God Bless the Children of Newtown Connecticut



Like every parent in America I sit and tears roll down my face for the families in Newtown. How does a person destroy such innocence. The list of victims is below and as you can see most of the victims are of the age of 6 or 7, my youngest is 10 and I couldn't even think of losing him. Us as parents need to do what ever it takes to ensure our children's safety, but we can not control the sickness that is out there.

 

The Devil visited Newtown that morning. I know that we as Americans have the right to bare arms and gun don't kill people, people kill people but this is a nation that has more gun dealers then supermarkets. We as a nation in an effort to protect our children have to do something to control the guns in American, so many young young lives lost.  

 

We as a family are spending the day together showing each other how much we love each other. Share the love with your family because we never know what will happen tomorrow.



Below are the names of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, as released by Connecticut State Police

 

 

Charlotte Bacon, 6
Daniel Barden, 7
Rachel Davino, 29
Olivia Rose Engel, 6
Josephine Gay, 7
Ana M Marquez-Greene, 6
Dylan Hockley, 6
Dawn Hocksprung, 47
Madeleine F Hsu, 6
Catherine V Hubbard, 6
Chase Kowalski, 7
Jesse Lewis, 6
James Mattioli, 6
Grace McDonnell, 7
Anne Marie Murphy, 52
Emilie Parker, 6
Jack Pinto, 6
Noah Pozner, 6
Caroline Previdi, 6
Jessica Rekos, 6
Avielle Richman, 6
Lauren Rousseau, 30
Mary Sherlach, 56
Victoria Soto, 27
Benjamin Wheeler, 6
Allison N Wyatt, 6

The Spaniard

Wine of the day, Grenache

 





                                           Pairs great with Chicken & Pork


Grenache is the world's most widely planted grape used to make red wine, sometimes made into a stand-alone varietal, frequently as a rosé, but most often as a backbone of red blends.
 
Used as a component in some Northern Rhône reds, nearly exclusively for Rhône rosés and as the primary component in nearly all Southern Rhône red blends, Grenache is probably most notable as the base varietal for Chateauneuf du Pape, Cotes du Rhône and Gigondas. In spite of its fame coming from French wines, Spain is most likely this grape's origin.

 

You can get one for around $10.00 but I'm recommend spending around $25.00 and enjoy the true flavor.

 

Remember, always drink good wine and never drink alone.

 

The Spaniard

Paula Deen's Rib Roast

Paulia Deen has a great recipe for a Rib Roast, it about a ten minute prep time and about an hour and a half to cook. Real simple and real good.

 

Then you have this to enjoy....goes great with any bottle of Brunello

Ingredients

1 (5-pound) standing rib roast

1 tablespoon House Seasoning, recipe follows

 

Directions

Allow roast to stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degree F. Rub roast with House Seasoning; place roast on a rack in the pan with the rib side down and the fatty side up. Roast for 1 hour. Turn off oven. Leave roast in oven but do not open oven door for 3 hours. About 30 to 40 minutes before serving time, turn oven to 375 degrees F and reheat the roast. Important: Do not remove roast or re-open the oven door from time roast is put in until ready to serve.

 

House Seasoning:

1 cup salt

1/4 cup black pepper

1/4 cup garlic powder

 

 

The Spaniard

Wine of the Day, Brunello Di Montalcino

 

 

Red in color

 

Pairs great with the following items: Chicken, Pork, Sausage or Beef

 

Many days I set myself up with a charcuterie plate and any Brunello goes great with Parmesan or Cheddar cheese.

 

Recommended prices, loving wine as I do I'd recommend spending more then $25 dollars but no more then $50 for a Brunello. Reason being...their are so many great Brunello and you can pick up a great one for $25 bucks.

 

Remember, only drink good wine and never drink alone.

 

 

The Spaniard

 

Twins....

I'm so happy for my nephew, twins right out of the gate.

Life as you know it my nephew is over.

 

One boy and one girl.

The Spaniard

Luna cafe & Ristorante

This little 30 seat restaurant is every foodies dream come true. It's a BYOB and an awesome place lunch or dinner. Run by the owners, she works the floor and he works the kitchen. Just by seeing them work together you can see they both are well trained within the industry.  

We stared with the Crostini, they have many different types, from grilled veg & olive tapenade, Bell peppers & goat cheese, Fontina with fig spread or my favorite    Prosciutto, mozzorella & peppers with a bit of olive oil all served on a perfectly toasted crostini.  

We shared our next course, Rigatoni All' Amatriciana, served with pancetta, onions & tomato sauce.

 Our next course was the Orata alla griglia, filet of

Orata marinade with garlic & fresh herbs. OMG good!

www.cafelunamillburn.com

The Spaniard


 

La Cucina

 

La Cucina is the regional cookbook of Italy.

 

Almost 60 years ago in Milan, a group of people came together with a bold idea: to preserve the culinary heritage of their country.

 

This book or as I call it the holy grail of cookbooks has over 2,000 authentic recipes and will make anyone a believer.

 

 

A great gift for the Holiday's

 

The Spaniard

Family

 

Enjoy the time you have with them because one day you wake up and you see them all grown up. It's amazing how fast time goes by.....

 

 

Love you all so much....

The Spaniard

Talking Santa

 

 

Merry Christmas from the Spaniard

 

Santa always get four out of four corks

The Spaniard

Home Cooking

 

Nothing like visiting Mom and she has prepared some of your favorite childhood memories.

 

Arroz con Pollo and Flan.

 

 

 

 

Home cooking my Mom always gets four out of four corks in my book

 

The Spaniard 

Decanting Wines

Some wines need to be decants to allow them to aerate, or allowed to "breathe". The decanter is meant to mimic the effects of swirling the

wine glass to stimulate the oxidation processes which trigger the

release of more aroma compounds. In addition it is thought to benefit the wine by smoothing some of the harsher aspects of the wine

(like tannins or potential wine faults like mercaptans).

 

Many wine writers, such as author Karen MacNeil in the book The Wine Bible, (great book) advocate decanting for the purposes of aeration, especially with very tannic wines like Barolo, Bordeaux, Cabs, Ports & French wines while decanting could be harmful for more delicate wines like Chianti & Pinot Noir. 

 

So, drink more good wines, decant when appropriate and always

share the beauty of the wine with someone.

 

 

The Spaniard

 

Tapastry, Montclair NJ

 Tapas de Espana

 

We really enjoyed this place and I highly recommend it because it's just a nice night out. Start my bringing in your own bottle of red and they will supply you with everything else for a home made Sangria, it not the traditional Sangria but still very refreshing. 

 

Of course we ordered to much but it's small plates...right??? order up, taste and enjoy. The highlight of the night was of course being with my lady but they had flamenco dancers preforming during our dinner and being Spanish I really thought this was great, they were outstanding, my parents would have been proud.

 

I'd recommend making some little changes to the decor and ambiance, ie the simple three....linen, candles & a proper music selection. That would make this restaurant so much better. I listed the web site below for you to review.

 



 

 

    

 www.tapastrys.com

 

Three out of four corks in my book

 

The Spaniard



Elvis, alive and well

 

He lives!!!! I knew it....

 

The Spaniard

My Christmas Reindeer

 

My Christmas Reindeer

 

The Spaniard

"You Talkin" to Me?"

'You Talkin' to Me?'

It's one of the most famous lines in cinema. It also never appeared in the script for the 1976 Robert De Niro movie "Taxi Driver." According to screenwriter Paul Schrader, the script simply said "Travis speaks to himself in the mirror," and De Niro improvised the classic dialogue.

 

One of the best movie of all times.....

 

The Spaniard