Take-Out and Mishmash

I'm still not brave enough to visit a restaurant 

so youngest and I ordered fish take-out from the Knights of Columbus. 

A great way to support our local folks as well!

Its Friday night! Add a glass if wine to inspire a bit of romance with your honey.

Since Flyboy is flying, I'm going to enjoy wine with my meal "just because".

Gotta love yourself!

I selected Mich Mash from Chateau Grand Traverse.

Don't you just love the label?

Michigan Fun for Couples in Autumn

Summer has been awesome and we manage to have some vacation time. I have two football players so we have to plan short little trips when we can. Hubby and I always try to make time for just us...you know...for a bit of adventure with a dash of romance.

I love living in Michigan. The changing seasons create many opportunities for adventures. During every weekend, a festival is going on someplace. Couples traveling to Michigan can find scores of activities and destinations perfect for falling in love,
sharing a special moment or rediscovering what you love about each other.

The weather also creates a perfect growing environment for wine making grapes. Michigan wineries are fun to visit. Nothing spells "romance" like visiting a vineyard and opening a bottle straight from the source. Enjoy wine tasting and "wine trails" through Michigan's wine country, which stretches along the coast of Lake Michigan along the lower peninsula's northern and central shores. 

Our favorite place to visit is Traverse City. I LOVE the shops downtown! Stop in Cherry Republic to try some cherry salsa while sipping cherry wine! The girls and I like to hit the resale shops in search of treasures. (Sometimes the guys tag along, if we promise to involve food.) We follow the Resale Trail. (Download your Traverse City Resale Trail Map HERE.) 

Michigan offers a wonderful selection of breweries open all year round for tours and tasting. Hubby has a Bucket List of craft breweries he wants to visit. We always seem to stumble upon local wineries or brew pubs. Several offer wonderful food along with their beverages. 

We're heading up north for Beer Week, Nov. 13-20. 

 As temperatures drop, activities don't stop. Frankenmuth is our favorite spot as it is only a short drive for us. Getting away for a weekend is easy. This quaint town explores German heritage with Oktoberfest, and the Holiday Balloon Fest takes place in December. We enjoy walking along the streets to visit our "regular shops" anytime of the year.

In today's busy world, it is very healthy for couples to spend some quality time together. Hubby and I think Michigan certainly provides many romantic opportunities.

Visit Pure Michigan for more information or to plan your weekend getaway.

Taste of Autumn in a Bottle from Leelanau Cellars

 On a fine fall day, join me on the deck and sit spell. I'll pop open a bottle of Leelanau Cellars Harvest Spice Apple wine and we'll make a toast to a lovely day.

I love the flavors of the season and picked up a bottle to try then fell in love. The warm golden color is appealing to the eye as the flavor is to the taste buds. I prefer this wine at room temperature but some have said it's good warmed up and garnished with a cinnamon stick.

I enjoyed this wine so much I drank half the first bottle the night I opened it. Yes, folks... I even place it above my beloved Witches' Brew. Oh, I tried the Witches Brew Spiced Apple. Coffee Club gals went ga-ga over it too. But I'm still putting the Harvest Spice Apple above the Witches Brew Apple. 

The Witches Brew Spiced Apple flavor is much like early harvest apples; crisp, with cinnamon and brown sugar. Mom's apple pie.

The Harvest Spiced Apple flavor is richer such as that with late harvest apples, more sweet than tart  a with a hit of oak. Imagine Grandma's apple pie. You know how everything of Gram's tastes better.

The original Witches Brew of red wine and spices is kept on the wine rack all fall and winter. I enjoy it warm with a slice or orange and a cinnamon stick. (Perfect to warm up after a hay ride or day in the snow.)

Altogether, I believe Leelanau Cellars has HANDS DOWN mastered capturing the flavor of Autumn in Michigan.  

I picked up my bottles at my local market. They are also available at Meijer.

Quiet Sunday Blogging

Time to enjoy a lovely autumn afternoon. It's Flyboy's last day home before he leaves for Alaska. He's puttering around the backyard, building a bonfire, sipping a beverage from a local brewery. After all, what else do you do on a beautiful fall day. 

I lounge on the deck working on posts for my blog sipping tea. Detox tea. I enjoyed a bit too much Head Games Spiced Apple Wine from St. Julian Winery last night. 

New this year! Delicious wine that is only found at retail stores. 

The food and fragrance of fall is intoxicating. This time of year is colorful in Michigan. Looking around it can be seen in trees, pumpkin filled fields, and on our table. Last night we ate some venison steaks with roasted fall root veggies. Yum!

When Flyboy returns in two weeks, the colors outside will have changed but will continue on the table for sure!

Celebrating with a Zombie Killer

Fall in Michigan is incredibly beautiful. Colorful trees and the smell of leaves, acorns and apples. Hubby made a bonfire and is looking sexy while cutting wood. For the first time in a kah-zillion years we are not at a sports field on Saturdays. My teen boy & pals are tossing the pigskin to work up an appetite and consume a case of Koegel hot-dogs roasting over the fire pit.  Sitting in my cozy camp chair with my kindle in one hand and a glass in the other. Slightly distracted by hot-bod-honey chopping.

I'm celebrating the lovely autumn evening with a bottle of Zombie Killer Cherry Cyser. It's even good with a slice of the Banana Bread I made on #TastyTuesday. I'm a strong suporter of brews and wine produced in my state. This delightful bottle was created by B. Nektar Meadery in Ferndale, Michigan. I heard about a Gold-Medal winning mead that a bunch of locals have been raving about, so I had to take my shot at it. B. Nektar has a fun sense of humor as you can see with their anti-zombie rhetoric on the bottle story and also on their website.

The label art done by Marcus Christy is very cool. It takes the zombie theme and applies it to a main ingredient, cherries. One cherry is killing the another zombie cherry with a sword while cherry juice blood is splattered everywhere. I save my emtpy bottles of Witches Brew to use in Halloween displays and I believe I'll add this bottle to my collection. Maybe even put in a string of lights for effect.

  I was introduced to mead when I was 16 staying with friends in Leicester, England. I've loved it ever since. This mead really coats the palate. It has some body but the tart zing really keeps the sweeter aspects at bay. Apple cidery zip, dry finish, delicious juiciness. The carbonation adds a nice little touch of effervescence that brings the flavors to the tip of your tongue. Ahhh... a great way to celebrate the end of a book.

Oh, oh... a zombie plot bunny just limped by. Hmmm.... will I write a zombie erotic romance story next? Ewe.

Why am I suddenly

in the mood to watch

Warm Bodies?