Va La Family Farmed Wines

Many times I've started to write a post on Va La, my favorite winery in Southeastern Pennsylvania, but have aborted the mission because 1) the pictures I've taken in the past were seriously bad, and 2) while I love wine, I'm uncomfortable about confidently describing wine.

Well, I've finally taken some half-decent photos, and while I can't banter like a sommelier, all that matters with wine is that if you like it, you like it. And I like Va La's wine!As well as the wine, I enjoy visiting Va La's vineyard and tasting room in Avondale, PA, a tiny town — if you can even call it that — I somehow found myself living in for eight months (long story). Just a ten minute car ride from Kennett Square, and an hour from Philadelphia, a trip to Va La makes a nice weekend getaway.

Hit up other wineries along the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail, as well, if you really want to make a day out of it. Va La is sneaky, though, and doesn't show up on the official Brandywine Valley Wine Trail, but don't miss Va La! It's the best of the bunch.

Seattle or Bust

The tickets have been purchased, and I am ecstatic! Tripping it to Seattle this summer!!

In nerdy fashion, I've already started to make a Google map of places of interest, so I can whip it out wherever I am and be, like, "Oh, there's a bakery four blocks over. Pastry, go!"

Since I've never been to Seattle, I would welcome any suggestions on places to check out. Of course, I'm looking for y'all to steer me in the direction of good food, but I'm am also all ears about parks, gardens, hikes, museums, wineries, and anything else that's awesome. Maybe even a trip down to Portland?

So, please flood the comments with your favorite tourist must-sees and local secrets in and around Seattle.

Sweet Tea Pie

I'm not sure what to start defending first: this sweet tea pie that needs perfecting; or the magazine — Garden & Gun, with one of the worst names of any magazine I've ever encountered — which shot me an email newsletter with the recipe.

Every time I hear the name of the magazine Garden & Gun — an absolutely fabulous and beautiful "Southern lifestyle" magazine that launched in 2007, featuring all things Southern in a stylish and smart manner, and to which I happen to subscribe — I want to violently shake whoever decided Garden & Gun (an obscure reference to a '70s disco in Charleston, SC) was a name that would attract people, as opposed to scare them away.
Yes, there are gun articles in almost every issue of Garden & Gun, but they are in the line of erudite articles about gun-loving Ernest Hemingway, or sentimental stories of bonding with a favorite hunting dog.

Coconut What?

Hey, wanna see something super freakin' cool? See that there vegan brunch plate from Memphis Taproom? That "bacon" is made from coconut chips — yes, coconut chips! — and it's got all the right smokey flavors and all-important crisp. I tell ya, it's akin to culinary voodoo.

I first heard about the technique of using coconut chips to make vegan bacon over on Vegan Brew. It sort of blew my mind, and I'm not sure how I didn't know about this all these years.

Then I was watching Food Network's series Diner, Drive-ins and Dives specifically to catch the segment on Memphis Taproom, a vegetarian and vegan friendly gastopub in Kensington. It was on this episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives that I peeped Memphis Taproom's chef smoking coconut (home cooks without a smoker can just use liquid smoke) for their vegan smoked coconut club sandwich. Oh, joy, I can have coconut bacon without lifting a finger in the kitchen.

On their own, coconut bacon chips are a bit hard to eat with a fork because of their small size, but I could certainly go for coconut bacon bits crumbled over a bowl of grits, or between bread like Memphis Taproom's club sandwich. Gotta get back there! Or just make my own.