Weekend in Solvang

I was invited to a weekend in Solvang for wine tasting, shopping, birthday party, and a spa treatment. All this in honor of my daughter’s brother-in-law Brian’s 60th birthday. And what a wonderful weekend it was! We arrived in Solvang Saturday at about 11:30 a.m., just in time to join the gang of friends and family at the Lenourt Winery where we tasted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to go with a delicious al fresco lunch of sandwiches from the Panino Sandwich shop in Solvang. Looking out over the winter vineyards to the surrounding green hills and misty blue mountains of the coastal range was breathtaking.  And the weather could not have been better. Warm sunny days and cool nights.

Lencourt Winery

Winter Vines

    Then on to the Buttonwood Farm Winery for another flight of Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, and Syrah. This winery is also a working farm, complete with crowing roosters and a friendly horse. A bright orange vintage truck just begged to be photographed.

    That night there were about 23 of us for dinner at Trattoria Grappolo in the quaint village of Santa Ynez. Course after course of mouthwatering Italian dishes just kept coming. (Why don’t Italians all weight 600 pounds?) From a Calzone-like appetizer to  salad, chicken, fish, pasta, and finally Tiramasu and Spumoni, it was delicious. We came away stuffed like turkeys.
    Sunday morning 15 or so of us met for breakfast at the River Course golf course, after which my grandson, Tony and his grandfather, Johnny, played a round of golf.

My daughter Brenda and I met with her sister-in-law, Nancy, and her mother-in-law, Rachel at the Spa at the Chumash Casino for facials, massages, and pedicures. Aaahh....

    On to tiny Los Olivos for lunch and to watch the Seahawks/Green Bay football game and a little shopping. We found a wine tasting room that sold these delightful little fairy cakes. Who could resist?

"Flight" of fairy cakes

    While exploring the village we came upon this beautiful Episcopal church, St. Marks-in-the-Valley which was open to the public.

St. Marks-in-the-Valley

Dinner that night was another group of 22 at Brothers Restaurant at the Red Barn, again in Santa Ynez. All I can say is YUM! Monday morning dawned another sunny, bright day. Off to breakfast, again at the River Course golf course and a little more shopping. Can’t leave Solvang without a bucket of Butter Cookies. We also found some fabulous bargains at the Izod store. 70-80% off! Who knew?  It was time for the drive home.   

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 After all that rich food and wine I decided to make an old standby, meatloaf, for dinner that night. I start my meatloaf by cooking a mire poix of finely chopped carrot, onion, and celery in a little olive oil. To save time and effort I use my handy little food processor and pulse the vegetables until they are almost a paste. Sauteed until they’re almost caramelized, they gives the meat loaf a richer flavor.

sauteed mire poix

Mire poix

 

My Meat Loaf

1 pound ground beef
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 green onion, sliced
1/2 brown onion, finely chopped
1 Tblsp. tomato paste
1 Tblsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tblsp. low sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup zucchini, finely grated
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly whipped
2 Tblsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper
About 1/4 cup Ketchup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Finely chop carrot, celery, and brown and green onions (or pulse in food processor until finely chopped.)

Heat 2 Tblsp. olive oil over medium heat in frying pan. Add the chopped vegetables and cook 5 minutes, stirring often. Cover and cook 5 minutes more. Cool.

In a large bowl put ground beef, cooled cooked vegetables, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, grated zucchini, chopped parsley, bread crumbs, egg, and salt and pepper. With very clean hands, mix lightly and form into a loaf on an aluminum foil-covered baking pan. Slather ketchup over the loaf, covering all sides. Bake for 1 hour or until meat thermometer reads 155 degrees. Remove from oven, cover lightly with foil and let rest 10 minutes before slicing.