Did you have a good weekend? It seems our weekends have been flying by, although we managed to do a lot this time. We started with a trip to a homebrew store, which was not air-conditioned so it was nice and hot and stuffy, and spent an hour listening to the guy talk about the nuances of chocolate vs. black malt, what happens when you go beyond 6 pounds of sugar, and the difference floculation rates makes when considering yeasts. Granted, T was probably actually interested in these tidbits, but all I could think about was how hot the store was. I was also probably hungry, which didn’t help matters.
We almost ate dinner at Mesquite in Scripps Ranch, but I looked at the menu and couldn’t bring myself to go in. Their dinner menu is pretty pricey, and I’m reluctant to spend a lot of money on food that may or may not be spectacular. Especially when I can get sushi, steak, seafood, burgers, or salads somewhere else at a better price and I know it’ll be delicious. So, has anyone eaten at Mesquite? Is it worth trying? Or is it good but still overpriced?
We filled up Saturday with wine tasting and my company Padres game, which was all fun but slightly exhausting. We really only tasted at Longshadow Ranch and Cougar Vineyard and then picked up our wine shipment from Leonesse so we could make it back home in time to drive to Petco Park. Longshadow Ranch is probably one of the best places for a picnic lunch, especially since you can do tastings outside and go back to your table in between sips. Cougar is pretty new in Temecula and I think I’d give them a few more years before going back. Their glasses are really cute, though! And, of course, we always recommend Leonesse. We actually passed our wine club tasting tickets to friends, but I told T that we practically broke even on the wine shipment with that, since tastings are now $10 a person (and we get 4 free tastings as members).
Now, when we go wine tasting, I’m usually good for about 2 wineries. Then I get a little tipsy and a little tired. I split a tasting at Longshadow and didn’t finish most of the ones at Cougar. But we did all share a bottle of almond champagne at Wilson Creek (bought at Costco for practically half the price!) and I think that’s what threw me off balance. However, I maintain that alcohol was in no way responsible for the fact that I tripped over a candle-tree-display-thing at Leonesse (but didn’t fall or knock it over!) I blame the entire incident on the fact that some blonde was headed straight for me with boobs practically jumping out the front of her green dress. I was completely distracted by those things and didn’t see where I was going. Not my fault.
Also, we were coincidentally wine tasting during the Temecula Wine Festival, which made for lovely empty wineries. I guess everyone was at the festival? If that’s the case, I highly recommend going when a festival is in town. Even though Wilson Creek was still packed, it was nowhere near the craziness it usually is.
The to-do list came out Sunday morning, and it was really helpful as we started crossing things off.
- Both guest rooms got cleaned and organized for our upcoming guests.
- We shopped for, and eventually bought, a second portable AC for the back guest room (the castle room!)
- We found a suitable ceiling fan for the dining room and poor T installed it at 9 pm. Without the remote control transmitter because we couldn’t figure out what to do with the extra wire. Consequently, we discovered that the circuits in the house are really weird and I think it will be very complicated if we ever upgrade the electrical.
- I painted drywall inside a garage closet to make it “cleaner” for beer brewing equipment storage.
- Since I had the paint out, I finally painted the linen closet doors with the accent color I picked out, um, three years ago?
Things that weren’t on the list? Well, we were drawn to Joey’s Smokin’ BBQ for dinner and it was, as always, pretty awesome. It’s one of the few places where I order a salad because it has enough meat to satisfy any meat cravings but is also a really good salad. Plus, I had enough tri-tip leftover to add to my salad for my work lunch. T had the brisket sandwich and it was beefy, soft, and tasty. Yum. Then it was off to Patrick’s so the boys could break in their new Patrick’s mugs (which are really cool with the etching and also 20 oz!) and we could catch up with friends.
Now we’ve got a night at home, then dinner at Stone for a Keep the Pint night, then possibly another night at Stone to watch 300 Mystery Science Theater style, friends in town, a tri-tip to grill, an upcoming birthday (and also going-away party, ahem, an announcement we have yet to hear from the source and instead have to rely on other people telling us), and maybe finally scheduling our landscape work! Whew. June is going to be over before we know it.
Three Dog Kitchen 