Concert Jam at “The Buzz”

27 Sunday Oct 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Appetizers, Concert Jam, Dinner With Friends, Friends, Main Dish, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Special Events, Special Information, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food

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concert jam, Jen Drake, the Buzz

It is great to have Jen Drake – viola – bring some of the local philharmonic talent to the Buzz again this year for the 2nd year of Concert Jam! I think this program will be scheduled about every other month. If that is wrong, I will let you know. Such a great event and thanks to Jen Drake for “directing” the music. And the really great thing – If you play an instrument, bring it! Sit down with these folks! Have fun and play your heart out! Ages? If you can read music and you play an instrument, you can join in on the fun. I think the youngest this time was a 14 year old young lady on the violin. Such a great experience for them to play with such great talent. Enjoy these photos from the evening. Hope to see you at the next one! Cheers!

Here is another venue for the philharmonic group. This month the music will be Brahms. The program varies each month. Well worth the $10 donation. Robin and I will be there.

Great dinner tonight!

Pork Chops
with
Raspberry Sauce
Zucchini Cake
Steamed Asparagus

Chelli, new Assistant Director at the Boise Philamonic and Jen on the Viola.

Chia-Li Ho, new Assistant Director at the Boise Philamonic and Jen on the Viola.

Some of the jammers! All ages are encouraged to join in.

Jammers.

At the end of the evening ….. Dessert!

Pear Cobbler
Ice Cream
Whipped Cream

Cristi did a great job with this dessert. Hope to see YOU at the next event at The Buzz! Cheers!

“The Buzz” Monthly Wine Dinner – Small Wine Regions

09 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Appetizers, Beef, Cooking Styles, Dessert, Dinner With Friends, Ethnic Foods, Finger Foods, Photos By: Bob Young, Salad, Soup, Things To Do, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food

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the Buzz, wine dinner

A very interesting selection of wines and food tonight. And as Erica Larsen said, “Great food and wine for $15. Bottles were $11 each! Delicious! Another dinner tomorrow if you are interested.” Wine selections from New Zealand, Germany, Hungary, South Africa and Portugal. And Cristi kept it interesting with the food parings. If you missed this dinner, there is another with the same fare and wines tonight, October 9. You just can not beat the price – $15.00 per person – and the food selections. Cheers and hope to see you at one of these dinners. Personally, I think this was one of the better Wine Dinners. Great job, Cristi!! Enjoy these photos. Left-Click to see them enlarged.

Silverware, A Menu and A Glass of Wine

Pastry Twist
Mint and Pea Pesto
Cheese Dates
2013 Walnut Block Sauvignon Blanc (NZ)
13% alc . one of the better wines of the night. great finish and appeal. superb paring with the appetizer [18] $16

Pumpkin Tortilla Soup 2012 St Urbans Reisling Germany)

Pumpkin Tortilla Soup
2012 St Urbans Riesling (Germany)
9.5% alc. not my favorite wine for the night. The soup was spicy and I enjoyed it, but this wine just did not match with that flavor level. The wine was good by itself as was the soup. [16] $18

Hungarian Potato Salad 2001 Bull's Blood 12.5% alc. This was a very light version of this wine. We have had it before and it was full bodied.

Hungarian Potato Salad
2001 Bull’s Blood (Hungary)
12.5% alc. This was a very light version of this wine. We have had it before and it was full bodied. It was light enough to go with this delicious version of potato salad. I liked the salad. Different. [17] $11

Pumpkin Beef and Mushroom “Salad”
Pasta and Chimichurri Sauce
2009 Sebeka Cabernet Pinotage (S Africa)
13.5% alc. good clarity and color. full bodied and good balance [18] $11
I really enjoyed this entree. Good flavors and a good paring with the wine. Spaghetti squash on the bottom with caramelized onion made a perfect match.

Double Chocolate Bundt Cake
Noval Tawny Port (Portugal)
19.5% alc. I don’t particularly like port, but this was WOW! great balance and body. [19] $20
This was a superb paring between the chocolate cake and the port. Well done!!!

Chilean Wines At The Buzz

14 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Carrots, Chicken, Chilean Food, Ethnic Foods, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Salads, Shrimp, Soup, Special Dinners, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food

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butter scotch, shrimp soup, the Buzz, wine club

In spite of all the troubles this past month or so for Cristi, this was an exceptional Wine Club Dinner. (And all for $15 per person!!) Cristi had some superb support – Paul Colwell from BRJ Distributors did a great job in matching the wines with the dinner. And Peggy Hands-Behrens did an awesome job in finding the menu ingredients and preparing this feast. Thank-You both for helping Cristi.
With that in mind ….. The wines that Paul choose went well with the dinner. Cristi’s Choice, not chosen by Paul, was a malbec from Bodega Elena from Mendoza. A good red from the 2011 vintage with an alcohol level of 14.5. A little hot, but good. I rated this red an [18] out of [20]. You can get a bottle for $11.00. Here is what else we had. Enjoy! Left-Click any of these photos to see enlarged.

Pan Con Palta

An avocado breakfast dish in Chili. I don’t particularly care for avocado, but Peggy did a great job with this.
2012 Arenal Artnot Carmenere
14.0% alc. One of the better wines of the evening. Went very well with the avocado and the olives. [19] $13.00
(Robin and I both liked this appetizer. She even made it for breakfast this morning using Acme Bake Shop Sourdough.)

Ensalada Chilena
(This was a great salad.)

2011 Tabali Sauvignon Blanc
13.5% alc. Hints of celery, cedar. The cilantro in the salad overpowered the wine. [17] $14.00

South American Shrimp Soup
(I really liked this soup!)

2011 Iyzaguerre Cab/Merlot Blend
13.5% alc. full bodied and went well with the soup. [19] $12.00

Pollo Arvejado

2011 Tabali Chardonnay
13.5% alc. butter scotch and lemon. Not my favorite. I don’t think it went with the chicken. [16] #15.00

Torta De Hojas
(A good and different dessert.)

2011 Tabali Cab/Syrah
14.5% alc. French oak. full bodied and a great ending to the evening

As you can see, this was a great dinner and some great wines to go with it. If I were to give this event a rating, it would easily be 4 1/2 Stars out of 5. It was that good and the “Step Up Help” did an awesome job. I can not emphasize that enough. Thank-You one and all. Here are some of the wines that were served tonight.

Joesph Geist brought this to share.

These were Cristie’s Choice.

These were some of the wines that were served with dinner.

Spanish Wine Dinner at the Buzz

10 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Paella, Party Time, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Spanish Food, Spanish Wines, Special Events, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food

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Spanish Wines, sparkling wines, the Buzz, Wine Dinners

Another exciting and great wine dinner at The Buzz on Tuesday evening, April 9! (The same wines and dinner will also be presented Wednesday, April 10.) Cristi and crew did another good job. Robin wanted to expose some of her Nurse friends to The Buzz and the program that Cristi presents for wine dinners. She invited 22; 18 came. It was a great time and Cristi and Tommy placed us altogether. There are some photos of the nurses below. But first ….. Let’s eat! Wine scores are listed as [20]. Please cast your Vote above!

Robin brought a Rollingstone Chevre for everyone to try.

Albondigas and Sherried Mushroom Empanada
2009 Mercedes Eguren
14% alc. great food paring with the appetizers. little citrus on the finish. [17] $14.00

Sopa de Pastor Manchego
(Such a good soup!)
2010 Layer Cake Garnacha
14.5% alc. this was the best wine of the night, in my opinion. light chocolate on the nose and a long finish. [19] $18.00

Ensalada Sevillana
2011 Raimat Albarnio
12.5% alc. a hint of pear on the nose. fruity. did not pair well with the salad dressing. [18] $14.00

Paella
(If you have never had paella, you really should try it. It’s like a stew – there are many, many variations. But most have seafood and rice with some type of meat.)
2007 Lan Rioja
13.5% alc. good paring with the spiciness of the paella. black cherry on the nose. [18] $22.00

Torrijas and Flan
NV Cava Coderniu
11.5% alc. I’m just not a fan of sparkling wines or Champagnes. this one was OK but not much more. [15] $13.00

And here are some photos of the St. Luke’s folks that Robin invited. I did not get photos of everyone. Enjoy!

Barb Herrick and Sherry Grabowski

Diane Ross, Roli Martin Parker, Carol Fountain, Leslie Thomason, Kathy Kimmel

Sherry Grabowski, Connie Merrill, , Diane Ross, Susan Van Houten

Sherry Grabowski, Connie Merrill, Di McDonough, Diane Ross, Susan Van Houten

Those not pictured: Marti Downey, Pat Hutchison, Sue Montgomery, Joe Levitch, Marti Monk, Joe Murray, Gayle Ogle Weatherby, Wendy Weatherby Johnson and Ron Dunagan. Thank-You one and all for a great evening. Hope to see you again at The Buzz! Cheers.

Another Exciting Concert Jam at the Buzz

03 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Appetizers, Comfort Food, Main Dish, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurants, Special Events, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?

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concert jam, restaurants, the Buzz

March 2 found us at the Buzz for their 2nd Concert Jam. The next one will be on April 8. If you play an instrument and can read music, bring your instrument, a folding chair and a music stand. Age makes no difference – there was a 14 year old playing tonight. Lot’s of talent. Lot’s of music. Lot’s of fun! Bring your friends for a great relaxed evening. Have some dinner. Maybe some wine or some beer. You don’t drink alcohol? No problem. There are sodas and other drinks available. Enjoy these photos from the evening. Cheers!

French Horn

Floutist

Cheese Quesadilla

Tex-Mex Pita

Such a great evening! Such fun. Hope to see you there next time. No reservations are necessary, but seating is limited and the Buzz fills up quickly. The jam session usually starts at 7:00pm and ends around 9:00pm.

Wine Dinner Featuring Soup! Yup! Soup.

10 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by Bob and Robin in Fruits, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Soup, Special Dinners, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?

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cold soups, soup, soup and wine, the Buzz, wine dinner

Yes indeed! You read that right! A wine dinner at The Buzz and the courses were all soup. I guess, as Joe said, we can call it a “soupr” evening. And it really was.
Cristi spends a lot of time preparing these dinners and she does her homework. For instance, here is some of what she said about soup. “Soup is generally a warm food; Often made by combining ingredients with a liquid. [Soup is] traditionally classified in two categories. Clear as in bouillon or consomme and Thick as in Puree – thickened with a starch; Bisque – Thickened with cream or pureed meat; Veloutes – Thickened with egg, butter or cream. Generally there is more liquid in a soup than in a stew.”
She goes on to let us know that there are also several different types of soup. “Fruit Soup – Frequently cold when fruit is in season; Fruksuppe (Norwegian) dried fruit; Hot Fruit Soup with meat. Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Chinese cuisines; Generally absent from Americas, Africa, Western European, Japan and Southeast Asia or Oceania cuisines. Cold Soups – At or below room temperature and they can be sweet or savory. Asian Soup – Generally broth based and many use tofu, soy bean curd – low-calorie and high protein.”
These are the type of “educational sessions” that she presents at the tastings. Extremely interesting. Enjoy these photos of the evening and hope to see you at the next Buzz Wine Dinner. Be sure to Left-Click the photos for a larger view. Cheers!

Joe brought this awesome wine – limited quantity – for some to share. Thanks Joe.

Beer/Cheddar Soup with Pretzels
(Awesome soup!)
2010 Wente Merlot
13.5% alc went very well with the soup. big and bold [17]

Avocado-Buttermilk Soup with Crab
(This is a WOW soup!)
2009 Chateau de la Roche Sauvignon Blanc
13.0% alc. absolutely wonderful with the avocado and crab. [19]

Chunky Tomato-Fruit Gazpacho
(A great palate cleanser.)
2011 Jean-Luc Colombo White Rhone
13.0% alc. good wine with the fruit. great pairing [18]

Lentil Soup with Kielbasa and Kale
(Don’t let the kale fool you. A good soup.)
2006 Lan Crianza Tempranillo
13.5% alc. great balance with the spiciness of the soup [18]

Chilled Pear Soup and a Chocolate Soup
(WOW!)
2008 Pillar Box Cabernet Sauvignon
14.5% alc. I thought it went best with the chocolate, but our table had a difference of opinion. [18]

So there you have our evening. It was a great evening and I think everyone learned a lot about soups and pairing them with wine.