Vodka from Woodinville

A new craft distillery, Project V, has opened in the trendy Warehouse District of Woodinville in the midst of all the wineries and tasting rooms. They opened their doors last November to rave reviews, and I finally got the chance to visit.  Their premier offering is Single Silo Vodka made from Washington winter wheat from a family farm in central Washington.  The Vodka is one of the smoothest I have tasted in a long time and just a hint of the wheat is noticeable. The folks there are extremely friendly and proud to show you around their operations, which include stills they made themselves. I was able to taste a sample of the wheat that is used to produce this fine liquor and thought this would make some fine bread also. The work area is decorated by members of the staff with cartoon depictions of moonshiners and such with an old VW bus used as a storage area. This is definitely a destination everyone should add to their weekend plans.  You can also find them on Facebook. 

Don’t Bother,

                I had seen quite a bit of hype about one of the newest Asian restaurants in Marysville, Asian 1. Tonight the Twidow and I decided to give it a try, not our brightest idea it seems. The young man that greeted us was very pleasant, but sat us in the bar area when the place was almost empty. Menus were provided that were jam packed with lots of small Asian style print with very poor lighting. As we tried to grab the best light and squint at the menu, our server showed up and seemed in a bit of a rush. We were torn between two Thai style soups and were told the only difference between the two was coconut milk. We chose the one with the coconut milk. This bought us a little more time to try to read the menu. The Twidow chose the Yellow Curry Chicken and I went with the Spicy Basil Chicken. The soup was the highlight of the evening; the entrees were so sweet they could almost have been deserts. The Curry was the better of the two, but only slightly. The Spicy Basil Chicken was so sweet it overshadowed all other flavors and the chicken was like breaded and fried chicken nuggets not at all impressive. The brown rice had an off taste and the white rice was tasteless. Our server passed by once asking how things tasted as I had a mouth full and did not even pause so I could answer. When she picked up my almost full plate, she did not even ask if there was something wrong. This is one place I will not be back to.

2011 resolution

For 2011 I resolve to read more of my friends’ blogs, newsletters, and websites.  Previously I mostly waited till some link showed up in twitter and I just happen to see it before is passes by.  But I have some great friends who are very talented writers and deserve more than just my occasional notice.  I invite you to add these folks to your favorites and follow them on Twitter and/or Friend them on Facebook.

One such friend is @TheGonzoMama or Christina-Marie Wright She is a mother, a vegan, a wine lover, a writer, a blogger and a friend. I first met Christina-Marie at the tasting room of Edmonds Winery in Woodinville and knew her as an attractive mother of seven children.  I later got to know her better through Twitter, Facebook and her tremendously humorous book "Everything Everything I Need to Know About Motherhood I Learned from Animal House." As I have a vegetarian son I look forward to her veggie recipes and her humorous take on parenthood.

Margot Savell is another of my friends I have made through Twitter, @WriteForWine is her Twitter moniker.  Margot is a very talented writer originally from Canada and now thankfully a Puget Sound resident.  Margot is very active in the local wine community and great person to know.

One of my earliest Twitter friends is Shona Milne, @Shona425 a Woodinville local and great supporter of the local wine community. Her website Woodinville Wine Update is widely read and good reading.  Shona is always a welcome face to see at many local wine events and always has the scoop on what’s happening.

A relatively new friend is Sean Sullivan the author of the Washington Wine Report and @WaWineReport on Twitter.  His blog is a very extensive review of both eastern and western Washington wines. 

Then I have some not as local friends who have some very interesting blogs, Josh Wade, AKA @NectarWine has a blog and tasting room in Spokane Washington. And one of my favorite unconventional writers Randy Watson or as many know him; The Wine Whore from my home state of Florida he takes the snobbery out of wine tasting and keeps me laughing.

Well this incomplete list is just a beginning of  my list of frineds and I hope you check back so I can share more with you.  If you have a blog let me know so I can check it out.