Boys Night

Every Tuesday is 'Boys Night' since we've moved to Melbourne and since Natasha started school. Not your typical 'Boys Night', but Seamus and I have our fun. I teach him tricks, he follows me around thinking I have food, he chases the ball, humps his bed for a while and then goes to sleep. Life as a dog I guess...

Perhaps inspired by Ms Chokecherry Pancakes herself (or perhaps the lack of pre-prepared convenience food in our fridge...), I was forced to make my own dinner tonight. The three previous 'Boys Night' meals had been grilled cheese, which was getting a bit old, so I thought I'd go all out and heat up a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup. Yes...Tomato Soup...that of Andy Warhol fame. As I was opening it I saw a recipe on the back for bolognese sauce, so I decided to go a step further. Spaghetti bolognese, a staple of my university days...

One can of Tomato Soup, one packet of Tomato Paste, carrots, capsicum, onions, some spices, and some grilled hamburger (Natasha's famous chili burgers) and I was off and running. As I was drinking my wine and stirring the sauce, I decided something was missing. You guessed it, a glass of red wine! Voila! I'm not an expert, but my theory is that there is no point cooking with $hit wine so my bolognese sauce had a glass of 2006 Barons of Barossa Shiraz, and I had the rest of the bottle.

Overall, very pleased with my purchase of a few weeks ago. A typical Barossa Shiraz, big fruit, good length, with a bit of cinnamon and licorice. I'm not sure it's a long termer, but will certainly last for a few more years. When you've got grapes from the best of the Barossa, it's hard to go wrong I suppose. I doubt this is available anywhere outside Australia, but if is, try it out - $20/bottle. At that price it's a steal...

Oh...and for my one or two readers, in case you're wondering, the half-marathon training is going ok. Not exactly setting the world on fire, but have at least done a few 8-10 km runs. Tomorrow morning will be test...6 am boot camp...

A good day for the Corkmaster...

Well...it was generally a good day today. Cleaned up some long outstanding admin, finished some projects at work that have been dragging for a while, had a good performance review, and had a few good wines...

For starters, I finally lodged my 2006 and 2007 tax returns which have been overdue for quite some time now. I am now officially off the 'delinquents' list at work...with a larger than planned refund due, which never hurts. I even offered the lady that does my taxes a bottle of wine and she turned it down...Sweet...more for me. Apparently she's allergic. Not sure what I'd do if I was allergic to wine...

My day ended with a surprisingly quick delivery of my most recent purchase from The Wine Society, a case of the 2006 Glaetzer Bishop Shiraz. I have tried most of Ben Glaetzer's wines, but this was one that I hadn't tried, and it is a bit more affordable than the others, so I thought I'd give it a go. I only had one glass tonight but I thought it was exceptional for a $30 bottle of wine. No doubt this label has benefitted from the fact that Glaetzer no longer produces one of their more premium (and more expensive) wines, which means the grapes previously destined for that wine now go into 'The Bishop'. Definitely one to watch, as my guess is it goes up in price over the next few years...

My purchase came about because earlier in the week I finally gave in to the endless phone calls from the Wine Society and ordered another case of wine. I joined the 'club' when I first moved to Australia because we, and the people who referred us, got a few free bottles of wine. I've continued as a member as the only real obligation is one case/year and there is a good deal to be had at least once every 12 months, sometimes more. I had just recently purchased my annual requirement, having bought a six-pack of the Penfolds 2005 bin releases (2,28,128,138,389,407) and a six-pack of the 2006 Barons of the Barossa Shiraz, but couldn't turn down another case. In a short space of time, I have managed to fill the wine fridge again, after putting everything else in offsite storage before we left Sydney. I think I will be in trouble with my accountant, which incidentally isn't me, it's Natasha...

I also officially locked myself in to run a half-marathon today, having registered with Run Melbourne and my 'boot-camp' trainer. Seven weeks to go...21 km...I'd better get my a$$ in gear. Less wine, more running... I'm keen just to get a time to benchmark against in the future where I can do some proper training. I've done the Sydney City to Surf, which is 16 km (with some big hills...), so how much harder can 21 km be? I guess I'll find out seven weeks...