Growing up European, I was always surrounded with cold cuts, kolbassa, sausages, yellow peppers and wine. My parents would encourage me to take a sip of their wine from an early age, to get me used to it, but I hated it. My, how things change!

Today I chose a 2013 red wine from California called 7 Deadly Zins. It’s been sitting on my counter for a few weeks, the last one standing after my shopping spree a while back. This one had been the most expensive one that I had purchased and I was curious to see if it was worth the splurge.

It’s been described as “offering fresh ground pepper and an array of spices, cranberries and dates, black cherry, with a finish of warm boysenberry pie. Opulent, and full throttle…”

Wait, stop! You had me at pie. I could hardly wait to taste it after reading the reviews about it and oh my, it did not disappoint! Although it’s about $10 Canadian more than what I normally like to spend (since I’m not a big spender), it was well worth the splurge. A wonderful wine to bring to summer gatherings with friends; you don’t need to hesitate about giving it a try.

It’s hard to believe that when I was young, I also didn’t like cheese. Gasp! Melted on a pizza was the only wait I’d eat it, or in a grilled cheese sandwich (Hungarian style*). I’m not even sure at what point I started eating non-melted cheese, but most likely in my late teens or early twenties. This time, I came face to face with the Muenster.

Bothwell Muenster cheese hails from Manitoba, Canada. It has an appealing orange rind that is very thin, so you don’t have to remove it. Unsure if the orange coloring was something spicy, I gave it a tentative lick…then immediately felt weird for doing so. Luckily, no one was around to see.

It is excellent melted, as it’s a fairly soft cheese, but I was trying it in its natural form. At first, it seemed quite mild, but was shortly followed by a little bite mid-tongue- just a faint one, which suited me fine. For those of you more daring than I, It also comes in Jalapeno flavor.

As always, since it’s imbedded deep into my DNA, I had to include some form of meat in my repast. I chose an extra lean Kolbassa that was by far one of the best I’ve had, by the Brandt company in Mississauga, Ontario. Extremely lean, with no fat globules in it, it has only 1.5 grams of fat and 10 grams of protein. You don’t even have to feel guilty about eating it, which suits me just fine because I finally surpassed my weight loss goal of 30 pounds! I rounded my plate out with half of an avocado sprinkled with dill weed and savored every bite.

*Mom’s Hungarian Grilled Cheese
-On a baking sheet, arrange bread slices such as sliced rye, sandwich bread, Italian. My childhood memories revolved around sliced rye bread.
-Top with cheese slices. My mom would use the Kraft cheese slices, but you can use any cheese you like.
-Add slices of uncooked bacon and onions. This should be your top layer.

Pop in the oven at 350 celsius and bake until it’s all gooey and cooked (maybe about 20 minutes, but ovens vary so keep a close watch). Allow to cool slightly before devouring. This is a sandwich that is worthy of a glass of wine…

Cheers, my Friends,

Judy