Russian River 2008

10 people + 6 wineries + 2 cabins + 1 Mystery Box + 1 watermelon + Lots of wine = Russian River 2008

For the past two years, I've managed to miss out on my friends' annual visit to a friend's cabin that his grandfather built on the Russian River. Luckily, this year, I managed to free up the weekend for a fabulous weekend of good food, wine and company, which left me wishing I made the trip in previous years.

This third annual event lived up to all the good stories I'd heard, though I missed the Friday night festivities (which were QUITE the festivities judging by the still sleeping people when we arrived at 10am ready to go wine tasting) for a dinner at Range with some friends. Saturday morning consisted of a quick nap on the front patio to make up for the early start, followed by visits to Rochioli (warmup stop), Ridge (my personal favorite that did the worst damage to the wallet) and Papapietro Perry (loved the 777). Slight starving, we made a quick detour to Hamburger Ranch and Pasta Farm. One of the group asked the clueless server if they served "free range" pasta, since they are a Pasta Farm - I think the humor was lost on her. For a place that touts the best burgers, I was lefting wanting more...and more they gave us when they encouraged us to taste the freshly made ribs on the way out. Now stuffed and food comatose, we randomly selected Stonestreet (one of the prettiest wineries, but definitely the stuffiest attitude) Alexander Valley Vineyards (for the prices, I REALLY wanted to like the wines) and Stryker (we stopped here just because I liked the name) to round out the afternoon.

Back at the cabin, many napped while others relived their childhood's playing a couple vicious games of go-fish. Meanwhile, I plotted away how to use the Mystery Box from Thursday to supplement the massive amounts of steaks we had for supper. Oh yes, it was yet another Mystery Thursday and here's our newest box:

Greek Basil. Fennel. Potatoes. Torpedo Onions. Frisee. Portuguese Kale. Cilantro. Baby Carrots. French Breakfast Radishes. Chantenay Carrots. Scallions. Baby Spinach. Chioggia Beets.

Not to mention the 15 pounds of avocados and 10 bunches of basil that we separately pre-ordered...

Dinner that night was scrumptious, thanks to many helping hands!

Baby Spinach salad with roasted chioggia beets, sauteed onions, prosciutto, and grilled peaches
Roasted chantenay carrots and rosemary garlic potatoes
Grilled steaks
S'mores

Oh, and what's the watermelon for, you ask? I suppose you'll have to come along to find out...