08 December 2005

Way leads on to way.

I had to get out my heavy jacket this morning. It makes for a cold commute when the temperature at 8 a.m. is somewhere between 20 and 25 degrees fahrenheit.

I have hit a period of general laziness: I didn't clean the dishes from last night until this morning. I didn't put away the art supplies my son had out last night. Last night for dinner I picked up a Safeway Select homestyle roast chicken rather than do any cooking.

Speaking of Safeway, has anyone tried that "little penguin" wine they've recently added to their alcohol lineup? I had never heard of it until I saw it on the shelf and picked up a bottle of cabernet sauvignon to try out some unspecified time in the future. I found some guy who reviews wines on his blog and he reviewed their shiraz as basically serviceable and a "step up from yellowtail."

Now that I'm on the subject of wine...while my recent trip to California -- my wife and daughter are still out there, returning Saturday thankfully -- was full of hospital visiting and the "loose end" obligations related to a loved one's end of life, one indulgence my wife and I permitted ourselves was drinking a bottle of wine each night. I admit I did most of the drinking, but you get the idea. Reds tend to bring on her migraines, so we stuck to chardonnay. Neither of us are accomplished wine snobs, and our basic criteria was that the bottle cost between 9 and 15 bucks. Our favorite was Toasted Head.

Drinking that wine nightly reminded me of the years before we had kids, where nearly every evening meal involved a bottle of wine...as the sage said, "those were different times." Kids drain your energy faster than you can drain a bottle of wine. I'll open up a beer with dinner and three hours later it will sit half-full on the counter. It's embarrassing really.

8 comments:

Cupcakegrrl said...

I don't know, Mass. It may be the way you're raising them. I know kids who are a reason TO drink, not the indirect reason for not drinking.

I think if you stopped plying the child with decent books and exposure to museums and art, fed him a diet long in sugar and short in substance, and enforced a rigid 8 hours of Strawberry Shortcake and Smurf videos, eventually you'd get that can of beer in you.

Just a thought.

Cupcakegrrl said...

Oh, and I'm a big fan of Jacob's Creek Chardonnay. It's like 7 bucks a bottle, and smooth as an Australian summer day is long.

Kathryn Is So Over said...

I can recommend Red Bicyclette chardonnay and syrah.

cs said...

Cupcake: I haven't tried the Jacob's Creek, but it's readily available. And trust me, he gets enough TV. My parents think that TV should be on 24 hours a day.

Kathryn: I second your Red Bicyclette recommendations. That's a tasty wine for a decent price.

Crazy Girl City said...

2002 Saint M Riesling is another decent bottle.......World Market is where I buy it.

Megarita said...

I also recommend the red bike, but I like the wee penguin, too. I drank buckets of their chard over the summer and found it quite lovely. I'm a HUGE fan of Rock Rabbit syrah these days, too, if you can find it. (conveniently in your grocery stores, damn DCers)

m.a. said...

Drink some Greek wine! It's good for you.

Kristiana said...

I like the Ravenswood Zinfandel for cheapish. I tried to be a wine snob but there are too many details, a millennia or more. I judge wine by its sale price.