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| Creations Newsletter |
September 2009 |
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"A Touch of Glass"
Volume 3; Issue 9 |
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"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."
- Elizabeth Stone
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Took this pic one night when I was out on our deck... pretty cool, huh...!  Five Wine Gift Pitfalls
Wine makes a great gift, but the choices can be intimidating. Not to worry: avoid these common mistakes and you'll be fine.
1. Avoid giving older red wines from stores you don't know well. Top wines can age well for years, but only if they're kept at an ideal temperature during that entire time.
2. Avoid giving older white wines. The vast majority of white wines do not age over time, so look for vintages within two years of the present date.
3. Don't buy wines made from obscure grape varieties or regions for friends who aren't really into wine. Instead, look for familiar, popular types of wine they will recognize, like Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay.
4. Skip inexpensive, mass-produced brands. A familiar variety or region is one thing; buying a bottle of Yellow Tail Shiraz that the recipient can purchase for about $7.00 at the grocery store doesn't imply much personal thought.
5. Don't give a bottle that you want the host to open that night. If you're absolutely desperate to try the wine, buy two bottles and keep one for yourself. That way you won't sit through a dinner party wondering if the host is ever going to open your bottle.
- foodandwine.com |
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Totally useless trivia...
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Melt an ice cube in your mouth and you'll burn off 2.3 calories
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Cows are identifiable by their nose prints
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Cary Grant was expelled from school at age 14 for sneaking into the girl's room
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For her 40th birthday Sophia Loren's husband presented her with a 14-carat gold toilet seat (What...?) |
Napa Valley
The end of this month, my husband and I are heading to Napa Valley to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary!! If you have any suggestions on places to eat, favorite wineries, things to do... Please share!! I would love to hear from you! |
"You know you're getting old when you stoop to tie your shoes and wonder what else you can do while you're down there."
- George Burns | |
Hello everyone - and Happy September!!
Since I have been sharing pictures of my kiddos with you over the past couple of months, I felt it was only fair to also share a pic of "the girls" (as we lovingly refer to them at home), Tobie (left) and Ellie. They are my buddies and they put a smile on my face each and every morning! They really miss the kids, though...
For those of you who are just receiving my newsletter for the first time... Quick update. Last month I had to take my 19 year old twins to college - and let's just say that it wasn't exactly the easiest thing in the world for me.... I'm taking things one day at a time - and Creations has been keeping me very busy; which is great! For all of you faithful readers - Thank you for putting up with me as I prepared for the inevitable - and a special thanks for your continued kind words and encouragement. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times... I truly have the very best customers in the whole world - and I mean that from the bottom of my heart...!
Last month I wrote -
"I am also so very, very thankful that God planted that little seed in my brain - seven years ago - telling me to start my own business. He knew, way back then, how much I would need "Creations", and all of you, in my life right now!!" And here is just one of the many emails that I received...
"Hi Cathy ,
Thank you for sharing your note on how God planted a seed for you to start your own business so that it could be a blessing to your family in sending your teens to college. God has also planted a seed with me to start my own decorating business and I'm sure it's to help with sending my son to college next year. Reading your letter has encouraged me to JUST DO IT!!! May you and your family be blessed.
Thanks - Barb"
God is good...
Cheers!
Cathy |
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 Debate: Screw Cap or Cork?
Cork or screw cap? Historically it was considered poor form to serve wine from a bottle with a screw cap. But that reputation is no longer deserved, as proven by our friends in New Zealand, Australia, Spain and South Africa. Even the French are using screw caps more and more, with great success.
The arguement for natural corks (which in fact come from cork trees) is that they are essential for wines in that they allow for a natural gaseous exchange while the bottle ages, enhancing the flavors over time. There is also the indisputable romance of removing a cork from a bottle of wine.
Screw cap fans will retort, however, that 5-10% of bottles with natural corks arrive "corked." (Technical definition: the wine is overly oxidized or flawed, often due to the presence of a substance called TCA, which is used to sanitize the cork before bottling.) Screw cap advocates also point out that it's much easier to take off a screw cap than to remove a cork, and easier to re-close that rare bottle you do not finish with a screw cap.
- bottlenotes.com
Hmmmm...... |
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Zig Zag martini glasses - Set of four $42
Ahhh - the wonders of autumn...
The leaves are changing,
the air is cool and crisp,
and the kids are back in school!!!
I think that calls for a cocktail...
Academic Martini
2 oz gin
1/2 oz Galliano
1/2 oz. orange juice
Combine ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice, stir to chill. Strain into a martini glass. |
New products:
Cheeseballs:
Savory: "Beer" / "Touchdown"
Dessert: "Appletini"
Flour sack towels:
New designs - including another "wine" / "olive oil "/and "Halloween" (limited number!!!)
Stonewall Kitchen:
Aged Cheddar Beer Crackers
Mango Lime Salsa
Tomato Herb Bruschetta Spread
Roasted Garlic Onion Bruschetta
Roasted Garlic Bread Spread
Seasoned Sea Salt Pretzels
Roasted Garlic Onion Pretzels
ALSO: Come into Trendz for our "First Thursday" event THIS THURSDAY and see all of the new glassware PLUS 20% OFF on all of the Bungalow Party Buckets and Dip Mixes!!! | |
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| Save 25% |
ALL CHEESEBALL MIXES!!!!!
Reg $5.50 NOW $4.12
Savory: Wine & Cheese, Fiesta, Spinach & Artichoke
Dessert: Margarita, Cosmopolitan, Pomalicious
Also: NEW!
Savory: "Beer" and "Touchdown" (same mix as "Fiesta"/different packaging!)
Dessert: "Appletini"
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| Offer Expires: September 30, 2009 | |
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