Monthly Archive for March, 2009

WINOS Pick of the Week: Ksara Chateau 2003

Ksara Winery

Ksara Winery

I like to write about good wine, but I usually stick to California reds, with an occasional Chardonnay. (Okay, and I’ll uncork a Willamette Valley Pinot or a Tuscan Chianti every now and then!)  But when I launched my WINOS Pick of the Week segment, I never imagined I would taste and enjoy a delicious red from Lebanon.

My husband and I recently made new friends through our daughter’s school, and we invited the couple (and their darling daughters) over for a dinner party.  Our new-found friends, one of whom moved to the United States from Lebanon when she was 16, brought this wonderful Lebanese wine from Chateau Ksara for us to try. We were excited to sample this wine, totally new territory for us, and we openly acknowledged that California reds are our comfort-zone. That said, we were pleasantly surprised by the wonderful drinkability of this wine. I served it with a goat-cheese appetizer (read HERE for more information), and the flavors of the wine nicely complemented the flavors of the food. It certainly left us wanting more.

About the Chateau 2003: It was a tasty red wine from the first sip. I liked the berry flavors and the smooth texture.  The Web site says the wine is good with red meat, and I agree. We followed the appetizers with healthy-sized Filet Mignons and a Tuscan white-bean dish.  Click HERE to order the wine and have it shipped to the U.S.

About Ksara wine: Ksara wine is known as “the wine of Lebanon” and the winery is located in Beqaa, Lebanon. The official Web site can be found HERE.

All I can say is this… great wine, delicious food and new friends. What a wonderful evening!

- LTV Mom

Photo Credit: Chateau Ksara

Published
by
Stacy Libby
on March 26, 2009
in Food and WINOS Pick of the Week
. 2 Comments

Celebrate National Reading Month and Win a LeapFrog TAG Prize Pack

Leapfrog's 1 Million Reading Hours Pledge

Leapfrog

Even though I blog about mindless television and working too much, I truly love and cherish reading.  I read magazines and newspapers daily, devour books when I can, and read to my four-year-old daughter daily. Equally important, I am the proud sister of a public high-school teacher and her principal husband.  Therefore, I jumped at the chance to work with LeapFrog to promote reading across the country.

The good folks at LeapFrog are working with the National Education Association (NEA) to promote National Reading Month which is held in March. LeapFrog and the NEA created the Leapfrog 1 Million Reading Hours campaign to encourage families to spend more time reading together, with the national goal of reading for 1 million hours this month.  Here’s how you can help us reach our goal.

If your family is like ours, you already spend time reading to your child daily. This month, we want everyone to pledge reading at least 10 minutes every day to help achieve our goal of reaching 1 million reading hours, all to underscore the importance of shared reading time with your family. You can pledge to read to your child for 10, 20 or 30 minutes each day, and you’ll receive a printable certificate, reading calendar and coupons good for discounts on LeapFrog products at your favorite retailer or online at Amazon.

Leapfrog, showing dedication to the cause, is offering one lucky LTV Mom reader a LeapFrog TAG Reading System with 5 amazing TAG books along with an expanded-memory LeapFrog TAG Reading System with 10 books to donate to your local library. My family has a TAG Reading System, and we love it.  It would be an honor to share this gift with you.  Here’s how you can enter:

  • Visit the 1 Million Reading Hours site and pledge to read at least 10 minutes a day to your child.
  • Return to LTV Mom and leave a comment below telling me how much time you pledged to read each day.
  • I will randomly select from everyone who left a comment, and Leapfrog will send one winner the LeapFrog Prize pack, along with the donation for your local library.

If you want to increase your chances to win, you also can enter the following ways:

  • Blog about the LTV Mom giveaway and leave a comment with the link to your post on this site.
  • Follow me on Twitter (@StacyLibby) and leave a comment on LTV Mom with your Twitter handle.
  • Add LTV Mom to your blogroll and leave a comment with the URL of your blog.

Leave a separate comment for each entry and make sure at least one of your entries contains a valid e-mail address so I can find you.  This giveaway will be live until March 31, 2009. I will randomly select the winner from all the comments on April 1.

I admire and respect LeapFrog’s efforts to work with its community to promote reading. And I really can’t believe the generosity toward LTV Mom readers.  Happy reading!

– LTV Mom

Published
by
Stacy Libby
on March 12, 2009
in Books, Giveaways and Laptop Television
. 12 Comments

Taste This! by Gina von Esmarch

Taste This! by Gina von Esmarch

Taste This! by Gina von Esmarch

I had the pleasure of testing a new cookbook written by San Francisco-based chef (and mom blogger) Gina von Esmarch.  Gina comes from a foodie family; in fact, her grandparents founded, and her family still runs, the famous Aliotos on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.

Gina’s new cookbook called Taste This! is perfectly suited for this working-mom who would love to be on Top Chef, but is content cooking for her family and friends. Gina’s collection of recipes for appetizers, entrees, salads, drinks and (amazing) desserts are both flavorful and (hallelujah!) easy to prepare.

Let me just say this: when it comes to a dinner party, I am an appetizer girl because I believe the appetizer sets the tone for the evening.  We always open our best bottle of wine first, so it’s important to serve good food from the moment a dinner party begins.  Gina provides some great ideas, here are my favorites:

  • Red Grapes & Red Onions – roasted grapes and onion, served on goat cheese, with crackers or bread.  This dish is super-easy to prepare, with delicious flavors and perfect texture. Rave reviews at my last dinner party! (Recipe is on page 11of the book.)
  • Cucumber Pillows — cucumbers, bread, spices (think funky finger sandwiches).  Light, refreshing and beyond easy to make. (Recipe is on page 15 of the book.)
  • Parmesan Crisps — bread, cheese, garlic, olive oil.  This recipe makes little slices of cheesy-Heaven.  (Recipe is on page 21 of the book.)

If you are intrigued, check out posts from other foodies:

Author Gina says: “The goal of Taste This! is simple, bring good food and good flavors back to the table.  Whether you are a working parent or a career individual that wants to bring people together at the table, you will find ideas to inspire your inner cook.”

Thank you, Gina. I am inspired!

Click HERE to purchase Taste This! for $30 (includes S&H).

- LTV Mom

Published
by
Stacy Libby
on March 11, 2009
in Food, Product Reviews and Trying to be Cool
. 12 Comments