My Weekend

I went wine-tasting with my family on Sunday.(It was a Martha Clara's-- pictured above. I highly recommend it!) It was a lot of fun. And I do mean A. LOT. Many of you reading this blog already know my family is awesome. It's true-- we are. Give us an adventure (like wine-tasting in Long Island) and we're really in our element. Everything from singing in the car, to conversations with the wine guy- Glen, to our many gift shop purchases, to our farm stand stops on the way home were extra special because we were together (and drinking wine, no doubt).

I was telling my coworkers about this planned excursion on Friday and many of them mentioned that they didn't think they could ever drink with their family. This comment is something I have heard before. And every time, I think it's strange. I mean, totally weird. Maybe it's because I come from a very traditional Spanish family and I grew up seeing my family members drink wine. (My father gave me a glass of red wine when I was 5 and told me it was fruit punch.) Drinking with my family is second nature. Almost like breathing. I don't think about it at all. In fact, I feel much more comfortable drinking with my family than with my friends. Having tapas and wine on Sunday afternoons is expected. Followed by a siesta, of course.

So, as I was saying, I went wine-tasting. I prefer white wine to red wine any day. (But I did appreciate the pairing of merlot and dark chocolate!) It's not that I don't like red wine. There was a time, in fact, where I preferred it to white. I am not entirely sure how it happened but at one point a few years ago, I switched my preference to white wine and have stayed in the white wine camp ever since. My favorite white wine is albarino. (A wine from the region of Spain my dad is from.) If you haven't tried an albarino yet, you need to.

We had a great time together. We enjoyed a delicious lunch of empanadillas, chorizo, cheese, bread, and tortilla prepared by my mother. On the way home, we stopped at some of the farm stands. With it being autumn, there was an abundance of apples. We also got some honey and, of course, cabbage. It was the perfect day, really, and we're already planning another trip back.

I hope you had a lovely, relaxing weekend. But mostly, I hope you're blessed enough to have a family as loving, and fun, and funny, and eccentric as mine.