Most weeks FWandD stops in to Grande Harvest Wines in Grand Central Terminal to pick up wine "supplies".  At Grande Harvest they have a great frequent buyer program. After seven stamps on your card, you can pick up a pre-selected bottle for free or a bottle of your choice with a 15% discount. The beauty of the pre-selected bottles is that since Grande Harvest only sells good wine, you're bound to discover something casual but nice. This week they selected a bottle of Down Under Shiraz 2008 (label shown is from the chardonnay). It was delicious and makes a great weeknight selection. FWandD went back and bought another bottle for a friend.  We also found a post from The Wine Curmudgeon that seems to agree with our Down Under experience.  For ten bucks, you can't go wrong with this one. Happy sipping!

Good friends of FWandD suggested that we document the building of our new mantel shelf. This is the before photo.  Our fireplace has probably looked this way since 1988. Thanks to FWandD husbands, brothers, friends, sisters-in-law and fathers...and a three-day weekend get-together...this DIY project took shape very nicely.  We used the following link on the diynetwork.com site with deviation as needed and as laziness required. http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-make-a-hollow-plywood-mantel/index.html The men at work. We let them keep the game on so they'd stay motivated. Just kidding.
The finished mantel! Thanks for the labor of love guys!  We'll cherish our new home for local artists' work (we're thinking of a horse painting...or maybe a local barn), candles, photos and of course holiday decorations.

By Sara Quessenberry,  April 2010

 
Realsimple.com

By Sara Quessenberry,  April 2010

 
Realsimple.com

By Sara Quessenberry,  April 2010

 
Realsimple.com

Makes 24

Hands-on Time: 10m

Total Time: 20m

Ingredients

• 24 thin slices baguette (from 1 small loaf)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup fig chutney
• 4 ounces blue cheese, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. Place the baguette slices on a baking sheet and brush both sides of the bread with the oil. Bake until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes per side.

2. Dividing evenly, spread the chutney on the toasted baguette slices and top with the cheese.

Tip

The crostini can be toasted up to 3 days in advance. Keep at room temperature in an airtight container.

 By Kate Merker,  December 2010

Realsimple.com

Makes 24

Hands-on Time: 10m

Total Time: 20m

Ingredients

• 24 thin slices baguette (from 1 small loaf)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup fig chutney
• 4 ounces blue cheese, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. Place the baguette slices on a baking sheet and brush both sides of the bread with the oil. Bake until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes per side.

2. Dividing evenly, spread the chutney on the toasted baguette slices and top with the cheese.

Tip

The crostini can be toasted up to 3 days in advance. Keep at room temperature in an airtight container.

 By Kate Merker,  December 2010

Realsimple.com

Makes 24

Hands-on Time: 10m

Total Time: 20m

Ingredients

• 24 thin slices baguette (from 1 small loaf)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup fig chutney
• 4 ounces blue cheese, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. Place the baguette slices on a baking sheet and brush both sides of the bread with the oil. Bake until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes per side.

2. Dividing evenly, spread the chutney on the toasted baguette slices and top with the cheese.

Tip

The crostini can be toasted up to 3 days in advance. Keep at room temperature in an airtight container.

 By Kate Merker,  December 2010

Realsimple.com

 
We frankly don't know how we missed it.  Maybe life has been too busy; maybe we spend too much time in the country; maybe we're just reawakening to exploring the food of New York City. Whatever it is, it's unforgivable.  How have we gone so long without getting to know this great restaurant?  We're sorry; but we're so happy to know it now.

Last night we sought out and found an amazing dining experience at Freemans Restaurant.  It's located down a not-that-easy-to-find alley but easy to recognize once you spot the small white lights and European style outside (even though the restaurant's theme is rustic colonial American, it brought us back to our searches for gourmet treats in the small streets of France and Spain).  The service was terrific. We're in no mood to give our time or money to snobs or folks who could care less about our patronage. This was not the case at Freemans.  Every person we passed there, from the host to the manager to the servers, had a smile on his or her face, each said thank you and please and each seemed happy to have us there.  Our server was knowing, confident, fun and approachable.  After finding this cool spot, being greeted by the wonderful staff and showed quickly to our cozy spot in the Tavern Room, we got the chance to peep around and take in all the cool taxidermy/colonial tavern design.  We could have stared at it all for hours...in fact we almost did...except the food was so good we had to stop to discuss. My reasonably-priced gruet in a short champagne glass was bubbly, perky and delicious.  Our artisinal cheese plate with grilled 7-grain bread and fresh tart apples lives on in my memory still. Finally the pan roasted pollock with white beans and escarole was filling, hearty, warm and tasty.  And thankfully we had room for the Bananas Foster afterwards. Not often does being bad feel so worth it afterwards. Delicious!  This restaurant is worth finding and trying if you haven't before. And since it's been around since 2004 we'd suggest going back again if you've already dined with them.  It's time to revisit!

http://www.freemansrestaurant.com/

 
This door was great for Halloween but it's magnificent for the holidays! Gorgeous country chic!