Purple Cowboy: Tenacious Red

I recently celebrated my birthday and one of my girlfriends threw me a "classy but trashy" party. What's that, you say? Well, we had super classy food and wine but in trashy ways! Beer Pong? puh-lease. Us classy girls play WINE pong! It was super fun and Mela went all out, complete with two lobsters, super aged and organic steak, a mimosa bar, and bottles and bottles of wine for us to do blind tastings. The fun and presents never stopped and it was a birthday I will never ever forget. MELA - YOU ROCK! I love you!

So back to the purpose of this post (other than relishing in the awesomeness of my friend). One of the wines that we had in our blind tasting was this one: PURPLE COWBOY. As soon as I tried it... I was in love. It's a nice mellow red with an easy finish. I love the body and fullness of the flavour. It was rich and... just so good. Like chocolate. If Michael Buble's voice were a wine, this would be it. Yup, that amazing and even a couple days after it was still just as good (so no, it wasn't the drunk-me just claiming it was good). It's from Napa Valley. No idea how much it cost but Mela really went all out and she has an elevated palate so I can't imagine it's a cheap bottle. Need to get my hands on more bottles of these!

Chateau Doisy-Vedrines

Mela came back from Bordeau a month ago and of course, she returned with wine. This is a bottle that she shared with me a 2002 Chateau Doisy-Vedrines. When she saw the cork, she said the Grand-Cru stamp meant that it was an excellent vineyard. A quick wiki search returned the following:

"
Grand cru (French for great growth) is a regional wine classification that designates a vineyard known for its favorable reputation in producing wine. Although often used to describe grapes, wine or cognac, the term is not technically a classification of wine quality per se, but is intended to indicate the potential of the vineyard or terroir. It is the highest level of classification of AOC wines from Burgundy or Alsace. The same term is applied to Châteaux in Saint-Émilion, although in that region it has a different meaning and does not represent the top tier of classification. In Burgundy the level immediately below grand cru is known as premier cru, sometimes written as 1er cru.^[6]"

 I don't by any means have a sophisticated enough palate to distinguish what made it a good wine, but it was tasty. Very flavourful and very sweet. Like crazy sweet. Although it smelled like brown sugar, it also had a high alcohol scent and the lines on the glass told me that probably wasn't far from the truth. But it didn't taste like it. The husband said it reminded him of the top of a creme brulee. Mela drank three glasses. It was delicious and I felt honored that she would share it with me. A great wine with an acidic or spicy pairing (I unfortunately only had triple lemon biscuits from TJ's and wasabi seaweed) but it wasn't bad.

Costco "secrets"

Even though we are only recently a family of three, I am a Costco junkie. I love going up and down their aisles, looking for things to fill my home with.

Here are some Costco "secrets" that I've discovered...
1. Those items ending in '.97' are clearance items. Get 'em while they last!

2. For Canadians, it's better to buy a Costco cash card in Canada and use that in the States versus using your Amex credit card. The exchange rate is slightly better but I still find it more beneficial to take cash down. That way, you determine the exchange rate  you pay. (i.e. buy American $ when the rate is good!)

3. I recently had to renew my membership. By coincidence, I happened to be shopping at the Bellingham Costco when it came up for renewal. The cost? $100. With no tax. So, factoring in the US/Canadian exchange rate AND the fact there's no HST charged, I saved!

4. The States doesn't always have better deals. I was recently comparing electronics (SD cards, external hard drives) and Canada was better.

5. In the States, they don't give you coupons at the door. You have to go to the membership desk to ask for the coupon booklet. Be careful too. If a coupon book has just ended, they only give the new ones out the following Thursday. So there's a few days there where no coupons are in play.

6. Eggs, cheese, milk, chicken and pork are so much cheaper in the States. For example: Organic brown eggs in Canada? Over 8 bucks. Down in the states? $4.50.

7. For Vancouverites that cross-border shop: the best place to buy gas is the Bellingham Meridian Costco. Line-ups are horrendous because of all the Canadians that buy, but it's worth it. For example: Current price of 87 octane in Greater Vancouver: $1.38/litre. Down at the Costco in Bellingham: $3.79/gallon.

8. Costco memberships are good all over the world!!! Handy if you happen to be traveling.

9. Finally, it pays to check out this thread before you go shopping in the Costco West stores in Canada: http://forums.redflagdeals.com/costco-west-deal-pointer-thread-1056914/#post13431334
A fellow shopper posts the latest coupon deals and even goes into the store to post photos and prices of those not advertised in their weekly flyer. I'm pretty sure he's influenced Costco sales in the West. He's even been accused of being a Costco employee (which he is not).

Strawberry Cream Cheese

Trader Joe's is such a fun place to try new things. On my last trip, I picked up some Strawberry Cream Cheese Spread (made from RBST-free milk). I'm not sure what was wrong with me that day. I probably bought around 5 different cheeses and I'm lactose intolerant. On top of all that, I always find myself buying sweet cream cheeses (like the strawberry one up above) when really, I'm a savory fan!

Anyway, I was not disappointed. Tried this cream cheese on some toast this morning and I was impressed! It reminded me of the double whipped cream cheese that you can get down in San Francisco. It was light and easy to spread. Plus, if you can see in the picture, there are actual bits of STRAWBERRY in it! Wouldn't buy it every time I go down, but it's a nice treat.
Cost: $2.49

Trader Joe's Chocolate Covered Belgian Butter Thins

Mela told me about these Chocolate covered Belgian Butter thins from Trader Joe's. I'm not a huge cookie fan so I was skeptical but I tried one and YUM! Delicious. I picked up two boxes on my next State side trip.
I love having them with a cup of orange pekoe tea. The box doesn't contain THAT many biscuits (Maybe 8 of each dark, milk and white chocolate) but the crispy biscuit center is delicious. The only drawback is the chocolate melts on your hand if you don't eat it fast enough.
Cost: $3.49