The forecast for a major storm did not stop our wine enthusiasts from braving wind and rain for a night at Wine Styles in Danville.
The San Ramon Valley Newcomers Club wine group meets once a month to sample different wines and enjoy pot-luck hors dourves. This month’s hosts were Craig & Tracey Harper
27 attendees demonstrated the power of wine over matter or in this case - weather.
Wine Styles on Camino Ramon in Danville always help us to have a good time.
What a great time we had Friday 2/22 at cooking. My husband, John, made our favorite Bolognese sauce and I made the antipasta and sangria. Avoiding getting loopy, we all feasted and talked and laughed all afternoon. We had 12 at our extended dining room table, but knee to knee and elbow to elbow-it didn’t matter. Our group is so much fun, and we hope it keeps getting larger (not the belly lol). Please join us next month at Candice Hovland’s home for Casseroles ( the last of the winter comfort food.) Fondly-Myrna
Meat Sauce Bolognese
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, minced (about 1 cup)
1 medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped (about ½ cup)
½ cup minced celery, with leaves (about 1 stalk)
Salt (not much)
1 pound ground beef (80% lean)
1 pound ground pork
½ cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 28oz can San Marzano tomatoes, hand crushed
3 bay leaves
Ground black pepper
4 cups hot water, or as needed
Heat the olive oil in a wide, 3-4 quart pan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in the onion, carrot, and celery, season lightly with salt, and cook, stirring, until the onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Crumble in the ground beef and pork and continue coking, stirring to break up the meat, until all the liquid the meat has given off is evaporated and the meat is lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Pour in the wine and cook, scraping the bottom of the pan, until the wine is evaporated, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook a few minutes. Pour in the tomatoes, toss in the bay leaves, and season with salt and pepper to taste (not too much).
Bring to a boil; then lower the heat so the sauce is at a lively simmer. Cook the sauce, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is dense but juicy and a rich, dark-red color. (Most likely, a noticeable layer of oil will float to the top toward the end of cooking.) This will take about 2 to 3 hours. (The longer you cook it, the better it will become.) While the sauce is cooking, add hot water as necessary to keep the meats and vegetables covered. The oil can be removed with a spoon or reincorporated in the sauce, which is what is done traditionally.
One recipe creates enough sauce to dress about 1 ½ pounds of pasta (about 6 cups of sauce).
Melting Pot Sangria
Fill a pitcher ¼ full of ice
Then put in:
¼ of an orange
¼ of a lemon
¼ of a lime
5 ounces triple sec
5 ounces brandy
5 ounces sugar water
5 ounces orange juice
20 ounces of red wine (Carlo Rossi Burgundy is good)
Top with ice.
San Ramon Newcomers Club Rolls in Poker Dough
What a great time we had at our annual Poker Night. We had eighteen players at The Kaiser’s who were wonderful hosts.
Myrna (your roving reporter) finally won after eight years of trying.
Rich Osborne momentarily thought he won $1000.00 on a scratcher(booby prize, but someone with glasses found only $4.00).
Too bad Rich. Next year, or sooner, we will certainly do it again. Good food, good wine, and great fun.
“Paper Bag Floral Craft” - all the crafters seemed to have a good time and each paper bag “vase” turned out unique. This was a fun and easy craft to chase away the rain and dark clouds of February.
Thanks,
Bobbie Shenk
Arts & Crafts Chairperson
IF BINGO IS YOUR GAME THEN YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THE APRIL LUNCHEON. YOU WILL ENJOY A GREAT LUNCH AT THE BRASS DOOR. DOOR PRIZES AND A CHANCE TO WIN SOME CASH WILL BE THE MAIN EVENT. SEE THE NEWSLETTER FOR ALL THE DETAILS.
SHARYN
SAN RAMON VALLEY NEWCOMERS LUNCHEON
MARCH 20, 2008 AT 12:00 P.M., STIXS AND STEAK RESTAURANT, MARIOTT HOTEL, SAN RAMON. CALL 735-3508 FOR RESERVATIONS. JOIN US TO HEAR STEPHEN RONAN, MD FROM BLACKHAWK PLASTIC SURGERY AND PAM LINNEY FROM RADIANCE SPA. THEY WILL DISCUSS SURGICAL PROCEDURES AND SKIN CARE.
Anita H. is starting a new activity: Movie Date.
The first one will be on February 19th. Anyone interested in going to please give me “3″ movies they would like to see as majority rules. We will be going to an early afternoon show.
Hi gals,
On the East Coast we say that March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. Here it seems to be “lamb, lamb”. Lovin, it.
In this newsletter, we have a slate of officers who will start their term in June. The elections are in April and installation in May. I want to thank Sharon Morrison for heading the nominating committee again and the members who sat on the committee. I want to thank all those wonderful women who have volunteered their time to serve on the board and keep SRVNC a great club. I’m sure over the next couple of months I will be repeating myself, but I can’t thank those board members enough for making my job so easy and fun.
Hugs, Myrna
Our Membership Coffee at Pat Shockley’s was fun and food was delicious. But more to the point, the turnout was great and we have two new very interested prospective members-Marilyn and Muff. We all chatted about the club, our activities, and some of why we belong. Everyone was in a great mood and we had a great time. Thanks again to Pat for her gracious hospitality and great cooking!! Your roving reporter, Myrna
Hi Newcomer Friday Hikers and Guests,
Today we hiked along Alameda Creek at Sunol. As expected, the creek was flowing fast and we weren’t disappointed. We saw several falls cascading down the rocks. The trails were quite dry with only a couple of puddles to step around. We hiked out to the park boundary spotting cows on the steep hillside, newts, and a red tail hawk. We spotted several deer as we entered the park.
There were bright blue skies and we even spotted a blue witch–a member of the nightside family blooming.
Today’s hikers were Jacky H., Chris T., Claudia W., Celia M. Barbara J., Shirley A., Kathy I. and Sharon K. Thank you Barbara and Shirley for driving today.
Our next hike will be Feb 15th. We will be looking for mating newts along the creek at Las Trampas in addition to taking a hike on one of the trails. We saw the newts last year and it was very interesting and entertaining.
Happy Trails, Sharon
