Red Door By the Beach

“Well, it may choke Artie, but it ain’t gonna choke me!”  (Stymie, one of the “Our Gang” kids)

Nothing says Spring in the farm fields near the Red Door than the beautiful globe artichokes (Cynara Scolymus) just waited to be stuffed or made into filling for ravioli.  Yum!  Here are two recipes from Allrecipes.com for your artichoke eating pleasure.  The first reminds me of how my Italian father used to prepare artichokes, the second is a wonderful “lite” Alfredo sauce which is great over Trader Joe’s fresh artichoke ravioli.

Stuffed Artichokes                     Quick and Easy Alfredo Sauce

And then there’s the wine.   Definitely a pinot grigio.  Light, cool and crisp.  Castoro Cellars or Meridian both make wonderful ones.

A welcoming display at a local winery near the red door invites everyone inside to find the perfect wines for the coming Thanksgiving feast.  I found a really nice article about turkey and wine pairings that might help those who are wondering which wine to buy. Assuming that the main course is turkey, I suggest serving sparkling, chardonnay, and pinot noir at your feast since everyone has such different tastes and all three go well with the bird.  Something from Laeticia for the sparkling wine, a Zaca Mesa chardonnay, and a Wild Horse pinot noir?  So many choices. 

The leaves on the vines are starting to change, the Central’s Coast homage to autumn.  Besides getting ready for our own Thanksgiving, I attended a harvest dinner at one of our favorite wineries and enjoyed an amazing five course dinner paired with the winery’s best wines.  The chef was French, the winemaker American, and one of my dinner companions someone who has lived on three continents.  A satisfying evening.