Author Archives: admin

Wine Gift Baskets

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wine.com infographic

One of my best friends birthday was in November, yet she’s still talking about how much she loved the gift I got her. I was having a hard time deciding what to get her, until I thought of the obvious. I thought about what she liked, and then I realized that she absolutely loved wine. I knew a wine gift basket would put a smile on her face. I easily went to wine.com, and selected the basket that I thought would suit her likes the best. There were so many to choose from, but I finally decided on the basket with the Spanish theme. Being that she is originally from Spain, I knew the basket would be the best choice

The gift basket not only had wine that my friend loved, but I also loved the price. Considering how nice it looked and how good the wine actually tastes, I  would assume it would cost me much more than it really did to purchase the gift basket.I got it shipped to my house and it got there pretty quick. I would definitely purchase another gift basket or just wine for myself from wine.com again.


Wine For Valentines Day

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Valentines Day is just days away, but that doesn’t mean that you have everything planned for that romantic night. Odds are, you may not even have a clue about what to plan for that special person.One suggestion I’m going to make for that night is instead of going out to a crowded dinner with overpriced meals, why not cook for her? To make the night extra special, you can get some champagne. I know champagne can be a bit pricy, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get some type of drink that isn’t special. There’s always wine, which can be just as good as champagne, if not better. Champagne or wine can pretty much go with any meal, which makes it even easier on you.

Our Son’s Drug Addiction

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Guest post written by my buddy Bernardo Graham

I had to kick my son out of our family home last month because he is out of control. I feel terrible about it, but we couldn’t let him be around our younger children anymore. He is already 19 years old, and if he wants to use drugs and live that type of lifestyle, my husband and I can’t sit idly by. He was inviting all sorts of odd people over our house, and we found some drug paraphernalia in the house. We told him to clean up or get out, and he decided he would leave. When we first kicked him out we didn’t think we had to change the locks, since we thought he had a place to stay. A week later we caught him in the house when we were supposed to be at work, rummaging through the kitchen drawers. We took his keys away and changed the locks, but we weren’t sure if that was enough protection. We don’t want to enable his drug habit, so we googled adt corpus christi and got an alarm system hooked up right away. Unfortunately, we don’t feel like we can trust our son around our younger kids and our possessions anymore. Hopefully the alarm will help us keep him out until he agrees to get help.

Wine Festival In April

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Coming up in about two months will be the Sandestin Wine Festival, which is sure to be a success. The festival will be full of tents, where you will be able to experience all different kinds of wine. In addition to the fine wine, there will be food and music to add to the festive mood. Wines will be offered for any taste, as there will be so many different kinds. This festival is a must for any wine lover. Trust me, you won’t regret going there. Who knows, you might even find a new wine that you love. If you do live far away from the show, then make it a whole vacation. Special deals are available for hotels, and you should take advantage of them.

How To Keep your Party go-ers coming back: Remodel your Kitchen

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You may not realize it, but the kitchen is probably the room that you spend the most time. You not only eat there yourself, but it’s also the room that you often spend time with guests. If you are spending so much time in this room, shouldn’t it at least look the way you want it to? No matter if you are the type of person who throws wine tasting parties, or are a college student using your kitchen for parties, you can make your kitchen fit your personality.

Remodeling a kitchen isn’t as easy as it seems. Although you may think you know what type of design would look the best in your kitchen, it’s smart to leave that stuff up to those who have experience in that department. You don’t want to design your kitchen to look the way you thought would be a good idea, and then realize it really wasn’t. Those who have experience, know what colors,shapes, and materials would look best in your size kitchen.

It is however important to do your research so you at least have an idea what you want your kitchen to look like. There are so many things to consider when kitchen remodeling, from refrigerators to counters. It can truly be overwhelming, because there so many options. With a little research and the right contractor, you might never want to leave your kitchen. And if you are that wine party host, you better stock up on wine, because your guests will keep coming back

Doing a nursery remodel on a low budget

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Guest post written by Heather Sykes

When we found out that we were pregnant, one of the first things on my mind was how I’m going to decorate the nursery. Now, don’t get me wrong, I want a really cute nursery for our first baby. But I also had to think about fitting those nice decorations into a budget. I don’t want to have put off saving for our child’s college fund just because I decided I wanted some designer stuff for the nursery. So I’m trying to DIY stuff for the nursery for the sake of our tight budget.

It’s funny to think how much thought parents put into a nursery when babies aren’t even that aware of things around them in a nursery. But of course you want things to be nice for your kid, so I understand it in the end. I was looking online to see if I could find some nice DIY projects that obviously aren’t homemade and when I was doing that I ran across some info on Sears. After I looked thorugh it a little bit, I decided to use them to replace our windows before I have the baby.

I’ve found all kinds of cute DIY projects that will keep the baby’s room looking cute with some cheap materials that are within our budget.

Food and Wine: The Key To A Girls Heart

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With Valentines Day right around the corner, it won’t be long until guys start panicking over what to get their wives/girlfriends. Sure there is the typical flowers and chocolate, but this won’t get her to brag to all of her friends about how great of a boyfriend you are. This year, why not surprise her and prepare a nice meal. Prepare her favorite dish for the main course, and she will think that the dish is the surprise of the night. She will never expect what is to come for dessert. You can either make them yourself or buy them from a store, but no food screams Valentines Day like chocolate covered strawberries.
You might ask what else can go with that delicious dessert, and there’s nothing else I can think of that would go perfectly other than wine. There’s just something so romantic about chocolate covered strawberries, that will surely make every females Valentines Day. You can even design your own bottle of wine, which is sure to score extra points for all you guys. Many wineries allow you to actually choose what kind of wine you want, and then you could actually have a picture of you and your lover. Whether you choose white, red, or any other type of wine, if it’s paired with chocolate covered strawberries ,this year’s Valentines Day will be one to remember. The pair will be so irresistible, which will make you irresistible as well.

DIY

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Thanks for the guest post by Jonathan Curtis

As a surprise last month, my wife upgraded our satellite tv service to directv.com/choicextra. I was so excited to see the new channels I had been looking for and to find some new ones I had never seen. I love home improvement projects so my new favorite network is DIY. DIY stands for Do-It-Yourself—a fitting description for me. I’m always looking for ways I can improve my home both to increase its value but also to make it better for my family. Just last week they had a special on simple and inexpensive bathroom improvements. After watching the half hour segment, my wife and I headed to our local home improvement store for some quick fixes. Our biggest purchase was new light fixtures. Before watching the show I never would have attempted to do the electrical work required to change the lights out but after seeing how simple it could be I was ready to tackle the project myself. To match the new light fixtures we also purchased coordinating towel racks and faucets. It’s amazing how much just those minor items improved the look of our bathrooms.

Prepping For a Dinner Party

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Everybody knows that making a party a success includes lots of great food, great wine and great conversation. The food part isn’t a mystery – buy a variety of foods to whet everyone’s appetites. Make sure to include 1 or 2 veggie dishes for your vegetarian friends. Have some hearty foods, but pace it throughout the night so that people don’t fall asleep immediately after the main course. And, crack open a few bottles of vino – have plenty of red and white on hand. But what don’t we think about?

For starters, you need to keep your white wine cool. What better way to do this than with a 24 inch wide refrigerator? I keep one by my seat so that I don’t have to get up from the table to grab another bottle out of the fridge on the other side of the kitchen (on the other side of my dining room). It saves me the walk, climbing over my guests and missing the best parts of the conversation while I’m playing host.

Before my last party, I picked up a bunch of square dinnerware sets clearance items and got a great deal. These helped me get through the meal, but what about after? You have to prepare for that too. For starters, make sure you preserve the best part with a set of wine cork holders. That and some tupper-ware for the food and you’re all set!

Wine and Chocolate – The Perfect Pair?

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Most people understand the generic rules for pairing wine with food. In general, dark meat means a dark wine and a white meat gets a white wine. Wine goes great with dinner foods; for example nothing beats a Pinot Noir paired with a nice juicy steak. But when it comes to dessert, most people stick to very sweet dessert wines. The truth is, there’s no reason to limit yourself to dessert wine after the main course.

Chocolate, the world’s favorite dessert, can actually compliment a robust red or delicate white wine’s flavor, as long as you know the rules. As a general rule, pair lighter, more airy chocolate with a light-bodied and delicate wine, so as to not overwhelm the flavor.

For milk chocolate, try a Pinot Noir or Riesling. Lighter Merlots can work great with milk chocolate as well, but you may need several attempts before you find the perfect combination of the two.  Because milk chocolate is generally very creamy and sweet, pairing it with a dessert wine can actually lead to sensory overload.

Dark chocolate works great with a Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel. Generally this more intense and slightly bittersweet chocolate needs a wine that can match its intensity without overwhelming it. Deep red wines are generally a great match for dark chocolate’s robust flavor. Even a full-bodied Merlot could work fantastically with dark chocolate’s flavor, presuming the chocolate isn’t too sweet.

Finally, with white chocolate’s smooth and buttery flavor, there are multiple flavor options to consider. Pairing white chocolate with a Sherry picks up the creamy texture of the chocolate. However, using a contrasting flavor like a Zinfandel with your white chocolate can offer just the right amount of opposition. Sometimes, especially with white chocolate, the number one rule is that there are no rules.

The moral of the story when it comes to pairing wine and chocolate is this: you don’t know until you try. Finding the right combination of flavors might take a few tries, but in the meantime, consider this an excuse to indulge.