Hello April

I had to double check the calendar, it is April, right? It doesn’t look much like April here in Halifax.

I took this picture this morning. Hello April? It is April Fool’s Day, I guess Mother Nature is playing a bit of a joke on us.

Later in the blog, I’m going to share some great news I received this week. But for now, let’s talk some wine.

I’m not sure if our liquor stores here in Nova Scotia are getting rid of this, but it was on clearance. If you’ve been reading for a few years, you may remember this. The Bogle Vineyards Merlot was a favorite of mine. Any wine drinker in Nova Scotia knows that it seems every time you go to the liquor store, there’s another increase in the price. So, this wine was priced out of my weekly price range for a while. It’s a delicious full-bodied Merlot, and received an award as ‘America’s favorite Merlot’. I had pork last night and it was a perfect pairing, and right now you can get this wine for about $25 or $26. Try it while it’s on clearance.

I had a bit of a rough week procedure wise, but it was worth it with the good news I received. As you probably are aware by now, I was diagnosed with Cancer on November 25th. I have completed 25 rounds of Radiation and was doing oral chemotherapy at the same time, twice a day. I took a bit of a break from writing my wine blog. Well this past week I got the results of those rounds of radiation and chemotherapy. I had a scope on Wednesday that showed the tumor shrunk ‘a lot’ (doctor’s words) and the CT scan showed there was no spread. Phew! I start my next round of chemo in April. My friends and I did a toast Wednesday evening. And my friends Fred and Arla, who were kind enough to bring me down to my appointment on Wednesday, were drinking this.

Il Padrino makes a wonderful red Rosso and this Pinot Grigio is a favorite among my white-wine drinking friends. This 1 litre bottle is normally priced at $17, which is an excellent buy, but it was on sale this past week for $14, which makes it a steal of a deal. Crisp, refreshing, with gorgeous flavors of citrus and tropical fruits.

I tried something new in my air fryer. I pounded a chicken breast out, put it in with some shake and bake and cooked it in the air fryer for the first time. I will be honest, I over cooked the chicken. I was reading on the internet all kinds of different time frames, and because I was cooking two, I went with the higher number. Mistake #1. I cooked them 23 minutes. It was too long. The thing with an air fryer is, you should start in intervals, and check the produce along the way. You can always add more time, you can’t take away the time. I will definitely try it again but less time. The cheesy bacon mashed potatoes and buttered carrots were delicious. The wine I enjoyed with this meal was this one.

The Knotty Vines wine is becoming a staple in my weekly wine purchases. The label says Cabernet Sauvignon but its actually a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petite Sirah and Zinfandel. Delicious.

Before I go, thought I would share this chart of the health benefits of wine.