Gourmet Comfort Food, Wine, and Produce Share!

Let me just start by saying - WOW - Katie from GoodThingsCatered is so generous, sweet and an AMAZING cook. She piled me down with so much food to take over to my parents house! I still feel so overwhelmed by her kindness. I forgot my camera, but know that my pictures wouldnt do the food justice, so I will leave it to her! Here is the run down of all the eats with links to recipes and photos:

• Ale Braised Sausage and Peppers served over
• Mashed Garlic Red Potatoes
• Chicken Braised in White Wine
• John's Famous Rigatoni
• Cranberry and Orange Muffins
• Blueberry Struesel Muffins

I would categorize everything listed above as the ultimate gourmet comfort food. Of course, when I got to my parents, I wanted to try a little of EVERYTHING.

Before sitting down to eat, I went out for a 3 mile run. It felt good although my right hamstring was feeling pretty tight and maybe even a slight twinge of pain in there. I think I am going to take today completely off and not do anything except walk my dog, and then try to get an hour run in on saturday or sunday AM.

Ok, back to the food! As I was saying...I wanted to try everything, well I did! I couldnt resist! The ale braised sausage had the best flavor and the sauce went perfectly over the mashed potatoes! The chicken braised in white wine was extremely moist and cooked perfectly with red potatoes, mushrooms, and onions in the wine sauce! The rigatoni had a flavorful bolognese sauce that seriously tasted like something from a restaurant. Even though I was STUFFED, I had to try one of the cranberry orange muffins. They were light, moist and so tasty. I cant express enough how AMAZING everything was! Thank you SO much Katie! (and let me just say that there was SO much food! My sister and her family were also over and even after we all tried everything - there is still a TON leftover!)

While over at my parent's house, I was excited to see that the wine we had ordered came in! My mom had been given a wine of the month club membership for a year and then continued to receive notifications about purchasing California wines at discounted prices. So, my sister, mom and I each ordered 4 bottles. I want to try and get more into red wines, so I ordered 2 syrahs and then a chardonnay and viognier. We cracked open a bottle of one of the Syrahs with dinner and it was amazing - so smooth. It was a Daniel Gehrs Syrah that I would highly recommend! Here is a picture of my 3 other bottles that I cant wait to try. I love having a good wine supply!

I also got some goods from the produce share that my sister and mom do each week. I got a few small pears, carrots, apples, sweet potatoes, and a green pepper.

Check out this cute little pear that fits in the palm of my hand.

And the carrots with the greens still on the top. They are very "Bugs Bunny-esque"! ;)

Does anyone know if the carrot top greens are supposed to/can be used for anything?