A Wine Country, NY Bucket List

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This is a laid back Wine Country, NY Bucket List, focused on fun activities in the Finger Lakes Region of NY.

So if you didn’t know this already Chuck and I are tying the knot in approximately 12 days. It’s pretty exciting. What’s also exciting is the first full week off of work I have had since our trip to Ireland in 2012.

I’m doing a happy dance, yelling “woop, woop!” with my hands in the air right now just fyi.

I have been looking forward to this forreeeeeeeeeveeeeeeerrrrrr.

Seriously though this might be the better than the wedding just a week of Chuck and I, and maybe some Brody cuddles too. Since I can’t stop thinking about this I thought it might be fun to a bucket list of all the stuff I want to do while we are on our honeymoon. The first half of the week we will be in the Finger Lakes region of NY also known as wine country, the later half will be home, or the Adirondacks, we are leaving that part up in the air because why not?

Sleep late
Get a massage – we are already scheduled for Sunday night when we arrive !!!
Drink wine
Eat decadent, overpriced food
Howe Caverns – this one is a maybe, it might be more fun to save for when we have some little ones.
Watkins Glen – This is a must.
Cornell’s Botanical Gardens – I’ve actually already been, but if we are looking for something to do it would be worth another trip. It’s beautiful.
Waterfalls – I’ve already seen a few but this region is full of them so I’d like to check out a few more Cascadilla Gorge is one of them.
Do a Wine Trail
Hit up a farm/farmers market/stand – these are plentiful but since we will be there during the week I’ll take whatever we happen to come across

And there you have it a list of everything I would like to do while we are in wine country. This list is pretty laid back and negotiable since to me the most important thing is to relax and enjoy this time with Chuck.

Do you have any great wine country ideas? Let me know I’m definitely interested in more ideas!

Venison Burgers

By Jessica

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A simple recipe for basic venison burgers as well as a discussion on perfecting a homemade burger.

The all American burger is something I’m fairly certain everyone is familiar with, even if you’ve never set foot in the U.S. By now McDonalds has infiltrated nearly the entire globe so people are at the very least familiar with the concept.

While I’ve had my share of take out burgers I honestly believe that nothing can compare to a homemade burger if it’s done right. Now there innumerable camps that have staked their claim to the best way to prepare burgers, contesting meat to fat ratios, spice content, meat type and all that jazz. For me honestly I think simplicity works best.

I think a solid 80 to 20 meat to fat ratio is ideal. Fat is what makes the burger juicy and tender. However, when grinding large portions of venison meat at once (usually the case for us) Chuck and I opt for a 90/10 ratio since it works best for other recipes. Sometimes I add more fat when I want to cook burgers sometimes I don’t. They are really good either way. If you are using a lower fat ratio then I suggest mixing in a little liquid to the meat before cooking to help them stay juicy. We typically add in a couple cups of water during the grinding process before vacuum sealing and storage for this reason. For venison burgers I like to use pork fat, usually in the form of bacon, because it’s the most easily accessible.

I’m also a firm believer in handling the meat as little as possible. Working it too much can make the burgers dense and crumbly, no one wants that. To combat this I just combine my spices separately and gently work them into the meat before forming the burgers, only handling the meat for a few minutes to do all of this.

I am a member of the flip once camp. I know that the number of times you flip doesn’t actually make a difference in anything but the outside crust. I like a little crust on the outside of my burger, and since I like mine mostly rare it’s not hard to just flip once and get a perfect burger.

If your meat is already ground up (fat included) then go ahead and heat that grill up. If you are starting from scratch this post from Hank Shaw gives a great overview on grinding meat. If you are looking to use a different type of fat in your meat this post talks about some of my favorites.

Venison Burgers

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 15 mins

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs ground venison (fat included)
Salt & pepper
Burger buns & toppings for serving

Instructions

Preheat the grill.
Using your hands form 4 roughly equal patties.
Season liberally on both sides with salt and pepper.
Grill the burgers to your desired doneness (5-6 minutes on the first side and 1-2 minutes on the second for side for medium-rare).
Remove the burgers from the grill and let stand for 4 minutes before serving on buns with desired garnish.

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Summer Garden Vegetable Tomato Sauce

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

This is a recipe for Summer Garden Vegetable Tomato Sauce that I canned for later use using a pressure canner.

The tomato bounty is winding down now. I’m so happy that despite my negligence my tomato plants produced enough for me to make a small batch of veggie tomato sauce. Something that’s kind of new in this house. In years past meat sauce has always been the thing, but I’m doing my best to change that, little by little.

I had a ton of vegetables sitting on my counter and in my fridge and they needed to get used up so I pretty much dumped them all in this sauce. I did find that the tomato flavor was dulled by all the vegetables, but it still tasted delicious so it’s a recipe I decided should be recorded.

Here is my Basic Tomato Sauce Recipe if you are interested.

Since adding vegetables to tomato sauce reduces the acidity a pressure canner is required to can it. I’m so happy to finally have one! I cannot wait until the temperatures go down a bit so I can comfortably make broth and can that. I sound like a total dork, but I really cannot wait!

If you are interested in canning your tomato sauce I used this method.

Summer Garden Vegetable Tomato Sauce

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 2 hours

Total time: 2 hours 15 mins

Serves: 10 Servings

Ingredients

½ cup olive oil
1 small onion, chopped fine
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium carrot, shredded fine
1 cup eggplant, chopped fine
1 cup zucchini, chopped fine
½ cup green bell pepper, chopped fine
10 cups tomatoes, seeded & chopped
2 tsp black pepper
½ tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
1 ½ tablespoons fresh thyme
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
Salt to taste

Instructions

In a large thick bottomed sauce pan heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and carrots, cooking for one minute or until it becomes fragrant.
Stir in the eggplant, zucchini, and green pepper and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften.
Add the tomatoes & spices and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once boiling reduces the heat to low and allow it to simmer for 2 to 3 hours, with occasional stirring. Longer cooking times will result in a smoother – less chunky sauce.
Adjust seasoning & serve.
Note: To reduce cooking time use pureed tomatoes or puree the mixture after 30 minutes of simmering and serve.

Recently

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

August flew by. Did anyone else notice that? I had so much I wanted to get done, and yes I accomplished a lot, but I feel like there is so much more yet to do!

Brody and I did get the chance to go hiking at Snowy Mountain with our friends Carrie and Baxter. It was a much needed hike with lots of great conversation and views.

We got the house looking like an actual house that people live in. To celebrate we had a bunch of people over, to finally debut the place. Not, of course that I remembered to take any pictures to show you. I’ll work on that for next time.

We checked a few more things off the Wedding To Do List, and as of today we have 18 days to go.

We had a few great nights over at the Shauber house. Our good friends just moved into their first house less than 3 miles down the road from us, and I can tell this is going to be fun.

We had some trouble and tried to go camping twice, but neither time worked out for us. Lets just say that sickness seems to be running rampant in our family this summer. We are going to try again one more time before the wedding. keep your fingers crossed for us!

Because of the whole not camping thing we were able to get so much more done around the house. You can read all about our house updates here.

The month ended with another wedding for some of our really good friends, and it was a blast. I’ll be sad when all these weddings are over because with the pace of life these days we don’t get to hang out with our friends quite as much as we would like, and these big parties are only going to get fewer and farther between.

House Updates: Green Bathroom and Pea Planters

By Jessica

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So a lot has been happening with this little house of ours and a lot of people are asking about it’s going on so I thought I would write a little update post to fill all interested parties in.

First thing is first. I painted the bright orange bathroom. This came with some controversy, because a number of people really liked the color. Hell I actually liked the color. However being a redhead with an orange bathroom makes for a very distorted look in the mirror when you are trying to get ready. The bathroom contains the only mirror in the house and I have no idea what I’m doing with make up so when I do need to put it on the last thing I need is a distorted complexion to make the whole thing harder. For those of you in the orange camp I’m sorry, but green is so much more fitting for Chuck and I.

I chose dark sage for the bathroom. It’s a really rich beautiful color and I think it goes really well with the foe stone linoleum floor and mostly white bathroom. Next on the list for the bathroom is a medicine cabinet, and some floating shelves. A tub will probably also come fairly soon, because I’m really missing my tub time, and my lower back is really missing the heat treatment.

We (and by we, I obviously mean Chuck) tackled the massive vines that had taken over the back corner and were wrecking the fence. This was no small task let me tell you. Actual repair of the fence will probably be next year’s project since it’s holding up for now.

Recently we also received a large composter for a wedding gift. I’m totally excited about this and put it together almost immediately. It’s new home will be where the massive vines used to be inside the fence.

While Chuck was pulling vines I was working on the boxes along the fence. My mom scored us some free pavers to edge gardens with. Yes free! And the ones you see here only make up a portion of the stack we have (her neighbor had them by the road woot!). We have to figure out the electrical situation with that log before we move it (yeah there’s a random telephone pole with a working outlet on it in our backyard, totally safe right?) and I extend the boxes a further down the fence. I plan on doing the same thing on the other side of the fence. On side will be for peas and the other for flowers in the spring.

Unfortunately my container garden did not take the move so well nor did it handle the neglect of the last few months well either. I’m happy to report that I was able to still put up a couple jars of sauce with the tomatoes that we have, but the neglect has caught up with me and the yield is looking bleak. Next year is a new year, and we already have a really good start on making it great.

We have plenty more projects to tackle before winter hits, but for now I think things around the house are going to slow down until after the wedding. I’ll be sure to update you all as changes come of course.

A Wine Country, NY Bucket List

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