Napa Valley Photography and New Years Vacation

Welcome to Napa Valley sign we saw on our Highway 29 drive

My fiance and I just took our first official "grown up" vacation together (a.k.a paying for it ourselves) to Napa Valley,CA. While we had some ups and downs, I was able to take a ton of pictures and thought I'd share some of them.

Our first day in Napa we had a hotel in the downtown area and decided to visit the Oxbow Market for lunch. The market had a ton of locally made food and products which made it really interesting to browse through while working up an appetite. We decided to have some oysters for lunch and stopped at Hog Island Oyster Co. for a bite to eat, our oyster sampler was accompanied by Domaine Chandon champagne, all of which was delicious.

Domaine Chandon sparkling wine accompanied our oyster lunch

Oyster sampler from Hog Island Oyster Co.

After lunch we made our way to the first winery on our list, Chimney Rock in Napa, CA. Their cabernet sauvignon was awesome and the property was gorgeous to boot. We had a great time walking around the property and the staff was really informative.

Water feature at Chimney Rock Winery in Napa, CA

Over the next couple of days we were able to visit a bunch of different wineries, and though they made different styles of wine, they all shared amazing views.

Our hands down favorite winery of the trip was Pride Mountain Winery in St Helena, CA. Their wine is ridiculously good, like seriously amazing. This was also the first winery we were able to do a cave tour with, during which we were able to do a barrel tasting (where you taste maturing wine). The views, the wine, and everything about this winery were outstanding and all the places we visited after this seemed to fall just shy of this amazing place.

We also spent a beautiful part of the afternoon at Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa, CA. We weren't able to do a tasting since we were running to another reservation, but the vineyards were beautiful here.

Beautiful foliage on the vines at Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa, CA

Our last winery visit was to Castello di Amorosa in Calistoga, CA. It's a huge castle that was built using stone brought in from Italy and built using traditional medieval materials and methods where possible. The all the details were true to a 13th century castle (including dungeons and a torture chamber) which made visiting here feel like we had stepped back in time.

Moat and castle view at Castello di Amorosa in Calistoga, CA

There were many more wineries we visited and pictures that were taken, but I know I've already run on.

Hope you enjoyed!
Be sure to follow me on instagram @rocky092 for more travel and winery posts

Outside of the Beringer Winery tasting room

Easy Peppermint Christmas Coal Cookies

This fun Christmas treat is perfect for anyone, regardless if they're on the naughty or nice list. I've seen the recipe floating around on Pinterest for years but thought I'd give it a try this Christmas.

Christmas Coal

1 16 oz package of chocolate sandwich cookies

5 cups mini marshmallows

4 tbsp butter

1/2 tsp vanilla or peppermint extract

1. Pulse sandwich cookies in food processor until finely ground.
2. In a medium bowl combine marshmallows, butter, extract, and ground cookies
3. Heat in microwave for 1 minute then mix until well combined.
4. Drop small clumps (careful, it may still be hot) onto parchment paper and allow to cool.

Enjoy!

Mickey Gingerbread Cookies

I can't even remember the last time I made gingerbread cookies, it was easily over 10 years ago. For some reason this year I was craving them and when I saw this adorable Mickey Mouse cookie cutter  I knew I had to buy it and make some. I usually don't spend more than a couple bucks on cookie cutters, but for this one I made an exception.

Gingerbread Recipe

1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cup molasses
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1 ½ tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground nutmeg

1. Cream butter and sugar in a medium bowl. Add molasses, eggs, and vanilla extract. 
2. Mix together dry ingredients with a whisk in a medium bowl. Add one cup of mixed dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, incorporating each addition before adding the next.
3. Divide dough into three portions and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour. While dough is chilling preheat oven to 375 F.
4. Spread flour onto your working surface and roll dough to approximately 1/4" (Rolling pin guides are AMAZING. They take all of the guesswork out of rolling out dough and come in a few different sizes. You can find them here).
5. Cut out cookies and place on parchment lined baking sheets. Baking time is 10 minutes for a 4" cookie, 2 minutes less or more for a smaller or larger cookie respectively. Be careful not to burn the cookies since its hard to tell if they're browning or not. Start with 8 minutes for a medium 4" cookie then increase the baking time if needed.
6. Let cool and then decorate! I decided to dip the ears in chocolate to make them look like they were wearing little mouse ear hats, plus it only took a couple of minutes extra.

Enjoy!

My Favorite Shrimp Ceviche

I love going into specialty olive oil/vinegar stores and trying all the different styles and flavors they have. One of the first times I went I found coconut flavored white balsamic and was in heaven. I bought it and thought I'd use it on salads (which I still haven't done), but found a much better use for it; My favorite shrimp ceviche.

Ceviches are seafood dishes where acidic juices (such as lemon, lime, and orange) are used to "cook" the fish. Here's my go to recipe for shrimp ceviche.

Shrimp Ceviche

1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined and cut into bit size pieces

6 limes, juiced (approx 2/3 cup)

2 lemons, juice (approx 1/3 cup)

2 tablespoons orange juice

1 cup cucumber, peeled and 1/4" cubed, seeds removed (approx. 1 medium)

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion (approx 1/2 medium)

1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped1 avocado 1/2" cubed

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tsp coconut balsamic vinegar

Tortilla chips

1. Cut raw shrimp into bite size pieces and place in non metallic bowl. Add lime, lemon, and orange juice to cover and refrigerate for 1/2 hour. Mix occasionally until shrimp are pink and look cooked through.

Here the shrimp have turned pink and are no longer transparent

2. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Can be kept in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Let sit at room temperature for a half hour before serving.

Enjoy!

Sue's Mandelbread Cookies

In preparation for the holidays, kitchen Kaplan was in full swing this Sunday morning. We made chocolate covered pretzels, gingerbread men, forgotten kisses, and my personal favorite, mandelbread cookies.

Mandelbread is a traditional Jewish cookie that is similar to a biscotti, but with this recipe they almost melt away in your mouth while maintaining a satisfying crunch. We used chocolate and butterscotch chips but I'm really excited to try the recipe with dried cranberries and pistachios as well. Here's the recipe we made this morning.

Sue's Mandelbread Cookies

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup oil

7 oz chocolate chips

5 oz butterscotch chips

3 tbsp cinnamon and 3 tbsp sugar combined for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 375 F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl then add wet ingredients until well combined. Mix in chocolate and butterscotch chips.

2. Divide mixture into 3 loaves onto parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle each with cinnamon sugar. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly golden brown.

3. Cool for 15 minutes then slice into  3/4" pieces across the short side. Arrange cookies cut side up on the baking sheet and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Be sure to follow me on instagram @rocky092 for more baking and cookie posts

Mom's Homemade Apple Strudel

My dad loves apple strudel and lucky for him my mom makes one of the best ones out there. We make it every fall, usually with apples from my cousins tree. Here's the recipe we use:

Mom's Apple Strudel

3 apples, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (approximately)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Juice from 1/2 a lemon

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup sugar 

5 sheet phyllo dough

1/2 stick butter, melted

1/3 cup sugar plus 1 tablespoon cinnamon for sprinkling

1/4 cup panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Vanilla ice cream (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine apples, cinnamon, lemon juice, raisins, and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl. Cover with a damp paper towel.

2. Prepare phyllo for use as per package instructions. Keep dough not being used moist by wrapping it in a damp kitchen cloth (we used the excess cloth from the work station to keep the dough moist). On parchment paper or a thin, damp towel, lay down the first sheet of phyllo dough. Brush butter across the entire top of the sheet and top with 1 tablespoon each of chopped walnuts, panko, and cinnamon sugar. Lay the next sheet of phyllo dough on top of it and repeat until all 5 sheets of phyllo have been used.

3. After all 5 sheets have been laid down and buttered, drain off any extra juices from the apple mixture. Pour the apple mixture into the center of the phyllo rectangle leaving two inches of free space on the shorter sides of the dough and about 3-4 inches of space on the long sides.

4. Fold up the 2 inch short sides of the phyllo dough to keep the mixture within the rectangle. Fold over the long sides of the rectangle next, making sure to overlap all edges of the dough.

5. Seal the edges and ends with the melted butter, and place, seam side down, onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush top of strudel with melted butter and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar. Place onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, or until top of strudel is flaky and slightly browned.

6. Allow strudel to cool slightly then slice and serve while still warm.

Enjoy!

Hiking Pinnacle Peak

This weekend we decided to try a new hike called Pinnacle Peak. It's known as a pretty scenic hike and we were not disappointed. Here are some pictures from the days hike.