Does My Blog... January 2010

While we wait with baited breath for the winners of the EatFoo hosted edition of DMBLGiT we soldier on... Snacksgiving has posted the announcement for the next round.

NidHi at Snacksgiving is after your food/drink photos as posted on your blog during January 2010. Personally I haven't done much in the way of food blogging recently and the photo for the macaroni cheese over on spittoon is truly abysmal, so I wont be entering that one!

As an illustation the photo here is Venison Sausages with Lentils and roasted peppers and onions. I'm sure there was supposed to be an excellent wine match with this dish somewhere...

February 16, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Post |

More Photos of Angers

On the way to an organic food and wine event one evening in Angers the lights over the Maine Riviere caught the imagination. The event was held in an historically old building across the river from the main centre of Angers. Someone said the vaulted building was an old grain store but the vaulted ceiling and church-like dimensions seemed far grander to me. The event, with a wide selection of organic wines and a superb large buffet of food, was not conducive to note taking or - as was my plan - for some wine/food matching specifics however.

These two images (not sure one is as sharply focused as it should be) were taken with the camera precariously balanced on the edge of the Pont de la Haute Chaine; I'm sure the rumbling traffic over this bridge moved the camera rendering many of the long-exposure photos unusable. These two are just about passable. (Click each image for larger versions)

The illuminated bridge in the distance is the Pont de Verdun, the spire belongs to the Cathedrale St-Maurice.

February 10, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Post |

Photos of Angers

I've been to France this week; Angers to be precise. Ostensibly for the Loire Salon Wine Fair - a four day showcase of the Loire win fraternity - but the Wednesday gave over to wander the streets and take a few snaps.

The morning was grey, wet and cold not perhaps the most ideal of conditions for a stroll or picture taking but on circling the Cathedral the sun burst through the clouds. An elderly gent in mac and wide brimmed hat was in front but I was a little slow in realising the photographic potential.

By the time I reached Angers Castle the weather had improved remarkibly...

February 7, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email Post |

Clearing Out the Photos Folder (II)

Right, so the new computer is up and running. I've even managed to transfer the old hard disk over and thus rescuing all those photos... 'the ones that didn't make quite it'.

Although maybe Jeanne will jump in again and find that these have actually made it to some long forgotten blog post or other...

First up Baked Salmon Parcels. Looks like steamed in a little paper pocket with new potatoes, peas and an awful lot of butter! Shame about the dirty fork in the background.

Next up a dish of pasta with squid. Can't even remember eating this one let alone where the recipe came from, the wine match... or where I brought the squid. (old age... just don't go there people!). Another photo of the same dish shows a slice or two of chorizo, so this must be Pasta with Squid and Chorizo...

The third photo includes a wine - De Bortoli Sero Merlot-Sangiovese from Australia's King Valley. The food looks like beef with cous cous topped with chickpeas, slices of mango with the red things being pepperdews, perhaps. An intriguing sounding dish, but I think rejected because the main mango (or maybe its peach?) slice looks a little grey and dull...

Is that coriander on the last photo? It's a steak on a celeriac mash but that little pot of stuff at the back is interesting - garlic, coriander, olives? and a dim recollection of anchovies slides into my addled brain.

January 24, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Post |

Into 2010 With Does My Blog Look Good In This

Ok then people lets get into 2010! Enough dithering around and neglecting your blogs as you write a [small] chapter for a forthcoming wine book... oh, just me then!

Finally, (some might say) I have set up an RSS Feed for Does My Blog Look Good In This announcements. If the memory holds out each new host will be detailed here on SpittoonExtra. If you don't want to read the other rubbish that appears here or marvel at the blurred snaps I try and pass off as magazine quality photographs, then this new RSS feed is for you!

Does My Blog (DMBLGIT for short) is the monthly photo-showcase event for food and wine/drink bloggers. Full details are on the dedicated DMBLGIT page but each monthly round is hosted by a different blogger (if you would like to host during 2010 drop me an email).

The first host for 2010 is David Barzelay who has posted the announcement on his blog Eatfoo so send off your best image (that appeared on your blog during December 2009) a-sap!

January 17, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (6) | Email Post |

Clearing Out the Photos Folder (I)

With the imminent arrival of a sparkley new Windows 7 computer I'm backing up all the files, saving all the bookmarks and rifeling through the RSS feeds to select the very best (ie those I actually read!). The music partition is next in line for a backup.

The photos folder is chocker; there are loads here that have never graced the blog - photos from Alsace, at least a dozen bottles of wine and several food snaps. All destined for blog posts that will never be. Now I could TRY and utilise them properly but, in the case of these food pictures, they were to grace the recipe details here on SpittoonExtra and link to a wine note on Spittoon. With the passing of time and I dare say a fare few brain cells I have no recollection of where what when or why. Some I think are passably decent so post them here...

We have a snap labelled Food Travellers Potato Tart - obviously a plan to nick a recipe from Food Traveller and match it to a wine from Alsace, possibly... I recall the dish was rather lovely.

Did I ever use this rabbit casserole picture? It seems very familiar but not the best photo ever which might explain it languishing unused... although thinking about it I remember the dish wasn't very nice, the cooking time far too long and dried out the meat. Even a decent wine couldn't save it...

And this salad - looks like it is a mix of pasta, rocket, green beans, parmesan and something 'white'. Being labelled 'sauvignon and food' indicates some long lost plan for an all encompassing post on matching Sauvignon Blanc with various foods. The bottle is a Howard Park Sauvignon, an excellent zesty Australian rendition of the grape. Actually seeing the photo full-size, shows that it is not quite in focus and the top slice of parmesan lacks definition.

January 5, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email Post |

Aquapura Douro Valley

Much has been written concerning the 'too-cool-for-school' Aquapura hotel in the Douro Valley. Our, sadly brief stay, was part of the Douro trip after the European Wine Bloggers Conference. I loved it - from the 'going down' to your room from the reception, to the multi-control unit that was supposed to switch off the room lights but most only managed to get the window blinds to move. No photos of the excellent interior (apart from the breakfast table below) but two early morning views of the Douro itself plus a couple more of the hotel's gardens and a bar terrace on Flickr. Early morning light, don't you just love it!