wine section of your local wine shop and host a tasting! See what you and your friends like the most. Here are a few excellent food choices to serve with your sparkling wines:

Cheeses:

Brie goes well with a light and fruity Champagne.

Mild Cheddar goes well with sharp, bright Champagnes.

Chevre pairs with stronger Champagnes.

Colby goes well with medium weight Champagnes.

Pair Edams and Goudas with nutty Champagnes.

Meats

Fois Gras pairs nicely with gentle, delicate Champagnes.

Raw oysters also pair well with delicate Champagnes but avoid lemon and vinegar preparations on the oysters.

Sushi and Champagne go hand-in-hand!

Shellfish like lobsters, shrimp and scallops are also good choices.

Chicken with olive oil but no lemon or vinegar flavors pair well with Champagne.

Desserts

Strawberries are a classic for romantic occasions but use sweet sparklers like Asti Spumanti.

Tarts and crumbles, fruit puddings, shortbread and almond cookies are all good flavors to match with sweeter, dessert champagnes.

Salude!

Link Love 6.10.10

(In honor of the suffragettes. Park in Knoxville.)

One Woman's Eye wrote an article that was both excellent and personal for me in Are You Lip Syncing Or Living Out Loud? She, like me, was sent to the back of the choir at a young age for her inability to carry a tune and she's done some ruminating on how that experience may have affected her adult behavior when it came time to put herself out there in other ways. Excellent read.

Funny About Money is wondering what her response should be to a letter from her credit union urging her to jump on their bandwagon in fighting some of the credit card reform legislation making its way through Congress. She's asking about Interchange Legislation, How Would You Vote? If you read the comments section you'll see that this is a hot button of mine and she earned a somewhat rambling response from me. Where do you weigh in?

Alunatune's Weblog is looking at Unexpected Lessons. This short, mindful article is well worth the read.

Check out this ultra-modern 625 sq ft. home. Prices start at a modest $24,950. Once again, storage for the necessities of life is sadly lacking but I love the look of this sleek little domicile.

Checking in with my homeowners, they're in Yosemite!

Changing Your Career After 50

This guest article was contributed by Wendy Graham who frequently writes about online degrees and college related topics for Online College Guru, a directory of online colleges.

If you would like to submit a guest post for SimplyForties please check the guidelines here.

Changing your career at a time when you seem to be well-established can be a daunting task, but it can also prove to be a rewarding one. Once people have decided to take this step, the reasons can be as varied as escaping from job “burnout” to following a lifelong dream.

Regardless of your reason for leaving your job, plan carefully in order to make things easier for you and your family. Here are some things for you to keep in mind:

• Ask yourself if you are taking this step because you feel the need to do so, or because you want to “make a difference” in this new phase of your life. Consider whether you want to use the skills you have relied on in your present career, or if you want to move in a new direction. After that, you can focus on the kind of work you would like to do.

• Make a list of the skills that you already possess and would like to use; not all of them have to be work-related. You may have a hobby that seems to be pleading for greater emphasis in your life, and many skills—such as having a sharp eye for detail or relating well with teenagers—would also be transferable in your new situation.

• Do some research related to the “facts of life” of your new career. For example, an English teacher who hoped to find a full-time publishing job was surprised to discover that freelancers were used so extensively in the industry. Determine whether you will need any additional training, and find out what employers and industries lead the way in hiring those over 50. Note also that you may fit in well with a smaller organization because of your advanced skills and evident stability.

• Enlist your family’s support. Tell them what you plan to do and why you want to do it. They will probably be more receptive to the idea if they see that you are serious about making the switch and have a definite plan. Learn to handle any mixed emotions you have about making the switch.

• Revamp your resume, and be sure to concentrate on your skills, stability and experience. Don’t go back any further than 15 years in your work history, and include your hobbies and volunteer work if they are relevant to the kind of job you want.

• Remember that networking really works. Let your friends and acquaintances know that you are actively job-hunting. Be receptive if they follow up with some suggested contacts or agree to provide references.

Register with reputable employment sites on the Internet, such as Career Builder. You will find that they mention a factor that you might not have considered—your willingness to relocate for a job. You will have to give that possibility some thought and be prepared to follow up on all the leads you uncover as well.

Once you have definitely decided to make a career change, rest assured that you will succeed if you plan carefully. You will also need to remove the phrase “too late” from your vocabulary because it doesn’t apply in your case.